John D. Rateliff
John D. Rateliff, Ph.D.
Occupation: Writer and noted published Tolkien Scholar.
Event Attended: MerpCon IV, Guest Speaker and Game Master.
In addition to being a longtime gamer, John is also a Tolkien scholar,
who has helped organize several Tolkien conferences and symposiums.
He spent many hours working with the Tolkien manuscripts at Marquette, where he earned his Ph.D.
His major contribution to Tolkien studies is probably his edition of the original manuscripts of The Hobbit,
with extensive commentary, in a two volume set published last year by HarperCollins: The History of The Hobbit (Vol. I: Mr. Baggins; Vol. II: Return to Bag-End).
He is currently engaged in a piece on Tolkien's writer's block but having a hard time finishing it . . .
John D. Rateliff discovered the works of J.R.R. Tolkien in September 1973, and role playing gaming in February 1980.
This gaming interest led him to work at TSR, Wizards of the Coast, and Hasbro, as well as freelancing for companies like Decipher, Green Ronin, White Wolf, Guardians of Order, and Chaosium.
Among the projects he has edited are:
- The Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings
- Night Below
- Return to the Tomb of Horrors
- Third edition Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide (which established the core d20 rules)
- He also contributed to Decipher's Lord of the Rings core rulebook
- The d20 Call of Cthulhu project
- and dozens of other titles over the years.
His favorite roleplaying games are Dungeons & Dragons (particularly 1st edition AD&D), Call of Cthulhu, and Pendragon.
http://www.sacnothscriptorium.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Rateliff
http://www.tolkien-online.com/john-rateliff-interview.html
