Because I am too busy for a proper post, I offer a very brief trip report:
I went to Seattle at the end of last week, where I not only got to spend three days with my friends from Penny Arcade, I finally got to take a tour of the Wizards of the Coast offices after years of being invited to check them out.
While the offices weren't quite as Wonka-like as my inner 12 year-old (and outer 37 year-old) hoped they would be, it was still pretty awesome to see lots of dragons, several suits of armor, more dice than even I own (which is a lot of dice, guys), and three framed uncut sheets of original black bordered Magic cards.
I also got to visit and talk with the people who make D&D and Magic (they have all the same xkcd, PvP, and Penny Arcade comics hanging on their office walls that we all have, which was kind of neat), but I have an NDA with WotC so that's all I can say about that.
During my trip, I got to drop into my friend Mike's D&D game. His DM is this incredibly creative guy Rob, and Rob came up with a brilliant way to let me play a character who was more than just a hireling. He actually let me play a NPC who they'd interacted with the previous session, gave me a rich backstory, let me add some details of my own, and set up the evening's session so that it was mostly a massive (and incredibly fun) battle. He also let me make some choices and reveal some information that could have an impact on the rest of their campaign.
The session was incredibly fun, and I thought I'd refer to it in a column I'm working on about how you can keep the R in RPG, even when you're playing a session (or sessions) that are mostly combat, so I e-mailed Mike and asked him what Rob's last name was, so I could spell it correctly and everything.
"It's Rob Heinsoo," he wrote back.
Now, I'm guessing that a nonzero number of you are now picking yourselves up off the floor like I was when I got that e-mail this morning. For those of you who are wondering why the other kids in class are dazed for one round, allow me to explain why: Rob Heinsoo was the lead designer of D&D 4e, and wrote the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
In other words, it was kind of like getting to play Dragon Age RPG with Chris Pramas, or Magic with Richard Garfield, only you have no idea who you're playing with. In hindsight, I understand how Rob was able to effortlessly weave me into and out of the campaign, and how he was able to come up with some truly awesome combat effects and deal with unexpected situations entirely on the fly. All those times while playing that I thought to myself, Man, this guy really knows how to use this system suddenly make sense.
Okay, real quick, before I sign off and get back to work: y=2m+x.
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Maybe Rob Heinsoo is blogging right writing, “Holy crap! I got to play D&D with Wil Wheaton!”
Wil, I gotta be honest, I jumped ship with 4E. I gave it the old college try, but (meaning no insult to the people who design it or enjoy playing it) I decided that it’s just not my style. These days I’m doing work for the Pathfinder RPG. That aside, Rob is one of the nicest, most unassuming guys I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. I distinctly remember shortly after I had started working at WotC, I had a similar experience as you. I was in one of the mini-kitchens (don’t know if they have them in the new building but they did in the old one) and Rob came up out of the blue and struck up a conversation. I think it may have been about coffee, but I don’t recall exactly. I didn’t know who he was until after the fact, but he’s one of those guys whose immense creativity is matched only by his likability. I was peeved last year when I found out that WotC had laid him off. Total waste of talent.
Odd – I just registered but I don’t see my account info attached to my comments. Maybe now it will?
…or maybe playing AD&D with Gary Gygax (:SALUTE:) and watching him calculate THAC0.
I wish I played more RPGs. But playing D&D with the guy who designed 4e is still a huge deal. I nerd salute you, good sir.
Also, I picked up my backordered copy of Just a Geek two weeks ago, and within 36 hours read it cover to cover. If it wasn’t for the damn unemployment and barely enough gp to even buy the crappiest cloth armor, I’d have bought up all the other books.
What a truly fabulous way to mess with the utilities and the bank of choice when writing their checks for payment — insert evil laugh here — 🙂
WotC NDA????
hmmm….
Oh, you son of a she-targ…
You’re going to write a [REDACTED] for them aren’t you?!
Basterd!!!/Yay!!!/Jealous!!/Woot!
KOTS sequel, perhaps…..? *big excited grin with wide eyes and a little nod*
Or perhaps something utilizing Tucker’s Kobolds????? 😉
I’ve recommended The Elysian and I will again. McMinniman’s Pub has Half-decent stuff too. Pyramid Ales if you’re slumming it. Down in Renton though, there’s a lot of Millertimeâ„¢ and Rainier
*involuntary shiver*
Now, Wil, don’t let this go to your head, but if you remember, I passed up a chance to play Magic with Richard Garfield on XBox Live, in order to play you instead. (Yeah, yeah, ok, it wasn’t really intentional, but I really do think I got the better deal.)