Scott Bennie, the Fallout writer who helped create iconic characters like Dogmeat and the Mysterious Stranger, has passed away.
According to a post on Facebook (via PC Gamer), Bennie passed away due to complications from pneumonia.
Bennie worked as a senior writer and producer at Interplay Productions, working on the original Fallout and other projects such as Star Trek: Judgment Rites and Starfleet Academy.
During an interview published on Steemit in 2017, Bennie rather humbly suggested he didn't have much do with with Fallout. "[I worked on] a few maps, some bits of the hub, and some system messages. And the Mysterious Stranger Perk. And I named Dogmeat -- if anything endures of my writing career, it will be the name of that dog," he said. Those contributions have since become synonymous with the franchise.
Throughout his career, which saw him take freelance roles at companies like Green Ronin Publishing, Hero Games, and BlackWyrm Games, Bennie earned credits on other projects including Descent, Stonekeep, Champions of North, and the Enhanced CD-ROM version of the original SimCity. He also wrote for notable tabletop RPGs including Dungeons & Dragons and Marvel Superheroes.