James Desborough (game designer)

James "Grim" Desborough is a British game designer, author and blogger who has worked primarily on role-playing games, as well as card games, board games and social computer games.


James Desborough
James Desborough
NationalityBritish
Other namesGrim
OccupationGame designer, author, blogger

Career

James Desborough wrote The Munchkin's Guide to Powergaming in 2000/2001,[1] winning an Origins Award for that work along with his co-author Steve Mortimer.[2] Desborough was a co-author of CS1: Cannibal Sector One he also briefly worked as the line editor for SLA Industries.[3] Desborough is also the owner of Postmortem Studios.[3] Postmortem Studios was one of Cubicle 7's first company partnerships thanks to Desborough's connections with Angus Abranson.[3] He later became creative director at Chronicle City, Abranson's new venture[4] but this partnership ended in July 2021.[5]

In 2017 he released a licensed role-playing game based on John Norman's fantasy series Gor, which also included art by Michael Manning.[6]

Desborough's work was included in Red Phone Box,[7] and in The Mammoth Book of Erotic Romance and Domination.[8] He also self-publishes.

His D&D design work includes Monster Manual V (2007) and City of Stormreach (2008).

Desborough is the author of a self-published August 2017 book which claimed that Gamergate was "a genuinely important battle in the ongoing culture war"[9]: ¶79.3  and portrayed it as a necessary "social revolt" rather than as a harassment campaign, which it is widely understood to have been—especially in retrospect.[10][11] In the book's introduction, Desborough writes that his distress regarding opposition to Gamergate led him to attempt suicide in October 2014.[9]: ¶3.9  The book was written after an Indiegogo campaign by Desborough which he launched on June 3rd, urging people to help him "correct the record" about Gamergate[12]: @2:00  — it raised US$1,650, exceeding its goal of US$1,150.[13]

Reception

Desborough has been quoted or used as a pundit on men's issues in various places, including The Stream on Al Jazeera.[14] Some of Desborough's work has been criticized for allegedly being "hateful, violent and misogynistic", leading critics to petition game companies to drop his work.[15][16] Desborough describes himself as having been "inside" Gamergate.[13]

References
  1. The Munchkin's Guide to Powergaming: ISBN 1-55634-347-7
  2. "Origins Awards 2000". Archived from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
  3. Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 430. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  4. "Chronicle City appoints "Grim" James Desborough". 13 February 2013.
  5. ""Grim" James Desborough ends partnership with Chronicle city". 1 July 2021.
  6. grimachu (2017-04-23). "#RPG – The Gor RPG is RELEASED!". Postmortem Studios. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  7. "Ghostwoods Books". Archived from the original on 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  8. Jakubowski, Maxim (8 July 2014). The Mammoth Book of Erotic Romance and Domination. ISBN 978-0762452255.
  9. Desborough, James (2017). Inside Gamergate: a social history of the gamer revolt (ePub). Postmortem Studios. ISBN 978-0-244-62772-0. OCLC 1011256859.
  10. Rosenberg, Alyssa (October 29, 2014). "Gamergate reopens the debate over video games as art". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  11. For more information about Gamergate's history and interpretation, see Gamergate (harassment campaign) § References.
  12. Desborough, James (3 May 2017). #Gamergate - Inside Gamergate Crowdfunder (YouTube video). Postmortem Studios. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL97Ftxr6SU. Retrieved 13 April 2022. "With Brianna Wu running for office, now seems like the time to try and correct the record."
  13. Desborough, James (2017-06-03). "Inside Gamergate—A 'gonzo' social history of Gamergate from inside the movement". Indiegogo. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help) Indiegogo Project ID #2109206. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  14. raisa (2 June 2014). "Through men's eyes".
  15. Gridwood, Andrew (13 February 2013). "Chronicle City appoints "Grim" James Desborough". Edinburgh, Scotland: Geek Native. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
  16. Gridwood, Andrew (24 June 2012). "Interview with RPG designer James Desborough". Edinburgh, Scotland: Geek Native. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
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