Today (June 16, 2014) I start a new job at Wizards of the Coast—not just a shift within the D&D R&D department, as I've done several times before, but a move over to the creative team for Magic: the Gathering. It's one of those big milestones in life: I've been working on the D&D team for fourteen and a half years. Looking back over those years, I'm proud of the work I've done. I've been a part, large or small, of a tremendous amount of great things—sourcebooks, novels, magazine articles, web columns, whole new editions of the game. With the 5th edition of D&D set to launch this summer, this seemed like a good opportunity to look back on my career with D&D.
So here's a look at everything I've done over my eighteen-year career working on four (and a half) editions of Dungeons & Dragons. 1996I started my professional D&D writing as a freelancer writing for DRAGON and DUNGEON magazines. I was a United Methodist pastor when I started writing for publication, but by the time my first articles were published I had left ministry and was working as a technical writer. My first article appeared in the last issue of DRAGON to be published by TSR before its purchase by Wizards of the Coast, and it actually wasn't printed until January. I received my copy of the magazine on the same day my daughter was born.
Magazine Articles "Mystics, Miracles, and Meditations," DRAGON Magazine #236, December 1996, pp. 26-29 (author) 1997Magazine Articles "Mysterious Cities," DRAGON Magazine #240, October 1997, pp. 28-36 (author) "Gothic Earth Villains," DRAGON Magazine Annual #2, December 1997, pp. 112-118 (author) "Fantastic Phantasms," DRAGON Magazine Annual #2, December 1997, pp. 10-14 (author) 1998Magazine Articles "The Sunken Shadow," DUNGEON Adventures #66, January 1998 (author)
"Miracles of Flight," DRAGON Magazine #244, February 1998 (co-author)
"Falls Run," DUNGEON Adventures #67, March/April 1998 (author)
"Seeds of Evil," DRAGON Magazine #249, July 1998 (author)
"Heroes of the Sea," DRAGON Magazine #250, August 1998 (author) "The Maze of the Morkoth," DUNGEON Adventures #70, September/October 1998 (author)
"With a Twist," DRAGON Magazine #253, November 1998 (author)
Other "The Beast Within," RPGA Ravenloft retail play adventure, December 1998 (author) 1999Sourcebooks (Design) Horrors of the Z'bri, a Tribe 8 sourcebook, October 1999 (co-author)
Magazine Articles "Haunting Melodies," DRAGON Magazine #256, February 1999 (author)
"No One Can Hear You Scream," DRAGON Magazine #258, April 1999 (author)
"Half-Pint Heroes," DRAGON Magazine #262, August 1999 (author)
"From Dungeons to Drivespace," DRAGON Magazine #262, August 1999 (author)
"Heaven's Trump: Celestial Messengers and Divine Intervention," DRAGON Magazine #263, September 1999 (author)
"Van Richten's Legacy: The Cult of Simon Audaire," DRAGON Magazine #264, October 1999 (author)
"Feathered Friends and Foes," DRAGON Magazine #266, December 1999 (author)
Other "Deepening Shadows," RPGA Ravenloft retail play adventure, May 1999 (author)
2000In January 2000, I moved to the Seattle area and started working on D&D as a full-time designer at Wizards of the Coast.
Sourcebooks (Additional Design) Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook (other Wizards of the Coast RPG R&D Contributors, for input during the last stages of the design process) Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide (other Wizards of the Coast RPG R&D Contributors)
Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual (other Wizards of the Coast RPG R&D Contributors)
Into the Dragon's Lair, by Steve Miller and Sean Reynolds, Wizards of the Coast, November 2000 (additional design and development)
Magazine Articles "Deepstrike," DUNGEON Adventures #78, January/February 2000 (author) "Alternative Underdarks," DRAGON Magazine #267, January 2000 (author) "Animal Companions," DRAGON Magazine #269, March 2000 (author) "When Worlds Collide," DRAGON Magazine #270, April 2000 (author) "The Hidden Faces of Evil," DRAGON Magazine #270, April 2000 (author) "Alternity: TOP SECRET," DRAGON Magazine #271, May 2000 (author) "Diminutive Dragons," DRAGON Magazine #272, June 2000 (author) "The Door to Darkness," DUNGEON Adventures #81, July/August 2000 (author) "Unusual Suspects: Rangers, Paladins, and Barbarians," DRAGON Magazine #275, September 2000 (author) "Vs. Zombies," DRAGON Magazine #276, October 2000 (author)
"Unusual Suspects 2: Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards," DRAGON Magazine #277, November 2000 (author)
"Class Combos," DRAGON Magazine Annual #5, November 2000 (author)
"Class Combos 2: Dwarves," DRAGON Magazine #278, December 2000 (author) 2001Oriental Adventures remains one of the projects I am most proud of, even after all this time.
Sourcebooks (Design) The Speaker in Dreams, Wizards of the Coast, January 2001 (author) Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn, Wizards of the Coast, February 2001 (co-author)
Defenders of the Faith: A Guidebook for Clerics and Paladins, Wizards of the Coast, May 2001 (co-author)
Oriental Adventures, Wizards of the Coast, September 2001 (author)
Sourcebooks (Additional Design)
Sword and Fist: A Builder's Guide to Fighters and Monks, by Jason Carl and others, Wizards of the Coast, January 2001 (additional design)
Pool of Radiance II: Attack on Myth Drannor, by Sean Reynolds, Wizards of the Coast, May 2001 (additional monster design) Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, by Sean Reynolds, Ed Greenwood, Skip Williams, and Rob Heinsoo, Wizards of the Coast, May 2001 (additional design)
Magic of Faerûn, by Sean Reynolds and Angel Leigh McCoy, Wizards of the Coast, August 2001 (additional design)
Manual of the Planes, by Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, and David Noonan, Wizards of the Coast, September 2001 (additional design)
Magazine Articles "Unusual Suspects 3: Monks and Druids," DRAGON Magazine #279, January 2001 (author) "Vs. Fiends," DRAGON Magazine #279, January 2001 (author) "Vs. Sorcerers," DRAGON Magazine #280, February 2001 (author) "Champions of Virtue," DRAGON Magazine #283, May 2001 (author) "Playing the Priestly Part," DRAGON Magazine #283, May 2001 (author) "Oriental Adventures Class Combos," DRAGON Magazine #289, November 2001 (author)
Other Character Closeup: Juz'la, on www.wizards.com, February 2001 (author)
Perilous Gateways: The Winding Serpent, on www.wizards.com, July 2001 (author)
Children of the Night: Demons, Compiled and published by the Kargatane, August 2001 (author)
2002City of the Spider Queen might be the product I hear about most from fans—DMs who loved it or players whose characters died in it.
Sourcebooks (Design) Deities and Demigods, Wizards of the Coast, April 2002 (co-author) City of the Spider Queen, Wizards of the Coast, September 2002 (author)
Sourcebooks (Additional Design) Epic Level Handbook, Wizards of the Coast, July 2002 (additional design)
Magazine Articles
"The Storm Lord's Keep," DUNGEON Adventures #93, July/August 2002 (author)
"Hellish Fangs on Abyssal Wings," DRAGON Magazine #300, October 2002 (author) 2003Sourcebooks (Design) Arms & Equipment Guide, Wizards of the Coast, March 2003 (co-author)
Fiend Folio, Wizards of the Coast, April 2003 (co-author)
Draconomicon, Wizards of the Coast, November 2003 (co-author)
Book of Exalted Deeds, Wizards of the Coast, November 2003 (co-author)
Sourcebooks (Additional Design/Development) Player's Handbook 3.5 Revision, Wizards of the Coast, July 2003 (other Wizards of the Coast RPG R&D Contributors) Dungeon Master's Guide 3.5 Revision, Wizards of the Coast, July 2003 (other Wizards of the Coast RPG R&D Contributors) Monster Manual 3.5 Revision, Wizards of the Coast, July 2003 (other Wizards of the Coast RPG R&D Contributors) Dragonlance Campaign Setting, Wizards of the Coast, August 2003 (developer)
Miniatures Handbook, Wizards of the Coast, October 2003 (additional design)
Magazine Articles "Monstrous Magic," DRAGON Magazine #304, February 2003 (author) "Incursion: A World Under Siege," DRAGON Magazine #309, July 2003 (author) "Knights of the Lich-Queen," Polyhedron #59, July 2003 (author)
2004The design of the Eberron Campaign Setting is a milestone in my career—an amazing experience of collaborative design, with Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek, and I doing most of the actual writing while a whole slew of other people contributed ideas and helped shape the direction of the world.
Sourcebooks (Design) Player's Guide to Faerûn, Wizards of the Coast, March 2004 (co-author)
Eberron Campaign Setting, Wizards of the Coast, June 2004 (co-author) Sharn: City of Towers, Wizards of the Coast, November 2004 (co-author)
Magazine Articles "Kara-Tur: Ancestor Feats and Martial Arts Styles," DRAGON Magazine #315, January 2004 (author) "Masque of the Red Death: The Light in the Darkness," DRAGON Magazine #315, January 2004 (author) "Oriental Adventures 3.5," DRAGON Magazine #318, April 2004 (author) "The Queen with Burning Eyes," DUNGEON Magazine #113, August 2004 (author) 2005Magic of Incarnum isn't a great book. It has its fans, but it's not like it transformed the landscape of D&D. But I'm proud of it for one reason. For a couple of years before this, I kept saying that we should do something entirely new—not just publish prestige classes and revisit titles from past editions. Finally, I was challenged to put my money where my mouth was and propose such a product, and Magic of Incarnum was the result.
Suddenly, this year, I was writing fiction. This year's publications included two short stories that appeared on the wizards.com web site to support game products that I had worked on. And that was the start of something really important to me.
Sourcebooks (Design) d20 Past, Wizards of the Coast, March 2005 (co-author) Magic of Incarnum, Wizards of the Coast, September 2005 (co-author) Heroes of Horror, Wizards of the Coast, October 2005 (co-author)
Fiction "At the Wellspring," on wizards.com, September 2005 (author) "The Eyes of Gith," on wizards.com, October 2005 (author)
Magazine Articles "Temple of the Scorpion God," DUNGEON Magazine #124, July 2005 (co-author)
Other "White Plume Mountain" (co-author) B&N University class 2006In the Claws of the Tiger, my first novel, was born during the process of creating Eberron. At some point, as we discussed the Church of the Silver Flame, a scene popped into my head that eventually became part of chapter 3—the scene where Janik Martell meets with Jaela Daran, Speaker of the Flame.
Aside from fiction, though, my published output slowed considerably at this point because I was hard at work on the fourth edition rules that came out in 2008.
Sourcebooks (Design) Player's Guide to Eberron, Wizards of the Coast, January 2006 (co-author) Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, Wizards of the Coast, October 2006 (co-author)
Fiction "Call of the Silver Flame," in Tales of the Last War, Wizards of the Coast, April 2006 (author) In the Claws of the Tiger, Wizards of the Coast, July 2006 (author) 2007This year I took my first foray into management, becoming the lead story designer.
Sourcebooks (Design) Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave, Wizards of the Coast, March 2007 (co-author) The Forge of War, Wizards of the Coast, June 2007 (co-author)
Fiction Storm Dragon, Wizards of the Coast, August 2007 (author) 2008In 2008, I was promoted to Design Manager, so pretty much all things D&D went through my hands at some point. And I wrote another novel . . . and a DUMMIES book, of all things.
Sourcebooks (Design) Player's Handbook (4th edition), Wizards of the Coast, June 2008 Dungeon Master's Guide (4th edition), Wizards of the Coast, June 2008 Monster Manual (4th edition), Wizards of the Coast, June 2008 H3 Pyramid of Shadows, Wizards of the Coast, August 2008 (co-author) Manual of the Planes, Wizards of the Coast, December 2008 (co-author)
Fiction Dragon Forge, Wizards of the Coast, June 2008 (author)
Magazine Articles "Lords of Chaos: Mual-Tar," DRAGON Magazine #370, December 2008 (author) Dungeoncraft column, DUNGEON Magazine (31 monthly columns, into 2010)
Other Dungeon Master 4th Edition for Dummies, Wiley Press, November 2008 (co-author) 2009Sourcebooks (Design) Eberron Campaign Guide, Wizards of the Coast, July 2009 (co-author) Player's Handbook 2, Wizards of the Coast, March 2009 (writing) Dungeon Master's Guide 2, Wizards of the Coast, September 2009 (co-author)
Fiction Dragon War, Wizards of the Coast, August 2009 (author)
Magazine Articles "Campaign Workbook: The Blasphemer," DUNGEON Magazine #169, August 2009 (author) "Expeditionary Dispatches: Guardians of the Labyrinth," DUNGEON Magazine #172, November 2009 (author) 2010This year, my job shifted again. I became the Creative Manager for D&D, responsible for all things story-related: novels, adventures, and overarching story themes. My responsibilities shifted a lot over the next five years.
Sourcebooks (Design) Dragonborn, Wizards of the Coast, January 2010 (author) Player's Strategy Guide, Wizards of the Coast, May 2010 (co-author) Fantasy Roleplaying Game Starter Set ("Red Box"), Wizards of the Coast, September 2010 (author) Dungeon Master's Kit, Wizards of the Coast, October 2010 (author)
Sourcebooks (Additional Design) Player's Handbook 3, Wizards of the Coast, March 2010
Fiction "The Gates of Madness," Wizards of the Coast serial novella, July 2010–November 2010 (author)
Magazine Articles "The Maze of Shattered Souls," DUNGEON Magazine #177, April 2010 (author) 2011Sourcebooks (Design) Madness at Gardmore Abbey, Wizards of the Coast, September 2011 (co-author)
Fiction Oath of Vigilance, Wizards of the Coast, August 2011 (author) 2012Sourcebooks (Design) Council of Spiders, Wizards of the Coast, August 2012 (co-author) War of Everlasting Darkness, Wizards of the Coast, October 2012 (co-author)
Other Wandering Monsters column on wizards.com (75 weekly columns, into 2014) 2013One of my proudest achievements as head of the Wizards of the Coast novel line was the six-part novel series called The Sundering. Six authors came together to tell six stories set against the backdrop of what's supposed to be "the world-shaking event to end all world-shaking events" in the Forgotten Realms. Besides working to coordinate those six authors and other stories set during the Sundering, I also wrote a six-stanza poetic prophecy that appears in the front of each novel.
Sourcebooks (Design) Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, Wizards of the Coast, August 2013 (co-author) Legacy of the Crystal Shard, Wizards of the Coast, November 2013 (co-author)
Fiction "Prophecy of the Sundering," Wizards of the Coast, August 2013 (author) 2014Sourcebooks (Design/Writing) Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set, Wizards of the Coast, July 2014 Player's Handbook (5th edition), Wizards of the Coast, August 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide (5th edition), Wizards of the Coast, November 2014
And now the next phase of my career begins!
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