Gray was born in
British Columbia,
Canada, and has lived there most of his life. He started playing
role-playing games in high school, and has spoken of how discovering
Dungeons & Dragons was instrumental in helping him deal with
depression and thoughts of suicide as a teenager. In the 1990s he lived in
Vancouver, and wrote reviews for the
Vancouver Sun. His wife is a retired schoolteacher, and they have two daughters. Gray was the editor of the fifth edition
Monster Manual, and one of the editors of the ''
Dungeon Master's Guide, the Player's Handbook, and the D&D Starter Set. He also worked for Penny Arcade as managing editor and co-creative director on the Acquisitions Incorporated'' (2019) book published by Wizards of the Coast. Gray is an author of
Secrets of Sarlona (2007). He wrote the third adventure for the
Scales of War adventure path in 2009, "The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge". The 2010 version of
Tomb of Horrors was written by Gray and
Ari Marmell. He is known for the adventure
Dead in Thay, written for the D&D Encounters series in 2014 during the
D&D Next playtest for 5th edition, and updated to appear in the
Tales from the Yawning Portal hardcover in 2017. He also wrote the ENnie-nominated
The Hidden Halls of Hazakor (2018), a 5E starter adventure for young
Dungeon Masters, published by his own Insane Angel Studios imprint. He was an editor on the
Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set (2019). In addition to his RPG work, Gray is the author of a number of fantasy novels and anthologies, including
We Can Be Heroes (2012), a contemporary SF novel about gamers, whose character story draws on elements from his own life. He also wrote
Sidnye (Queen of the Universe) (2013), a science fiction novel about a thirteen-year-old girl. Gray spoke at a Master Class on writing at the 2021 Word on the Lake Writers' Festival in
Salmon Arm, and he was among the cast of presenters for the 2022 Word on the Lake Writers' Festival. == Awards ==