Peter Schweighofer is a freelance game designer,
writer, and editor who lives in Virginia. He publishes his game material here at Griffon Publishing Studio and writes regularly about games at the
Hobby Games Recce blog.
After growing up in the suburban Connecticut
enclave of Ridgefield, Peter earned his bachelors degree in creative
writing from Hamilton College. He returned to his hometown to work
for two years as a reporter on the
local newspaper, and later served
as that paper’s editor for one year.
He joined West End Games in 1993 to establish
The Official Star Wars Adventure Journal, a quarterly publication
filled with original
Star Wars fiction, source material, and
adventures. Over the years he’s worked with many
New York Times
best-selling
Star Wars authors, including Timothy Zahn, Kathy
Tyers, and Michael A. Stackpole. Peter also freelanced many West End
products, including
Platt’s Starport Guide, the
Raiders
of the Lost Ark Sourcebook,
Platt’s Smuggler’s Guide,
and the
Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook. He’s contributed
to numerous issues of the
Star Wars Adventure Journal and
Topps Star Wars Galaxy Magazine,
Cracken’s Rebel
Operatives,the
DarkStryder campaign,
Instant
Adventures, the
Men in Black Roleplaying Game, the
Hercules & Xena Roleplaying Game, and the
Star Wars
Roleplaying Game, Revised & Expanded. His
Star Wars
Introductory Adventure Game helped introduce new players to
roleplaying during the height of the
Star Wars Special Edition
film release in early 1997. He’s written a solitaire adventure game
book,
Imperial Double-Cross, and a small promotional game
flyer called
Mos Eisley Shoot-Out. Peter also edited two
Bantam short story anthologies,
Star Wars: Tales from the Empire
and
Star Wars: Tales from the New Republic.
After leaving West End in 1998 he continued his
freelance work, including writing material for Fantasy Flight Games’
Dragonstar game line, Pinnacle Entertainment’s
Weird
Wars, Wizards of the Coast’s
Star Wars Roleplaying Game
and the late
Star Wars Gamer magazine, and Decipher’s
Star
Trek Roleplaying Game. His short fiction pieces include
“Forgotten” in
Far Frontiers (DAW Books, September 2000)
and “Hatshepsut’s Revenge” in
Historical Hauntings (DAW
Books, March 2001). His bibliography contains a complete listing of
his published work.
He started his personal website, Griffon’s
Aerie, in March 2003 to promote his freelance writing and game design
activities. In September 2005 he launched Griffon Publishing Studio
to promote and publish his game ideas online. His game titles include
roleplaying game sourcebooks
Pulp Egypt and
Heroes of Rura-Tonga using the
system-neutral
Any-System Key,
a roleplaying game toolkit entitled
Schweig’s Themed Dungeon Genrator, the solitaire wargame
Operation Drumbeat, and
the kid-friendly miniatures game
Valley of the Ape. For six years he blogged regularly about issues
in the adventure gaming hobby at
Hobby Games Recce.
When he finds free time from his writing
activities and his job as a full-time stay-at-home dad, Peter reads
science fiction, fantasy, and history, researches interesting
historical periods (particularly ancient and Victorian Egypt, the
Middle Ages, and World War II), plans game nights with his family,
dabbles with miniatures and dioramas for his games, and enjoys
cooking for family and friends.
