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Jeff GrubbWriter and game designer
Date of Birth: 27.08.1957
Country:  USA |
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Biography of Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is a writer and game designer known for his involvement in the creation of computer and role-playing games such as 'Dragonlance'. He has also published novels, short stories, and comics. He was born on August 27, 1957, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Early Life and Career
Jeff Grubb developed an interest in tabletop games while in school and played games such as 'Avalon Hill', 'Panzerblitz', 'Blitzkrieg', and 'Frigate'. In high school, he met his future wife, Kate Novak, and they got married in 1983. Grubb discovered role-playing games during his first year at Perdue University, where he studied engineering. He joined a tabletop game club on campus and got introduced to 'Dungeons & Dragons', which sparked his passion for game design.
Game Design and Writing Career
Within a year, Jeff Grubb participated in the gaming festival 'Gen Con' and created his own world called Toril. After graduating with a degree in civil engineering, he worked for about a year in air pollution control systems before being laid off. During this time, Grubb worked on expanding the 'Dungeons & Dragons' universe. In 1982, he was invited to join 'TSR, Inc.' as a game designer and became a consultant for Gary Gygax's 'Monster Manual II' for the 'Advanced Dungeons & Dragons' role-playing game. He later became the lead developer for the role-playing game 'Marvel Superheroes', published in 1984.
Jeff Grubb spent many years working on game development for 'TSR, Inc.', earning him the nickname "veteran" from Scott Haring. He collaborated with Tracy Hickman in creating the 'Dragonlance' universe and assisted Ed Greenwood in the development of the 'Forgotten Realms' world. He was a consultant for the first edition of 'Unearthed Arcana' and authored the first edition of the 'Manual of the Planets' for 'Dungeons & Dragons'. Grubb also developed the 'Spelljammer' setting and wrote an expansion for the 'Jakandor' setting.
In the late 1980s, Jeff Grubb wrote four issues of the 'Dungeons & Dragons' comics and 25 issues of the 'Forgotten Realms' comics. In 1994, he left 'TSR, Inc.' and started working as a freelancer. He later joined 'Wizards of the Coast' after they acquired 'TSR' and continued working on games, settings, and books. He contributed to the 'Star Wars Roleplaying Game' with the novel 'Tempest Freud', worked on the 'd20 Modern' game, and created the 'Urban Arcana' setting for it. Additionally, Grubb authored 'The Memoirs of Auberon of Faerie' for 'R. Talsorian Games' and was one of the writers for the 'Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game'. He also collaborated with the publisher 'Sovereign Press'.
Works and Legacy
Jeff Grubb's first novel, 'Azure Bonds', was written in collaboration with his wife as part of the 'Finder's Stone' trilogy. The second and third books of the trilogy, 'Wyvern's Spur' and 'Song of the Saurials', were published by 'TSR' in 1990 and 1991. Grubb and Novak continued to write novels set in the 'Forgotten Realms' for several more years. Grubb also wrote numerous short stories set in fictional worlds such as 'Dragonlance' and 'Forgotten Realms'.
The novel 'Azure Bonds' served as the basis for the computer game 'Curse of the Azure Bonds'. ArenaNet hired Grubb to write the script for the game 'Guild Wars Nightfall' and he was involved in the development of 'Guild Wars: Eye of the North'. Despite his involvement in game development, Jeff Grubb still considers himself more of a writer than a game designer.
