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Bruce R. Cordell

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in The United States

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http://www.brucecordell.com

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Science Fiction & Fantasy

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October 2014

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Bruce R. Cordell authored books for Dungeons & Dragons over the course of 4 editions (2nd Edition through 5th Edition D&D). These days, he’s a senior designer for Monte Cook Games, LLC designing Numenera , Gods of the Fall, and The Strange. Also a novel author, his credits include several titles set in the Forgotten Realms. Bruce’s tenth novel, Myth of the Maker, is just out from Angry Robot Books:
http://brucecordell.blogspot.com/2017... ...more

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When was the last time a player character died under your watch? How did it go?

Bruce R. Cordell You know, it's been a long time. The Cypher System (used by The Strange, Numenera, Gods of the Fall, and now The Stars Are Fire) creates fairly robust…moreYou know, it's been a long time. The Cypher System (used by The Strange, Numenera, Gods of the Fall, and now The Stars Are Fire) creates fairly robust characters, and as a GM I'm usually in playtesting mode and can tell when PCs resources become strained and they're on the edge. That said, it's certainly in playtesting mode when a PC last died with me in the GM's seat. Multiple times, actually, when we were testing 5th edition to exhaustion :D. But as you can probably guess, a player whose dwarf fighter dies in a playtest knew the risks going in; they take their lumps with class and then create another instance of a dwarf fighter for the next round of playtesting.(less)

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Bruce R. Cordell I don't believe in writer's block; I believe in writer's malaise.

Sometimes, you just don't want to write. But to get myself over that hump, I might pi…moreI don't believe in writer's block; I believe in writer's malaise.

Sometimes, you just don't want to write. But to get myself over that hump, I might pick a random book off the shelf, open it to a random page, and read a paragraph. Something in that paragraph will probably serve as a writing prompt, a seed of a new angle or approach that I can apply to whatever I'm currently working on.(less)

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Bruce R. Cordell’s books

Average rating: 4.19 · 26,606 ratings · 1,147 reviews · 167 distinct works • Similar authors

	Tome and Blood: A Guidebook to Wizards and Sorcerers (Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd Edition) by Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author), Skip Williams 3.58 avg rating — 668 ratings — published 2001 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Underdark (Dungeons & Dragons d20 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Accessory) by Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author), Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jeff Quick (Goodreads Author) 3.96 avg rating — 527 ratings — published 2003 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Plague of Spells (Forgotten Realms: Abolethic Sovereignty, #1) 3.64 avg rating — 512 ratings — published 2008 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lady of Poison (Forgotten Realms: The Priests, #1) 3.65 avg rating — 463 ratings — published 2004 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City of Torment (Forgotten Realms: Abolethic Sovereignty, #2) 3.69 avg rating — 360 ratings — published 2009 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stardeep (Forgotten Realms: The Dungeons, #3) 3.76 avg rating — 329 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Darkvision (Forgotten Realms: The Wizards, #3) 3.64 avg rating — 324 ratings — published 2006 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Key of Stars (Forgotten Realms: Abolethic Sovereignty, #3) 3.75 avg rating — 308 ratings — published 2010 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sword of the Gods (The Abyssal Plague Spreads, #1) 3.81 avg rating — 217 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spinner of Lies: A Forgotten Realms Novel 3.97 avg rating — 159 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Bruce R. Cordell…

221 posts
Bruce R. Cordell's Blog

Rewind: Why I Like Fringe (slightly) More than X-Files

Hey folks!

Several months ago, I heard Prime had picked up the rights to do another Stargate series. Having never watched the original Stargate or the Atlantis spin-off, I was intrigued. Batgirl hadn't seen the series since it debuted in the late 90s, so she was on board for some long-term sci-fi watching, a few at a time. We're in season 9 of 10! (As an aside, I just heard Prime is no longer inter

Series by Bruce R. Cordell

Abolethic Sovereignty (3 books)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.68 avg rating — 1,180 ratings

Sword of the Gods (2 books)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.88 avg rating — 376 ratings

Numenera (5 books)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author),

Sean K. Reynolds,

Monte Cook (Creative Director)

4.46 avg rating — 147 ratings

Rise of the Underdark (1 book)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.97 avg rating — 159 ratings

Forgotten Realms (1 book)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.97 avg rating — 159 ratings

More series by Bruce R. Cordell…

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Bruce R. Cordell wrote a new blog post Rewind: Why I Like Fringe (slightly) More than X-Files Hey folks!Several months ago, I heard Prime had picked up the rights to do another Stargate series. Having never watched the original Stargate or the Read more of this blog post »
Jun 28, 2026 12:34AM · like

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Quotes by Bruce R. Cordell (?)

“Mother, you’ve given me even more than you know,” he said. “I feel revived. That you’d never forgotten me was always my fondest hope. Knowing it’s true is a boon of incalculable value. Thank you.”
― Bruce R. Cordell, Key of Stars

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“He was far more human, with all the failings that implied, than he’d ever admitted to himself. He was only a fool with an outsize ego, like every other fool who pranced and paraded through life, deluded they were somehow finer and better trained than most others, until shown the truth.”
― Bruce R. Cordell, Plague of Spells

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