WotC Chris Perkins announces Retirement from Dungeons and Dragons

Over on Twitter and Bluesky, Chris Perkins has announced his retirement from Dungeons and Dragons.

Chris Perkins started officially working for Wizards of the Coast in 1997 as an Editor for Dungeon Magazine. Since then, he has functioned as the Editor in Chief of D&D Periodicals, A Senior Producer, and eventually landing as the Senior Story Editor over D&D 5e and Game Architect on D&D 5e 2024.

He also is known for acting as one of the Dungeons Masters for Acquisitions, Incorporated.

Personally, I'll miss the guy's work.

https://bsky.app/profile/chrisperkinsdnd.bsky.social%2Fpost%2F3llyvdjkphk2p

 

[Jahydin]

I know Critical Role is what everyone points to for the increased popularity of D&D, but feel like Chris deserves credit as well for laying the foundation with Acquisitions Incorporated.

 

[Uta-napishti]

Ahoy Chris,
Thanks first for for all of the great stories over the years! Perhaps even more important, thank you also for your focus on mentoring and supporting a new generation of game masters as they learned their craft, from your old blogs to the 2024 DMG. I for one am excited to see what you do beyond WoTC. I am sure you are ready for a break, but also to see what out there you could contribute to, driven by your own creativity rather than Hasbro quarterly earnings calls. Good luck, and Thanks again!

 

[Plaguescarred]

Thanks to Chris for all the passionate hard work for D&D for nearly as long as i play so it's a Greater one that go for sure!

I have no doubt a person his pedegree and experience will find some work in RPG if desired. Otherwise, happy retirement!

 

[DEFCON 1]

WotC definitely could claim ownership over Perkin's Iomandra campaign, and anything else he developed while working for WotC . . . but I don't think they would likely exercise that option. What would it gain them? While interesting settings, they did not garner fan support similar to Eberron or other major setting.

Also, I'm assuming that if Perkins is planning on doing independent work in game design . . . he's likely to start fresh on something new, rather than revisit those older settings.

Adding on to your point... there's also no reason not to think that if Chris decided to more fully flesh out Iomandra and write it as a full campaign setting that WotC wouldn't go ahead and partner with him and publish it.

They did the same thing with Acq Inc. after all I believe. I don't believe Tycho and Gabe originally wrote it for WotC to begin with, but were going to just Third-Party Publish it... but then the D&D team saw what they were doing and offered to publish it for them... probably generating a good chunk of change for the Penny Arcade team that they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Chris could easily get the same sort of deal if he wanted it I'd imagine.

 

[EthanSental]

I had not heard of Iomandra as we were playing PF at the time but looking at the web archive of the old wizards site, looks interesting and it would be cool to see it in print as a campaign book or as a dmsguild publication like Ed does for FR locations and lore.

 

[Blue]

iirc rob schwalb also worked at wotc before making shadow of the demon lord.

Monte Cook is another well known example. WotC has had a lot of good talent over the years, and they also add an industry legitimacy to those who worked there. Many have gone on to be involved in good RPGs after their stint there.

I was more riffing off that the the idea of more than one of the top talent working together, but really you're right -- there's a lot of good stuff out there created by ex-WotC talent.

 

[BruceWright]

WotC definitely could claim ownership over Perkin's Iomandra campaign, and anything else he developed while working for WotC . . . but I don't think they would likely exercise that option.

I work under a contract that says that ideas i come up with in the same industry belong to the company.

Whether folks think that’s “fair” or “right,” is kinda moot. It’s what you agree to when going on staff. Don’t like it? Freelance.

At my work they’re very accommodating about getting us “carve outs”. Basically you document your idea, and if the company passes on the idea they transfer ownership to you. I have done it myself. It wasn’t hard.

I imagine WOTC could do likewise.

Yes the company is under no obligation to offer you a carve out. But a culture where carve outs are used helps the company recruit ambitious creative talent.

At my workplace, i know of 30 or so employees with an active carve-out. There’s probably more, but I only know about the ones where people have shared what they’re working on.

 

[mearls]

I guess they leave D&D?

All kidding aside, D&D does suffer from a fundamental break in its corporate structure.

At a video game studio, if you launch a great game you get to build an even bigger, better, and more ambitious sequel. Or you pitch an entirely new game and get funding for that.

In board games, you can go from designing a dungeon crawling deck builder to a legacy game that has river boat captains competing to build the loveliest vessel to ever sail the Mississippi.

Even in a game like Magic or Warhammer, there's always an appetite for new products, formats, or concepts. There's a ton of design variety.

On D&D you get to... keep writing feats? Make a new edition that probably makes a bunch of people salty? The way the business is structured, there's nothing interesting to do once you've shipped an edition. Plus the business is stuck in this weird rut where everyone is convinced that the audience hates change.

 

[Incenjucar]

All kidding aside, D&D does suffer from a fundamental break in its corporate structure.

At a video game studio, if you launch a great game you get to build an even bigger, better, and more ambitious sequel. Or you pitch an entirely new game and get funding for that.

In board games, you can go from designing a dungeon crawling deck builder to a legacy game that has river boat captains competing to build the loveliest vessel to ever sail the Mississippi.

Even in a game like Magic or Warhammer, there's always an appetite for new products, formats, or concepts. There's a ton of design variety.

On D&D you get to... keep writing feats? Make a new edition that probably makes a bunch of people salty? The way the business is structured, there's nothing interesting to do once you've shipped an edition. Plus the business is stuck in this weird rut where everyone is convinced that the audience hates change.

D&D with room for ambition would look a lot more like the TSR days, with people coming up with crazy new settings with tons of material and minis and wacky sideprojects like DL Fifth Age or Dragon Dice. The money (for employees) just isn't there.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Plus the business is stuck in this weird rut where everyone is convinced that the audience hates change.