David "Zeb" Cook
David Wise
Dana Knutson
Tony DiTerlizzi
Monte Cook
Bruce R. Cordell
Adam Rex
Hannibal King
Jeff Grubb
rk post
Bill Slavicsek
Colin McComb
Ray Valesse
Skip Williams
Wolfgang Baur
Josh Timbrook
Robh Ruppel
I assume, that these people are considered the "creators" of the Planescape. If you have some info on their thoughts and feelings about their creation, please, share it with me. To be more specific, I'm also interested in their backgrounds and who's the most important of them in your POV.
Thanks in advance.
David "Zeb" Cook = original creator of the setting, the idea behind it, etc
David Wise = not ringing a bell, my apologies to Mr Wise
Dana Knutson = conceptual artist for the setting
Tony DiTerlizzi = original artist for most of the setting till the later products, his artwork in many ways defined certain aspects of its atmosphere
Monte Cook = most prolific writer of the setting, the Jesus of all things Planar. He got into the design team shortly after the setting went active.
Bruce R. Cordell = wrote one or two products but wasn't heavily involved (his 'Guide to the Ethereal Plane' for Planescape is, in my opinion his greatest work before or since)
Adam Rex = artist later on in the setting's history
Hannibal King = artist? Name doesn't jump out at me. My apologies if Mr King is reading this.
Jeff Grubb = wrote the 1e Manual of the Planes, was consulted for some of the cosmology stuff, though how much he was involved I can't say
rk post = artist later on in the setting's history
Bill Slavicsek = author of two modules for the setting including 'Doors to the Unknown' and 'Harbinger House' IIRC
Colin McComb = If Monte is Jesus of the Planes than Colin is the Jesus of the Lower Planes, among other things wrote 'Hellbound' and 'Faces of Evil', the definative works on the Blood War and the single greatest ecology book in DnD ever, respectively
Ray Valesse = editor for alot of the line, and author of the greatest NPC book in the history of DnD 'Uncaged: Faces of Sigil'
Skip Williams = I don't know where he was involved honestly
Wolfgang Baur = member of the design team and author on some of the box sets IIRC
Josh Timbrook = no idea here honestly
Robh Ruppel = cover artist for several books, 'Uncaged: Faces of Sigil' pops into mind first
Supposedly Ed Greenwood was consulted when they covered Baator, however this may be utterly spurious information since I've never seen it confirmed anywhere else outside of some seriously drooling Greenwood fans (when I dared say I didn't care for 'Elminster in Hell') --- Edit: Mr Greenwood says that the editors ran material past him for approval since he worked up the original conception of what became Baator subsequently. How much input he had actively I'd say was small since some of his comments subsequently about Planescape lead me to believe that he hasn't read a good deal of it.
Don't forget Gary Gygax who pretty much invented the Great Wheel. Although if I remember right it was originally a Great Rectangle when it was first published back in the 1E player's handbook.
I think Ed Greenwood pretty much created the D&D conception of the 9 Hells in an old Dragon article.
Yeah. It's changed somewhat since then, but the names, appearance, physical characteristics, and order of the layers are his.
Of course, he based them very closely on what was already known from Gary Gygax's material in the Monster Manuals I and II, and from the Fiend Folio: Dispater ruled the second layer, therefore the second layer is Dis; Geryon, ruler of the fifth hell, had icy powers, therefore Stygia is a cold place. There were such things as styx devils (now called amnizu), so therefore the River Styx must run through the Hells. And so on. He gave his reasoning in the article itself. Plus a bibliography (Dante's Divine Comedy obviously a big influence).
Ray Valesse = editor for alot of the line, and author of the greatest NPC book in the history of DnD 'Uncaged: Faces of Evil'
Getting a little conceited, Ms. "I eat souls for breakfast"? You may be a mover and shaker, but I don't think you move or shake enough...to make Sigil considered to be a place of evil.
Getting a little conceited, Ms. "I eat souls for breakfast"? You may be a mover and shaker, but I don't think you move or shake enough...to make Sigil considered to be a place of evil.
So many ways to respond to that, and so many of them not appropriate. Suffice to say, 'whoops'? I edited that to make it what it should be.
Dana Knutson = conceptual artist for the setting
Created the look of Sigil and planar architecture. Did the cover of Planes of Chaos and the original boxed set (which I guess depicts the gate-town of Torch). Illustrated Shr'akt'lor and other planar sites. Designed all the faction insignia. Designed the look of Our Lady of Pain.
Tony DiTerlizzi = original artist for most of the setting till the later products, his artwork in many ways defined certain aspects of its atmosphere
The most distinctive and best known Planescape artist.
Adam Rex = artist later on in the setting's history
I like his work a lot. His ink drawings were consistent with DiTerlizzi's designs while still being original and interesting. His paintings outside Planescape are nothing short of brilliant.
Hannibal King = artist? Name doesn't jump out at me. My apologies if Mr King is reading this.
His artwork for Planescape ranged from mediocre to awful. He illustrated Tales From the Infinite Staircase, Faction War, and The Inner Planes and A Guide to the Ethereal Plane. Along with Adam Rex, who also worked on most of those books, he was main the Planescape artist after DiTerlizzi moved on to other things. I lay on him partial blame for the setting's cancellation - who wanted to buy books that looked like that? I understand that Hannibal has done some better things since then; I remember DiTerlizzi complained about short deadlines making his own art a lot worse than it could have been. To get the job in the first place, Hannibal must have had some better things in his portfolio. It's just sad that this is what he offered to the Planescape line.
Jeff Grubb = wrote the 1e Manual of the Planes, was consulted for some of the cosmology stuff, though how much he was involved I can't say
I'll note that the cosmology is almost entirely his. Gary Gygax created the bare bones, naming the planes and deciding how many of each kind there were and how they fit together, but Jeff Grubb made them settings, naming the layers of the planes and creating their look and feel.
David "Zeb" Cook's revision was brilliant too. I think the DM Guide to the Planes in the Planescape boxed set is, in some ways, the best presentation of the AD&D multiverse ever, though Colin McComb and others added some great things. Though Planescape brought the planes to life, Jeff Grubb is the foundation on which they worked.
rk post = artist later on in the setting's history
He made some very evocative ink drawings in Dead Gods, and he did most of the later covers. His cover of the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix III was pretty great.
Colin McComb = If Monte is Jesus of the Planes than Colin is the Jesus of the Lower Planes, among other things wrote 'Hellbound' and 'Faces of Evil', the definative works on the Blood War and the single greatest ecology book in DnD ever, respectively
In the Meet Malhavoc Press event at last Gen Con, Sue Cook noted how weird it was and how surprised she was that none of the settings Colin McComb designed for Beyond Countless Doorways had any fiends in them.
Colin McComb was probably as influential to the earlier half of Planescape as Monte Cook was to the latter half. He wrote On Hallowed Ground, co-wrote Hellbound and the Great Modron March. He designed the lower planes of conflict in the Planes of Conflict boxed set, Baator, Arcadia, and Mechanus in Planes of Law, and he wrote the dialogue for the computer game Planescape: Torment.
It should be noted that Dale Donovan designed the upper planes of conflict, but I thought his work was pretty forgettable. Wolfgang Baur's co-designer on Planes of Chaos was Lester Smith, and I have no idea what parts he did. That book was intentionally chaotic in its attribution.
Wolfgang Baur = member of the design team and author on some of the box sets IIRC
Co-author of Planes of Chaos and Planes of Law, and of In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil. He designed Mount Celestia and Acheron for Planescape. Although I love Colin McComb's design, I think Wolf Baur's portions of Planes of Law were the best parts.
Wolfgang Baur also invented the asuras and buraq (for Al-Qadim, originally), although Monte Cook wrote the Planescape monster entries for them. As part of his work in the Al-Qadim line, he designed the City of Brass and other genie capitals summarized in The Inner Planes campaign expansion.
Note that Ed Greenwood also invented Baatorian Greensteel, though he had a different name for it (arjale, I think).
It wasn't even a Planescape product... It should have stayed OUT of Sigil!That's like a Greyhawk Adventure coming in and killing all of the Chosen of Mystra!
On the subject of authors, who drew the cover for In the Cage? That has to be the single silliest picture of Her Serenity I've ever seen.
Dana Knutson, again. The guy who invented her. Well, he invented her head, anyway.
No one of great importance died; the only casualty was Her Ladyship's perceived omnipotence.
You might as well say that they blew up Sigil. The Lady's bloody head is the logo of Planescape... Her enigmatic nature is one of THE things that made Sigil, and Planescape, what it is.
Of course I'm serious. DVD was a great story with an epic scope that featured the best evil deity.
:heehee .... umm... BWAHAHAHA!!!! *collapses laughing*
And the Chosen of Mystra are punks....if the story made sense I wouldn't object. But nothing as serious as the death of Elminster happened. No one of great importance died; the only casualty was Her Ladyship's perceived omnipotence.
DVD didn't make sense in the context of Planescape, it may as well have been written in a vacuum. I also feel bad for Monte since the module tried to wholly rewrite his original conception of The Serpent (which was never an actual being, just a combination of Vecna's madness speaking to him and Vecna's name for magic as a living thing; it wasn't DVD's conception of it as some uber evil).
DVD broke one of the central core themes of Planescape, the mystery surrounding The Lady. It tried to tack her down and define her in one fell swoop; unconscionable and a real shame. Bruce Cordell has written some damn fine material over the years, but he was scraping the barrel on that one.
All it was trying to do was demonstrate Greyhawk's importance over the planes, and I lothe GH (
punk fantasy :banghead
.DVD was a second sequel to a horror film. It broke rules - important ones.
All it was trying to do was demonstrate Greyhawk's importance over the planes, and I lothe GH (
Considering that it messed up Greyhawk as well, I think that it was just Cordell on an ego trip.
Considering that it messed up Greyhawk as well, I think that it was just Cordell on an ego trip.
Ravenloft got punked in that module as well. Heck it set a power limit for the Dark Powers of RL in the module. That's 3 settings that got ran roughshod, and two of them who had one of their central dogma's blatantly trashed. Again, as much as I like most of the stuff that Cordell has done, DVD was just bad.
His artwork for Planescape ranged from mediocre to awful. He illustrated Tales From the Infinite Staircase, Faction War, and The Inner Planes and A Guide to the Ethereal Plane. Along with Adam Rex, who also worked on most of those books, he was main the Planescape artist after DiTerlizzi moved on to other things. I lay on him partial blame for the setting's cancellation - who wanted to buy books that looked like that? I understand that Hannibal has done some better things since then; I remember DiTerlizzi complained about short deadlines making his own art a lot worse than it could have been. To get the job in the first place, Hannibal must have had some better things in his portfolio. It's just sad that this is what he offered to the Planescape line.
Of course this wouldn't be the Planescape board without some of the kriegstanz popping up...
Hannible King was bad... but so was Adam Rex! I'm not gonna comment on his technical skills, but his style is GawdAwful!!!! Malformed humanoids, terrible anatomy, just bad, bad, bad. Looking at his site I've seen some good things but for PS his style was nothing short of being whatever Bwimb left behind following lunch
Tony D and RK Post were by far the best illustrators the PS line had. Robh's style was also pretty blah (he did many of terrible Drizzt covers from the Legacy of the Drow series in FR) and he did the Original Boxed setting cover IIRC.
The work done by Post in Dead Gods is nothing short of glorious... but you can compare the two "seperate" adventures by the quality of the art within. Post did the Darkness and Rex did the Light... Darkness was far, far better.
Post did the Darkness and Rex did the Light... Darkness was far, far better.
Most of the art for Into the Light was by Josh Timbrook, as is evident by the initials "JCT." Maybe this confusion explains your profane maligning of one of the planes' great illustrators.
Your punishment for this error is hard time with Xaositect artists. Burr. I do not envy you.
Have you seen any of his recent FR drek??? The centaur in races of faerun... please.
Besides we all no you're a bary and then some Dear Factol... anyway which fiend gave you a day pass outta Prison??? :p
I'm pretty sure the pics in the Ubiquitous Wayfarer are Rex...
No, that's Timbrook, too. Note that he dates his drawings with what Primes call Roman numerals. Details like that don't escape the eye of Justice.
Adam Rex signs his drawings with his initials, "a.r." His only contributions to Dead Gods were the color plates in the back. He drew the beautiful picture of me, portrayed symbolically as a goat-headed fiend, inflicting just punishment on Our Lady of Pain.
You're confusing two completely different artists with radically different styles. The Furies are not pleased, and the courts won't be either.
anyway which fiend gave you a day pass outta Prison??? :p
I've heard the rumors, of faction wars and other such treasonous nonsense. Rest assured, this libel won't go unavenged. I'm very much still in charge of the city Prison; the fact that it's completely staffed with kocrachons now is just coincidence. I've decided to indulge them in their decision to not wear the official Mercykiller uniform, and occasionally torture me, as a display of magnamity on my part. I am not entirely without mercy, after all.
I've heard the rumors, of faction wars and other such treasonous nonsense. Rest assured, this libel won't go unavenged. I'm very much still in charge of the city Prison; the fact that it's completely staffed with kocrachons now is just coincidence. I've decided to indulge them in their decision to not wear the official Mercykiller uniform, and occasionally torture me, as a display of magnamity on my part. I am not entirely without mercy, after all.
Nice... very well played!
As for the timbrook/rex debacle, I don't have my DG with me to verify but I trust that you are correct...
However I still think Rex flunked out/was valedictorian of Lazz's School of Vivid Unpleasantness.
anyway which fiend gave you a day pass outta Prison??? :p
"Oh, that would be me. Ignore the fact that she was then flayed by Her Serenity in that campaign." ;)
See story hour below for details
"Oh, that would be me. Ignore the fact that she was then flayed by Her Serenity in that campaign." ;)
See story hour below for details
The yugoloth says bad things. The yugoloth says bad things!
(Hugs Our Lady of Pain doll) Make it stop, make it stop, oh. Punish the nasty fiend that says such bad things. Nasty, bad lying fiend. The lies will be punished, oh yes they will. She will burn in each of the lower planes, and those planes that do not burn will be made to burn, and justice will consume all.
(Looks down, considers) Dolly's head came off. Pretty dolly with her pretty omens, yes. Oh! Dolly doesn't like Justice, does she? How does dolly like this? Aha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
(Commencement of frenzied doll and stuffing-chewing).
The yugoloth says bad things. The yugoloth says bad things!
Nasty, bad lying fiend.
IC:
".... DUH!" :P
OOC:
Sweet jeebus do you amuse me :D
Jeff Grubb
Also note that Jeff Grubb wrote the Player's Guide to the Outlands, which introduced the Hinterlands and many of the gate-towns for the first time.
The yugoloth says bad things. The yugoloth says bad things!
(Hugs Our Lady of Pain doll) Make it stop, make it stop, oh. Punish the nasty fiend that says such bad things. Nasty, bad lying fiend. The lies will be punished, oh yes they will. She will burn in each of the lower planes, and those planes that do not burn will be made to burn, and justice will consume all.
(Looks down, considers) Dolly's head came off. Pretty dolly with her pretty omens, yes. Oh! Dolly doesn't like Justice, does she? How does dolly like this? Aha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
(Commencement of frenzied doll and stuffing-chewing).
You've raised my liking of the Mercykillers a few points.
...
She was like this before the debacle with Darkwood, right? 'Cause that would be splendid.
You've raised my liking of the Mercykillers a few points.
...
She was like this before the debacle with Darkwood, right? 'Cause that would be splendid.
Like what? Burning with justice? Disciplined, dedicated, devoted, deranged? Yes, some would call me mad. They would, except they tend to disappear soon afterwards. Not my fault! They just wouldn't see, even though the crank keeps turning and turning and turning and oh! Little broken flowers slipping through the cracks where the rats think too much and the razorvine starts.
