Rob Wieland

Recent & Upcoming Releases

September 17 2024

D&D Player’s Handbook (2024)

(Dungeons & Dragons)
Revised 2024 Player's Handbook.
Replies (162)
September 26 2024

Dungeon Master's Screen (2024)

(Dungeons & Dragons)
4-panel screen revised for the 2024 rules.
Replies (68)
November 12 2024

D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (2024)

(Dungeons & Dragons)
Revised 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide.
Replies (524)
December 3 2024

Monstrous Menagerie II

(Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition)
The sequel to the acclaimed monster book!
Replies (69)
February 18 2025

D&D Monster Manual (2025)

(Dungeons & Dragons)
Revised 2025 Monster Manual.
Replies (91)
July 1 2025

D&D Dragon Anthology

(Dungeons & Dragons)
A book of 10 dragon-themed adventures.
Replies (40)
October 1 2025

Heroes of the Borderlands

(Dungeons & Dragons)
New D&D starter set.
Replies (609)
November 1 2025

Forgotten Realms Player Guide

(Dungeons & Dragons)
First 5E player's guide for the setting.
Replies (319)
November 1 2025

Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide

(Dungeons & Dragons)
DM’s book digs into different parts of the Realms.
Replies (11)

I am a game designer with over 15 years worth of game credits and industry experience. My work includes licensed games based on worlds like Star Wars, Star Trek and Firefly, classic game worlds like Dungeons & Dragons and Shadowrun and my own creations like Camelot Trigger and Save Game. I play a wide variety of games as part of Theatre of the Mind Players and have been the guest of honor at several conventions. I live with my family in Wisconsin, born near the heart of RPGs (and just a few short years younger than they are).

Other Games Reviews

'Flabbergasted!' Brings RPG Hijinks into the Roaring (19)20s!

When most gamers think of the 1920s they think of Call of Cthulhu. While that iconic game has explored plenty of dark corners of the decade, the time was more known for good feelings and little restraint. The Roaring 20’s roared because the world was looking to forget the muddy meatgrinder of the Great War and much of the world was going through an economic upswing. The times wouldn’t last...

Mar 11, 2023 19

Reviews Warhammer

Warhammer Fantasy: The Imperial Zoo Review

Monster manuals are one of the evergreen books in tabletop RPGs. Monsters can help define the world not just as things for the players to battle but also through their art and the bits of lore connected to each creature. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition has kept monsters to a minimum so far, focusing on human antagonists with the occasionally fell Chaos beast at the end of an adventure...

Mar 5, 2023 10

Monster Of The Week Retro Review

Powered By The Apocalypse has come on strong as an influential rule set over the last decade plus. It frames every game as a conversation with certain things happening based on the fiction. The discussion of moves, agendas and the like can throw some people off even though much of the game is putting new terminology on old techniques. What really helps people get these games is playing them in...

Feb 25, 2023 24

Other Games Reviews

Color My Quest Review

There is likely a tiny human in your life that you want to introduce to gaming. Even if it’s not your own child, there’s a niece, nephew, friend's kid or someone else that might be showing an interest in games. For many people, the traditional choice it to drop off D&D Starter Set or Player’s Handbook and teach kids the way most of us learned back in the day. If you have a younger kid in mind...

Feb 18, 2023 4

2d20 Reviews Star Trek

Star Trek Adventures Utopia Planitia Review

My first steps into tabletop gaming came when I bought the Star Trek Starship Tactical Combat Simulator at Waldenbooks. My friends and I loved punching out the chits and figuring out the rules, but I found that I cared more about tossing myself over the couch whenever my ship got hit rather than concentrate on the strategy or the deeper mechanics. Ship books are often my favorite books of any...

Feb 11, 2023 2

How Do I Escape D&D?

Although I’ve been writing games (and about them) for over 20 years, I haven’t done much for the Big One. I’ve done a few OGL bits here and there, a Dungeon article for 4e, and a run on the dual statted line for 7th Sea. I talk a lot about the other games that are out there on the panels and podcasts I get to be on and there’s always one inevitable question: "I love this new game that I...

Feb 4, 2023 90

2d20 Reviews Star Trek

Star Trek Adventures Discovery Campaign Guide Review

When Star Trek: Discovery came out in 2017 it became one of the most polarizing shows in all of Star Trek. Some fans enjoyed the modern take on the story with season-long arcs and big bad villains. Others were upset that it strayed too far away from what had already been established by previous media for a prequel series. I feel that shows like Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks have done a...

Jan 28, 2023 1

Reviews Year Zero Engine

Blade Runner Starter Set Review

Props are one of the things that set apart tabletop role-playing games apart from other entertainments. I truly enjoy seeing a players face light up when I hand them a prop to study rather than describe an item they’ve found. Call of Cthulhu is the master in this area thanks to all the newspaper clippings and mad diary rambling that lead investigators from the real world into the supernatural...

Jan 21, 2023 11

Reviews Year Zero Engine

A Review of Blade Runner

Blade Runner looms large over the RPG landscape. Two of the hobby’s biggest games, Cyberpunk and Shadowrun were inspired by Ridley Scott’s science fiction neo-noir full of high tech devices and low life characters. When Free League Publishing announced a Kickstarter for Blade Runner Role Playing Game it was met with excitement but also a little bit of trepidation. Could the game do anything...

Jan 14, 2023 22

Reviews Warhammer

Warhammer: Soulbound: Artefacts of Power Review

Magic is everywhere in the world of Soulbound: Age of Sigmar. The characters are traveling through the Mortal Realms, each one suffused by one of the Winds of Magic. Many of these characters have been created by magic, such as the Fyreslayers or the Stormcast Eternals. The title of the newest Soulbound book, Artefacts of Power, implies the book is going to be chock full of magic items for the...

Jan 6, 2023 1

Other Games Reviews

A Ruins Of The Lost Realm Review

What do Dungeon Masters and Real Estate Agents have in common? They know the importance of location, location, location. The first book of Free League Publishing’s One Ring line, Ruins of the Lost Realm offers a mix of famous locations as well as new ones that are drawn from writings as well as ones made up for the book. The book also includes a few threats and really seems Loremaster focused...

Jan 1, 2023 9

Dungeons & Dragons Reviews

Everyday Heroes Review

Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition loomed large in the gaming landscape twenty years ago. Wizards attempted to spin off a few products from its monolith. One of the most fondly remembered is D20 Modern which tore apart the chassis to Third Edition and rebuilt it with even more modularity in mind. Earlier this year, Evil Genius Games launched a Kickstarer for Everyday Heroes, a game which...

Dec 24, 2022 38

Other Games Reviews

A For The Queen Review

One of the hardest parts of getting people into role playing games is the paperwork. Pitching friends on a game of Let’s Pretend is easy compared to then sitting down and filling out character sheets for an hour or two. For years, designers have tried a lot of different ways to speed up this process from introductory boxed sets to instructional videos. This is one of the breakthroughs of...

Dec 16, 2022 1

Other Games Reviews

A CY_BORG Review

Most of the cyberpunk games on the market have the cyber part of the game well covered. There are books chock full of cool gadgets and futuristic weapons to equip characters. The punk side, on the other hand, can be a bit lacking. The central conceit of these games is usually players getting hired for black bag jobs by corporate interests with the occasional nod to the inequities of the system...

Dec 9, 2022 2

Other Games Reviews

A Review of Eternal Night of Lockwood

Despite their reputations as unprofitable, I think that adventure books are vital to game lines. The best ones show how the designers expect their game to be played while also offering tools for the Game Master that can be used when they are up against the clock. Even if the GM isn’t interested in running the full campaign, they can use bits and pieces for their own stories, whether it's a...

Dec 5, 2022 9

Other Games Reviews

A Stealing Stories For The Devil Review

Heists are at the heart of many of our most popular stories and games. Bilbo is tapped by Gandalf for his skills as a burglar. What is a dungeon crawl if not a fantasy version of a bank vault heist? Shadowrun endures because of its powerful central conceit: what if we could use magic and machine guns to steal things? Monte Cook Games recently put an advanced copy of its heist game, Stealing...