Jennell Jaquays, 1956-2024

January 10, 2024 9:34 AM

Rebecca Heineman on Blue Sky today: "Until we meet again… Jennell Jaquays 10/14/1956 - 01/10/2024." Intro to a 2022 interview: "an accomplished artist whose works were published in many D&D and other products; her adventures the Dark Tower and Caverns of Thracia are held up to this day as examples of the best in dungeon design, and after working in the tabletop industry moved over to computer gaming where she worked on the Quake franchise." In 2017, she was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame. RPGGeek entry listing her many publications. Memorial threads at EN World, r/RPG, and r/OSR.
posted by Wobbuffet (27 comments total)

May she rest in peace. Had so much fun in Thracia.
posted by triage_lazarus at 10:01 AM on January 10 [2 favorites]

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posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 10:02 AM on January 10

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posted by Halloween Jack at 10:07 AM on January 10

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posted by charred husk at 10:21 AM on January 10

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posted by BigHeartedGuy at 10:21 AM on January 10

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posted by sarcas at 10:34 AM on January 10

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posted by ursus_comiter at 10:41 AM on January 10

One of the most tremendously accomplished and influential game designers ever to be involved in RPGs.

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posted by Pope Guilty at 11:30 AM on January 10 [3 favorites]

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posted by Pendragon at 11:43 AM on January 10

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posted by eckeric at 1:18 PM on January 10

Such a sad day for RPGs. As a DM, I've launched campaigns into Thracia probably a dozen times since the mid-eighties. My current group just wrapped up over a year of actual play in and out of those depths (and probably discovered 2/3 of what it had to offer in that time). I can't say too much about how much enjoyment she brought to my life. May she be kept well by Thanatos.
posted by meinvt at 1:32 PM on January 10 [3 favorites]

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posted by adekllny at 1:47 PM on January 10

I posted a link to a series of blog posts examining and appreciating the work of Jennell Jaquays back in 2015, which unfortunately uses their deadname. (I didn't know they were trans when I posted it; the original article used her old name at that point, though it's been changed since then.)

Since those posts were written, they have been changed, to "Xandering the dungeon," for very sad reasons. Apparently a harassment campaign was done against Jennell Jaquays, aided by Google searches for the article's original title. (The author of the articles did what they could to help allay the issue, and is entirely blameless.)

It's terrible that she had to put up with all of this in the final year of her life.
posted by JHarris at 1:51 PM on January 10 [5 favorites]

(It's terrible she had to put up with it period, but this is extra terrible.)
posted by JHarris at 2:02 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]

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posted by Kattullus at 2:34 PM on January 10

She made huge contributions to game development on the ColecoVision, which I've been playing ... well, since 1983. She literally made my childhood a happier place.

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posted by 1adam12 at 2:35 PM on January 10 [4 favorites]

Stu Horvath has posted "Towers and Caverns," a 2021 email Q&A with Jennell Jaquays essentially about her design goals in her modules for Judges Guild. The Q&A was originally conducted as research for Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, so it has not been published previously.
posted by Wobbuffet at 3:17 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]

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posted by Ultracrepidarian at 3:23 PM on January 10

(Ah! I just realized that my post about Jennell's work was fixed after the fact by the mods, so it no longer deadnames her!)
posted by JHarris at 3:51 PM on January 10 [3 favorites]

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posted by The Great Big Mulp at 4:50 PM on January 10

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posted by Canageek at 5:36 PM on January 10

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posted by Harald74 at 1:08 AM on January 11

[Beholder dot]
posted by Gelatin at 4:15 AM on January 11 [4 favorites]

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posted by filtergik at 6:03 AM on January 11

Jennell was indirectly responsible for my first break in the RPG industry: she backed out of writing a TMNT RPG supplement that Kevin Siembieda then offered to me. I always hoped that I would have the chance to thank her in person, for that and for everything else.
posted by Hogshead at 2:35 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]

In less fun news, her wife apparently learned something that made her incandescently angry and is getting legal assistance. She hasn’t said anything, but in time context the current theory is some kind of malpractice.

. for Jennell.
posted by mephron at 7:39 AM on January 13 [3 favorites]

Xandering is Slandering
posted by ursus_comiter at 10:46 AM on January 23 [3 favorites]