D&D General Industry Veteran Jennell Jaquays Passes

Jennell Jaquays was an important figure in the development of Dungeons & Dragons and the tabletop roleplaying game industry. She passed away today at the age of 68. Known for her work on Dark Tower and Caverns of Thracia, she was a game designer and artist; she was responsible for many RPG covers, including Dragon Mountain. Jennell worked for TSR, Judges Guild, and Chaosium, amongst others, as well as video game companies, working on Quake and Age of Empires, and was also an activist for trans rights, instrumental in bringing about important legislation as creative director for the Transgender Human Rights Institute. Jenny had been suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrome in recent years.

Our condolences go out to Jennell's friends and family. The industry lost a legend today.

 

[Mannahnin]

Jaquaying the dungeon is always good advice and The Caverns of Thracia and Dark Tower are forever classics.

Yes! But it should be "Jaquaysing". Alexander originally misspelled her name in the term and was oddly resistant to fixing it.

She has stated she was uncomfortable with that term, and it has since been changed by the author:

Xandering the Dungeon

I believe that dungeons should always be heavily xandered....Okay, it's true. I'm just making words up now. When it comes to xandering the dungeon, though, what I wanted was a word that coul

thealexandrian.net

To my understanding she objected to Alexander misspelling her name in the term, leaving out the S. Reading between the lines of JA's somewhat vague statements about her objections, it appears to me that all she was asking was that he fix the spelling. And that he didn't get around to making a change until he was publishing a book including the term. At which point he and his editor decided they preferred to use a word based on his own name for purposes of credit and ownership in publishing.

 

[Nikosandros]

Yes! But it should be "Jaquaysing". Alexander originally misspelled her name in the term and was oddly resistant to fixing it.


To my understanding she objected to Alexander misspelling her name in the term, leaving out the S. Reading between the lines of JA's somewhat vague statements about her objections, it appears to me that all she was asking was that he fix the spelling. And that he didn't get around to making a change until he was publishing a book including the term. At which point he and his editor decided they preferred to use a word based on his own name for purposes of credit and ownership in publishing.

That's my understanding as well. Her only objection was to the misspelling.

 

[Coastmaker]

So sad to hear about her passing. She has done some truly amazing work for all gamers. Both though her design and her art.
She will be missed dearly.

 

[darjr]

Shannon Appelcline wrote about her

The roleplaying industry lost Jennell Jaquays last night. She was an amazing innovator and creator (besides being a kind person). Here's some thoughts on her history in the industry.

Giants of the Industry: Jennell Jaquays – Designers & Dragons

 

[darjr]

Rick Meints, President of Chaosium writes about Jennell.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/vale-and-farewell-jennell-jaquays-1956-2024.702031/

 

[Eminence_Grise]

Are the Ennies looking for a new name per chance?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Sigh....Apparently Judges Guild insisted on deadnaming her, used an old photo, and make a poor joke in their "memorial" post. And blocked everyone who pointed out the deadnaming. I can't share it because I can't see it any longer.

It costs zero $ to not be trash. After everything she did for that company.

 

[Nikosandros]

For what is worth (very little, I think), they have taken down that post.

 

[Queer Venger]

RIP and so grateful for her incredible talent <3

 

[CleverNickName]

Sigh....Apparently Judges Guild insisted on deadnaming her, used an old photo, and make a poor joke in their "memorial" post. And blocked everyone who pointed out the deadnaming. I can't share it because I can't see it any longer.

It costs zero $ to not be trash. After everything she did for that company.

I wish I could say that I'm shocked, but Judges Guild and Bob Bledsaw II have a history with bigotry and Jennell Jaquays [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].

She was a talented artist and gamer, an industry giant, an activist for human rights...her passing is a great loss to the TTRPG community.