Monte Cook is an American professional tabletop
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans.
In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...
and writer, best known for his work on ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
''.
Role-playing industry career
Early years
Cook has been a professional game designer since 1988, working primarily on role-playing games.
Much of his early work was for
Iron Crown Enterprises
Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is a publishing company that has produced role playing, board, miniature, and collectible card games since 1980. Many of ICE's better-known products were related to J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, but the ''Ro ...
as an editor and writer for the ''
Rolemaster
''Rolemaster'' (originally ''Role Master'') is a tabletop role-playing game published by Iron Crown Enterprises since 1980.
Editions
''Rolemaster'' has a total of four editions.
First edition (RM1): 1980–1982
This edition includes the or ...
'' and ''
Champions
A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...
'' lines. For a time, Cook was the editor in charge of the "Campaign Classics" line of books for the ''
Hero System
The ''Hero System'' is a generic role-playing game system that was developed from the superhero RPG ''Champions''. After ''Champions'' fourth edition was released in 1989, a stripped-down version of its ruleset with no superhero or other genre ...
'' and ''Rolemaster'' lines.
Cook worked for Iron Crown Enterprises for four years; two as a freelancer and two as a full-time designer.
During this period, Cook wrote the multi-genre setting ''Dark Space'' (1990), a fantasy/science-fiction/horror setting.
Cook became the line editor for ''Hero System'', replacing
Rob Bell
Robert Holmes Bell Jr. (born August 23, 1970) is an American author, speaker and former pastor. Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, and pastored it until 2012. Under his leadership, Mars Hill was one of the fastest-g ...
, who left ICE in 1990.
TSR
Cook began working for
TSR in 1992 as a freelancer: "writing a whole slew of stuff for the old
Marvel game that never came out because the game got canceled".
In 1994 Cook came to work at TSR as a game designer.
Cook designed ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
''
modules
Broadly speaking, modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a sy ...
such as ''
Labyrinth of Madness
A module in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is an adventure published by TSR. The term is usually applied to adventures published for all ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games before 3rd Edition. For 3rd Edition and beyond new publisher Wizards of the Coast uses t ...
'' (1995) and ''A Paladin in Hell'' (1998), and dozens of supplements to the
Planescape
''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by Zeb Cook, and published in 1994. It crosses numerous planes of existence, encompassing an entire cosmology called the Great Wheel, as dev ...
line including ''
The Planewalker's Handbook
''The Planewalker's Handbook'' is an accessory for the Planescape campaign setting in the 2nd edition of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, published in 1996.
Contents
''The Planewalker's Handbook'' aims to be a pract ...
'' (1996) and ''
Dead Gods
Dead Gods is an adventure module for the second edition of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game.
Plot
''Dead Gods'' is composed of two adventures which revolve around the theme of death and resurrection of a god: "Out of ...
'' (1998). Cook also designed the conspiracy game ''
Dark•Matter
''Dark•Matter'' is a science fiction / conspiracy theory campaign setting that was originally published in 1999 by Wizards of the Coast as the second campaign setting for the ''Alternity'' role-playing game. It was written by Wolfgang Baur an ...
'' in 1999.
Wizards of the Coast
After TSR was purchased by
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
, Cook became a senior designer, and was part of the team working on the ''D&D'' game's third edition. Cook,
Jonathan Tweet
Jonathan Tweet (born 1965) is an American game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games ''Ars Magica'', ''Everway'', ''Over the Edge (game), Over the Edge'', ''Talislanta'', the third edition of ''Dungeons & Dra ...
, and
Skip Williams
Ralph Williams, almost always referred to as Skip Williams, is an American game designer. He is married to Penny Williams, who is also involved with the games industry. He was the co-creator of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd Edition and the longtime au ...
all contributed to the 3rd edition ''
Players Handbook
The ''Player's Handbook'' (spelled ''Players Handbook'' in first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'')) is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). It does not contain the complete set of ru ...
'', ''
Dungeon Master's Guide
The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (''DMG'' or ''DM's Guide''; in some printings, the ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' or ''Dungeon Master Guide'') is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' co ...
'', and ''
Monster Manual
The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'' is the primary bestiary sourcebook for Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, monsters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'' fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR (company), TSR. The ''Monster Manual' ...
'', and then each designer wrote one of the books based on those contributions.
Cook was proud of the work he did on the new ''Dungeon Master's Guide'', especially after
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson.
In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...
gave his team feedback on the book: "He said that the material in the new ''DMG'' would help him become a better DM... That was really cool–and satisfying in a 'completion of the circle' sort of way."
In 2000, Cook said of his involvement with Wizards of the Coast and ''Dungeons & Dragons'': "It's a great time to be working here... because every product is big, important, and innovative."
Cook also worked on ''
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil
''Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil'' is an adventure module written by Monte Cook for the 3rd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game, set in the game's ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting. It was originally publi ...
'', and the d20 ''
Call of Cthulhu'' (February 2002).
d20 licensed works and Malhovoc Press
Cook left
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
in 2001. Cook's ''Beyond the Veil'' (2001) was one of the later books in
Atlas Games
Atlas Games is a company which publishes role-playing games, board games and card games. Its founder and current president is John Nephew.
History
When Atlas Games did not have the finances to publish '' On the Edge'' (1994), they partnered with J ...
' "Penumbra" line of
d20 System books.
Cook started a new company
Malhavoc Press
Malhavoc Press is an American publisher of role-playing games, specializing in third-party material for Dungeons & Dragons' third edition.
History
Game designer Monte Cook left Wizards of the Coast in April 2001, founding Malhavoc Press as a ...
in 2001 as an imprint of
White Wolf
A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf.
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band
* White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA
* ...
's
Sword and Sorcery Studios
Sword and Sorcery Studios (S&SS) was an imprint of White Wolf, Inc., used to publish its d20 System & Open Gaming License material in from 2000 to 2008. The imprint also acted as publisher for other small press game developers, such as Monte C ...
, with the d20 ''The Book of Eldritch Might'' (2001) as his first product.
''The Book of Eldritch Might'' was the first commercial book published exclusively as a PDF that was released by a print publisher.
It was an immediate success and has been credited with demonstrating the viability of PDF publishing within the role-playing industry. This and other early Malhavoc products were initially released only in electronic format, though print versions of most of them have since been released by White Wolf, Inc. Malhavoc Press worked with
Fiery Dragon Productions Fiery Dragon Productions is a role-playing game and wargame publisher.
History
Fiery Dragon Productions was founded in Toronto in 2000 by authors James Bell, Jason Kempton and Todd Secord. They got into the business to publish d20 adventures an ...
after the latter left Sword and Sorcery in 2002, and the majority of Fiery Dragon's licenses were taken from Malhavoc.
Cook's work under the Malhavoc banner has included ''
Arcana Unearthed
''Arcana Unearthed'' (properly ''Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed'', ), first published in 2003, is a role-playing game created by Monte Cook. Described as a "variant player's handbook", the 256-page hardcover core rulebook bears many similarit ...
: A Variant Players Handbook''. ''Arcana Unearthed'' is set in Cook's world of "The Diamond Throne", a giant-dominated setting.
He caused controversy in mid-2004 by exclusively selling his electronic d20 material with the DriveThruRPG.com store, which then used only a proprietary
digital rights management
Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...
-encrypted PDF system. He eventually succumbed to pressure from his customers to sell his products in standard-PDF form, and DriveThruRPG has more recently done the same.
In August 2006, Malhavoc released ''
Ptolus Ptolus is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game written by Monte Cook. It was published by Malhavoc Press on August 10, 2006. Ptolus is also the name of the city featured in the campaign.
Setting
Ptolus is based upon t ...
'', a campaign setting based on Monte Cook's home game that was used as the playtest campaign for the third edition D&D designers.
Shortly after the release of ''
Ptolus Ptolus is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game written by Monte Cook. It was published by Malhavoc Press on August 10, 2006. Ptolus is also the name of the city featured in the campaign.
Setting
Ptolus is based upon t ...
'', which Cook has often described as the culmination of his original ambitions for Malhavoc, he announced that he would be focusing on writing fiction and other unspecified forms of creative work, rather than role-playing games, for the foreseeable future. White Wolf and
Goodman Games
Goodman Games is an American game publisher best known for the ''Dungeon Crawl Classics'' series of adventure modules and role-playing game, the ''Dragonmech'' role-playing game, and the ''Etherscope'' role-playing games. The company produced l ...
announced his final RPG books. ''Monte Cook's
World of Darkness
''World of Darkness'' is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with '' Vampire: The Masquerade'', '' Werewolf: The Apoca ...
'', his own take on White Wolf's modern horror setting, was released at
Gen Con
Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...
2007. From Goodman Games is ''
Dungeon Crawl Classics
''Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game'' (DCC RPG or simply DCC) is a role-playing game published by Goodman Games using the Open Game License (OGL) and System Reference Document (SRD) version 3.5 to provide legal compatibility with the revis ...
: #50, Vault of the Iron Overlord'', which was also targeted for the same Gen Con release.
However, due to demand by fans reading his
LiveJournal
LiveJournal (russian: Живой Журнал), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary.
American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, as ...
, and posting their desires on the Malhavoc message boards, Monte Cook released one more RPG product in early 2008, ''The Book of Experimental Might''. This was quickly followed by ''The Book of Experimental Might II: Bloody, Bold and Resolute''.
''D&D Next''
Cook returned to Wizards of the Coast in 2011. On September 20, 2011,
Mike Mearls
Michael Mearls is a writer and designer of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction. He was the senior manager for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' research and design team. He co-led design for the 5th edition of the game. He also worked ...
announced that Cook would be taking over his "Legends & Lore" column for the
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
website. In January 2012, it was revealed that Cook was to be the lead designer for the 5th edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. In April 2012, Cook announced his departure from
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
due to "differences of opinion with the company" but not "with
isfellow designers".
Monte Cook Games and ''Numenera''
Cook co-founded Monte Cook Games, LLC with Shanna Germain in 2012, which is a roleplaying game company that has produced ''
Numenera
''Numenera'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in the far distant future, written by Monte Cook, published in 2013.
Game
Setting
Numenera is set on Earth approximately one billion years in the future. The setting is cal ...
'', ''
The Strange
''The Strange'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game, written by Bruce Cordell & Monte Cook, and published by Monte Cook Games.
History
''The Strange'' was published in 2014 by Monte Cook Games, as a result of a crowd funding camp ...
'', ''The Cypher System Rulebook'', ''
Invisible Sun
"Invisible Sun" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as a single in Europe in September 1981.Sutcliffe, Phil (1993). "A Police Discography". In ''Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings'' (pp.60–61) oxed set booklet A&M Reco ...
'', and ''
No Thank You, Evil!'' which went to press in Fall 2015 after a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign raised over $100,000 to fund its publication.
''
Numenera
''Numenera'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in the far distant future, written by Monte Cook, published in 2013.
Game
Setting
Numenera is set on Earth approximately one billion years in the future. The setting is cal ...
'' is a Kickstarter-funded table-top RPG created by Cook, set a billion years in the future in a science fantasy and post-apocalyptic setting with streamlined rules that prioritize the story, the action, and the wild ideas. It raised over $500,000 (more than 25 times its goal of $20,000).
System playtesting was announced on October 30, 2012, and the game was released on August 14, 2013. Cook has stated that
David "Zeb" Cook
David "Zeb" Cook is an American game designer, best known for his work at TSR, Inc., where he was employed for over fifteen years. Cook designed several games, wrote the '' Expert Set'' for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', worked as lead designer of the ...
's (no relation)
Planescape
''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by Zeb Cook, and published in 1994. It crosses numerous planes of existence, encompassing an entire cosmology called the Great Wheel, as dev ...
fantasy world was a significant influence on concepts in ''Numenera''.
The Ninth World of ''Numenera'' was also the setting for a 2013 release of the ''
Thunderstone Advance'' deck-building game by
Alderac Entertainment Group
Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game, board game, and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California. Prior to getting into their cur ...
, as well as the 2017 video game ''
Torment: Tides of Numenera'', which was developed by
InXile Entertainment
inXile Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Tustin, California. Specializing in role-playing video games, inXile was founded in 2002 by Interplay co-founder Brian Fargo. The studio ...
after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
''
The Strange
''The Strange'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game, written by Bruce Cordell & Monte Cook, and published by Monte Cook Games.
History
''The Strange'' was published in 2014 by Monte Cook Games, as a result of a crowd funding camp ...
'' is a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
-funded table-top RPG created by Cook and
Bruce Cordell
Bruce Robert Cordell (born 1968) is an American author of roleplaying games and fantasy novels. He has worked on ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games for Wizards of the Coast. He won the Origins Award for ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' and has also wo ...
using the same Cypher System ruleset as ''
Numenera
''Numenera'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in the far distant future, written by Monte Cook, published in 2013.
Game
Setting
Numenera is set on Earth approximately one billion years in the future. The setting is cal ...
''. The game, which involves traveling through different worlds known as Recursions, was released in August 2014.
''
Invisible Sun
"Invisible Sun" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as a single in Europe in September 1981.Sutcliffe, Phil (1993). "A Police Discography". In ''Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings'' (pp.60–61) oxed set booklet A&M Reco ...
'' is a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
-funded table-top role-playing game created by Monte Cook Games, with a street date released of September 20, 2018. It is a surreal fantasy game with many game accessories.
Career
Author
Monte Cook is a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Workshop.
After graduating from the 1999 workshop, he has published the novels ''The Glass Prison'' and ''Of Aged Angels''.
He has also published short stories like "Born in Secrets" (in ''
Amazing Stories
''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...
''), "The Rose Window" (in ''Realms of Mystery''), and "A Narrowed Gaze" (in ''Realms of the Arcane'').
He also writes a continuing ''Call of Cthulhu'' fiction series, ''The Shandler Chronicles'', in ''Game Trade Magazine''.
In the non-fiction genre, Cook has written ''The Skeptic's Guide to Conspiracies''.
Video games
Cook wrote dialogue for the
MMORPG
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
''
Marvel Heroes''.
Personal life
He was married to
Sue Weinlein Cook
Sue Weinlein Cook ( Weinlein) is an American game designer and editor who has worked on a number of products for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game from TSR, and for Monte Cook's Malhavoc Press.
Biography
Sue Weinlein was b ...
,
although they are now divorced.
References
External links
Official websiteFlames Rising interview*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Monte
1968 births
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
Dungeons & Dragons game designers
Living people