Ex-WotC Employees

Morrus · Jul 17, 2013

This is a list of ex-employees of WotC and their current jobs. Note that there are hundreds of such employees. This list goes back to about 2000, and isn't intended to cover all ex-TSR employees. It's here to help you find your favourite D&D designers and check out the awesome gaming stuff they're likely still making!

Be sure to also check out our page From TSR to WotC: A History of D&D.

Name	Date	Last Job at WotC	Reason	Current Company	Project
Lisa Stevens	2000	Brand Manager, Star Wars RPG	Lay off Wizards Lay-offs: Lisa Stevens	Paizo Publishing	Pathfinder
Peter Adkison	2001	CEO	Voluntary Peter Adkison's Open Latter, 2000	Gen Con
Monte Cook Monte Cook worked for WotC on two separate occasions. He left voluntarily in 2001 to form Malhavoc Press. He returned to WotC to work on D&D Next a decade later, and left voluntarily in 2012 and formed Monte Cook Games.	2001	Senior Designer, 3E	Voluntary	wiki]Monte Cook Games	Numenera
Ryan Dancey	2001	Vice President	Voluntary Ryan Dancey Steps Down as D&D Brand Manager	Goblinworks	Pathfinder Online
Owen K.C. Stephens	2001	Designer, Star Wars RPG	Lay off	Super Genius Games
Jim Butler	2001	Creative Director		Troon Worlds	RIFT
Chris Pramas	2002	Creative Director for Miniatures R&D	Lay offI choose you, Pramas-chu!	Green Ronin Publishing	Mutants & Masterminds, Dragon Age RPG, A Song of Ice and Fire, True20, Freeport, and more
Skip Williams	2002	Senior Designer, 3E	Lay off	Freelancing Skip Williams freelanced for WotC in 2013, writing the A0 AD&D adventure for the special edition Against the Slave Lords reprint
Penny Williams	2002		Lay off	Crystal Unicorn Enterprises
JD Wiker	2002	Lead Designer, Star Wars RPG	Lay off	The Game Mechanics
Jeff Grubb	2002	Designer	Lay off	ArenaNet	Guild Wars 2
Sean K Reynolds	2002	Designer	Lay off	Paizo Publishing	Pathfinder
Stan! (Stan Brown)	2002	Designer	Lay off/Rehired	Super Genius Games, WotC Stan! had a contract expire and due to the wording had to leave for 6 months. Offered full-time, but required not self-publishing other games. [Part 1 Part 2 Part 3]
Anthony Valterra	2003	Brand Manager, D&D	Lay off Anthony Valterra breaks his silence	North Seattle Community College
Charles Ryan	2005	Brand Manager, D&D	Lay off Charles Ryan (and others) out at WotC?	Monte Cook Games	Numenera
Scott Rouse	2008	Brand Manager, D&D	Lay off Thank You	Microsoft
Jennifer Paige	2008	Online Community Manager	Lay off	Microsoft
Julia Martin	2008	Editor	Lay off	Microsoft
Linae Foster	2008	Associate Brand Manager	Lay off	Passport Game Studios
Dave Noonan	2008	Designer	Lay off	Sasquatch Games	Primeval Thule
Jonathan Tweet	2008	Lead Designer, 3E	Lay off	Fire Opal Media	13th Age
Rob Heinsoo	2009	Lead Designer, 4E	Lay off	Fire Opal Media	13th Age
Logan Bonner	2009	Designer	Lay off	Paizo Publishing Logan Bonner freelanced for WotC extensively for 4E before joining Paizo full-time.
Chris Sims	2009	Designer	Lay off
Andy Collins	2010	Designer	Voluntary	Gazillion Entertainment
Torah Cottril	2010	Editor	Lay off
Bill Slavicsek	2011	Director of RPG Design & Development	Lay off	ZeniMax Online Studios	The Elder Scrolls Online
Michele Carter	2011	Editing Manager, D&D Group	Lay off
Richard Baker	2011	RPG Group Manager	Lay off	Sasquatch Games Rich Baker freelanced for WotC on the Search for the Diamond Staff season of D&D Encounters before joining Sasquatch.	Primeval Thule
Stephen Schubert	2011	Development Manager, D&D	Lay off	Sasquatch Games	Primeval Thule
Steve Winter	2011	Designer	Lay off/Rehired	Wizards of the Coast Steve Winter freelanced for WotC after departing, then joined as a contractor in 2013.
Monte Cook Monte Cook worked for WotC on two separate occasions. He left voluntarily in 2001 to form Malhavoc Press. He returned to WotC to work on D&D Next a decade later, and left voluntarily in 2012 and formed Monte Cook Games.	2012	Designer, D&D Next	Voluntary Monte Cook Leaves WotC: No Longer Working on D&D Next	Monte Cook Games	Numenera
Kim Mohan	2012	Designer	Retired WotC's Kim Mohan Retires; reviews of THE LOST DUTCHMAN and SEASONS; plus Why Do You DM?
Bruce Cordell	2013	Designer	Voluntary Bruce Cordell leaves WotC
Rodney Thompson	2016	Developer, D&D	Voluntary	Bungie

Scrivener of Doom · Jul 17, 2013

I believe that Sean K Reynolds says his departure was voluntary.

Edit: Oops, my mistake per Morrus's next post.

Morrus · Jul 17, 2013

Scrivener of Doom said:
I believe that Sean K Reynolds says his departure was voluntary.

Wikipedia says he was laid off, as does his own website.

Klaus · Jul 17, 2013

Kim Mohan retired this year.

jknevitt · Jul 17, 2013

Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet do not work for Pelgrane. They have their own thing, Fire Opal Media. Pelgrane is simply the publisher for 13th Age.

Also, Jeff Grubb's name has two Bs/.

chewie93 · Jul 17, 2013

I don't follow the goings-on at WotC much since 4E was released, so I wasn't aware of what some of these respected designers were doing. This list gives me a few new game publishers to check out. Thanks for that.

Wrox · Jul 17, 2013

Jeff Grubb is a story designer on Guild Wars 2 for ArenaNet
Anthony Valterra is a grant manager at North Seattle Community College
Andy Collins is a story designer for Gazillion Entertainment

Scrivener of Doom · Jul 17, 2013

Rich Baker was RPG Group Manager - responsible for all the designers and whatnot - before he was so rudely backstabbed.

http://community.wizards.com/wotc_r...itle,_air_force_minis,_war_at_sea_sneak_peeks

Alphastream · Jul 17, 2013

Scrivener of Doom said:
Rich Baker was RPG Group Manager - responsible for all the designers and whatnot - before he was so rudely backstabbed.

http://community.wizards.com/wotc_r...itle,_air_force_minis,_war_at_sea_sneak_peeks

It doesn't seem there is any animosity and I doubt "rudely backstabbed" captures the reality. After leaving he worked with Wizards as a freelancer to write the current season of D&D Encounters. This is pretty typical and something that is hard to capture on the list. For example, Steve Winter worked for Wizards, transitioned to being on the editorial staff for Dragon and Dungeon, then was let go. Stan! was hired as a contractor to do the same work, but due to a strange contract had to leave after a certain amount of time. He was replaced by... Steve Winter. Another example is Chris Sims. He was laid off, worked as a freelancer for both Wizards and Paizo, and then was hired back on as Wizards.

We really don't know the whole story behind any of the firings or voluntary leavings. As with any of our workplaces, why an employee stays or leaves is often a mix of how an employee fits a need at a particular time, how the employee likes their job, and how their performance is viewed by others. And of course, you have interpersonal relationships. Nothing suggests Wizards is a terrible employer - people that leave tend to continue working with them and often come back. It remains the premiere place to work in the industry and the list above shows how good a job it does at seeding the industry - great for our hobby!

Alphastream · Jul 17, 2013

And it probably does bear mentioning for some above when they continue to work with Wizards. Chris Sims is shown as laid off above, but is a current employee (rehired after freelancing for WotC and others). Logan Bonner freelanced on tons of 4E work before becoming full time at Paizo. Richard Baker has freelanced for Wizards since leaving. Steve Winter has freelanced for Wizards and is now a contractor on-site for them (essentially doing what he did when he left). Stan! was recently a contractor but had to end due to contract wording. It won't shock anyone to see him back. Skip Williams recently worked as a freelancer for the A-0 adventure.