Scott Bennie, Original Fallout Writer Who Named Dogmeat, Has Died
Scott Bennie, producer, writer, and designer for multiple video games, tabletop sourcebooks, and more, has died. He was 61. A post on Bennie's Facebook page confirmed the cause of death was due to complications from pneumonia.
Bennie's work at Interplay Entertainment during the '90s is what most of us will know him for, with credits on strategy games Castles, Castles: The Northern Campaign, Castles 2: Siege, and Conquest, various Star Trek games including Starfleet Academy, Judgment Rites, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, Starfleet Command, and Starfleet Command 2, as well as classic action sims Descent and Descent to Undermountain.
Related: Fallout: What Happened To The Rest Of The World?
But perhaps his most notable contribution to gaming came in the form of a humble dog's name. In an interview with Steemit (via PC Gamer), Bennie talked about his time at Interplay and his work on the original Fallout.
"I didn't have that much to do with Fallout. A few maps, some bits of the Hub, and some system messages. And the Mysterious Stranger Perk," he said. "And I named Dogmeat – if anything endures of my writing career, it will be the name of that dog."
Besides his work in video games, Bennie was also a prolific RPG designer with contributions to Dungeons & Dragons, Champions, Marvel Superheroes, and Mutants & Mastermind. He also helped adapt both Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft into tabletop RPGs.
Bennie was also a big deal in the Champions community. Besides being well known for his work creating the Champions tabletop game, he also played Champions Online where he portrayed the hero Thundrax, a beloved character.
In a heartfelt eulogy on Facebook, former Interplay co-worker Jesse Heinig spoke of Bennie's great
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