Jennell Jaquays, legendary designer who shaped both tabletop and videogames, has died

11.01.2024 - 16:09 / pcgamer.com / Randy Pitchford

Tributes are flooding in across the games industry following the death of game designer, artist, and transgender rights activist Jennell Jaquays, who died yesterday of complications caused by Guillain–Barré syndrome.

Even if you aren't familiar with Jaquays' name, she almost certainly had a hand in something you love over the course of her long career in TTRPG and videogame design. Jaquays helped shaped pen and paper roleplaying from the '70s onwards, creating and publishing Dungeons and Dragons adventures in The Dungeoneer—the D&D fanzine she co-founded—before designing and illustrating licensed modules like Dark Tower and Caverns of Thracia. 

In fact, "Jaquaying the dungeon," is a term still used to describe the process of improving the design of a TTRPG dungeon using the principles she laid out.

But for PCG readers, Jaquays is probably more recognisable for her work at id Software, which she joined in the '90s. Not content with just shaping the destiny of tabletop roleplaying practically from its inception, she helped design all-time classic FPSes like Quake 3 and Quake 2 as a designer and level designer. Even after she left id, she continued to work on games like Age of Empires 3 and Halo Wars, and even did a stint as lead level designer for EVE Online studio CCP Games.

One of the most prominent trans creators in tabletop, Jaquays was also an indefatigable defender of transgender rights. She served as creative director of the Seattle-based Transgender Human Rights Institute, and campaigned against conversion therapy for transgender minors: advocating for the creation of Leelah's Law, a ban on the practice named for trans teenager Leelah Alcorn.

There have been plenty of tributes to Jaquays since her death. Tom Hall, whose name is in the credits of more classic '90s and early 2000s games than I can count, tweeted that Jaquays was a «great person» and «great gamedev,» and implored people to contribute to a GoFundMe to help her family. Myriad other developers, including Tim Willits and Randy Pitchford, have also tweeted their condolences.

Jennell Jaquays is survived by her wife, Rebecca Heineman, who announced the death in a tweet reading «Until we meet again,» followed by Jaquays' birth and death dates. Jaquays was 67 years old.