Summary
John Andrew Keith (August 31, 1958 – August 7, 1999)[2] was an American author and games developer.
J. Andrew Keith | |
|---|---|
 Andrew Keith | |
| Born | August 31, 1958 |
| Died | August 7, 1999 (aged 40)[1] |
| Resting place | Saint Clair Cemetery (Greensburg, Pennsylvania) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Game designer |
Career edit
J. Andrew Keith, and his brother William H. Keith Jr., responded to ads in Journal of the Travellers Aid Society for authors to write for Game Designers' Workshop (GDW); Loren Wiseman started them with freelancing for GDW in the late 1970s and the three of them set up much of the early material for Traveller.[3]: 56 J. Andrew Keith's wrote so much for the Journal of the Travellers Aid Society that he began to use the pseudonyms John Marshal and Keith Douglass.[3]: 56 The Keith brothers were making enough money that they were able to freelance full-time by 1979.[3]: 56 The Keith brothers then began working for FASA by the end of 1980.[3]: 119 FASA began publishing adventures for Traveller beginning with Ordeal by Eshaar (1981) by the Keith brothers, who then wrote the "Sky Raiders" trilogy (1981-1982) for FASA.[3]: 119 J. Andrew Keith briefly edited the magazine High Passage in 1982 before the High Passage Group told FASA that they could no longer publish material for High Passage; FASA replaced this magazine with a new magazine by J. Andrew Keith called Far Traveller beginning in October 1982.[3]: 119 FASA ended its support of Traveller in 1983, so the Keith brothers continued writing Traveller material with the new company Gamelords, but continued working for FASA on other games.[3]: 120 The Keith brothers wrote seven supplements for Gamelords, including The Mountain Environment (1983), The Undersea Environment (1983),[4]: 342 and The Desert Environment (1984).[3]: 131
J. Andrew Keith wrote some adventures for Fantasy Games Unlimited's Chivalry & Sorcery before the line ended in 1984.[3]: 74 The Keith brothers then worked on some of FGU's other lines in 1985 including Aftermath!, Daredevils, Flashing Blades, and Psi World.[3]: 75 The Keith brothers also designed Freedom Fighters (1986), one of the last role-playing games published by FGU.[3]: 75
Works edit
Andrew was a rather prolific Science Fiction and Role-Playing Game author, and the bibliography presented below is in no way comprehensive. Several of these works were with various co-authors, most commonly his brother, William H. Keith Jr.[5]
- A note regarding pen names in the words of William H. Keith Jr.:
"We shared several [pen names]: Keith William Andrews, Keith Douglass, and H. Jay Riker. Back in the Traveller days, when he was doing a ton of writing for the old Journal of the Traveller's Aid Society, he used several pen names, including Keith Douglass and John Marshall, so it wouldn't look like the journal was entirely an Andrew Keith production."
Science fiction novels edit
- Wing Commander: False Colors
- Wing Commander: Heart of the Tiger
- The Fifth Foreign Legion: March or Die
- The Fifth Foreign Legion: Honor and Fidelity
- The Fifth Foreign Legion: Cohort of the Damned
- Battletech: Blood of Heroes
- Battletech: Mercenary's Star
Science fiction short stories edit
- The Legacy of Leonidas
- Rendezvous with Death
- Orion Rising
Traveller RPG material edit
Books, Supplements, and Folio Adventures: Cargonaut Press, Digest Group Publications, FASA, Gamelords, GDW, Marischal Adventures, and Seeker.
- Escape[4]: 333
- Letter of Marque
- Faldor: World of Adventure
- Rogues in Space: Letter of Marque
- Rogues in Space: Scam
- Starport Planetfall
GDW edit
- The Traveller Adventure
- Alien Module 1 Aslan (1984)[4]: 328
- Alien Module 2 K'kree (1984)[4]: 328
- Alien Module 3 Vargr (1984)[4]: 329
- Alien Module 4-Zhodani (1985)[4]: 329
- Alien Module 5 Droyne (1985)[4]: 329
- Alien Module 7-Hivers (1986)[4]: 329
- BeltStrike: Riches and Danger in the Bowman Belt[4]: 330
- Alien Realms
- Aliens for Traveller
- Arctic Environment
- Chamax Plague
- Horde
- Night of Conquest
- Merchant Prince: Special Supplement 1
- Exotic Atmospheres: Special Supplement 2 (1983)[4]: 339
- Nomads of the World Ocean[4]: 327
- Murder on Arcturus Station[4]: 328
- Traveller Adventure 13: Signal GK[4]: 328
- Double Adventure 6, Divine Intervention/Night of Conquest[4]: 332
- Travellers' Aid Society Alien Encyclopedia
- World Builder's Handbook
Gamelords edit
- The Mountain Environment (1983)[4]: 337
- The Drenslaar Quest (1983)
- The Undersea Environment (1983)[4]: 342
- Ascent To Anekthor (1984)[4]: 329
- Startown Liberty (1984)
- The Desert Environment (1984)
- Duneraiders (1984)
- A Pilot's Guide to the Drexilthar Subsector (1984)[4]: 337
- Wanted: Adventurers (1984) under the pen name, John Marshal
FASA edit
- The Trail of the Sky Raiders[4]: 342
- The Legend of the Sky Raiders[4]: 336
- Fate of the Sky Raiders[4]: 333
- Harrensa Project (1983)[4]: 340
- Ordeal by Eshaar (1981)[4]: 337
- Stazlekh Report, The (1983)[4]: 340
- Uragyad'n of the Seven Pillars[4]: 342
Marischal Adventures edit
- Flight of the Stag[4]: 334
- Salvage Mission (1981, 1987)[4]: 336
- Trading Team(1981, 1987)[4]: 342
Digest Group Publications edit
- Grand Census
- Grand Survey
Magazine articles edit
List of magazine articles
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Miscellaneous Traveller Credits: FASA, and Seeker edit
- Adventure Class Ships I - Booklet II
- Adventure Class Ships II - Booklet I & II[4]: 328
- Aslan Mercenary Ships - Booklet I & II[4]: 330
- I.S.C.V. Leander - Booklet (scenarios: The Hostage, Terminal Velocity, and Raider!)
- I.S.P.M.V. Fenris - Booklet (scenarios: Boring From Within, Prisoners at Large, and Surprise Reversed)
- I.S.P.M.V. Tethys - Booklet (scenarios: Enemy Action, Staff Meeting, and Retreat from Stiara)
- Merchant Class Ships - Booklet I & II[4]: 336
- Starport Module I: Hotel Complex - Booklet (scenarios: Break-In, The Gamblers, and Hostages) (1981)[4]: 339
- Z.I.S.M.V. Vlezhdatl - Booklet (scenarios: Boarding Action, Prize Crew, and Escape) (1981)[4]: 343
References edit
- ^ "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J21F-R6T : accessed June 25, 2014), null, August 7, 1999; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
- ^ "SFE: Keith, Andrew". www.sf-encyclopedia.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Appelcline, Shannon (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic worlds : a history and guide to role-playing games. Buffalo: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-652-7.
- ^ Sanders, Paul. "J. Andrew Keith memorial page". Freelance Traveller. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
External links edit
- Brother William H. Keith's web site: WHKeith.Com – William H. Keith
- J. Andrew Keith Memorial web page: John Andrew Keith Memorial Site