Skirmisher Publishing is very sad to announce the death of writer, sculptor, and game designer Clint Staples, who died on Tuesday, February 11, of a sudden massive heart attack at his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is survived by his wife, children, sister, nieces, and numerous close friends and colleagues.

Clint was born July 24, 1961, in Winnipeg and grew up in nearby North Kildonan, where he was active in soccer, hockey, and many community activities. He attended the University of Manitoba, where he graduated with a master’s degree in History, and was an avid student of martial arts, to include Medieval swordplay, and enjoyed hiking, biking, and travel.

Clint was a key member of the Skirmisher team and at the time of his death was conducting a final review of the Platinum edition of City Builder: A Guide to Designing Communities, for which he wrote the Tournament Ground, Caravanserai, Mortuary, Laundry, Animal Training Ground, and Taxidermy Workshop. He was also immersed in and the driving force behind the Ragnarok: The Great Winter roleplaying game currently in development by Skirmisher.

Other Skirmisher projects Clint played a role in include co-creating the popular “100 Oddities” series and co-authoring 14 volumes for it; developing the Ragnarok: Age of Wolves miniatures game and creating or contributing to several supplements for it; writing the bestselling universal sourcebook The Mythos Society Guide to New England; contributing to the Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting; and writing or contributing to a number of D&D and BASH RPG supplements. He also authored a number of pieces of fiction, to include the short story “Their Blood is the Sea.”

Other companies for which Clint had written include Fearlight Games and Pagan Publishing. As a sculptor, he created more than 300 miniatures for manufacturers that included Armorcast and Lance & Laser. He was also a co-host of the “d-Infinity Live!” webcast.

Clint’s death has come as a great blow to Skirmisher but we are continuing to move ahead with finalizing City Builder, will be releasing the complete PDF version of it shortly, and will then be moving forward with the print version directly.