Windjammer
Adventurer
Rob Heinsoo was WotC‘ most talented RPG designer, next to Jonathan Tweet who left WotC the year before. After having co-designed with Tweet the best produced and best designed WotC game of all times - Dreamblade -, Heinsoo went on to design two games for WotC by himself – Inn Fighting and Three Dragon Ante. When WotC decided to publish a 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Heinsoo was promoted to the status of Lead Designer - a promotion which both surprised him and delighted him as a “childhood dream come true”, to use his words at 4E’s release day in London where he was personally present to demo some games for us. His reflections on and demands towards a new edition of D&D, which he characteristically voiced on such occasions, were later published by WotC on their website, and remain the single most important read for anyone wishing to understand the goals driving the game’s design.
A beautiful estimate of Heinsoo’s daring attitude towards Fourth Edition was given by his co-designers Andy Collins and James Wyatt in an interview in Kobold Quarterly (Summer 2008 issue, page 32):
As Heinsoo observes back then, the change of role makes him feel more comfortable about his own work. Unfortunately, his fans get to notice very little of that regained comfort, and Heinsoo’s name becomes increasingly sparse on Fourth Edition products. While he appears on the cover of the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, which boasts one of the best new core classes of the game (the Swordmage), his contribution to the far more decisive Player's Handbook 2 is hardly noticeable. His fans put great hope in the release of Primal Power, announced for months with his name on the cover. When that book came out last month with, again, Mearls’ name in place of his, the parallels to designers having been laid off by WotC before, and having equal limited public spot light in the months immediately prior to their departure, became impossible to ignore. Last night, EnWorld confirmed that Heinsoo has left WotC, this officially ending his tenure of working on their games for the time being.
If Jonathan Tweets was the flag ship figure of D&D’s Third Edition, Heinsoo’s was the same for Fourth. Without Heinsoo, Fourth Edition would have looked vastly different. It probably would have been more in keeping with the game’s traditions, would have been “more D&D”, so to speak, but it would also have been a significantly weaker game. More than anyone else, Heinsoo gave Fourth Edition the imprint of the new and unorthodox, and lent it a huge measure of independence and idiosyncracy amongst the many proud editions of D&D.
Heinsoo’s loss for D&D is a painful one. We can only wish, on his behalf as much as ours, that the gaming industry will continue to be blessed by his creativity. And we can only thank him for giving us countless hours of joy with his games thus far.
Thank you, Rob Heinsoo.
Author Rob Heinsoo signs his childhood dream.
The signature is that of a child.
A beautiful estimate of Heinsoo’s daring attitude towards Fourth Edition was given by his co-designers Andy Collins and James Wyatt in an interview in Kobold Quarterly (Summer 2008 issue, page 32):
For all the appreciation, Heinsoo’s position at WotC was never a stable one - perhaps unsurprising, given the stark tones in which his colleagues paint his chaotic work ethos here. Already in 2007 Heinsoo himself observes that his colleagues have overtaken him in his role as a creative leader: "Here’s an odd thing about the team. I ran [the earliest stages of 4E's design in 2005-2006]. But as I write this, a bit more than a year later, both Mike [Mearls] and Andy [Collins] have emerged as leaders." (Wizards presents: Races and Classes, page 10) WotC keeps the appearances of the original role distribution in the design team until 4E’s release, but by October 2008 a lead position in their RPG department is advertised as open. Owing to a number of factors, the position never gets filled, and instead a provisional solution becomes a finalized one: Heinsoo is demoted as lead designer, and WotC’ own Mike Mearls steps into his shoes.
As Heinsoo observes back then, the change of role makes him feel more comfortable about his own work. Unfortunately, his fans get to notice very little of that regained comfort, and Heinsoo’s name becomes increasingly sparse on Fourth Edition products. While he appears on the cover of the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, which boasts one of the best new core classes of the game (the Swordmage), his contribution to the far more decisive Player's Handbook 2 is hardly noticeable. His fans put great hope in the release of Primal Power, announced for months with his name on the cover. When that book came out last month with, again, Mearls’ name in place of his, the parallels to designers having been laid off by WotC before, and having equal limited public spot light in the months immediately prior to their departure, became impossible to ignore. Last night, EnWorld confirmed that Heinsoo has left WotC, this officially ending his tenure of working on their games for the time being.
If Jonathan Tweets was the flag ship figure of D&D’s Third Edition, Heinsoo’s was the same for Fourth. Without Heinsoo, Fourth Edition would have looked vastly different. It probably would have been more in keeping with the game’s traditions, would have been “more D&D”, so to speak, but it would also have been a significantly weaker game. More than anyone else, Heinsoo gave Fourth Edition the imprint of the new and unorthodox, and lent it a huge measure of independence and idiosyncracy amongst the many proud editions of D&D.
Heinsoo’s loss for D&D is a painful one. We can only wish, on his behalf as much as ours, that the gaming industry will continue to be blessed by his creativity. And we can only thank him for giving us countless hours of joy with his games thus far.
Thank you, Rob Heinsoo.
Author Rob Heinsoo signs his childhood dream.
The signature is that of a child.
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