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Meguey Baker

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Meguey Baker
Born1971
Upstate New York, USA
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHampshire College (BA)
Occupation(s)Game designer, curator, and historian
Notable workApocalypse World, Powered by the Apocalypse
SpouseVincent Baker
Awards

Meguey Baker (/mɛˈɡeɪ/) is a tabletop role-playing game designer, independent publisher and quilt historian. She and her husband Vincent Baker designed Apocalypse World, the first game in the Powered by the Apocalypse system.

Career

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Game design

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Baker's most prominent work is Apocalypse World (2010). Apocalypse World is a post-apocalyptic game co-designed with her husband, Vincent Baker, published through Lumpley Games. Apocalypse World won multiple awards such as the 2010 Indie RPG Award for "Game of the Year"[1] and the 2011 Lucca Comics & Games "Best Role-Playing Game" award.[4] Powered by the Apocalypse, the game design framework created by the Bakers for Apocalypse World, has made a lasting impact on role-playing game design.[6][7]

Baker is the founding owner of Night Sky Games.[8]: 185  A Thousand and One Nights (2006), published through Night Sky Games, is a role-playing game based on the collection of Arabic stories The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.[8]: 185 [9][10] According to games scholar Evan Torner, A Thousand and One Nights includes systems for telling stories within stories, establishing and developing jealousies between characters, and reflecting upon metatextuality.[11]

Baker has also designed other indie role-playing games such as Miss Schiffer's School for Young Ladies of Quality (2006),[12] Psi*Run (2012) and Valiant Girls (2013); the latter were Night Sky Games' third and sixth publications respectively.[8]: 185–186  She co-designed with her husband both Firebrands (2017), a romance TTRPG in a sci-fi setting focused on mobile frame pilots[13][14] and Under Hollow Hills (2021), an RPG about fairytales and a traveling circus.[15][16] Chase Carter for Polygon compared Firebrands to adventure romance television shows Bridgerton and Our Flag Means Death.[17]

Baker and Emily Care Boss wrote Fair Game, a blog-style design and roleplaying theory journal, from 2005 to 2011.[18]

Textiles and quilting

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Baker is a quilter and quilt historian, particularly interested in how the history of non-dominant voices gets transmitted in objects and oral tradition rather than the official written history.[19] Baker collects and restores antique and vintage textiles, as well as creates new works.[19][20]

Baker is a Collections Assistant for the Hatfield Historical Museum and is part of the curatorial team for the Historical Society of Greenfield.[21][22][23]

Personal life

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Baker studied American History at Hampshire College with a focus on early American textile history and material culture.[24][19] Baker highlighted that her first quilt block was hand sewn at four years old; she wrote, "I checked with my mom. She says I was 4 because my sister was a newborn and sewing helped me keep quiet while she was napping. I'm guessing I did about one seam per nap".[25] Baker and her husband Vincent Baker have three children.[26]

In July 2023, Baker was diagnosed with breast cancer.[27][28] CBR reported that a crowdfunding campaign on Meal Train to support Baker "was set with an initial goal of $2,500 and has since shattered that sum with a current total of over $22,800 [on August 26, 2023]. [...] In addition to financial contributions, many TTRPG Game Masters, players, and fans have taken the opportunity to voice their admiration for Baker and all that she has inspired".[29]

Bibliography

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Role-playing games

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  • A Thousand and One Nights (2006)[9]
  • Miss Schiffer's School for Young Ladies of Quality (2006)[12]
  • The Girl Effect
  • Apocalypse World (2010)[7]
    • Apocalypse World 2nd Edition (2016)[30]
    • Apocalypse World: the Extended Refbook (2019)[31]
    • Apocalypse World: Burned Over Hackbook (2019)[32]
  • Psi-Run Revised (2012)[33][8]: 185 
  • Valiant Girls (2013)[8]: 185 
  • Firebrands (2017)[14]
  • The King Is Dead (2018)[34]
  • Run For Your Life (2019)[35]
  • At the Stroke of Midnight (2019)[35]
  • Haunted (2019)[35]
  • Does It Fit the Mission (2019)[35]
  • The Ghost of Eunice Williams (2019)[35]
  • A Branch of May (2019)[35]
  • Bless the Seeds (2019)[35]
  • In the Company of Birds (2019)[35]
  • Nine Pins (2019)[35]
  • The Sundered Land (2019)[35]
  • The Journey of Half-a-Fool (2019)[35]
  • In Dreaming Avalon (2019)[35]
  • Murderous Ghosts (2019)[35]
  • Space Station Home (2020)[35]
  • Unknown Country and Undiscovered Home (2020)[35]
  • The Lost Spells of Venus (2021)[35]
  • How the Story Ends (2021)[35]
  • Towns Like Ours (2021)[36]
  • Under Hollow Hills (2021)[16]

Other

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  • Unframed: The Art of Improvisation for Game Masters (2014)[37]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Indie Game of The Year, 2010". Indie RPG Awards. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Best Support, 2010". Indie RPG Awards. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Most Innovative Game, 2010". Indie RPG Awards. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Best of Show: i vincitori". Lucca Comics & Games 2011. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  5. ^ "2011 Golden Geek Award Winners! | Geekdo". BoardGameGeek. November 21, 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  6. ^ Berge, PS (2021). "Monster Power. Rebel Heart. Gay Sword.: Queer Structures and Narrative Possibility in PbtA Tabletop Roleplaying Games". In Mitchell, Alex; Vosmeer, Mirjam (eds.). Monster Power. Rebel Heart. Gay Sword: Queer Structures and Narrative Possibility in PbtA Tabletop Roleplaying Games. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 13138. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 179–192. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-92300-6_16. ISBN 978-3-030-92299-3. S2CID 244882412. Archived from the original on 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2021-12-31. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  7. ^ a b "Powered by the Apocalypse: How an Indie RPG Is Still Changing the Industry". CBR. 2020-10-04. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  8. ^ a b c d e Shannon Appelcline (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '00s. Evil Hat Productions. ISBN 978-1-61317-087-8.
  9. ^ a b Mikcs, David (25 July 2011). "Seduction Unending". The New Republic. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  10. ^ Caruso, Giovanni; Fassone, Riccardo; Ferri, Gabriele; Gualeni, Stefano; Salvador, Mauro (2016). "Games on Games. Game Design as Critical Reflexive Practice". G|A|M|E Games as Art, Media, Entertainment. 1 (5). ISSN 2280-7705. Archived from the original on 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2022-01-02. Meguey Baker's 1,001 Nights is a playable critique of the encased narratives found in Arabian Nights
  11. ^ Torner, Evan (2016). "The Self-Reflexive Tabletop Role-Playing Game". G|A|M|E Games as Art, Media, Entertainment. 1 (5). ISSN 2280-7705. Archived from the original on 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  12. ^ a b "Miss Schiffer's School for Young Ladies of Quality". VideoGameGeek. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  13. ^ "4 Powered By Apocalypse TTRPGs for Romance Fans". CBR. 2020-12-06. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  14. ^ a b "Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands by Meguey & Vincent Baker, et al". itch.io. Archived from the original on 2023-06-05. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  15. ^ Hall, Charlie (2021-12-13). "The best tabletop games that we played in 2021". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  16. ^ a b "Under Hollow Hills | lumpley games". DriveThruRPG. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  17. ^ Carter, Chase (2022-04-16). "8 Tabletop RPGs for Bridgerton and Our Flag Means Death fans". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  18. ^ "The Fairgame Archive". www.fairgame-rpgs.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  19. ^ a b c Meguey Baker [@NightSkyGames] (April 22, 2021). "[THREAD] All of this, and also all of this in game design. I work professionally in both, have advanced degrees in neither, and really see the divide Erin lays out. [...] When I graduated with my BA and a focus on American textile history & non-dominant voices, Museum Studies masters programs were so rare there was no guidance for me towards the collections care work I wanted to do. [...] So I did textile conservation & restoration for private clients, sent to me by word of mouth, for 12 years. While having tiny kids & doing postpartum counseling work. I did not think of myself as an historian, because there was no job and no book. [...] The curator there recommended me for my current job. Which was grant-funded off and on for 5 years. It was LAST YEAR that my part-time curatorial job became an actual line item in the budget, with actual job security. [...] My CV of museum work is impressive. I am good at my job. I sure don't have any academic credentials, despite having presented at academic conferences" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2021 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "About". Night Sky Games. Archived from the original on 2021-06-21. Retrieved 2022-01-02. In other aspects of my life, I am a sex ed teacher, a textile artist, and a conservation specialist at the local museum.
  21. ^ Bauer, Zydalis (2021-12-10). "Hatfield Historical Society's COVID Project". NEPM. Connecting Point. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  22. ^ "Where fall foliage meets history, people still find beauty in Poet's Seat". WWLP. 2021-10-29. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  23. ^ Meguey Baker [@NightSkyGames] (May 20, 2018). "I am the collections assistant at the Hatfield Historical Museum, 1/3 of the curatorial team at the @HSgreenfieldMA, and a textile conservation specialist associated with three other local history museums in western MA" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2021 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ Baker, Meguey (November 16, 2015). "Extraordinary clues in ordinary places". Hatfield Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2021-12-31. Meguey Baker studied early American textile history and material culture at Hampshire College. She is a member of the Mohawk Trail Quilt Guild, a volunteer textile conservation specialist at Memorial Hall in Deerfield, and does textile repair and conservation for private clients.
  25. ^ Meguey Baker [@NightSkyGames] (April 10, 2020). "The funny thing? That works both ways sometimes. Like, I have to remember that not everyone has a textile background 45 years deep like me. Here's my first quilt block. Hand sewn when I was 4. [LINK] (I checked with my mom. She says I was 4 because my sister was a newborn and sewing helped me keep quiet while she was napping. I'm guessing I did about one seam per nap.)" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2021 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ Meguey Baker [@NightSkyGames] (May 20, 2018). "^_^ Not according to wikipedia. According to them, I'm a quilter (which is true) married to game designer Vincent Baker (also true, for 25 years), we have 3 kids (also true) and I wrote a couple games" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2021 – via Twitter.
  27. ^ Meguey Baker [@NightSkyGames] (August 10, 2023). "I was diagnosed with breast cancer on 7/17/23. The phrase Ya Hayy (meaning the Ever-Living, the Eternal, the One existence having neither beginning or ending) has been almost constantly in my mind since, as an invocation of surviving, of living, of life. [Link]" (Tweet). Retrieved August 22, 2023 – via Twitter.
  28. ^ Carter, Chase (September 4, 2023). "Apocalypse World designer Meguey Baker receives public support following breast cancer diagnosis and surgery". Dicebreaker. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  29. ^ McCauley, Tara (August 26, 2023). "The TTRPG Community Shatters Fundraising Goal to Support Apocalypse World Designers". CBR. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  30. ^ "Apocalypse World (2nd Ed) | lumpley games". DriveThruRPG. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  31. ^ "Apocalypse World: the Extended Refbook | lumpley games". DriveThruRPG. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  32. ^ "Apocalypse World: Burned Over Hackbook | lumpley games". DriveThruRPG. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  33. ^ "Psi*Run (Revised)". VideoGameGeek. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  34. ^ "The King Is Dead | lumpley games". DriveThruRPG. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Meguey & Vincent Baker, et al". itch.io. Archived from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  36. ^ "Towns Like Ours | Daedalum Analog Productions". DriveThruRPG. Archived from the original on 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  37. ^ "Unframed: The Art of Improvisation for Game Masters | Encoded Designs". DriveThruRPG. Archived from the original on 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
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