Skip Williams

Ralph Williams, almost always referred to as Skip Williams, is an American game designer. He is married to Penny Williams, who is also involved with the games industry. He is best known as co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition and as the longtime author of Dragon Magazine ' s column "Sage Advice." (Andy Collins now writes the column.)

Williams' professional involvement in the industry goes back to the first edition AD&D game. He is thanked in the Preface to the 1978 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook. When TSR was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, he moved from Wisconsin to Washington to work on the 3rd Edition design team. Although he was released from Wizards of the Coast in 2002, he continues to produce D&D and d20 material on a freelance basis. His most recent publications include "Cry Havoc!" published by Monte Cook's Malhavoc Press and "Races of the Wild" from Wizards of the Coast.

Back in 1995, while a group of friends were playing Dungeons and Dragons, there was a dispute between them as to what weapons a thief could backstab with. One of these friends decided that he would call Skip Williams at the offices of TSR. Inexplicably, the receptionist simply asked the caller if Skip was expecting his call, to which he answered 'yes'. The call was transferred to Skip, and he kindly and patiently looked up the answer for the gamers. Months later, he also answered a question about Psionics.