Troy Denning

Troy Denning
Troy Denning
	Troy Denning at the 2024WonderCon
Occupation	Writer, game designer
Alma mater	Beloit College
Genre	role-playing games,fantasy
Spouse	Andria

Troy Denningis an Americanfantasyandscience fictionauthor and game designer who has written more than two dozen novels.^[1]

Background

Denning grew up in the mountain town ofIdaho Springs, Colorado.An avid reader of science fiction and fantasy, he began writing himself at the age of fourteen in 80-page spiral-bound notebooks, and began to collect the usual quantity ofrejection slips.Around his eighteenth birthday, he received a rejection slip from editorBen Bova,but one with a signature and a handwritten note thanking him for the submission. Heartened, Denning continued to write as he attendedBeloit College,where he also played on theirDivision I football team.^[2]

Career

Denning joinedTSRas a game designer in 1981, and was promoted a year later to Manager of Designers, before he moved to the book department.^[3]Denning then worked for two years managing thePacesettergame company.^[3]Denning designed the adventure board gameChill: Black Morn Manor(1985) for Pacesetter.^[4]^: 198WhenMayfair Gamesacquired ownership of the horror gameChillfrom Pacesetter, Denning also moved to Mayfair at that time; Denning worked on the line with Mayfair staffersDavid Ladyman,Jeff Leasonand Louis Prosperi, to create a second edition ofChill(1990).^[4]^: 168After his stint at Mayfair Games, Denning went freelance.^[3]

Denning wrote the third novel in TSRs "Avatar Trilogy",Waterdeep(1989), which he wrote under the housepseudonymRichard Awlinson;^[3]the book became aNew York Timesbestselling novel.^[5]He wrote the novel withScott Ciencin,and the choice of the surname Awlinson was aninside jokewhich sounds like "all in one".^{[citation needed]}

In October 1989 he rejoined TSR as a senior designer, co-creating theDark Sunsetting withTim BrownandMary Kirchoff.^[3]Denning and Brown led the Dark Sun project, with fiction editor Kirchoff, and artistBromjoined them soon with illustrations that helped make Dark Sun the first of TSR's world designs with a more artistic sensibility.^[4]^: 26According to Denning, the three designers envisioned "a world for experienced DMs that would push theAD&Dgame to its limits and let people do things like playhalf-giantsandthri-kreenand superstrong characters—in short, all the really neat stuff we wanted to do ourselves, but that everybody kept saying would ruin game balance. "^[3]Denning felt in 1998 that Dark Sun "did what we wanted it to, and it has attracted a devoted following. When I go to conventions, it's still what people want to talk about. TalkingBrominto being the lead artist early was very fortunate for us; he would sketch weird creatures and settings and equipment, and we'd work them into the game. "^[3]Brown and Denning also designed the 1991D&D"black box"set, which became a top-seller for TSR, with half a million copies sold over the following six years.^[4]^: 27

Denning returned to freelance writing again in 1991, writing the bestselling "Prism Pentad" for the Dark Sun setting (1991–93), and theForgotten Realms"Twilight Giants" trilogy (1994–95).^[3]Denning also wrote thePlanescapehardcoverPages of Pain(1996): "It had to be from the Lady of Pain’s viewpoint—which is something of a problem, since (as every Planescape player knows) she never speaks—and (this was the really good part) the reader must know less about her at the end of the book than he does at the beginning, and nobody knows anything about her at the beginning."^[3]Denning recalled thatPages of Pain"really made me rethink the way I approach stories, and for that reason alone it was worth writing. It also ended up being a much deeper book than I had ever written before, which I think was a result of the extreme approach I was forced to take. Those who have [read it] seem to think it's my best work. It was certainly the most challenging and—forgive the pun—'painful' to write."^[3]Denning continued the story told inWaterdeep's sequel,Prince of Lies(1993) byJames Lowder,with the novelCrucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad.^[3]Denning then authored another Forgotten Realms novel calledFaces of Deception.^[3]Denning's other notable works areDragonwallandThe Parched Sea.Denning wrote the novelThe SentinelforThe Sundering,a fictional event set in the expandedD&Duniverse.^[6]

He is also the author of a number ofStar Warsexpanded universenovels. IncludingInvincible,the ninth and final book in theLegacy of the Forceseries, was released in May 2008. He also authored the third and sixth books in the series. He has also been the author for three books in theFate of the Jediseries.^[7]And the 9th book inThe New Jedi Order:Star by Starand theDark Nest Trilogy.

Troy was one of the founders ofPacesetter Ltd,a game company formed by a group of formerTSR, Inc.executives.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Denning lives inLake Geneva,Wisconsinwith his wife Andria.^[7]He enjoys many hobbies, including skiing, hiking, mountain-climbing, and Kyuki-do -- a form of tae-kwan-do incorporatingjudo,boxing, andhapki-do.^[8]