AMA with Monte Cook (Numenera, D&D, Monte Cook Games, Malhavoc Press)

[Monte At Home]

Hi Monte!

I was a eager follower of your work back in the d20 era and really liked your design philosophy.

Now, on to the questions:

1) Game mechanics/design-wise, what were the issues that contributed to your retiring from the DnD 5e project, if any? (I'm not interested in internal politics or personal aspects, just game design ones).

2) What is your opinion on the finished DnD 5e ruleset?

1. There were no mechanics or design issues that influenced my decision. My codesigners at the time were top-notch and the game was great.

2. As I said earlier, although it probably seems strange, I have not read or played the published versions of 5e. Based on the team, I'm certain it's very good.

 

[Monte At Home]

Why don't we see more universal non- genre specific systems? Is it too difficult or do you find it easier to design a game when emulating a genre?

Well, I just designed and released one called the Cypher System. They are difficult, in a way, because they need to be flexible to cover a lot of contingencies. Covering Superman, Harry Potter, R2D2, and just an average Joe all with same mechanics, and yet making them all potentially fun to play takes a certain kind of game.

The other thing to consider is that some players just don't care about game mechanics and just want a cool setting. A "generic" system will never be of interest to them.

 

[Monte At Home]

A follow on to some of the earlier questions about the limited license -- would you consider lowering the cost of the limited license for items that only use the Cypher System Rulebook (when that license goes live)? The $100 fee for Numenera or The Strange makes a lot of sense because it has the value add of allowing setting elements from one of the two MCG IPs to be used. But it does seem a little steep if we're providing our own IP. I'm not saying it needs to be free, but just even bringing it back to the older $50 fee would seem more reasonable and still keep a "gated community" feel.

At this point, I'm going to refer all licensing questions to Charles Ryan, Monte Cook Games' COO. You'll find the link to contact him on our website, montecookgames.com.

 

[Monte At Home]

Dear Monte,

As a Colombian (south america) rpg developer who first came into gaming with trpgs via Planescape I must say, it is a wondrous honour and pleasure to have a close approximation to you and your work. I just want to say your life's work is awesome and inspiring and an inspiration. You and your team have always been part of great memories we cherish here in the mountains.

Best wishes,

Daniel Torres

Thank you so, so much. That really means a lot to me.

 

[Eoris]

I mean it.

By the way, do you have suggestions for a second edition of a book in which you are trying to capture the esssence of an entire universe without it being so big that it will alienate new players into feeling a sense of "what can I do here"? I know its a weird question, but your games (planescape and Numenera) always had this feeling of universality and vastness, and yet they felt accessible somehow.

 

[Monte At Home]

Hi Monte! I'm not familiar with your recent work, but I've been an avid PS fan since getting my grubby little hands on the boxed CS back in the 90s. So thank you for your contribution, and thanks for answering all these questions that I'm sure you've answered a million times already!

1. Which PS themes do you find the most compelling/fun/distinctive?

2. Being a conglomeration of scattered lore written by dozens of D&D authors over the course of twenty years, did you ever feel creatively constrained by that history?

3. Is there anything in particular about PS that you're proud of? That stand out in your mind as great things, even if created by someone else?

4. Is there anything in particular about PS that you'd do differently, if you had your druthers? (Or maybe you already have with Numenara, or some other game I haven't played!)

Thanks!

1. I liked the wild, almost limitless imagination involved, and the sense of wonder, which I think was needed for D&D at the time. I liked the sense of mystery, and that not all of them--in fact, many of them--were not solved for the DM, but left up to him or her and the game group.

2. Sure. But that's always going to be true of any shared-world environment, particularly for one with different sensibilities at play. For example, 1E operated on the paradigm that you didn't go to the planes until you were very high level. PS tried to make it a place where you could start your 1st level character. That changes a lot of things.

3. Tons and tons of things. I still like Dead Gods from start to finish. Sigil itself (created by Zeb) is a work of genius, from the torus shape to the factions to the Lady to the dabu and everything else. There are also little things that most people don't remember, like the Temple of the Captive God, or Xanxost, or a million other things. Good memories for sure.

4. Some of the complexities that came from the example in #2, like the changes to spell effects based on the plane you were on, or the loss of cleric spells and so on were neat in 1E, but in Planescape were kind of a pain. I wish we could have explored more of the demiplanes or alternate primes, too, where things could get really weird. Years later, under my Malhavoc Press label, I did a sort of Planescape reunion and brought together Colin McComb, Ray Vallese, Wolfgang Baur, Michele Carter, myself and even Zeb to create a book called Beyond Countless Doorways. It was a d20 book about other planes, but could easily be used in Planescape for demiplanes, alternate primes, Abyssal layers, and so on.

 

[Monte At Home]

I mean it.

By the way, do you have suggestions for a second edition of a book in which you are trying to capture the esssence of an entire universe without it being so big that it will alienate new players into feeling a sense of "what can I do here"? I know its a weird question, but your games (planescape and Numenera) always had this feeling of universality and vastness, and yet they felt accessible somehow.

I'm not 100% sure I understand the question, but I will say this: players need to know what they're expected to do. That's rule #1 of rpg design. If you can convey what characters do in the setting--preferably in a single, simple sentence--you can make the world as complex as you want. The PCs are at the center of things and all things stretch out from there. Back in the 1E DMG, Gary wrote that the way to start a D&D campaign was to detail the little village where the PCs are, and a nearby dungeon. Then, as the game progresses, you kind of expand things out in ever larger circles around that central starting point. That's good advice even in this (presumably non-D&D) context. Start with the PCs and where they are, nail those details down enough that players get who they are, where they are, and what's going on, and then spread everything out from there.

 

[Monte At Home]

Wow. That was a lot of great questions, guys. Thank you. I made it through all of them though. I'll check back in tomorrow and once a day through this Friday to see if there's more.

And thanks for all the kind words and support. It means a lot.

 

[Eoris]

Awesome, thank you so much. I can't believe I am being answered by the maker of planescape! I made a world some years back, the first Colombian trpg to hit the market. I would love to deliver a copy to you but of course never found the means. If you are interested at all, you may check the site essencerpg.com and let me know if I can have the books delivered.

Again many thanks from the bottom of my heart!

 

[Desh-Rae-Halra]

Hi Again,

1. I'm wondering if there were alternate titles for Numenera and The Strange, meaning were these the titles from the beginning or were there some on the cutting room floor?
2. Any cool stories about meeting/being around Gary Gygax?
3. Do you forsee a time when the Cypher System will progress into Characters who are Adjective Nouns who Adverb Verbs or any kind of permutation like that?
4. A question about the Cypher System Rulebook. Clearly the mutations from Numenera are not present. I wondered if that was something about sticking to a page count? It seems that for Sci-Fi and Supers Genres, a LOT of those would be useful for emulating other species or the whole Mutant angle on superpowers.

Thanks