Ex-WotC Employees

[Morrus]

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.
[TABLE="width: 100%"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Name
[/TD]
[TD]Date
[/TD]
[TD]Last Job at WotC
[/TD]
[TD]Reason
[/TD]
[TD]Current Company[/TD]
[TD]Project[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Lisa Stevens[/TD]
[TD]2000[/TD]
[TD]Brand Manager, Star Wars RPG[/TD]
[TD]Lay off
Wizards Lay-offs: Lisa Stevens[/TD]
[TD]Paizo Publishing[/TD]
[TD]Pathfinder[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Peter Adkison[/TD]
[TD]2001[/TD]
[TD]CEO[/TD]
[TD]Voluntary
Peter Adkison's Open Latter, 2000[/TD]
[TD]Gen Con[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]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.[/TD]
[TD]2001[/TD]
[TD]Senior Designer, 3E[/TD]
[TD]Voluntary[/TD]
[TD]wiki]Monte Cook Games[/TD]
[TD]Numenera[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ryan Dancey[/TD]
[TD]2001[/TD]
[TD]Vice President[/TD]
[TD]Voluntary
Ryan Dancey Steps Down as D&D Brand Manager[/TD]
[TD]Goblinworks[/TD]
[TD]Pathfinder Online[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Owen K.C. Stephens[/TD]
[TD]2001[/TD]
[TD]Designer, Star Wars RPG[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Super Genius Games[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jim Butler[/TD]
[TD]2001[/TD]
[TD]Creative Director[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Troon Worlds[/TD]
[TD]RIFT[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Chris Pramas[/TD]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD]Creative Director for Miniatures R&D[/TD]
[TD]Lay offI choose you, Pramas-chu![/TD]
[TD]Green Ronin Publishing[/TD]
[TD]Mutants & Masterminds, Dragon Age RPG, A Song of Ice and Fire,
True20, Freeport, and more[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Skip Williams[/TD]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD]Senior Designer, 3E[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Freelancing
Skip Williams freelanced for WotC in 2013, writing the A0 AD&D adventure for the special edition Against the Slave Lords reprint[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Penny Williams[/TD]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Crystal Unicorn Enterprises[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]JD Wiker[/TD]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD]Lead Designer, Star Wars RPG[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]The Game Mechanics[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jeff Grubb[/TD]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]ArenaNet[/TD]
[TD]Guild Wars 2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sean K Reynolds[/TD]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Paizo Publishing[/TD]
[TD]Pathfinder[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Stan! (Stan Brown)[/TD]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Lay off/Rehired[/TD]
[TD]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][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Anthony Valterra[/TD]
[TD]2003[/TD]
[TD]Brand Manager, D&D[/TD]
[TD]Lay off
Anthony Valterra breaks his silence[/TD]
[TD]North Seattle Community College[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Charles Ryan[/TD]
[TD]2005[/TD]
[TD]Brand Manager, D&D[/TD]
[TD]Lay off
Charles Ryan (and others) out at WotC?[/TD]
[TD]Monte Cook Games[/TD]
[TD]Numenera[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Scott Rouse[/TD]
[TD]2008[/TD]
[TD]Brand Manager, D&D[/TD]
[TD]Lay off
Thank You[/TD]
[TD]Microsoft[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jennifer Paige[/TD]
[TD]2008[/TD]
[TD]Online Community Manager[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Microsoft[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Julia Martin[/TD]
[TD]2008[/TD]
[TD]Editor[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Microsoft[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Linae Foster[/TD]
[TD]2008[/TD]
[TD]Associate Brand Manager[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Passport Game Studios[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dave Noonan[/TD]
[TD]2008[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Sasquatch Games[/TD]
[TD]Primeval Thule[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jonathan Tweet[/TD]
[TD]2008[/TD]
[TD]Lead Designer, 3E[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Fire Opal Media[/TD]
[TD]13th Age[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rob Heinsoo[/TD]
[TD]2009[/TD]
[TD]Lead Designer, 4E[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Fire Opal Media[/TD]
[TD]13th Age[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Logan Bonner[/TD]
[TD]2009[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Paizo Publishing
Logan Bonner freelanced for WotC extensively for 4E before joining Paizo full-time.[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Chris Sims[/TD]
[TD]2009[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Andy Collins[/TD]
[TD]2010[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Voluntary[/TD]
[TD]Gazillion Entertainment[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Torah Cottril[/TD]
[TD]2010[/TD]
[TD]Editor[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bill Slavicsek[/TD]
[TD]2011[/TD]
[TD]Director of RPG Design & Development[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]ZeniMax Online Studios[/TD]
[TD]The Elder Scrolls Online[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Michele Carter[/TD]
[TD]2011[/TD]
[TD]Editing Manager, D&D Group[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Richard Baker[/TD]
[TD]2011[/TD]
[TD]RPG Group Manager[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Sasquatch Games
Rich Baker freelanced for WotC on the Search for the Diamond Staff season of D&D Encounters before joining Sasquatch.[/TD]
[TD]Primeval Thule[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Stephen Schubert[/TD]
[TD]2011[/TD]
[TD]Development Manager, D&D[/TD]
[TD]Lay off[/TD]
[TD]Sasquatch Games[/TD]
[TD]Primeval Thule[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Steve Winter[/TD]
[TD]2011[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Lay off/Rehired[/TD]
[TD]Wizards of the Coast
Steve Winter freelanced for WotC after departing, then joined as a contractor in 2013.[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]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.[/TD]
[TD]2012[/TD]
[TD]Designer, D&D Next[/TD]
[TD]Voluntary
Monte Cook Leaves WotC: No Longer Working on D&D Next[/TD]
[TD]Monte Cook Games[/TD]
[TD]Numenera[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Kim Mohan[/TD]
[TD]2012[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Retired
WotC's Kim Mohan Retires; reviews of THE LOST DUTCHMAN and SEASONS; plus Why Do You DM?[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bruce Cordell[/TD]
[TD]2013[/TD]
[TD]Designer[/TD]
[TD]Voluntary
Bruce Cordell leaves WotC[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rodney Thompson[/TD]
[TD]2016[/TD]
[TD]Developer, D&D[/TD]
[TD]Voluntary[/TD]
[TD]Bungie[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

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

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

 

[Morrus]

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

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

 

[Klaus]

Kim Mohan retired this year.

 

[jknevitt]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.