Which D&D author/designer do you like best?

[Piratecat]

I really dislike the cult of personality that's sprung up around 3E.

Nicole

Damn it! Does that mean I have to stop stalking you and Chris?

 

[coyote6]

I really dislike the cult of personality that's sprung up around 3E.

Cult of personality, or complete obscurity, where no one knows (or cares) who wrote what -- pick one.

One extreme or the other -- that seems to be the way RPG writing works.

PS: One good side to having Piratecat stalking you -- at least you'll be able to get a good night's sleep!

PPS: As to which D&D author I like best -- well, technically, since I don't really know any of 'em, aside from very peripheral online acquaintances, saying I like any of 'em seems a bit much . . .

That said, I tend to enjoy Chris, Monte, Kevin, Bruce, & Sean Reynold's D&D3e/d20 work most, so far. Oh, and Steve Kenson's -- he gets big bonus points for Mutants & Masterminds (Chris & Erik Mona also get points for M&M, too; which reminds me, add Erik Mona to the list).

 

[DustTC]

While I hardly have 20 years of gaming experience to back me up, I voted for James Wyatt.

There are some names out there who get a lot of attention in 3rd Edition (Cook, Reynolds, Cordell mainly), but a lot of them are cooperative efforts where I find it hard to judge who did what. Oriental Adventures and CotSQ are both fantastic books though and I only see his name on it. That seemed odd to me (cause both are fantastic, while usually the best books seem to have multiple authors), so I voted for him.

Having said that, I do really like a lot of the Cook/Reynolds/Cordell stuff. It's just that when I read something they did on their own, I sometimes have a feeling of 'eeeehh???' (some of the Psionics book stuff, Monte writes a lot of weird stuff and those Bonds of Magic books by Sean tend to drift between ordinary and great stuff (though he gets much kudos for apparantly being heavily involved in the FRCS). Not that OA doesn't have a lot of eh? moments, but maybe my tolerance for them is greater in a setting like that.

Anyway, I should probably spend a bit less on all these books, that'll save me having to write out useless opinions .

 

[Tuerny]

I voted for Bruce Cordell. He is the one who sparked my interest in Cthulhuesque creatures in D&D and produced many quality modules back in the 2nd edition days. I also enjoyed the Psionic's Handbook and its supplement from Malhavoc Press.

Props also go to Chris Pramas for Legions of Hell, Monte Cook for a load of things that I am not going to bother listing because other people did, and Kevin Kulp for providing much fun to be found within the confines of his wonderful adventure from Fiery Dragon.

People who I wouldn't vote for are Gygax (I have never read anything by him that has impressed me at all), Tom Moldway and Frank Menzer (who are these guys?), or Jim Ward (FFE material == bad).

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Well Planescape is my all time favorite so Cook and Cook are some good names- But hey! ...

How about a Mike Mearls mention? I'm loving my Monsters Handbook!

Check out the Death Knight/Malignant Overlord I just worked up :

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=529891#post529891

 

[johnsemlak]

People who I wouldn't vote for are Gygax (I have never read anything by him that has impressed me at all), Tom Moldway and Frank Menzer (who are these guys?), or Jim Ward (FFE material == bad).

Tom Moldvay and Frank Mentzer wrote a lot of good stuff for 1e and the "Basic D&D" and "Expert D&D" lines. I believe both are not writing D&D stuff now. Tom Moldvay wrote the Basic D&D boxed set which many people, including myself, started with. (As I said in the opening post, a few people in the poll are not currently writing).

Jim Ward is generally better rated for the stuff he wrote in the old days. He was one first to join TSR.

IF you say you wouldn't vote for Gygax, that may be a fair opinion, but do realize some of the stuff he did for 1e is considered the best RPG stuff ever by a lot of people. Aside from the fact that he and Arneson CREATED D&D, modules like Tomb of Horrors, Temple of Elemental Evil, the Keep on the Borderlands, Against the Giants et. al. are considered classics. Plus the 1e Hardbacks.

I still pick up stuff he wrote more than 20 years ago and page through it, and I think other people do too. There are very few people in the industry who have that status.

On the other hand, a few things he's done for d20 haven't been received very well. But many have been highly rated. Personally, I'll always give a Gygax product a hard look. There aren't any other authors I can say that about, given the sheer amount of choice now.

 

[Michael Tree]

There really should have been an "other" category on that poll.

My favorite D20 author by far is Steve Kenson, the author of the wonderful Shaman's and Witch's handbooks from Green Ronin, and designer/author of Mutants and Masterminds. He writes with a rare combination of solid game mechanic design and wonderful flavor.

 

[Pramas]

Damn it! Does that mean I have to stop stalking you and Chris?

Just remember, next time you leave chocolates on Nicole's pillow, she prefers dark chocolate over milk chocolate. Man, where do they find these stalkers these days?

 

[RSKennan]

Tweet is right where he should be, NOT on the list. He's written very little for D&D. Calling him lead designer on Chainmail is also a bit of a misnomer, don't be fooled by WotC internal politics. People are listed as being "in charge" of a lot of things there when they aren't actually the force behind it. Jonathan is best known for interesting ideas that are commercial failures (interesting as they were, Over the Edge and Everway did not exactly set the world on fire), and for designing CCGs for beginners, to hook more kids into the "repeat purchase model" WotC needs to keep fueling its corporate fires.

I've known Jonathan since I was in high school, and he can be a nice enough guy with some interesting ideas about gaming. But after his involvement in 3E people started treating him like he was some sort of freaking gaming messiah, as if he'd single-handedly revolutionized gaming or something...as if there weren't other people on the 3E design team, or the Chainmail design team, or frankly any of the design TEAMS he was on.

I really dislike the cult of personality that's sprung up around 3E.

Nicole

I wasn't going to post to this thread, but I am a huge fan of Johnathan Tweet. Aside from Gygax back in 1E, no other author has made me think like he has. I can see his mark on 3e D&D very clearly, just like I can see Monte's influence, and even Skip Williams's. Here's how I see it: Monte is the idea man; an inexaustible fountain of ideas, most incredible, but some strange. With a good editor or collaborator to act as a foil for some of them, his stranger ideas might creep in and alienate some of his audience. I've been told I'm like this. Skip Williams seems like the realist of the group, maintaining verisimilitude by acting as a foil for the "out there" ideas, and developing a solid rules base that is self-consistent. A good friend of mine fills this role for me.
Tweet, I believe combines the elements of these two into a paragon of multiclass perfection. He gives up *some* creativity in exchange for the flexibility to develop novel yet solid rules solutions. Therefore he fills in the gaps left by the other two in the holy triad (Gygax is Father of the Pantheon), while having access to areas that neither of the other two can get to alone. He's the kind of designer I'd like to be someday.

Everway changed my view of roleplaying forever, so at least for me, he did set the world on fire.

 

[Davelozzi]

I didn't choose Weis & Hickman because I don't care as much about the novels, but had it been an option I would've chosen Tracy & Laura Hickman for I6 Ravenloft and the Desert of Desolation trilogy.