RIP Scott Bennie

[assault]

Just heard on Facebook. Another giant of gaming is gone, after many years of health issues.

I didn't know him personally, so someone else will have to do that bit.

[tkdguy]

Sorry to hear that. I only knew him online, but he was a great guy. He'll be missed.

 

Thanks for letting us know.

[Duke Bushido]

Gone to clear the Gweenies out of Valhalla, no doubt.   

 

 

 

 

[Cygnia]

Requiescat in pace, sir

[Hermit]

He was, IMO, one of the best creators Hero Games ever employed in any edition. I knew him only online, but he always seemed supportive of hero players and other RPG writers alike. Many of us old timers missed his presence on the boards when his health issues came up. I don't think I've ever heard anyone who has met him in RL say a cross word about the man let alone those who knew him online alone. Given the nature of the internet; that's something. 

 

He's left a rich legacy of colorful characters, amazing adventures and whole worlds. 

And apparently a lot of people who respect the hell out of him as a person.

 

Rest In Peace, Scott

 

[Lawnmower Boy]

I cannot say that I knew Scott well, or over a lifetime, but we were members of the University of British Columbia Wargamers Society together in our youth, and I was introduced to Champions by playing in his campaign. He graduated in timely fashion well before me in 1986, and I never saw him in the flesh again after leaving town for graduate studies. 

 

Let's talk about flesh. Scott suffered from some kind of congenital physical condition, about the specifics of which he was very private then, and, evidently, throughout his life. His symptoms, when I knew him, were for the most part not so obviously abnormal that one could not convince oneself that he was simply the victim of outrageously bad lifestyle or grooming choices. Because he did not advertise his condition, I am sure that he suffered ridicule and abuse during his earlier life. In later years, I suspect that they progressed to mobility impairments and other isolating lifestyle challenges, although I cannot speak to that from personal acquaintance. 

 

We have, as a society, persuaded ourselves that because caring about appearances is superficial, we should resolve never to do it consciously. I think that is a mistake, that we are human, and have a right to own the loss of simple physical attractiveness as a legitimate injury done by disease. It is okay to be bitter, to be conflicted, to be hurt, when illness makes us ugly, and victims have a claim on medical help! I say that in the light of world events yesterday, but also as a reflection on Scott's life. Scott suffered, and yet, and unlike many victims, sought a public life in teaching, and, later in life, preaching. (He was no proselytiser when I knew him.) He also was a creative game designer with a particular interest in the superhero genre, taking a puckish pleasure in writing about the adventures of his alter-ego, Thundrax. 

 

I cannot offer a eulogy of Scott Bennie here, but I can offer one for Thundrax.  Like all superhuman alter-egos, Thundrax represented the person that Scott fantasised about being. Scott was a good man, a patriot, a religious man, and a fan of the Champions system. So was Thundrax. But there is one more thing about Thundrax that is important here. Thundrax was a bit of a himbo. From which I take away that this was part of Scott's fantasy. Having known Scott, as I said, as a teacher, a creator, and a man of genuine insight into the human condition, I want to take this as Scott's last lesson. That kind of fantasy is okay. It is okay, acceptable --no, more than acceptable, normal-- to have fantasies about being more physically attractive! Elsewhere, we can talk about body dysphoria. Here, the issue is a particular kind of illness, the kind that deforms us physically just enough to limit our lives, and not quite enough to make us acceptable victims. We  need to accept that this kind of Illness is real, and acknowledge that the longing to be Thundrax is legitimate. 

 

RIP, Scott

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

I never met him, but I know the name well. RIP, Scott. RIP Thundrax. 

[Bazza]

RIP Scott. I loved that be both liked Thor. May you find your way to Valhalla. Have a mead on me. 

[Starlord]

1 hour ago, Hermit said:

He was, IMO, one of the best creators Hero Games ever employed in any edition. I knew him only online, but he always seemed supportive of hero players and other RPG writers alike. Many of us old timers missed his presence on the boards when his health issues came up. I don't think I've ever heard anyone who has met him in RL say a cross word about the man let alone those who knew him online alone. Given the nature of the internet; that's something. 

 

He's left a rich legacy of colorful characters, amazing adventures and whole worlds. 

And apparently a lot of people who respect the hell out of him as a person.

 

Rest In Peace, Scott

 

 

Ditto all this.

 

RIP 

[mattingly]

Scott was the Gestalt of heroism and kindness.

See you on the other side, Scott.

[Pariah]

I didn't really know him, except through the characters he created. By all accounts, he left the world a better place than he found it, and that's not nothing.

 

Rest in peace, sir.

[yamamura]

I am sad to hear this. While I never met him personally, the characters and the world he created were amazing.

[BigJackBrass]

A name I quickly learned to associate with quality material. He’ll be missed.

[DShomshak]

I too never knew him personally, but his work helped make me want to write for Champions and showed me how to do it.

 

Rest in peace.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Chris Goodwin]

I'm sorry to hear that he's gone.  

 

He's an indelible part of the Champions universe and the history of Hero Games, right up there with Aaron Allston.  He will be missed.

[death tribble]

I knew him from here. He was one of the community.

RIP

[Thom Revor]

I, too, knew him online, back from the glory days of Red October.  Others I know knew him from his days of working at computer game company Interplay.  He will be missed by all.

[Lord Liaden]

I posted this sad news to the forums of Champions Online. Scott was a very active player in the MMORPG since its earliest days, having translated his alter-ego PC from his tabletop Champions campaigns, Thundrax.

 

https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/championsonline#/discussion/1217124/thundrax-has-fallen

[Christopher R Taylor]

No but... NO   Stop dying!!

 

So many of my favorite books and most useful books from Hero Games were written by him.  I wanted him to redo some of this stuff

This is just his Hero Games output, excluding Adventurer's Club and Digital Hero:

 

"Villainy Unbound' (Villains Book, editor/contributor, 1987)

"Champions in 3D" (Adventure book, contributor, 1988)

"Classic Enemies" (Villains Book, Editor/contributor, 1989)

"Champions Universe" (sourcebook, contributor, 1991)

"Day of the Destroyer (adventure, writer, 1992)

"VIPER" (Sourcebook, co-author, 1993)

"VIPER: Coils of the Serpent, co-author, 2003)

"Villainy Amok" (adventure book, author, 2005)

"Champions of the North" (sourcebook, 2008)

 

He also wrote dozens of D&D, Marvel Superheroes, Mutants and Masterminds, and even the World of Warcraft RPG books as well as lots of video game content.

 

God be with his family and friends.

[Joe Walsh]

I never met Scott Bennie, but I always appreciated his work. His name on a product meant it was going to be solid, inspiring material.

 

I hope he's having fun rolling six-siders in the great beyond.

[Black Ops]

I knew him from Co and was a great fan of his gaming related work.

R.I.P. Scott Bennie

Thoughts and prayers

[wcw43921]

Doggone it--that wasn't supposed to happen.

 

Condolences to his family and friends.  Lord rest him well.

[steriaca]

Fare the well, soul of Scott Bernie. May your next adventure be bright in the afterlife, and your family safe, sound, and prosperous without you. We have all been blessed to know you and to read of your works.

[assault]

8 hours ago, Bazza said:

RIP Scott. I loved that be both liked Thor. May you find your way to Valhalla. Have a mead on me. 

 

Scott was a devout Christian, so it might come as a surprise to him if he did!

Speaking of which, I need to take another look at Testament, Scott's d20 based Old Testament RPG. It could easily be looted for a Hero game, with or without the serial numbers filed off.

And I need to reread Villainy Amok, to see if it would be possible to do something similar for Fantasy Hero.

And I need to take another look at Champions of The North, to see what a potential Champions Down Under could look like.

And so on, because this is one way to honour the legacy Scott left us.

[BNakagawa]