Robin Laws

Robin D. Laws (born October 14, 1964 in Orillia, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of a number of novels and role-playing games as well as an anthologist.

Career

Robin D. Laws has been a professional game designer and an author since the early 1990s.

Game designer

Robin D. Laws has been playing role-playing games since he was a teenager and has worked as a game designer since the early 1990s. John Nephew of Atlas Games convinced Jonathan Tweet to publish a game he had been writing about in ''Alarums & Excursions''; Laws talked with Tweet about the game in ''A&E'' and contributed to the final product as well, the result of which was '' Over the Edge'' (1992). Daedalus Games began when Laws approached Jose Garcia in 1993 with an idea for a Hong Kong Action Cinema RPG; while Garcia liked the idea, his first priority was his own setting, '' Nexus: The Infinite City'' which was published in 1994 with Garcia as the main designer and developer, and Laws, Bruce Baugh, and Rob Heinsoo as additional authors. Daedalus Games was incorporated as Daedalus Entertainment in preparation for publishing in the Hong Kong action setting Laws had designed, but beginning with a collectible-card game to take advantage of that then-booming market.; Laws therefore designed the collectible card game ''Shadowfist'' (1995). Daedalus Entertainment subsequently published Laws' role-playing game '' Feng Shui'' (1996), which used a variant of the ''Nexus'' game system, and began to publish supplements. However, Daedalus filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1997; when the company sold off a few of its properties a few years later, Laws re-acquired "Feng Shui". Nephew told Laws that he would be happy to bring ''Feng Shui'' back into print, so when Laws was able to free up the rights he brought it to Atlas Games, in a deal announced on March 22, 1999.

Meanwhile, Laws was active throughout the 1990s as a freelance writer for games including ''GURPS'', ''Underground'', ''Talislanta'', ''Earthdawn'', and '' Vampire: The Dark Ages'', and later for supplements to the third edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. In 1998, Greg Stafford approached Laws to create a new game based on his world of Glorantha, which became known as '' Hero Wars'', published in 2000 as the first fully professional product for Issaries, and later expanded and re-published in 2003 as ''HeroQuest''. A second edition was published in 2009; Laws was then able to provide additional scaffolding for players to construct setting-appropriate narratives with the rules provided. At the same time, Laws was engaged in some more experimental RPG design. Hogshead Publishing published his '' Pantheon and Other Roleplaying Games'' (2000) as one of the company's "New Style" RPGs, while Atlas Games contracted Laws to write the ''Rune'' (2001) role-playing game, based on the computer game ''Rune''. Laws determined that for ''Rune'', "the game would need to have a big point of difference to distinguish it from the many other fantasy games available"; in this case, the game would allow players to swap roles with the Game Master (GM): "You can win! And when you're not the GM, it's not boring because the GM can win!"

Pelgrane Press revealed on January 20, 2000 that Laws would be the core author of their upcoming roleplaying game based on the Jack Vance stories in the Dying Earth setting. Laws was the senior designer for ''The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game''. As Pelgrane Press expanded, they launched the GUMSHOE system, designed by Laws based on the claim that investigative gaming had been introduced to RPGs under the mistaken assumption that acquiring clues should be treated as a contingent reward; the new system ensured that players would learn the clues needed in order to proceed with their investigations. Laws' ''The Esoterrorists'' (2006) was the first release with this system, supported by his sourcebook ''The Esoterror Factbook'' (2006); the next year, Pelgrane released Laws' '' Fear Itself'' (2007). Laws has also contributed supplements to Ken Hite's '' Trail of Cthulhu'' line, notably the randomized ''Armitage Files'' resource and the ''Dreamhounds of Paris'' campaign frame, in which players take on the roles of actual surrealist artists as they confront horror in the Dreamlands. Laws also designed ''Mutant City Blues'' (2009) and ''Ashen Stars'' (2011) as investigative games in the superhero and space opera genres. His RPG '' Skulduggery'' (2010) extrapolated the treatment of conflict, especially interpersonal conflict, from the ''Dying Earth'' setting to a variety of other contexts, and the ''Gaean Reach'' RPG (2012) cross-fertilized ''Dying Earth'' and GUMSHOE rules in Vance's sci-fi setting.

In 2012, Laws also ran a Kickstarter for his game ''Hillfolk'', featuring his new Dramasystem. The goal was $3,000, but raised over $93,000, and it went on to win the 2014 Diana Jones Award. After another successful Kickstarter by Atlas Games, Laws released a second edition of ''Feng Shui'' twenty years after its original release, removing obstructive rules and marking a "critical shift" in the game's background. Laws has since published the specialized ''Cthulhu Confidential'' (2017), offering a modified GUMSHOE system for roleplaying with one player and the GM, and the '' Yellow King RPG'' inspired by Robert W. Chambers (2020), also for Pelgrane Press.

Author

Robin D. Laws published his first novel ''Pierced Heart'' in 1996, set in the world of ''Over the Edge''; it was released as an e-book in 2014. His subsequent novels included the original ''The Rough and the Smooth'' as well as novels set in the game settings of ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'', ''City of Heroes'' and ''Pathfinder''. Laws also had stories published in Synister Creative's pulp magazine, and in the fiction anthology ''The Book of All Flesh'' for the ''All Flesh Must Be Eaten'' RPG: "The first is a light-hearted adventure, and the other is really, really dark". Laws wrote ''Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering'' (2002) for Steve Jackson Games and edited ''40 Years of Gen Con'' (2007), a collection of interviews and photographs, published by Atlas. Laws also wrote ''Hamlet's Hit Points'' (2010), published by small press company Gameplaywright, and is currently working on a second volume, applying the same approach to narrative structure with a focus on fiction and screenplay writing. Laws is also the editor of the Stone Skin Press fiction imprint from Pelgrane Press.

In other media, he contributed to the ''King of Dragon Pass'' and ''Six Ages'' computer games and wrote for Marvel's ''Iron Man'' with Mike Grell in 2003. He writes an irregular advice column for role-players called ''See Page XX'', and releases a weekly podcast with Ken Hite for Pelgrane Press, ''Ken and Robin talk about stuff''.

Conventions

Robin Laws is frequently invited to be a guest speaker at conventions around the world, having made appearances at Gen Con Australia and Ropecon in Finland.

Laws attends Gen Con Indy and the Toronto International Film Festival every year. He has stated that he often cannot attend Fan Expo Canada.

Works

A partial list of works by Robin D Laws:

Role-playing games and related supplements

For '' 13th Age'':

* ''13 True Ways''

''Ashen Stars''

''Cthulhu Confidential''

For '' Deadlands: Hell on Earth''
* ''Monsters, Muties and Misfits'' (''et al.'')

For ''Dungeons and Dragons'':
* '' Dungeon Master's Guide II'' (''et al.'')
* ''Seven Strongholds'' (Atlas Games Penumbra)

For the ''Earthdawn'' RPG:
* ''Throal: The Dwarf Kingdom''
* ''Infected''
* ''Horrors''
* ''Denizens of Earthdawn (Volume 2)''
* ''The Theran Empire''
* ''Parlainth Adventures'' (''et al.'')

''The Esoterrorists''
* ''The Esoterror Factbook''
'' Fear Itself''

'' Feng Shui: Action Movie Roleplaying''
* ''Four Bastards''
* ''Burning Shaolin''

For the ''Firefly Role-Playing Game'':
* '' Ghosts In the Black''

''Gaean Reach'' RPG

For ''Greg Stafford's'' ''Glorantha'' setting

* '' Glorantha: the Second Age'' and associated supplements
* ''HeroQuest'' first and second editions
* '' Hero Wars'' and associated supplements

For ''GURPS'':
* '' Fantasy 2: Adventures in the Mad Lands''

''Hillfolk''

'' Jack Vance's The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game''
* ''Kaiin Player's Guide''
* ''Turjan's Tome of Beauty and Horror'' (with Ian Thompson)
* ''Cugel's Compendium of Indispensable Advantages'' (''et al.'')
* ''The Excellent Prismatic Spray 2-5'' (''et al.'')

''Mutant City Blues''
* ''Hard Helix''

'' Nexus: The Infinite City'' (''et al.'')

''OG: Unearthed Edition''

For '' Over the Edge'':
* ''Unauthorized Broadcast''
* ''Weather the Cuckoo Likes''
* ''Wildest Dreams''
* ''Over the Edge, 2nd Edition'' (with Jonathan Tweet)

'' Pandemonium!: Adventures in Tabloid World'' (Contributor)
* ''Stranger Than Truth: Further Adventures in Tabloid World'' (Contributor)

'' Pantheon and Other Roleplaying Games''

''Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering'' ()

''Rune''

'' Shadowfist Players' Guide (Volume 1)'' (with Rob Heinsoo)

''Star Trek RPG'' (''et al.'')

'' Star Trek: The Next Generation RPG'' (''et al.'')
* ''Raiders, Renegades, & Rogues'' (''et al.'')

For ''Talislanta'':
* ''Sub-men Rising''

For '' Trail of Cthulhu''
* ''The Armitage Files''
* ''Out of Space'' Scenario: ''Repairer of Reputations''
* ''Stunning Eldritch Tales''
* '' Dreamhounds of Paris''

For the '' Underground RPG'':
* ''Ways and Means''

For '' Vampire: The Dark Ages'':
* ''House of Tremere''

For '' Vampire: the Masquerade'':
* ''Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy''

For ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay''
* ''Heart of Chaos (Doomstones Campaign Volume 3)''

Novels

* ''Pierced Heart''
* ''The Rough and the Smooth''
* ''Honour of the Grave''
* ''Sacred Flesh''
* ''Liar's Peak''
* ''Freedom Phalanx''
* Pathfinder Tales: ''The Worldwound Gambit''
* Pathfinder Tales: ''Blood of the City''
* ''The Missing and the Lost''

References

External links

Robin Laws' Blogspot journal
*
''See Page XX'' RPG advice columnRPGnet Index EntryInterview on Flames Rising (March 2011)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laws, Robin
1964 births
Atlas Games people
Canadian game designers
Canadian podcasters
Chaosium game designers
Dungeons & Dragons game designers
GURPS writers
Living people
People from Orillia
Role-playing game designers
Role-playing game writers
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game designers
White Wolf game designers