Who are your 5 favorite Game Designers?

[S'mon]

Aaron Allston (eg Dawn of the Emperors) is the only name that would really make me buy a book, although Sandy Peterson's Call of Cthulu is great. Greg Stafford would make me look twice. Jonathan Tweet also. And Bill Slavicsek I guess.

Skip Williams would deter me from buying, Monte Cook would make me cautious since his style is so different from mine. Gary Gygax's name prompted me to get Necropolis, but I found the turgid prose and execrable layout have rended it almost unplayable, so Gary wouldn't be an auto-buy anymore, although I mostly blame his editors - there's clearly a good scenario in there, it's just that during play I can't find it!

 

[Michael Tree]

1. Steve Kenson (Mutants & Masterminds, the Shadowrun Grimoire, and GR's Shaman's and Witch's handbooks.) One of the few authors whose books I buy sight unseen.
2. Jeremiah Genest and Adam Bank (who wrote The Mysteries and Kabbalah for Ars Magica. Adam also heavily contibuted to Atlas's Occult Lore).
3. C.J. Carella (Buffy & many of the most creative and original palladium sourcebooks)
4. Johnathan Tweet. (Ars Magica & D&D 3E)
5. Monte Cook. I don't like everything he writes, but he always has something I find interesting.

 

[Orius]

Well, my RPG experience is limited to D&D so, my list will likely reflect it.

Bruce Cordell. Like he needs another vote here, but he's going to get one anyway. His stuff rocks. I mean it. His worst stuff is still cooler than than some of the best stuff TSR published before they hired him. I like how he takes elemets from a lot of different D&D sources and weaves it into a great adventure, accessory or product. I also remember how the stuff he wrote for the 1998 product line were interrelated somehow -- at the top was Return to the Tomb of Horrors, which had connections to College of Wizardry, A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, and even The Dungeon Builder's Guidebook (and that just covers stuff I have, there might be other links I don't know of). The best part is, you don't need all of them, but if you do have them, you can take all the ideas and build it into a campaign. Great stuff.

Monte Cook. His stuff and his style is pretty cool too. I wouldn't mind playin in one of his campagns.

Off the top of my head, I'd list Jeff Grubb, Bill Slavisek, and Wolfgang Baur too.

I left out Gary Gygax, but that's because I'm not really familiar with the gaming material he actually wrote, except for the original Tomb of Horrors. And I don't count D&D rules, because the rules I'm familiar with were written after he left TSR and stopped working on the game. The rules I'm familiar with are derivatives of his rules.

 

[MerricB]

Gary Gygax
Bruce Cordell
Andy Collins
Tracy Hickman
Mike Donais


Monte Cook has dropped off the list due to his work on Arcana Unearthed (I'm sure it's good, but it's not D&D). Mike Donais has been added for his great work on the D&D Miniatures game and the mere fact that he's a Great Person who frequents the miniatures boards at WotC, being very helpful.

Cheers!

 

[johnsemlak]

Gary Gygax
Bruce Cordell
Andy Collins
Tracy Hickman
Mike Donais

I could be missing something really obvious, but what works would you credit Andy Collins with? I know he's a big name and all, and his name appears on dozens of WotC stuff, but which products were developed primarily by him? With Bruce Cordell and Monte COok I can quickly recite a few products. I'm probably just ignorant of Collins' resume.

 

[SJ]

This is a fun thread.

This list is in no order, and it doesn't mean I buy whatever these people write, sight unseen, but it does mean these 5 are my favorite designers. Their names evoke a favorable response from me, I connect their stuff with memorable gaming experiences. And it's also plain fun to read.

Monte Cook
Bruce Cordell
Tracy Hickman
Robin Laws
Wolfgang Baur

 

[MerricB]

I could be missing something really obvious, but what works would you credit Andy Collins with? I know he's a big name and all, and his name appears on dozens of WotC stuff, but which products were developed primarily by him? With Bruce Cordell and Monte COok I can quickly recite a few products. I'm probably just ignorant of Collins' resume.

Andy Collins is one of those people who I respect greatly as being active in answering questions, giving the reasons behind design decisions, and for his collaborative work.

I respect those who work collaboratively. It's an ability that not everyone shares. If one thinks of the great works created by Tracy Hickman, a lot of them are collaborative works.

Andy Collins isn't possibly yet a great designer, but he's someone who work I pay attention to.

(He's done more as an editor than a writer, though - see here: http://www.andycollins.net/Projects/List of Credits.htm )

Cheers!

 

[physicscarp]

1. John Wick (for the original L5R, 7th Sea, and What's that Smell?)
2. Bruce Cordell (for not only writing such great ideas, but inspiring me to create my own)
3. Steve Kenson (for the rich environment of Mutants & Masterminds)
4. Kevin Wilson (for his highly enjoyable work on all of AEG's games, but notably Die Kruezritter)
5. Chuck Sperati (for creating a homebrew system that continues to knock the socks off of 99% of the games published)

Carp

 

[Darrin Drader]

5 Favorite Designers (most likely to buy sight unseen...) in no order:

2. Ed Greenwood

5. Eric Boyd/Steven Schend/Sean K Reynolds - for their work on FR

Also, some props to our up and comers:

Darrin Drader (Complete Warrior rocked!)

Wow, I can't even believe I've been mentioned on this thread by anyone besides myself!. Thank you Ashockney and Ghostwind. I'm very seriously honored that anyone would hold my work in that high regard after only doing this on a professional basis for 2 short years (the blink of an eye in this industry).

I do have to point out that while I actualy did not help write The Complete Warrior (I only did the web enhancement), I did co-author the Book of Exalted Deeds, as well as Serpent Kingdoms with Ed Greenwood and Eric Boyd, and you'll be able to pick up a copy of that in July.