Question: Based on the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game, this University of Pittsburgh graduate wrote the novel Masquerades?
Context: The Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game is the name of two companion accessories to the second and third editions of the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game.  Designed as simpler, stand-alone versions of "Dungeons & Dragons", they feature a simplified ruleset, but with character progression that parallels the standard game.  However, for 3rd-level characters and higher, the standard "Player's Handbook" is still required.  The first version was published in 1999 for the second edition of "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons", while the second version was published in 2000 for the third edition of "Dungeons & Dragons". Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the "Dungeons & Dragons" ("D&D") fantasy role-playing game.  Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories.  Several years later, Greenwood brought the setting to the "D&D" game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987.  Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, as have various licensed products including sword and sorcery novels, role-playing video game adaptations (including the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game to use graphics), and comic books.  The Forgotten Realms is one of the most popular "D&D" settings, largely due to the success of novels by authors such as R. A. Salvatore and numerous role-playing video games, including "Pool of Radiance" (1988), "Eye of the Beholder" (1991), "Baldur's Gate" (1998), "Icewind Dale" (2000) and "Neverwinter Nights" (2002). Orcus is a fictional demon prince and lord of the undead in many campaign settings for the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game.  He is named after Orcus of Roman mythology.  His symbol is a mace with a human skull as the head.  Orcus is one of the most detailed demon lords of the "Dungeons & Dragons" game and one of a small handful to be detailed in every edition of the game.  Orcus was also named as one of the greatest villains in "D&D" history by the final print issue of "Dragon".  "Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition for Dummies" describes Orcus as "the most monstrous evil in the game". Masquerades is a novel written by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb that takes place in the "Forgotten Realms" setting.  It is based on the campaign setting for the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game. Dwellers of the Forbidden City is an adventure module, or pre-packaged adventure booklet, ready for use by Dungeon Masters in the "Dungeons & Dragons" ("D&D") fantasy role-playing game.  The adventure was first used as a module for tournament play at the 1980 Origins Game Fair, and was later published by TSR in 1981 for use with the first edition "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" rules.  The module was written by game designer David "Zeb" Cook, who partly ascribes his hiring by TSR to his work on this module.  In the adventure, the characters are hired to find an object taken to a lost oriental-style city, which has been taken over by a cult of snake-worshipers, the yuan-ti, and their servants, the mongrelmen and tasloi.  The module was ranked as the 13th greatest "Dungeons & Dragons" adventure of all time by "Dungeon" magazine for the 30th anniversary of the "Dungeons & Dragons" game in 2004. In the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game, the lamia is a type of fictional monster.  The lamia is typically portrayed in the game as a creature with the lower body of a lion, and the upper torso, arms, and head of a human female.  A less common type of lamia, the lamia noble, was depicted as having the lower body of a serpent.  The lamia was introduced in the first edition "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" game's original "Monster Manual" sourcebook, written by Gary Gygax and published in 1977.  The lamia also appeared in second edition and third edition "Dungeons & Dragons".  In the fourth edition, it was reenvisaged as a swarm of insects.  The fifth edition disregards this and returns it to its classic design. Alias is a fictional character in the "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting for the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game.  Alias is the main character of "Azure Bonds".  She also appeared in the computer game, Curse of the Azure Bonds which was based on the book.  Alias later appears in the sequel "Song of the Saurials", and the standalone book "Masquerades". Neverwinter Nights 2 is a role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari, Inc. It is the sequel to BioWare's "Neverwinter Nights", based on the "Dungeons & Dragons" pencil and paper fantasy role-playing game.  "Neverwinter Nights 2" utilizes an adaptation of the "Dungeons & Dragons" 3.5 edition rules.  Players create player characters to represent themselves in the game, using the same character creation rules as found in the "Dungeons & Dragons" game.  They may gain the assistance of additional party members, and they eventually acquire a keep that can be used as a base of operations.  "Neverwinter Nights 2" is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting—in and around the city of Neverwinter.  The story is mostly unrelated to "Neverwinter Nights" and follows the journey of an orphaned adventurer investigating a group of mysterious artifacts known as "silver shards" and their connection to an ancient, evil spirit known as the King of Shadows. Kate Novak grew up in Pittsburgh, where she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Chemistry.  She is a fantasy author primarily published in the "Forgotten Realms" and "Ravenloft" shared worlds. The "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game contains many monsters that are similar or related to dragons but which are not "true dragons".  These can be magical beasts, or creatures of other types, which resemble dragons.  Alternatively, they could have the dragon type or keyword, but not be true dragons, or they could have the "dragonblood" subtype in the 3rd edition of "Dungeons & Dragons".
Answer: Kate Novak