Tom Moldvay was a game designer and author most notable for his work on early materials for the fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

 Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

(D&D).

Career

As an employee of TSR, Inc.

TSR, Inc.

Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....

, Moldvay authored or co-authored landmark D&D adventure modules

Adventure (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, an adventure or module is a pre-packaged book or box set that helps the Dungeon Master manage the plot or story of a game...

 such as Castle Amber

Castle Amber (Dungeons & Dragons)

Castle Amber is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure module designed by Tom Moldvay. This was the second module designed for use with the Expert D&D set.-Plot summary:...

, Isle of Dread

Isle of Dread

The Isle of Dread is an adventure for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The adventure, module code X1, was originally published in 1981. Written by David "Zeb" Cook, and Tom Moldvay, it is among the most widely circulated of all Dungeons & Dragons adventures due to its inclusion as part of...

, the rewrite of Palace of the Silver Princess

Palace of the Silver Princess

Palace of the Silver Princess is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set. It was written in 1980 by Jean Wells, and published in 1981 with an orange cover. Palace of the Silver Princess contains a single adventure laid out in a format suitable for a single gaming session...

, and Secret of the Slavers Stockade, all published in 1981. Of these, X1 - Isle of Dread was one of the most widely played modules of the time because it was distributed inside the D&D Expert Set

Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set

The Expert Set is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1981 as an expansion to the Basic Set.-1981 printing:The D&D Basic Set saw a major revision in 1981 by Tom Moldvay...

rules.

Also in 1981, Moldvay edited the first major revision of the rulebooks in the D&D Basic Set

Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set

The original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set boxed set was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1977, and comprised a separate edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, distinct from the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, which was initially published in the same...

since its original publication. Other Moldvay adventure modules for D&D include The Lost City (1982) and Twilight Calling

Twilight Calling

Twilight Calling is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, set in that game's Mystara campaign setting. TSR, Inc. published the module in 1986 for the D&D Master Set rules. It is part of the "M" series of modules...

(1986). In the years between 1980 and 1988, he also penned several articles in Dragon

Dragon (magazine)

Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...

magazine. The fictional city of Yavdlom in the D&D Mystara

Mystara

Mystara is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game. Although it has officially been dropped from production by its creators, many fans continue to develop and evolve this fantasy setting jointly, continuing its original theme of group development.-Development:It...

 setting - which in the following years included most of the old D&D material - is an homage to him (Yavdlom being the backward reading of Moldvay).

Moldvay also co-developed TSR's Gangbusters

Gangbusters (role-playing game)

Gangbusters was a historical roleplaying game designed by Rick Krebs with Mark Acres assisting in its development. The game was published by TSR, Inc. Two editions of the game were published. The first edition of the game was published in 1982.Gangbusters is a game about crime in the United States...

role-playing game, wrote adventures for TSR's Star Frontiers

Star Frontiers

Star Frontiers is a science fiction role-playing game produced by TSR beginning in 1982. The game offered a space-opera action-adventure setting.- Setting :...

game, and developed materials for Lords of Creation

Lords of Creation (role-playing game)

Lords of Creation was a table top role-playing game published by Avalon Hill in 1983 and 1984. The game was written by Tom Moldvay who also worked on the games Dungeons and Dragons and Star Frontiers....

, a game published by Avalon Hill

Avalon Hill

Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...

. In 1985 he created the one-shot game "The Future King" based on Arthurian legend. In 1986 he created the "Challenges Game System", essentially a streamlining of the AD&D players handbook down to 8 pages, and the single adventure published for the system, "Seren Ironhand." During the 1970s while a student at Kent State University in Ohio, Moldvay was a writer for the legendary science fiction fanzine Infinite Dreams.

Tom Moldvay died at the age of 58 on March 9, 2007. (Source: Coroner's Office, Summit County, Ohio

Summit County, Ohio

Summit County is an urban county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 542,899. In the 2010 Census the population was 541,781. Its county seat is Akron...

)

After Moldvay's death in 2007, Steve Winter

Steve Winter

Steve Winter is a game designer who has worked on numerous products for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game from TSR and later Wizards of the Coast.-Early life:Steve Winter was born in Dubuque, Iowa on December 8, 1957...

called Isle of Dread "Tom's work that had the widest impact", as its inclusion in the Expert Set "made it one of the most widely known and played adventures for years".

Resources

Pen & Paper RPG Database

Dragonsfoot Tom Moldvay Bibliography