Malhavoc Press is an American publisher of
role-playing games, specializing in third-party material for
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 Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
' third edition.
History
Game designer
Monte Cook
Monte Cook is an American professional tabletop role-playing game designer and writer, best known for his work on ''Dungeons & Dragons''.
Role-playing industry career
Early years
Cook has been a professional game designer since 1988, worki ...
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 science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidia ...
in April 2001, founding Malhavoc Press as a
d20 System imprint in May 2001. In July 2001 Cook signed with
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
* Whi ...
's
Sword & Sorcery Studios, at that time the largest independent publisher of d20 material, so that they could handle publishing matters while he focused on game design and writing.
The company's first product was ''The Book of Eldritch Might'' (2001).
This 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 through the Malhavoc site, though print versions of most of them were subsequently released by Sword & Sorcery. Malhavoc worked with
Fiery Dragon Productions after the latter left Sword & Sorcery in 2002, and the majority of Fiery Dragon's licenses were taken from Malhavoc.
In 2001 Malhavoc won the
ENnie Award
The ENNIE Awards (previously stylized as ENnie Awards) are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products (including game-related accessories, publications, and art) and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN World ...
for Best Official Website, and in 2003 for Best Publisher.
While the company was successful, Monte Cook announced in August 2008 that he had originally moved on from Wizards of the Coast primarily to write fiction, rather than design and release RPG products, and that "there are other areas I'd like to explore creatively". As such, "Malhavoc Press and virtually all game-related work" on Cook's part was put "on the back-burner" at that time, though he stated that he was not closing the press and left open the possibility of releasing future work under the Malhavoc name, should he later desire (which did happen). August 2008 also saw the sale of Malhavoc's publisher, Sword & Sorcery Studios, by its owner, White Wolf. Malhavoc was never formally closed, but has not released any new product since 2009; Cook formed a new publishing company—Monte Cook Games—in 2012.
[{{Cite web, url=http://www.shannagermain.com/portfolio_2/monte-cook-games/, title=Shanna Germain, last=, first=, date=, website=ShannaGermain.com, access-date=2017-09-18]
Malhavoc Releases
Most releases were written by Monte Cook, but other authors (such as
Bruce Cordell,
Sean K. Reynolds,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
) also wrote for the company in its first few years.
* ''The Book of Eldritch Might'' (2001)
001 ENnies: Best Editor; Best Rulebook or Accessory; Best Writer* ''Demon God's Fane'' (2001)
* ''If Thoughts Could Kill'' (2001)
002 ENnie: Best Adventure* ''Book of Eldritch Might II: Songs and Souls of Power'' (2002)
* ''The Banewarrens'' (2002)
003 ENnie: Best Adventure* ''Requiem for a God'' (2002)
* ''Skreyn's Register: The Bonds of Magic Vols. 1 and 2'' (2002)
ompiled into a single-volume print release later that year* ''The Book of Eldritch Might III: The Nexus'' (2002)
* ''The Book of Hallowed Might'' (2003)
pdated to 3.5 edition in a 2004 re-release* ''Mindscapes: A Psion's Guide'' (2003)
* ''Mindscapes: Beasts of the Id'' (2003)
* ''Mindscapes'' (2003)
rint compilation of the two prior Mindscapes releases, which were PDF only* ''When the Sky Falls'' (2003)
* ''
Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed: A Variant Player's Handbook'' (2003)
004 ENnie: Best d20 Game* ''Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed DM's Screen and Player's Guide'' (2003)
* ''Cry Havoc'' (2003)
* ''Anger of Angels'' (2003)
* ''Chaositech'' (2004)
* ''Legacy of the Dragons'' (2004)
* ''The Complete Book of Eldritch Might'' (2004)
004 ENnie: Best Revision, Update, or Compilation* ''Book of Hallowed Might II: Portents and Visions'' (2004)
* ''Children of the Rune'' (2004)
iction collection* ''Hyperconscious: Explorations in Psionics'' (2004)
* ''Beyond Countless Doorways'' (2004)
005 ENnie: Best Art, Cover* ''Grimoire II'' (2004)
* ''Mystic Secrets: The Lore of Word and Rune'' (2004)
* ''The Book of Iron Might'' (2004)
* ''Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved'' (2005)
005 ENnies: Best Art, Interior; Best d20 Game* ''Ruins of Intrigue'' (2005)
* ''Transcendence'' (2005)
* ''The Book of Roguish Luck'' (2005)
* ''The Dragons' Return'' (2005)
iction collection* ''Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes'' (2005)
* ''The Iron Heroes Bestiary'' (2005)
* ''Mastering Iron Heroes'' (2005)
* ''Spell Treasury'' (2005)
006 ENnie: Best Art, Cover* ''
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 ...
: City by the Spire'' (2006)
007 ENnies: Best Cartography; Best Product; Best Production Values; Best Setting* ''PT 1: A Player's Guide to Ptolus'' (2006)
* ''PT 2: The World of Praemal'' (2006)
* ''PT 3: Organizations'' (2006)
* ''PT 4: Districts of the City, Vol. 1'' (2006)
* ''PT 5: Districts of the City, Vol. 2'' (2006)
* ''PT 6: DM's Companion'' (2006)
* ''PT 7: Beneath the Streets'' (2006)
* ''PT 8: Adventures'' (2006)
* ''PT 9: The Spire'' (2006)
* ''The Night of Dissolution'' (2006)
* ''Secrets of the Delver's Guild'' (2007)
* ''Earthblood'' (2008)
* ''The Book of Experimental Might'' (2008)
* ''The Book of Experimental Might Vol. II'' (2008)
008 ENnie: Best Electronic Book* ''Dark Tidings'' (2009)
* ''The Collected Book of Experimental Might'' (2009)
References
Dungeons & Dragons
ENnies winners
Publishing companies established in 2001
Role-playing game publishing companies