Hobby game pioneer Loren Wiseman has passed away, according to a post by Munchkin Line Editor Andrew Hackard on the Steve Jackson Games forum.  Wiseman was a longtime game designer who co-founded one of the earliest hobby game companies, Game Designers’ Workshop, in 1973.  He was the co-creator of Traveller, which launched in 1977 and is still being published today (see “’Traveller’ RPG Returns”).  Beyond the design of the game, it was notable for the plain black covers the company used to package the line.

Wiseman’s game design career paused after GDW closed in the mid-90s, but resumed when he was hired by Steve Jackson Games in 1998, where he worked on the company’s roleplaying games, including GURPs Traveller.

In 2003, Wiseman was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame.