John Holbrook Vance (born San Francisco, 1916) began writing professionally while serving in the Merchant Navy during World War II. In a prolific career spanning six decades he has won many awards for his science fiction, fantasy, and mystery novels. Jack Vance's fiction has strongly influenced later writers and attracted devout fans worldwide. Vance writes for intelligent readers. His fiction displays consummate style, wit, imagination, and an unmatched ability to conjure vivid, exotic, yet convincing societies. A Vance character seldom resorts to violence, preferring cunning or persuasion -or, in the Dying Earth stories, the occasional magic spell. Vance's first published book, The Dying Earth (1950), takes place in Earth's unimaginably far future, when science has passed away and magic rules the world. He revisited the setting in The Eyes of the Overworld (1966), Cugel's Saga (1983), and Rhialto the Marvellous (1984). Some Dying Earth characters only dabble in magic, like the wily rogue Cugel the Clever; others struggle for mastery, like the rising young magician Turjan; an elite few are vain arch-magicians, such as Rhialto. The Pelgrane Press Dying Earth roleplaying game, authorized and approved by Vance, lets you create your own magical stories with characters of any power level. Even if you haven't yet read the stories, or you've never played a roleplaying game, the simple rules conjure a Vancian atmosphere for Cugels, Turjans, and Rhialtos alike. All you need to play are this rulebook, a few ordinary six-sided dice, paper and pencils, two to six reasonably cooperative players, and lots of imagination.