Four
Authors and Artist Reunite for Beyond
Countless Doorways
 |
|
Beyond
Countless Doorways cover illustration by rk
post
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December
18, 2003 (Renton, Wash.)—Four
writers and an artist from the much-loved Planescape®
setting have come together to create a new planar book
for Malhavoc Press. Malhavoc owner Monte Cook reunites
with his fellow Planescape authors Wolfgang Baur,
Colin McComb, and Ray Vallese to pen a new book of planes,
due out next year. The book, called Beyond
Countless Doorways, features a cover by veteran
Planescape artist rk post.
"I'm
thrilled to be able to work on the planes with some of
my old friends again," Monte said. "This feels
just like the good old days when we all worked on Planescape."
Everyone
was excited to journey through the planes one more time.
"Much of the Planescape material has entered
the SRD and d20 canon," Wolfgang said. "Getting
to visit and describe a few new planes was a great chance
to cut loose and write an extremely alternate history,
and a few other planes that didn't fit into the original
Great Wheel cosmology."
Colin
also seized the opportunity to dig into some new concepts.
"I am truly grateful for the chance to explore themes
and ideas I never got around to doing with Planescape,"
said Colin. "It has been way, way too long. Working
with these talented authors and dear friends is an honor
indeed."
Ray
recalls that he spent most of his TSR career writing and
editing for the Planescape line. "There's nothing
quite so satisfying as friends working together to create
something cool," he said, "and now we get the
chance to do it again. Look out!"
Beyond
Countless Doorways is a collection of 18 modular new
planar locales, with a foreword by Planescape campaign
setting originator David "Zeb" Cook. Each plane
is fully described and ready for exploration; together
they form a complete cosmological framework for any d20
System campaign. The book also contains dozens of new
monsters, NPCs, magic items, and spells unique to these
planes. The 224-page sourcebook is projected for a summer
2004 electronic release, with a print edition to follow
in the fall.
During
his time in TSR's classic Planescape group (from
1995 to 1998), Monte wrote or co-wrote 10 products for
the line, including Dead Gods, Hellbound, and the
popular Planewalker's Handbook. The last Planescape
title, Faction War, was published by Wizards of
the Coast in 1998. After the line ended, Monte went on
to codesign Dungeons & Dragons® 3rd Edition,
while some of his coauthors drifted into other careers.
Game
designer Wolfgang Baur is known not only as the coauthor
of In the Cage, Planes of Chaos, and Planes
of Law, but also for his many well-received Al-Qadim®
roleplaying titles and as the former editor of Dungeon®
and Dragon® magazines. After he codesigned
the Dark•Matter® campaign setting with
Monte, Wolfgang left Wizards of the Coast to work as an
editor at Microsoft. He continues to write d20 products
for Green Ronin Publishing, Wizards of the Coast, Chaosium,
and Paradigm Concepts.
While
a designer at TSR, Inc., Colin McComb wrote or co-wrote
eight Planescape products, including Planes
of Law and Planes of Conflict. He also worked
on the award-winning computer game Planescape: Torment
for Black Isle Studios and co-authored the Birthright®
campaign setting. After four years as a computer game
designer and three as lead writer for a technology development
incubator, Colin recently started HM Interactive, an interactive
media development company, with his wife Robin Moulder.
He is also working on a novel and a collection of short
stories.
Fans
know Ray Vallese as the designer or codesigner of Uncaged:
Faces of Sigil, Something Wild, and Faction War.
In addition, Ray served as a longtime Planescape
editor, with 10 editing credits to his name in the line.
He is contributing to both the writing and editing of
Beyond Countless Doorways. Currently, Ray is a
media/communications specialist at the University of Illinois
in Urbana-Champaign, though he continues to work on Wizards
of the Coast's Star Wars Roleplaying Game product
line and website.
Cover
artist rk
post was one of the main Planescape cover artists.
He illustrated five covers for the line, including two
of Monte's books, The Great Modron March and Dead
Gods. He now works as a freelance illustrator and
has recently published an art book: Postmortem: The
Art of rk post.
Malhavoc
Press is the publisher of the award-winning Book
of Eldritch Might and the bestselling Monte
Cook's Arcana Unearthed. Hallmarks of Malhavoc products
include unusual magic, monsters, and evocative game elements
that go beyond traditional fantasy, as well as a mastery
of the d20 System rules. The company was named Best Publisher
at the EN World d20 System Award ceremony held at Gen
Con 2003. Malhavoc Press titles are available at
this site, along with free game design samples. Print
versions are published by Sword
& Sorcery™.
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