Who are the most inventive game designers?

[MrFilthyIke]

I want to nominate teams,...like everyone involved in creating Dragonlance, Dark Sun, Planescape, and Eberron. These people's innovations and imagination have given me great memories.

 

[A'koss]

Hmm... Admittedly, I know only one of his adventures (Heart of Nightfang Spire), but that one is extremely horrible. One of the worst adventures I've ever seen.

I guess the others are not very much like it.

Some of the other stuff he's done:

If Thoughts could Kill
Return to the Tomb of Horrors - One of the very best (and most lethal) HL adventures.
The Illithid Adventure series - Very, very good.
Gates of Firestorm Peak - In my Top 3 all-time favorite adventures.
The Sunless Citadel - Excellent starter adventure.
Bastion of Broken Souls - Needed to be fleshed out more, but still well done.
Die Vecna, Die! - Another good one, if you like Vecna...

among others...

Cheers!

 

[Darkness]

Die Vecna, Die! - Another good one, if you like Vecna...

...and don't mind basic Planescape (and Ravenloft) setting assumptions being gruesomely mutilated.

 

[woodelf]

Who do you think is the most inventive designer and please list 3 books or pdfs he or she has authored as examples. I will leave the definition of inventive to you.

Jonathan Tweet: Ars Magica, Everway, Over the Edge, D&D3E
Robin Laws: Over the Edge, Rune, The Great Maze (for Deadlands), Feng Shui
John Phythyon: Heaven & Earth, Ghost Dog
John Tynes: Unknown Armies, Delta Green, Puppetland
Jason Blair: Little Fears, Wyrd is Bond
Clinton R. Nixon: Donjon, Paladin
Whoever wrote Artificer's Handbook
several of the authors of Spycraft (dunno who to give credit to for the various systems--backgrounds, core class abilities, most of the feat chains, the chase system, the mastermind system-- but they're clean, somewhat creative, and smoothly integrate with the rest of D20 System)
Rebecca Borgstrom: Nobilis 2nd ed, Ex Machina, some Exalted stuff
Bruce Baugh: Gamma World D20 GM Guide, Ex Machina, Adventure!, Nexus: the Infinite City
Steve Kenson: Unveiled Masters, Psychic's Handbook, Mutants & Masterminds, Everquest PH, Shaman's Handbook, Star Trek: DS9 RPG, Mummy: the Resurrection, The Enchanted (C:tD)

Problem is, there're very few D20 System authors that i see as particularly inventive, because most of them are specifically going for D&D3[.5]E compatibility. So, while there might be tons of them out there that're capable of it, most of them are specifically limiting the degree to which they can invent, because they want a strong amount of "the same"-ness. Nonetheless, some show their remarkable talent specifically by the degree to which they innovate within that constraint or, more often, by the ways in which they re-invent D20 System, ignoring that "compatibility" constraint in favor of their cool ideas.

 

[Campbell]

Since others have highlighted major innovators I'll highlight a few designers for singular works here.

Upper Krust: Challenging Challenge Ratings
Curtis Bennet AKA die kluge: Artificier's Handbook

 

[Fedifensor]

Problem is, there're very few D20 System authors that i see as particularly inventive, because most of them are specifically going for D&D3[.5]E compatibility. So, while there might be tons of them out there that're capable of it, most of them are specifically limiting the degree to which they can invent, because they want a strong amount of "the same"-ness. Nonetheless, some show their remarkable talent specifically by the degree to which they innovate within that constraint or, more often, by the ways in which they re-invent D20 System, ignoring that "compatibility" constraint in favor of their cool ideas.

Actually, I think the true genius of a designer is either shaping the rules to fit their invention, or shaping the invention to fit the rules.

Steve Kenson is probably the master of the former, based on what he did with Mutants and Masterminds. It takes a lot of talent to get Champions diehards to take a second look at a different superhero game system.

I think Keith Baker deserves special mention for the latter. He created the 'kitchen sink' world for WotC, capable of fitting in everything designed for D&D so far...and it's done well, in a way that isn't contrived. Furthermore, he gives a new take on long-established parts of the system, without changing the rules. Eberron will definately be the most useful product I've picked up this year.

I have to say that Monte is the odd man out. Arcana Unearthed was a great book...but despite his claims of incorporating 'what he liked' out of D&D 3.5, it's pretty much D&D 3.0 (except for his new rules that don't have anything in common with either system). AU retains the old DR that forces players to search for +5 weapons, Ambidexterity + Two-Weapon Fighting as a two-feat combo, the exclusive attack progression for monks...er, Oathsworn, etc.

He has a lot of new things, but his attachment to some of the worse parts of 3.0 held the book back in my eyes. Especially since Arcana Unearthed is just different enough that I can't pull classes and races directly from it to a standard D&D game. Which means unless I can somehow convince my gaming group to discard standard D&D for AU, I'll never get to use the book. And, no matter how innovative a product is, it comes down to the harsh reality of getting 4+ people to sit down at the gaming table and play it.

 

[Virel]

Egg

 

[Nightfall]

Mike Mearls (as Crothy listed)
Ari Marmell (Strange Lands: Lost Tribes of the Scarred Lands, especially the new stuff on familiar feats)
Joe Carriker (okay not necessarily innovative but damn did I enjoy reading Hornsaw! )

 

[pogre]

Jonathan Tweet: Ars Magica, Everway, Over the Edge, D&D3E

Top of the list all the way.

 

[Ghostwind]

Invention comes in many forms. It is easy to point to some of the bigger and well known names because of their history in the gaming industry. Matt Forbeck, Skip Williams, Monte Cook, Robin Laws, and Shane Hensley all come to mind as people who have proven their inventiveness by working or developing multiple gaming systems.

There are a lot of newer and/or lesser known people that I think are showing bits of brilliance in terms of game design ingenuity. For example:

* Steve Kenson - the work he has done with Mutants & Masterminds along with books like Psychic's Handbook, Witch's Handbook and Shaman's Handbook are all top notch and represent a fresh take on the rules.

* Mike Mearls - Mike continually illustrates his ability to think both inside and outside the box. His credits are vast and long. Books that stand out as a testament to his design abilities are: Portals & Planes, Dungeoncraft, Wildscape, and Book of Iron Might.

* Ari Marmell - Everyone's favorite mouse has had his hand in a lot of stuff, mostly with White Wolf's books. His latest book with Green Ronin (you know, that Egyptian one) has everyone talking. In short, Ari understands the d20 system and creates rules that work seamlessly within the framework that everyone expects.

* Phil Reed - This guy comes up with great stuff that shows you don't have to make a 96 page book out of every idea. Phil's ideas are always solid and original.

* Curtis Bennett - Credit for Artificer's Handbok is his alone and shows that it is possible to come up with an alternate magic creation system that works.

Keep an eye out for the name of Tim Hitchcock. Tim is the author behind Bastion Press' forthcoming Book of Curses and he shows some real genius in his writing. Tim already has credits with Mongoose and Dungeon magazine and has even helped tweak the long-in-development Lore of the Gods. He is going to be one of those really popular writers in the near future.