Stewart Wieck

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Stewart Wieck
Born(1968-05-10)May 10, 1968
Freeport, Illinois
Died (aged 49)
OccupationGame designer
Notable workMage: The Ascension
RelativesSteve Wieck (brother)

Stewart Douglas Wieck (May 10, 1968 – June 22, 2017) was one of the founders of the publishing company, White Wolf, Inc. He was also one of the original writers of Mage: The Ascension.

Career[edit]

Stewart Wieck was born in Freeport, Illinois, in 1968.[1] He and his brother Steve Wieck had their first published work in 1986 with the adventure The Secret in the Swamp for Villains & Vigilantes from Fantasy Games Unlimited.[2]: 215 [3]: 61  Later that same year, while they were still in high school in Alabama, the brothers began self-publishing their own magazine, Arcanum; Stewart soon retitled the magazine as White Wolf, publishing the first issue in August 1986.[2]: 215  The Wiecks were fans of Elric, and named their magazine after him.[4]

The Wiecks had befriended the company Lion Rampant, and when that company encountered financial trouble, White Wolf and Lion Rampant made the decision to merge into the new White Wolf Game Studio, with Stewart Wieck and Mark Rein-Hagen as its co-owners.[2]: 215–216  While Stewart was on a road trip to GenCon 23 in 1990 with Rein-Hagen and Lisa Stevens, Rein-Hagen envisioned Vampire: The Masquerade, which the new company published in 1991.[2]: 216  Stewart co-created the World of Darkness and devised much of the mythology central to Vampire, but his most personal game design was Mage: The Ascension (1993).[5]

Rein-Hagen was working on games for White Wolf, so Stewart Wieck took care of the business side of the company until he made his brother Steve the new CEO of White Wolf in 1993.[2]: 220  Stewart left his position as White Wolf Magazine editor in 1992.[2]: 221  The company encountered economic problems in 1995–1996, which resulted in Rein-Hagen and the Wiecks having a falling out, with Rein-Hagen leaving White Wolf.[2]: 222  Stewart designed the game Long Live the King (2006).[5]

Stewart remained at White Wolf when Steve left in 2007 to take a seat on the board of directors of CCP Games.[2]: 230  Stewart resigned from White Wolf in 2010, and created the company Nocturnal Games, which obtained the rights to Pendragon that White Wolf held.[2]: 230  He co-designed the fantasy board game Darkling Plain, which uses 3D graphics created on smartphones. It was announced in 2013 by Nocturnal Media.[6]

He co-edited the 1998 book The Essential World of Darkness, a collection of novels.[7] Wieck is also an author of several novels and a number of short stories.[5]

Wieck died June 22, 2017, at the age of 49.[8][9][10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Leonard, John William; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1994). Who's who in America. ISBN 9780837901510.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  3. ^ Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
  4. ^ RPGnet : A Brief History of Game #11: White Wolf, Part One: 1986–1995
  5. ^ a b c Wieck, Stewart (2007). "Ars Magica". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 13–16. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.
  6. ^ (July 13, 2013). "Nocturnal Media and Stewart Wieck to Develop Reality Game Prototype", Professional Services Close-Up.
  7. ^ D'Ammassa, Don (May/June 1998). "The Essential World of Darkness", Science Fiction Chronicle 19 (7/8): 43.
  8. ^ "Stewart Wieck has Passed (White Wolf)".
  9. ^ "Industry Great Stewart Wieck Passes Away at Age 49".
  10. ^ Shannon Appelcline (2017-06-26). "Advanced Designers & Dragons #14: Giants of the Industry: Stewart Wieck". Retrieved 2017-06-26.
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