The source, of all places, is RPG.net

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/steve-perrin-has-passed-away.885529/

I met him in the early '90s, when he vacationed in Italy and wanted to meet the people in the Italian RPG industry (I was working for Stratelibri at the time). IIRC, we actually met at the San Marino game fair.

Great guy, with a vast culture. He was the kind of guy who quoted "The Faerie Queene" in passing when discussing his "Elves of Alfheim" Gazetteer for BECMI. We spent a pleasant day together. I never saw him again.

To me, he was the symbol of that strange kind of designers that could do no wrong, were immensely versatile, but for some reason never reached the "visibility" of guys like Sandy Petersen or Tom Moldvay.

"We need a gateway for our new world, the Forgotten Realms! Who we gonna call? Steve Perrin!" - who wrote "Under Illefarn", one of the best "mini-campaigns/welcome to a new world" supplements ever created.

Notice how I didn't mention the obvious: "Runequest". In my mind, Perrin was someone that appeared in unexpected places, did something absolutely right and then disappeared. "Elfquest", "Stormbringer", "Superworld"... His fingerprints are everywhere.

So long. Another one of that golden generation that so much did for us kids departed for a better World - and I feel I'm getting a bit more tired every day.

This is truly sad news.  One of the true legends of our hobby. 

RIP.

I admit I hadn't heard of him. But my condolences to his friends and family.

Hopefully he's in the Great Beyond, hashing out game design with Gygax.

RuneQuest was my preferred game over D&D as a teenager. His contribution to RPGs is vastly underrated. RIP.

Quote from: Godsmonkey on August 17, 2021, 03:25:11 PM
RuneQuest was my preferred game over D&D as a teenager. His contribution to RPGs is vastly underrated. RIP.

Agree 100%

He was a very nice guy. In 1981 I played in a Metamorphosis Alpha game he ran at DundraCon. It was a great introduction to the game and a lot of fun.

Chaosium has a nice post about him, and also put up a series of some of his retrospectives on their blog.

https://www.chaosium.com/blogvale-and-farewell-steve-perrin-1946-2021/

I know Ken Hite and George R.R. Martin also both wrote farewells to him. I think Perrin was hugely influential through RuneQuest and his other contributions.

Quote from: jhkim on August 17, 2021, 07:31:29 PM
I know Ken Hite and George R.R. Martin also both wrote farewells to him. I think Perrin was hugely influential through RuneQuest and his other contributions.

I forgot how "Wild Cards" was born from Perrin's "Superworld". It was, basically, George R.R. Martin's campaign, until they decided to turn it into a shared universe for novels and short stories.

Very sad news.



Steve & Luise Perrin.

When I posted this picture here, he responded :
" The picture in question was taken at the second 12th Night celebration of the Society for Creative Anachronism, where my lady and I were married (saved money for a reception, since virtually all our friends were SCAers). "

Rest In Peace Steve