Amazon WotC September 2007: Exemplars of Evil, Tiles 5, Fortress of the Yuan-ti

[AdmundfortGeographer]

This industry doesn't get much better than Robin Laws.

Just to pipe in, I agree. I think his work on the RuneRPG was pure bottled genius. Ever since then I have sought out his stuff on the shelf just to see what he's done.

I even grabbed his Warhammer Fantasy novel (still sitting on my shelf to be read though).

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Just to pipe in, I agree. I think his work on the RuneRPG was pure bottled genius. Ever since then I have sought out his stuff on the shelf just to see what he's done.

I even grabbed his Warhammer Fantasy novel (still sitting on my shelf to be read though).

His series of articles in Dragon magazine, "The Play's the Thing", are among my favourite articles ever in Dragon. I went through and photocopied all my favourite and/or useful articles that I had in my 40 or so issues. At the end I was surprised at how many of them were by Robin. I guess I didn't take too much notice of it at the time.

I love Feng Shui too. I don't own many roleplaying books that aren't D&D but I own almost all the Feng Shui line (I know that Robin didn't write all of the books).

Olaf the Stout

 

[ssampier]

4e is coming, 4e is coming...

just not today.

...
Also put me into the crowd who still looks at the 2E Villain book. Heck, I bought the book in hardcopy after 3E had come out and I wasn't playing 2E any more I liked it that much!

Olaf the Stout

And why not? It no almost rules and is choke full of ideas. It did suffer from the 2e "spread", fairly large font and big margins, but hey, it's all good.

 

[Nightfall]

Olaf and Eric,

I'm just not convinced of his genius, RuneRPG notwithstanding. Is he a good designer? yes.
Is he the kind of designer I flock towards like I would say Mike Mearls or Erik Mona? Maybe not.

But this is just my opinion and you guys are welcome to say I'm wrong. Cause I very well may be.

 

[rjs]

I appreciate the complement Nightfall, but Robin Laws is simply genius. Not only is he one of the nicest, most professional designers I've ever had the pleasure of working with, he's also incredibly talented, inspired, and brilliant. Robin Laws is one of the greats and I am humbled to have my name next to his.

Another thing to remember is that although Robin and I were the design team on this sourcebook, it did undergo changes in development to match the vision of the development team. In many ways, it's as much the book of Mike Mearls, Jesse Decker, and Steven Schubert as it is ours. They too did great work on this sourcebook to make certain that the final product fit with the D&D Hell, while reining my darker impulses when working on evil material (see various entries in Book of Fiends for examples).

And Psion, thanks, that makes up for the fact that the blame for "lowest common denominator" falls upon my and my fellow freelancers' shoulders. (Jeez. Sorry for kicking your dog, man.)

 

[Nightfall]

Rob,

Hey I just think you're the best and Robin...eh. But that's me. If you like him and consider him grander than yourself, that's fine. For me it's like King comparing himself to Tolstoy.

I know you're darker impulses. I was counting on that for FC II! I mean I figured Mike might go "Eh let's drop that little sex reference." But other than that I full expected something similiar to Book of Fiends.

Which is what I'm also expecting for your Villains Handbook. So excuse me if I place you on a pedestal.

 

[Thurbane]

As this was one of the best 2E supplements, I certainly hope it's true. Toss in a little crunch (some new spells/invocations/psionics, some new poisons, some new diseases) and I'd be good to go.

Don't forget the mandatory new feats, PrCs and base class or two.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Don't forget the mandatory new feats, PrCs and base class or two.

Given the somewhat narrow range of PrCs available to villains (PrCs for typical characters or drooling lunatic fiends), I wouldn't cry if there were a few well-chosen new PrCs that sprang directly from the advice on crafting a villain.

 

[Torpedo]

Can't say a word.


Okay, that was a little disappointing, wasn't it? I'll say what I can, as soon as I can.

Ari,

I greatly enjoyed your previous work on Heroes of Horror and the Tome of Magic. I got Cityscape for Christmas but haven't had a chance to read it in depth yet. The Yuan-ti have been my favorite D&D villains for well over twenty years. Consider Fortress of the Yuan-ti pre-sold to this customer! I'm looking forward to whatever secrets you can spill when the time comes.

Personally I'm hoping for a "plug into any setting" approach like Red Hand of Doom rather than specifically tied to the Forgotten Realms or Eberron. But I mined Serpent Kingdoms for what I wanted in my Greyhawk world, so I could do so again if need be.

 

[Eytan Bernstein]

*blink*

You're kidding, right? This industry doesn't get much better than Robin Laws. I think they both did a pretty praise-worthy job on FCII.

Seconded. Ed Greenwood and Erik Mona are excellent and I'm sure they would have done a fine job, but Robin Laws is definitely on my top 10 list of most influential and praiseworthy industry veterans working today.