The Alliterates » Monte’s News

Free Issue of Kobold Quarterly

Monte Cook — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:09:41 +0000

Kobold Quarterly is offering a free issue for download from Monday Jan 30 - Tuesday, Feb 14th. Go to the KQ Store, add Kobold Quarterly #14 to your cart, and use the coupon code KoboldWelcome at checkout to get it for free.

#14 was the big Gen Con issue, and it includes:

· Exclusive Pathfinder content, including two articles by Paizo staff

· The Ecology of the Tengu—in Golarion and in Zobeck

· An interview with 4th Edition D&D lead designer Rob Heinsoo

· Treasure Trove articles with phat loots to improve your game and bring smiles to players

· Paladins, secret languages and aasimar PCs

· Secrets of game design from Monte Cook

Seeking Geeks

Monte Cook — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:07:05 +0000

Seeking Geeks

Jen Page and I have launched a Kickstarter to fund our new, joint project, Geek Seekers. Geek Seekers is a funny but real paranormal investigation web series where the two of us--huge geeks both--look for ghosts, bigfoot, UFOs, and more. I hope you'll check it out and consider contributing.

So…

Monte Cook — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:25:12 +0000

So...

Maybe you heard about this? Maybe not. Now you have. I'm the lead designer of a project that will likely evolve into a new iteration of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. It's meant to be a set of rules that unites all the previous editions, and the players of those editions. It's a big project, and we plan on involving all comers to playtest and voice their opinions, because really, what's the point of designing a game no one wants to play? And who knows better what D&D players want than, well, D&D players. So if you care about the game, sign up to be a playtester, and have your thoughts get heard.

2012

Monte Cook — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:31:58 +0000

2012

Hey, 2012. How you doing? You're looking good.

You wanna hang out? You can come over, maybe help me out with a few things. We'll make some plans. We'll have fun.

Cool. See you real soon.

2011

Monte Cook — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:29:54 +0000

2011

So, 2011. You're leaving. Can't say that I'm sorry to see you go.

We started out... rocky. I was in a bad way, and looked to you for solace. Succor. Maybe just a helping hand. Instead, you kicked me while I was down.

I pulled myself up, though. Started doing some new things. Got a new work-thing going with Wizards of the Coast. Started a web-series called Geek Seekers. Moved to Seattle. Reconnected with some old friends. Made some new ones. By the end, things looked pretty good.

But even that stuff is really more like groundwork for 2012. Really, you were no help, 2011. You kept punching me in the gut each time I tried one of these knew things. You and your friend, 2010. (I hate to even bring up that guy's name, to be honest.)

So, 2011? Get outta here. Go. 2012 hasn't even started yet and it's already better than you.

In Seattle

Monte Cook — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:41:39 +0000

In Seattle

I have moved to Seattle. Or rather, I have moved back to Seattle. I lived here before, from 1997 to about 2006, and now I'm back. Before, I came because Wizards of the Coast bought the company that I worked for, TSR. (I have to ask myself, if you don't know that, how is it that you're reading my blog? Anyway...) I moved here with Sue. We left because it seemed like, at the time, the things tying us to Seattle were not what they once were, and Sue really liked Milwaukee, the place that she felt to be her home. (Previously, we had lived in Lake Geneva, WI, not terribly far from Milwaukee, all things considered. Before that, well, that we before I knew Sue, and I lived all over. Virginia, Colorado, South Dakota...)

Now I am back in Seattle. And I am on my own. That's not easy to write. It might be the hardest thing I've ever had to write, actually. But I'm in Seattle, and first and foremost I'm here because it's the place I have loved more than any other I've lived. So that part is good. I am doing work with Wizards of the Coast again, as you probably know, but I was doing that in Milwaukee. That's not why I moved.

Moving is never fun, and that's never been more true than with this move. It's a bit of a reboot for me, and so it is bittersweet. It's also the first time in many, many moves that I've had to do it all alone since, well, since when I moved I could fit all my belongings in my car and drive off to Charlottesville, VA to work for Iron Crown Enterprises in 1990.

The move has had its ups and downs. Take today, for example. I have a new apartment, but my belongings are still in storage. I had everything lined up to move that stuff in tomorrow. Today, I wake up to discover that the road in front of my building is being repaved. That's all well and good, but it means that my car--in the apartment's big, underground garage--is trapped. I can't get out. This means I can't get to an important meeting at Wizards. Worse, this construction is going to take a few days, so I can't get my stuff moved in.

Thus, I will continue to sit alone in an empty apartment a while longer. Thankfully, I have a lot of work to do. Hmm. How often does one type that sentence?

So, I refilled my Starbucks card, I've got a rain jacket with a hood... I think I'm ready for whatever Seattle has to offer.

As soon as I can get out of my parking garage.

Ready Player One

Monte Cook — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:06:19 +0000

Ready Player One

I devoured Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. If you are a geek worthy of the name, you're bound to find something in this novel that you will like. Set in a dystopian future, the story surrounds a group of young gamers/hackers who must find their way through a maze of 80s pop culture and video games to solve a series of intricate puzzles created by a dead game designer to find a vast fortune... and maybe save the world.

If you like games (video and tabletop rpgs), 80s geek movies and TV, intelligent characters, and fast-paced action and adventure, you'll like this book.

If you know who Acererak or the Space Giants were, if you can quote from Monty Python or the Breakfast Club, or if you remember finding the grey dot in the Atari game Adventure, then you will love this book and you'll be absolutely certain that it was written just for you.

Go read this book, geeks.

Lots of New Stuff

Monte Cook — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:41:56 +0000

Lots of New Stuff

I always have a lot of projects in the works, and now is no exception.

I have a story in the Stone Skin Press anthology, The New Hero, which is coming out soon. You can check out the cover art at the link. That's my story being depicted on the top panel. I hope you'll enjoy reading about Iona and her psilent hound companion, Duncan.

The Ptolus-based adventure that I wrote for Fiery Dragon Productions, Queen of Lies, is once again available in print. It's got dark elves and treachery, plus a heroic invasion of a subterranean fortress!

There is a new issue of Kobold Quarterly out. My Game Theories column this time will be of interest to many D&D players, as it offers ideas for flavorful, non-mechanical racial benefits for all the standard fantasy races. Make your elf more elvish!

Lastly, I have a brand new project being announced on Monday, so stay tuned for that. An announcement on Halloween! Oooooh. Scary?

Geeks Make the Best Friends

Monte Cook — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:57:23 +0000

Geeks Make the Best Friends

A geek is, by most definitions, someone who's smart, well-educated, and really devoted to something. While most people might associate that "something" with science fiction, games, technology, and so on, you could just as easily have a baseball geek, a cooking geek, and so on. Often, things like love and friendship didn't come easily to your typical geek. Maybe because they were awkward growing up, or maybe just because they were smart and thought a lot about everything, including what it means to really be a friend--and thus, never took the concept lightly. They're less caught up in conformity and less likely to judge. Adult geeks often retain a childlike quality to them, and still very much appreciate fun, laughter, and conversation as ends unto themselves.

Sounds to me like the makings of a great friend. The kind of person I want to surround myself with.

It's always been the geeks in my life who have been there when I was in need. Always the geeks who wanted to stay out late in a cafe talking about philosophy, science, or some other fascinating subject. Or play a game. Or jump in the car to go somewhere, just for the sake of being together--because we knew that wherever we went, we'd find something fun, entertaining, and likely geeky. They're the ones who best understood when I found the need to make an unconventional choice in my life. It's the geeks that have supported me, made me laugh, and told me that I was important to them.

I want my friends to be geeks.

Back to the Laboratory

Monte Cook — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:54:15 +0000

Back to the Laboratory

A short while ago, I started working for Wizards of the Coast again, on D&D. I am currently working with talented members of the R&D staff, exploring various options and experimenting with the game. Which is to say, doing what I really love. At this point, you can think of me as a mad scientist in a rpg design laboratory, concocting crazy creations to see if any of them have any value.

I'm really not at all concerned with edition wars or arguments of that nature. Please don't try to drag me into those discussions. D&D is bigger than any of that, and my job is a lot more open ended and broad minded than such things. While I'm at it, let me also add, please don't make assumptions about what I'm doing based on things I've done in the past. The future is not yet written.

Speaking of writing (and the future), I'll be writing the Legends & Lore column at the Wizards' web site starting this week and going forward. I'll be using that as a venue to give you updates on my thoughts on these topics, new (and old) ideas, and experiments.