Questions for Monte Cook?

[Khan the Warlord]

LOL!

Hilarious and accurate!

Although, you know that skinny guys fight until their powder. (Or at least, Tyler Durden told me.)

 

[Breakstone]

How's life?

 

[Disciple of Darwin]

Hmm, well I would ask him what his secret project is. Rules be damned!

After he didn't tell me, I would ask him what sacred cows he would've slaughtered when authoring 3E if he had his druthers. hit points? classes? rules? none?

 

[psionotic]

Question for Montnificent

Are Bruce or any other designers going to be publishing anything else under Malhavoc's banner in the near future?

 

[William Ronald]

I have several questions. I should warn my fellow board members that I am an ex-reporter.

1) Mr. Cook, there have been several threads on whether one class was weaker or overpowered in comparison to others. What do you think about the ways that classes and races were balanced with 3E? What would you do differently?

2) What advice would you give someone who wants to start designing for the gaming industry? How did you get started?

3) How do you think 3E has been received? Are you concerned about the large number of companies producing products for the D20 system?

4) What do you think can be done to popularize role playing? Any ideas what can be done to get rid of the social stigma that some people attach to gaming? How can some very vicious urban legends be put to rest?

5) Many people think they can create a balanced adventure, a balanced monster, or balanced class/prestige class? How can you tell if something works well?

6) What do you see for the future of gaming, especially D&D? What role will electronic aids for gaming have in the industry? What about the differing perceptions of computer gamers versus table-top role playing?

7) Several old names in gaming, such as Roger Moore, Gary Gygax, and Rob Kuntz, are working on projects for the D20 system. First, does this give you hope that in 20 years you will still be producing supplements? Secondly, what do you think the older and younger generations of game designers can learn from each other?

8) Gaming has sometimes been stereotyped as a hobby for white males. How has gaming become more diverse? What should be done to make sure everyone feels welcome in the gaming community?

9) What is the hardest part for you in designing an adventure or supplement? What do you think were some of the biggest challenges in designing 3E?

10) What are some of the types of products you would want to see using the D20 rules or other systems?

I apologize if this is a little long.

 

[Thorntangle]

If you weren't a writer/game designer, what would you be?

How many innocent PC's were slaughtered in the playtesting of RttToEE?

You see a tortoise lying helplessly on its back in the hot sun. Why don't you turn the tortoise over?

 

[Nish]

There is only one question: Boxers or Briefs?

Seriously though, I don't have any particular questions to add, as plenty of great ones have already been suggested here, but I would just like to put in a quick vote for questions that focus on the philosophy of design behind the game. Why were certain things designed the way they were, what were the competing ideas, what should have been different and how.... That sort of thing.

 

[CRGreathouse]

What's the worst dungeon (or portion thereof) you've ever designed? What made it so bad? Do you ever use it? Could it be fixed? If so, how?

This would actually be a great question to ask... a nice way to get some info on proper design, along with some humor.

 

[Mark]

Your wife Sue Weinlein-Cook has done a tremendous job as editor for Malhavoc Press. How much influence and input does she have over your other projects?

 

[Welverin]

1) What is your single favorite mechanic from the upcoming CoC d20 book?

2) Is there any downside that you see to the current glut of d20 material? Do you think some people will be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of it and not want to bother trying to sift through it all to separate the great material from the so-so or total trash?

3) Your alternate Ranger class caused quite a stir when it was first released. Many people were glad that one of the designers of 3e acknowledged that there were some flaws in the original class yet were still unsatisfied with your new version. Do you think there can ever be a version of the Ranger that makes everyone happy? (or at least almost everyone?)

4) Secret societies and other campaign specific organizations are what you say prestige classes are really for. However, many people (myself included) prefer more generic prestige classes that can easily be stuck into any campaign. How do you strike a balance between the specificity that you say prestige classes should have and the ability of a prestige class to appeal to a large number of players and DMs?

5) Project yourself back to the first time you played D&D. Do you think the hobby has been able to live up to the expectations you had for it when you originally began playing?

6) ?

So how many questions did it take for everyone else to figure this out?

It took me untill number four, but I have an excuse! I wasn't skipping ahead!