J. Andrew Keith

J. Andrew Keith
Andrew Keith
Born	(1958-08-31)August 31, 1958
Died	August 7, 1999(1999-08-07) (aged 40)[1]
Nationality	American
Occupation	Game designer

John Andrew Keith (August 31, 1958 – August 7, 1999)^[2] was an American author and games developer.

Career[]

J. Andrew Keith, and his brother William H. Keith Jr., had seen ads in Journal of the Travellers Aid Society that stated that Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was seeking authors; Loren Wiseman brought them on to begin freelancing for GDW in 1978 or 1979, and together the three of them set up much of the early tone for the Traveller universe.^[3]:56​ J. Andrew Keith's writing for the Journal of the Travellers Aid Society was so extensive that he began to use the pseudonyms John Marshal and Keith Douglass.^[3]:56​ The Keith brothers were making enough money that they were able to freelance full-time starting around 1979.^[3]:56​ The Keith brothers began working for FASA by the end of 1980.^[3]:119​ FASA began getting into publishing adventures for Traveller beginning with Ordeal by Eshaar (1981) by the Keith brothers, who then wrote FASA's "Sky Raiders" trilogy (1981-1982).^[3]:119​ J. Andrew Keith briefly edited the magazine High Passage in 1982 before the High Passage Group told FASA that they could not publish additional High Passage material; FASA replaced this magazine with a new J. Andrew Keith magazine called Far Traveller, which began publication in October 1982.^[3]:119​ When FASA ended its support of Traveller, the Keith brothers moved their Traveller writing to a new company called Gamelords, but continued working for FASA in other capacities.^[3]:120​ The Keith brothers wrote seven supplements for Gamelords, including The Mountain Environment (1983), The Undersea Environment (1983), and The Desert Environment (1984).^[3]:131​

J. Andrew Keith wrote some adventures for Fantasy Games Unlimited's Chivalry & Sorcery before the line ended.^[3]:74​ The Keith brothers expanded into FGU's other lines in 1985 including Aftermath!, Daredevils, Flashing Blades, and Psi World.^[3]:75​ The Keith brothers also designed Freedom Fighters (1986), one of the last role-playing games published by FGU.^[3]:75​

Works[]

Andrew was a rather prolific Science Fiction and Role-Playing Game author, and the bibliography presented below is in no way comprehensive. Several of these works were with various co-authors, most commonly his brother, William H. Keith Jr.^[4]

• A note regarding pen names in the words of William H. Keith Jr.:

"We shared several [pen names]: Keith William Andrews, Keith Douglass, and H. Jay Riker. Back in the Traveller days, when he was doing a ton of writing for the old Journal of the Traveller's Aid Society, he used several pen names, including Keith Douglass and John Marshall, so it wouldn't look like the journal was entirely an Andrew Keith production."

Science fiction novels[]

• Wing Commander: False Colors
• Wing Commander: Heart of the Tiger
• The Fifth Foreign Legion: March or Die
• The Fifth Foreign Legion: Honor and Fidelity
• The Fifth Foreign Legion: Cohort of the Damned
• Battletech: Blood of Heroes
• Battletech: Mercenary's Star

Science fiction short stories[]

• The Legacy of Leonidas
• Rendezvous with Death
• Orion Rising

Traveller RPG material[]

Books, Supplements, and Folio Adventures: Cargonaut Press, Digest Group Publications, FASA, Gamelords, GDW, Marischal Adventures, and Seeker.

• Escape
• Letter of Marque
• Faldor: World of Adventure
• Rogues in Space: Letter of Marque
• Rogues in Space: Scam
• Starport Planetfall

GDW[]

• Traveller Adventure
• Alien Module 1 Aslan (1984)
• Alien Module 2 K'kree (1984)
• Alien Module 3 Vargr (1984)
• Alien Module 4-Zhodani (1985)
• Alien Module 5 Droyne (1985)
• Alien Module 7-Hivers (1986)

• BeltStrike: Riches and Danger in the Bowman Belt
• Alien Realms

• Aliens for Traveller
• Arctic Environment
• Chamax Plague
• Horde
• Night of Conquest
• Merchant Prince: Special Supplement 1
• Exotic Atmospheres: Special Supplement 2
• Nomads of the World Ocean
• Murder on Arcturus Station
• Travellers' Aid Society Alien Encyclopedia
• World Builder's Handbook

Gamelords[]

• The Mountain Environment (1983)
• The Drenslaar Quest (1983)
• The Undersea Environment (1983)
• Ascent To Anekthor (1984)
• Startown Liberty (1984)
• The Desert Environment (1984)
• Duneraiders (1984)
• A Pilot's Guide to the Drexilthar Subsector (1984)
• Wanted: Adventurers (1984) under the pen name, John Marshal

FASA[]

• Trail of the Sky Raiders
• Legend of the Sky Raiders
• Fate of the Sky Raiders
• Harrensa Project
• Stazlekh Report, The
• Uragyad'n of the Seven Pillars

Marischal Adventures[]

• Flight of the Stag
• Salvage Mission
• Trading Team

Digest Group Publications[]

• Grand Census
• Grand Survey

Magazine articles[]

Miscellaneous Traveller Credits: FASA, and Seeker[]

• Adventure Class Ships I - Booklet II
• Adventure Class Ships II - Booklet I & II
• Aslan Mercenary Ships - Booklet I & II
• I.S.C.V. Leander - Booklet (scenarios: The Hostage, Terminal Velocity, and Raider!)
• I.S.P.M.V. Fenris - Booklet (scenarios: Boring From Within, Prisoners at Large, and Surprise Reversed)
• I.S.P.M.V. Tethys - Booklet (scenarios: Enemy Action, Staff Meeting, and Retreat from Stiara)
• Merchant Class Ships - Booklet I & II
• Starport Module I: Hotel Complex - Booklet (scenarios: Break-In, The Gamblers, and Hostages)
• Z.I.S.M.V. Vlezhdatl - Booklet (scenarios: Boarding Action, Prize Crew, and Escape)

References[]

External links[]

• Brother William H. Keith's web site: [1]
• J. Andrew Keith Memorial web page: [2]