Meguey Baker

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.

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

Career

Game design

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

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

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

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

References
  1. "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. "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). Mitchell, Alex; Vosmeer, Mirjam (eds.). Monster Power. Rebel Heart. Gay Sword: Queer Structures and Narrative Possibility in PbtA Tabletop Roleplaying Games. 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. "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. Shannon Appelcline (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '00s. Evil Hat Productions. ISBN 978-1-61317-087-8.
  9. 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. "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. "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. "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. 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. "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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