John D. Rateliff (born December 9, 1958 [1] ) is an American independent scholar of fantasy literature and author of roleplaying games. He specializes in the study of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, particularly his Middle-earth writings, [2] and wrote and edited the 2007 book The History of the Hobbit .
John D. Rateliff was raised in Magnolia, Arkansas. [3] He moved to Wisconsin in 1981 to study Tolkien's manuscripts at Marquette University. [4] Rateliff is an expert in Tolkien studies, [5] and he earned a Ph.D in 20th-century British literature from Marquette. [6] [7]
Rateliff has helped organize several major conferences on Tolkien. [8] He contributed essays to Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth (2000) and to a volume marking the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings , and edited The History of The Hobbit , containing drafts of Tolkien's The Hobbit with extensive commentary. [8] Having written his dissertation on Lord Dunsany, Rateliff likes to describe his degree as "a Ph.D in fantasy." [8]
He worked for the game companies TSR, Wizards of the Coast, and Hasbro, contributing to a large number of products in the Dungeons & Dragons line. [9] [10] In addition he worked as a freelancer for companies including Decipher Inc., Green Ronin, White Wolf, Guardians of Order, and Chaosium. [3]
Rateliff was the co-editor of the third edition D&D Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide (the original d20 System game rules), and worked on such titles as Mark of Amber , Night Below , Return to the Tomb of Horrors , the Eberron core rulebook, and Decipher's Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game . [8] He is the author of the adventures The Standing Stone and Return to the Keep on the Borderlands , and co-editor of and contributor to d20 Cthulhu. [8]
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