In you opinion of course.
Mine
#1-- David Pulver -- All the GURPS stuff, BESM 2ed & d20, Tri-Stat DX
#2--Mike Mearls--best d20 author IMO
#3--CJ Carella -- Buffy,Witchcraft, Rifts stuff.
I have to ditto your nominations for Pulver and Carella and throw in Eric Wujcik just for making TMNT. Aaron Allston gets props for compiling the Rules Cyclopedia, and I think Luke Crane qualifies as an up and comer for taking some of those hippy dippy theme-game ideas and infusing them with a traditional game in Burning Wheel, it's good stuff.
Mike Mearls is right there at the top of my list.
Man, I seriously have wayyyy too many to list (and more than a few that frequent this board). I don't think I can decide...
Quote from: Zachary The FirstMan, I seriously have wayyyy too many to list (and more than a few that frequent this board). I don't think I can decide...
yeah, I know I forgot to put Wujcek on mine. he should be in the top five for sure.
Quote from: JamesV... Aaron Allston gets props for compiling the Rules Cyclopedia....
Of course, Allston's
Rules Cyclopedia is simply a compilation of rules already found in the Mentzer box sets (and the Basic and Expert Mentzer sets, in turn, were pretty much slightly revised versions of the Moldvay Basic and Cook Expert sets).
Nonetheless, the
Rules Cyclopedia is one sweet book. And Allston's work on
Mystara is worthy of much praise!
Best in RPGs overall? Can't think of a dang one.
Best in mythic RPGs? John Wick. Take a close look at the Wick editions of Legend of the Five Rings and 7th Sea plus his Orc and Cat. Note how each approaches the subject as the home and the source of legend. Note how the first two changed in the hands of others, losing their focus and that which made them what they were. Under Wick Legend of the Five Rings was a game about a land and a people doomed to fail. Fail in their charge to protect the world from chaos and destruction. But determined to carry on regardless of their fate, for that is what honor requires of them. Once L5R was put in the hands of others it became nothing more than a bog standard pseudo-Japan with no reason for being than neat cutlery and strange critters.
Tie: Sean Punch and David Pulver.
For me?
Gygax. He set the standards. I want to say Arneson, too, but he is much more reclusive and his influence on the hobby less well-documented and clearly quantifiable.
The Delta Green guys (although I found their other big title, Unknown Armies, to be way too self-indulgent, poseur-edgy and generally inaccessable to be worth more than a bemused read).
Steve Long has done more great RPG sourcebooks recently than I could ever have thought possible from one man. Star Hero, Fantasy Hero, Pulp Hero, Dark Champions, Hudson City, etc. He's earned himself a place in the all-time top five greats in as many years!
In no particular order, my
favorites are:
- Robin Laws
- Mike Mearls
- Jonathan Tweet
- Vincent Baker
- Ron Edwards
- Frank Chadwick (author of Twilight: 2000 and long-time president of GDW.)
Personally, I can't stand CJ Carrella, but that's for personal reasons.
Whose the best, though?
Beats me, most of them out there are pretty good.
For my money?
Robin Laws has yet to disappoint. Maybe because Heroquest's tidy little system made my geek erection grow three feet, maybe because his GM's advice has never not been spot-on for me, maybe for some curious metaphysical reason I don't know about yet. But I can always trust Robin to serve up something I'll like.
Edit: And for the record, because I know Pundit could find a way to make it a black mark, I do not give two shits about how much Ron likes or dislikes Heroquest. I hear he loves it; bully on him. So do I. I learned about his enjoyment of the game well after I'd done my "ZOMG THAT'S what I want in a d20-based fantasy game!" dance. YMMV.
No love for Monte Cook?
Quote from: Hastur T. FannonNo love for Monte Cook?
I've always put Monte up there as my favorite d20 designer of all time. I just stopped playing d20, so I guess he didn't really enter into my consideration. A year ago I'd have included him right off the bat.
What about Steve Perrin? Didn't he do Runequest and CoC?
Oh, I dunno about "best". That'd take lots of objective research and stress tests and some pie charts.
Now, my
favorites?
- GREG COSTIKYAN, for his work on Star Wars back in the 1980s
- S JOHN ROSS, because Points In Space was absolutely delightful and because he rescued Encounter Critical from oblivion
- BRETT BERNSTEIN is a new favorite whose Genre Diversion and Impresa lines have satisfied me at every turn -- and which beg to be played and played with
- CHRIS ENGLE, whom you have probably never heard of, has done a lot of work to strip gaming down to its essence, encourage creativity and open it up to a wider audience with his "Engle Matrix" game
I'm also impressed with Jeff Combos, whose
Hollow Earth Expedition is getting ooohs and ahhhs from my friends -- and from me.
Costikyan is something of a minor deity. Not only did he design great games but his recent work in the videogames industry has been nothing less than heroic.
John Tynes is something of a personal hero too. Since he left the gaming industry he's done some good writing and his Contrarian column is always worth a read but when he was in the games industry, I think that he was single-handedly responsible for re-invigorating Cthulhu at least three times; initially with the Unspeakable oath bringing an intelligence to Cthulhu design that had been lacking from Chaosium for years, then there were the Delta Green books and finally his in-character posts on RPGnet which I think formed the basis for Chaosium's recent change of direction of Cthulhu. Plus he wrote Unknown Armies.
As systems monkeys go Greg Stolze is hard to beat.
Yeah, Unknown Armies really was a bit of a "Dream Team" production. All you would have needed for it to be complete is the guy from the Exalted books who puts nipple rings on everyone.
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!- CHRIS ENGLE, whom you have probably never heard of, has done a lot of work to strip gaming down to its essence, encourage creativity and open it up to a wider audience with his "Engle Matrix" game
Oh, I've heard of him. I've always seen his works as occupying that space between Murder Mystery Night-style events and RPGs. He's a very interesting fella to talk to, as well (and is a fellow Hoosier)!
Quote from: Hastur T. FannonNo love for Monte Cook?
Right here. Monte's stuff really clicks with me, except in a few cases - Arcana Unearthed I didn't really care about one way or the other. But stuff like Ptolus and Requiem for a God kick serious ass. Plus, he had a major role in D&D 3e, of course, which gives him high marks in my book.
Quote from: Mr. AnalyticalJohn Tynes is something of a personal hero too. Since he left the gaming industry he's done some good writing and his Contrarian column is always worth a read but when he was in the games industry, I think that he was single-handedly responsible for re-invigorating Cthulhu at least three times; initially with the Unspeakable oath bringing an intelligence to Cthulhu design that had been lacking from Chaosium for years, then there were the Delta Green books and finally his in-character posts on RPGnet which I think formed the basis for Chaosium's recent change of direction of Cthulhu.
He also was in on the d20 version of Call of Cthulhu, which I think is outstanding. I played in a campaign of this game, and it holds up against its BRP forebear. In my mind, it set the bar pretty high for d20 products, a bar which was rarely reached until the last year or two.
Quote from: ColonelHardissonHe also was in on the d20 version of Call of Cthulhu, which I think is outstanding. I played in a campaign of this game, and it holds up against its BRP forebear. In my mind, it set the bar pretty high for d20 products, a bar which was rarely reached until the last year or two.
I think the rules are flawed, which is a shame as I think it was close to brilliant. The two classes don't really work and I think you need the Mike Mearls free online expansions to really make it work properly (ish).
The GM sections that Tynes wrote are excellent though, agreed.
Quote from: BalbinusI think the rules are flawed, which is a shame as I think it was close to brilliant. The two classes don't really work and I think you need the Mike Mearls free online expansions to really make it work properly (ish).
They worked quite well for the group I was in, which numbered 6 players and a GM. The campaign lasted about a year. We never had any problem with the classes. What was perceived to be the problem? Do you have a link to Mike Mearls' expansions?
http://www.mearls.com/cthulhu/index.html
With the classes, simply that they didn't really relate to anything. Defensive and offensive just seemed a wierd split, academic and action orientated would have made far more sense or better yet no classes at all.
Steve Kenson is the single writer whose work most impresses me right now. M&M2 and True20 are games I'm really keen to run sometime. And Freedom City is the setting I've most wanted to run on sight in a long time. ;)
Nigel D Findley. He wrote a ton of incredibly good stuff, including several Shadowrun classics. It's a tragedy that he died young in 1995. :(
No one compares to me... for me. I'm the top of a hill of one!
If force to name real designers, I'll go with the same answers I gave as most underrated: George MacDonald & Steve Peterson
Aaron Allston. The BD&D Rules Cyclopedia was 10 years ahead of its time. It's about the best game you could make using the 2e/BD&D paradigm of doing stuff, and probably two standard deviations better than anything else anyone has done with that model.
Quote from: ColonelHardissonHe also was in on the d20 version of Call of Cthulhu, which I think is outstanding. I played in a campaign of this game, and it holds up against its BRP forebear. In my mind, it set the bar pretty high for d20 products, a bar which was rarely reached until the last year or two.
CoC D20 has a fascinating history on RPGnet with everyone initially horrified that such a combat-phobic game should be adapted to D20. Then this poster appeared who began by bitching about how awful CoC D20 was but then seemed to be won round by it and promptly began to spit out a series of campaign ideas so utterly crazy and yet so strangely fitting that it can be safely said, they completely turned the game's reputation around and into what is probably the most widely respected D20 port on RPGnet.
Ah... here (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=4491)'s the thread.
There's still some debate over who the guy actually was but I like to think it was John Tynes.
Re-reading that thread was a joy, I'd forgotten about trading styx and shakira CDs for healing potions and getting Jimmy Paige to play Stairway to heaven at Drizzt Do'Urden's funeral.
Quote from: mearlsAaron Allston. The BD&D Rules Cyclopedia was 10 years ahead of its time. It's about the best game you could make using the 2e/BD&D paradigm of doing stuff, and probably two standard deviations better than anything else anyone has done with that model.
The
Rules Cyclopedia is my single
favourite D&D book of all time, and I
very much respect Allston's work on Mystara ... but isn't the RC simply a compilation of rules already published in the Mentzer BECM series of D&D box sets?
Is there something, as a game designer, that Allston added to those rules, aside from organising them into a single book?
(I feel somewhat bad for questioning Allston's accomplishment here, since I
love the RC and his other work, but I honestly don't see what he did as a
designer with respect to the RC.)
EDIT: I just realised that the question also concerns 'AUTHORS' as well as designers, in which case there is no doubt that Allston, as the author of the RC, qualifies (even if the rules were taken from other sources). However, your post seems to emphasise the work he did as a game designer on the RC rules, of which I am less sure.
I think the skill system, the encounter balancing system (a clear forerunner of D&D 3's CR system), and a few other bits are Alston's. I don't remember seeing them anywhere else in the BD&D boxed sets.
Was the mystic in the Master set? That's the only one I don't have access to.
Quote from: Mr. AnalyticalAh... here (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=4491)'s the thread.
There's still some debate over who the guy actually was but I like to think it was John Tynes.
American Badass, still one of my top five favourite rpg.net posters of all time.
Dr Rotwang is probably at the top, not sure after that though Dan Davenport's reviews are easily the best thing there.
Quote from: BalbinusAmerican Badass, still one of my top five favourite rpg.net posters of all time.
Dr Rotwang is probably at the top, not sure after that though Dan Davenport's reviews are easily the best thing there.
Dr. Rotwang, Balbinus, and Bailywolf continually vie for top poster in my heart. These are people whose posts I would read even if they were about Exalted. :D
-mice
Bailywolf is a cool guy. I'd like to see him over here at some point.
I'll throw props to Eric L. Boyd for the sheer amount effort, time and love he puts into Forgotten Realms developement.
Quote from: mearlsI think the skill system, the encounter balancing system (a clear forerunner of D&D 3's CR system), and a few other bits are Alston's. I don't remember seeing them anywhere else in the BD&D boxed sets.
Fair enough. IIRC, the skill system first appeared in
Gazetteer 1: Grand Duchy of Karameikos, also by Alston.
Quote from: mearlsWas the mystic in the Master set? That's the only one I don't have access to.
Wow, I'm drawing a complete blank on that. Unfortunately, my copy of the Masters Set is stowed an ocean away, in my parents' basement.
Among people actually writing right now my favorites are Mike Mearls and S. John Ross. Mike Mearls is pretty much the only D&D mechanician I implicitly trust and S. John is the only guy who consistently writes gaming books that I find entertaining and useful from cover to cover.
Quote from: Zachary The FirstBailywolf is a cool guy. I'd like to see him over here at some point.
We could always invite him... :D
-mice
Quote from: flyingmiceWe could always invite him... :D
-mice
"Your mission, Agent Flyingmice, should you accept it..." :cool:
Mission Accomplished. :)
Quote from: Zachary The FirstMission Accomplished. :)
I did the same! :O
-mice
Quote from: flyingmiceI did the same! :O
-mice
He must feel very loved right about now. :p
Quote from: Zachary The FirstHe must feel very loved right about now. :p
or STALKED. :D
Quote from: Mcrowor STALKED. :D
Same thing, right? At least that's what I keep telling Jeri Ryan...
Quote from: Zachary The FirstSame thing, right? At least that's what I keep telling Jeri Ryan...
He was mentionig duels to the death when I talked to him... :O
-mice
Quote from: flyingmiceHe was mentionig duels to the death when I talked to him... :O
-mice
By God! I am available to settle this matter whenever the gentleman in question shall find it convenient! I may be called upon at the Savoy! Your servant, sir!
You should have all said "Come to this website but BTW what's up with your shirt? the one you were wearing yesterday was loads nicer"
Quote from: BalbinusAmerican Badass, still one of my top five favourite rpg.net posters of all time.
Dr Rotwang is probably at the top, not sure after that though Dan Davenport's reviews are easily the best thing there.
Top of what? Suspects for who AB really was?
Or should I be -- oh, you mean --
...
...really? In, like, a manly fashion?