Fallout writer Scott Benny has died aged 61.

Game designer and author of the first Fallout, Scott Benny, has died from a complication of pneumonia at the age of 61.

In addition to writing for the original Fallout, Benny wrote and produced several games during his time at Interplay, including The Lord of the Rings, Starfleet Academy, Starfleet Command and its sequel, and Castles 2: Siege and Conquest.

In an interview with Steemit in 2017, Ben remained humble about Fallout’s contribution.

“I didn’t have much to do with Fallout,” he said. “A few maps, a few pieces of the Hub, and a few system messages. And a mysterious alien perk. And I call it Dogmeat – if there’s anything to continue my writing career, it’s going to be the name of the dog.

Indeed, Dogmeat has continued to appear in Fallout games released over the decades since the original was released in 1997.

After leaving Interplay, Benny worked on several video games: Descent, Descent to Undermountain, Stonekeep, Champions of Norrath and an improved version of the original SimCity. He has also written addons for tabletop RPGs including Dungeons & Dragons, Champions, Marvel Superheroes, Mutants & Masterminds, and adaptations of Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft.

Benny was a community member in the MMO Champions adaptation and is well known in-game as Thundrax.

“The entire Champions and Critics family will be saddened to learn of the passing of Scott Ben, the same Thundrax who was a longtime designer and amateur player in the Champions and Paper Champions game. [Champions Online]”The Champions online Twitter account wrote on Tuesday: ‘Calm down Scott I will miss you so much.’

Several of his colleagues, including designer Colin McComb, paid tribute to Ben on Twitter.

“My friend and former colleague, game designer Scott Benny, passed away from a complication of pneumonia,” McComb said. “The work of their champions was innovative. I hope he knows how much people appreciate him.