Monte Cook's Blog, page 134
February 15, 2012
Legos
I want a house made out of Legos!
February 12, 2012
Sonos
I've written about this before, but so be it. I love Sonos. The way some people are about Apple, I am about Sonos. But Sonos only makes one thing--a wireless, in-home audio system that allows me to play my own mp3s, stream Rhapsody, Pandora, Spotify, radio stations from around the world, and music from other sources as well. I just purchased a Play: 3 to my system and it's amazing. Took seconds to set up right out of the box. The ability to have music playing everywhere throughout my apartment so that I can walk around without missing anything is really important to me. And the fact that between all the various Internet services, I pretty much have all the music makes that almost too good to be true.
Music makes me happy.
February 1, 2012
Free Issue of Kobold Quarterly
#14 was the big Gen Con issue, and it includes:
· Exclusive Pathfinder content, including two articles by Paizo staff
· The Ecology of the Tengu—in Golarion and in Zobeck
· An interview with 4th Edition D&D lead designer Rob Heinsoo
· Treasure Trove articles with phat loots to improve your game and bring smiles to players
· Paladins, secret languages and aasimar PCs
· Secrets of game design from Monte CookJanuary 22, 2012
Seeking Geeks
Jen Page and I have launched a Kickstarter to fund our new, joint project, Geek Seekers. Geek Seekers is a funny but real paranormal investigation web series where the two of us--huge geeks both--look for ghosts, bigfoot, UFOs, and more. I hope you'll check it out and consider contributing.
January 9, 2012
So...
So...
Maybe you heard about this? Maybe not. Now you have. I'm the lead designer of a project that will likely evolve into a new iteration of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. It's meant to be a set of rules that unites all the previous editions, and the players of those editions. It's a big project, and we plan on involving all comers to playtest and voice their opinions, because really, what's the point of designing a game no one wants to play? And who knows better what D&D players want than, well, D&D players. So if you care about the game, sign up to be a playtester, and have your thoughts get heard.
December 31, 2011
2012
Hey, 2012. How you doing? You're looking good.
You wanna hang out? You can come over, maybe help me out with a few things. We'll make some plans. We'll have fun.
Cool. See you real soon.
2011
2011
So, 2011. You're leaving. Can't say that I'm sorry to see you go.
We started out... rocky. I was in a bad way, and looked to you for solace. Succor. Maybe just a helping hand. Instead, you kicked me while I was down.
I pulled myself up, though. Started doing some new things. Got a new work-thing going with Wizards of the Coast. Started a web-series called Geek Seekers. Moved to Seattle. Reconnected with some old friends. Made some new ones. By the end, things looked pretty good.
But even that stuff is really more like groundwork for 2012. Really, you were no help, 2011. You kept punching me in the gut each time I tried one of these knew things. You and your friend, 2010. (I hate to even bring up that guy's name, to be honest.)
So, 2011? Get outta here. Go. 2012 hasn't even started yet and it's already better than you.
December 5, 2011
In Seattle
I have moved to Seattle. Or rather, I have moved back to Seattle. I lived here before, from 1997 to about 2006, and now I'm back. Before, I came because Wizards of the Coast bought the company that I worked for, TSR. (I have to ask myself, if you don't know that, how is it that you're reading my blog? Anyway...) I moved here with Sue. We left because it seemed like, at the time, the things tying us to Seattle were not what they once were, and Sue really liked Milwaukee, the place that she felt to be her home. (Previously, we had lived in Lake Geneva, WI, not terribly far from Milwaukee, all things considered. Before that, well, that was before I knew Sue, and I lived all over. Virginia, Colorado, South Dakota...)
Now I am back in Seattle. And I am on my own. That's not easy to write. It might be the hardest thing I've ever had to write, actually. But I'm in Seattle, and first and foremost I'm here because it's the place I have loved more than any other I've lived. So that part is good. I am doing work with Wizards of the Coast again, as you probably know, but I was doing that in Milwaukee. That's not why I moved.
Moving is never fun, and that's never been more true than with this move. It's a bit of a reboot for me, and so it is bittersweet. It's also the first time in many, many moves that I've had to do it all alone since, well, since when I moved I could fit all my belongings in my car and drive off to Charlottesville, VA to work for Iron Crown Enterprises in 1990.
The move has had its ups and downs. Take today, for example. I have a new apartment, but my belongings are still in storage. I had everything lined up to move that stuff in tomorrow. Today, I wake up to discover that the road in front of my building is being repaved. That's all well and good, but it means that my car--in the apartment's big, underground garage--is trapped. I can't get out. This means I can't get to an important meeting at Wizards. Worse, this construction is going to take a few days, so I can't get my stuff moved in.
Thus, I will continue to sit alone in an empty apartment a while longer. Thankfully, I have a lot of work to do. Hmm. How often does one type that sentence?
So, I refilled my Starbucks card, I've got a rain jacket with a hood... I think I'm ready for whatever Seattle has to offer.
As soon as I can get out of my parking garage.
November 8, 2011
Ready Player One
I devoured Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. If you are a geek worthy of the name, you're bound to find something in this novel that you will like. Set in a dystopian future, the story surrounds a group of young gamers/hackers who must find their way through a maze of 80s pop culture and video games to solve a series of intricate puzzles created by a dead game designer to find a vast fortune... and maybe save the world.
If you like games (video and tabletop rpgs), 80s geek movies and TV, intelligent characters, and fast-paced action and adventure, you'll like this book.
If you know who Acererak or the Space Giants were, if you can quote from Monty Python or the Breakfast Club, or if you remember finding the grey dot in the Atari game Adventure, then you will love this book and you'll be absolutely certain that it was written just for you.
Go read this book, geeks.
October 24, 2011
Lots of New Stuff
I always have a lot of projects in the works, and now is no exception.
I have a story in the Stone Skin Press anthology, The New Hero, which is coming out soon. You can check out the cover art at the link. That's my story being depicted on the top panel. I hope you'll enjoy reading about Iona and her psilent hound companion, Duncan.
The Ptolus-based adventure that I wrote for Fiery Dragon Productions, Queen of Lies, is once again available in print. It's got dark elves and treachery, plus a heroic invasion of a subterranean fortress!
There is a new issue of Kobold Quarterly out. My Game Theories column this time will be of interest to many D&D players, as it offers ideas for flavorful, non-mechanical racial benefits for all the standard fantasy races. Make your elf more elvish!
Lastly, I have a brand new project being announced on Monday, so stay tuned for that. An announcement on Halloween! Oooooh. Scary?
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