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Portrait of Harold Johnson

Harold Johnson

1915 – 1985

American game designer and editor

Designer Role-playing game designerWriter
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About Harold Johnson

Lived 1915 – 1985 (aged 69–70). Harold Johnson was an American designer, role-playing game designer, writer, author, editor and game designer.

Career In the fall of 1978, Johnson responded to an ad in Dragon magazine for a job as a games editor at the magazine's publisher, TSR. He was not selected for the job after the interview, but applied for another job with TSR as a game designer, but instead TSR hired him as an editor. His first assignment was as a copy editor on the original Dungeon Masters Guide, to which he also contributed some rules. He also began working on a tournament module which would later become C1, Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. "That was to prove to the company I could write."

Harold Johnson designed the modules The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (1980), and Secret of the Slavers Stockade (1981), and also wrote the IJAC1 Judge's Survival Pack, and IJ4 The Golden Goddess for the Indiana Jones role-playing game. He was part of the design team for several early Dragonlance modules and products. He also worked on other product lines, such as Forgotten Realms, Spelljammer, and Ravenloft, and worked as an editor and project coordinator on numerous D&D products throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and provided some design contributions early in the game's third edition.

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Important facts

Born
1915, Evanston
Birth century
Died
1985
Nationality
Also known as
Johnson, Harold Edgar, 1915-

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Harold Johnson's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Harold Johnson?

American game designer and editor (1915–1985)

When was Harold Johnson born?

Harold Johnson was born in 1915 in Evanston.

When did Harold Johnson die?

Harold Johnson died in 1985.

What was Harold Johnson's occupation?

Harold Johnson was a designer, role-playing game designer, writer, author, editor and game designer.

What nationality was Harold Johnson?

Harold Johnson was American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Harold Johnson

· Wikidata: Q5661289

· DBpedia: Harold Johnson (game designer)

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Harold Johnson. https://biography.guide/harold-johnson-designer/

MLA: "Harold Johnson." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/harold-johnson-designer/.

Chicago: "Harold Johnson." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/harold-johnson-designer/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

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