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

[Monte At Home]

Ooh, thought of another one: There's one or two references in Ptolus to giants being "from the west" and the like, and their realms there, which I've interpreted as the Lands of the Diamond Throne being located in the distant west, beyond Cherubar. Is this intended, or was it just a nod to that other setting, but not actually how things worked in your game?

That happened because a player really, really wanted to play an Arcana Evolved giant in a Ptolus campaign. So... more or less the idea was that the Diamond Throne was to the west, but it wasn't quite as literal as that. I guess, as you say, more of a nod.

 

[Monte At Home]

I've always been somewhat surprised by this. Even leaving aside the possibility of locally interesting stuff happening, you've got the wasteland of a wizard war in Kem, you've got an empire ripping itself in three with violence possible at any moment and, heck, a giant necropolis full of undead under Tarsis, which itself has recently been sacked by barbarians. Right there, that's more interesting stuff going on in more than a few published settings.

We ended up starting in the Prustan Peninsula because the Big Book literally wasn't available at that point, but even there, there's more content for that setting than we've ever fully mined in all the years we've been playing. (The tension between the Old Gods of the Prustan Peninsula and the Church of Lothian is a pretty rich vein, and we've only had one real foray into Kem, for instance.)

Did your campaigns set in the modern day of Ptolus (as opposed to the 2E era of Praemal) never stray beyond the city that much?

And, for what it's worth, the setting works well under both Pathfinder and Castles & Crusades, for all that it's built around 3E assumptions. Good stuff. Even design decisions I thought I disagreed with years ago end up, in the fullness of time, to have been really good instincts on your part (likely because they came out of actual play and not just theory).

Almost never, unless you count other dimensions. Or the moon.

There was a series of adventures that happened in the third campaign where the PCs left the city and went into the nearby woods, dealing with the elves and other goings on there. Honestly, I don't remember why.

Thanks for all the kind words. I'm glad your group got so much out of all of it (mine did too).

 

[Monte At Home]

Silly question I know, but wouldn't you happen to have a copy of the original Ptolous with textured cover and cloth bookmark laying around near you? I just discovered Ptolous in recent years, and I love everything in it. The original version has become kind of a dream book for me... even more so if it comes with your autograph! I'd pay for postage and everything of course, please say yes!!! =)

Well, I do, of course. But I'm afraid it's not for sale and won't ever be. Sorry.

 

[kitsune9]

Joining the party late:

1. Ever read any of the fan modules from your Arcana Unearthed stuff? Or any fan modules from any of your lines?
2. Any chance we'll see a book similar to Memories and Ghosts?
3. When's the next book after Of Aged Angels coming out?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There was a climactic adventure where the PCs ended up protecting the Emperor of the Church from assassins (if you managed to track down the adventure Black Rain which was on the WotC website years ago, it was based on it) and the events of that shakeup made the Holy Emperor back down. I think that that Segaci eventually got the throne, if memory serves, which led to the Shuul becoming more powerful in the end, which became a big factor of another Ptolus campaign set some time later. But it's been a long time.

Ironically, we've had a similar plot in our campaign: The party's paladin had a chance to join the Knights of the Dawn, but while training with the knight-aspirants in Tarsis, he discovered that one of them was actually a plant loyal to Empress Addares XXXIV, seeded there with the intention of getting into the Emperor of the Church's bodyguard so that he and his co-conspirator could betray the emperor.

By rooting out the assassins, he inadvertently chose a side, in the eyes of all three parties, which everyone will have to deal with in the coming adventures.

Thanks again for everything, including 3E, Ptolus, all your indie stuff and this AMA.

 

[Monte At Home]

Hey, Monte.

Back in the early days of 3e, I figuratively fell in love with one of your adventures, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. It was the first time I felt as if I had been exposed to a truly living dungeon, where things actually seemed to be happening in "real time" while the adventurers were adventuring. Between scripted events happening, and advice for restocking cleared areas I felt like I had finally "leveled up" as a GM. Additionally, there was a vibrant community full of incredibly creative and helpful people on your forums who were always there to offer advice for how to handle situations that arose during play. I still use the lessons I learned from running that campaign ( TWICE! ) today.

Now, I'm often asked where I learned how to better GM, and I feel like all I have to offer people is "read this out of print adventure, and have an AHA moment of your own." Do you have any specific advice, resources, or areas to send people who want to become better GMs?

Fildrigar

Well, thanks for those kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed it. The advice I usually give is, play in a game with a good GM. You learn so much by watching someone else and seeing what they do that it's quite difficult to put in a book. But the other thing is, I tell people to just give it a try with a good group of people who are forgiving of a slip up or mistake now and again, learn from those mistakes, and pay attention to what the players want from the game, and try to give them the experience they want (that doesn't mean, of course, always letting them succeed, that's a different matter entirely).

 

[Monte At Home]

For my final questions, let's go back in time...

1) What was it like working for ICE?

2) Did you live in Charlottesville or were you able to work remotely in that role?

3) Of which Hero System or Rolemaster/MERP product are you most proud from your tenure there?

1. It was great and it was awful. Great because I loved the people and I learned so so much. Awful because the company's fortunes were always on the rocks and there was nothing resembling job security or even necessarily steady paychecks.

2. I lived in Charlottesville for two years, and worked remotely for about a year (maybe two) after that.

3. Hmmm. I really, really liked Dark Space at the time, although technically that was before I started there full time. I sometimes cringe when I look back at it, but I think all writers feel that way about their early work.

 

[Monte At Home]

I just wanted to say thank you to you (Monte) and to Morrus for putting this together and giving fans this kind of access. I think I have learned a lot just be reading other people's questions and seeing them answered as well as my own.

You mentioned you listen to prog metal. If you haven't checked these out, they would be 2 of my best recommendations:

Redemption: Snowfall on Judgment Day
Symphony X: Iconoclast (Deluxe edition if possible) <- This one should be playing on Ruk!

Cool. I'm familiar with Symphony X but not Redemption. I don't listen to prog nearly as much as I used to, but I'll make a point to check them out. I bet my friend and fellow designer Rob Schwalb is familiar with them. I'll ask.

 

[Monte At Home]

Last question from me: If you were going to run a Cypher game that has the PCs piloting giant robots (perhaps in some pseudo-feudal galactic empire , would you add anything to the Vehicle rules? Or would the giant robots be better as artifacts?

I would (and have!) use the vehicle rules. I think they work well because they're all about damaging systems rather than whittling down hit points, which feels more like vehicle/giant robot combat in sci fi to me.

 

[Monte At Home]

Ok, a few more:
1. For the Numenera Character Options 2 book (on the current Kickstarter), will we see Foci that are astronomically based, like:
Wields a Singularity or Manipulates Dark Matter?

2. I was a purchaser of Kicking It. I wonder now with more KS experience if you would add other ideas to that?

I also backed at the Unique Character(s) for Numenera and they are still going strong.
Salamandros, a Tough Jack who Exists Partially Out of Phase (I call him The Best Jack in the Game)
and
Vola, a Rugged Glaive Who Lives In The Wilderness.

I think it would be cool to offer these kinds of rewards on future Kickstarters. I also loved the Strange Character Cards.

Oh, and as I teach psychology, I use "Osmus" as an example of a neologism

Thanks again!

1. Very likely. But also stuff having to do with aquatic environments and interdimensional ones as well, because it will apply to the whole line. And the KS reached that goal today, so the book will be a reality! Backers will just get that added on to their stack of books. (I love that part.)

2. I still apply those rules to all my Kickstarters, so there's nothing particularly fundamental I'd add or change. I might add little bits about the pitfalls of shipping, fulfillment, and so on. The overall idea being that when you set your expected release date, plan for the absolute worst scenario, and then add a bit more time even beyond that.

3. That's all awesome to hear!