F. Wesley Schneider | |
---|---|
Born | United States |
Occupation | Game designer, author |
Language | English |
Nationality | American |
Citizenship | United States |
Genre | Fantasy, horror |
F. Wesley Schneider is an American game designer and author known for his work on Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). He was the co-lead designer on the D&D 5th Edition adventure anthology Journeys through the Radiant Citadel (2022), which was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Game Writing, [1] the 2023 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming, [2] and 2023 ENNIE Awards for Best Adventure and Best Product. [3]
Schneider joined Paizo Inc. as an assistant editor on Dragon magazine in 2003. With James Jacobs he was one of the architects of the Pathfinder Adventure Path series. [4] He has written numerous adventures and sourcebooks such as Seven Days to the Grave, Book of the Damned: Princes of Darkness, Rule of Fear and others. He was promoted to editor-in-chief in 2012.
Schneider is the author of Pathfinder Tales: Bloodbound and the novella Guilty Blood. His other fiction has appeared in Pathfinder Adventure Path and Eclipse Phase: After the Fall. [5]
In May 2016, Schneider was announced as a Gen Con Industry Insider Featured Presenter. [6]
In July 2016, it was announced that Schneider would be working with Stranger Comics to produce a Vampire Hunter D supplement for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. [7] In May 2017, Schneider left his role as editor-in-chief at Paizo Inc [8] and ran his own company for two years. [9]
He later became employed by Wizards of the Coast, first as a developer for Dungeons & Dragons , [9] and then as a senior game designer for Dungeons & Dragons. [10] From 2019 to 2022, Schneider was a writer on several Unearthed Arcana playtest releases for the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. [lower-alpha 1] He was a designer and editor on the supplemental sourcebook Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (2020), [25] and an editor on the supplemental sourcebook Fizban's Treasury of Dragons (2021) [26] and the campaign setting sourcebook Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (2021). [27]
Schneider was the co-lead designer, with James Wyatt, on the campaign setting sourcebook Mythic Odysseys of Theros (2020). [28] He was then the lead designer on the campaign setting sourcebook Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (2021). [29] [30]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ajit George, a writer on Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, pitched a new project idea to Schneider and Jeremy Crawford, D&D's Lead Rules Designer. This project became the adventure anthology Journeys through the Radiant Citadel (2022), with George and Schneider as the book's co-lead designers. [10] [31] [32]
Journeys through the Radiant Citadel (2022) was the first official "anthology of D&D adventures to be written entirely by Black and brown authors" published by Wizards of the Coast. [33] [34] Schneider's work on Journeys through the Radiant Citadel was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Game Writing in March 2023, [1] the 2023 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming, [2] and 2023 ENNIE Awards for Best Adventure and Best Product. [3]
In 2022, Schneider was the lead designer on the adventure module Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen (2022). [35] [36]
Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a pocket dimension or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land pieces called "domains", brought together by a mysterious force known only as the Dark Powers. Each domain is tailored to and mystically ruled by a being called a Darklord who is forever trapped and surrounded by magical mists surrounding the domain. Strahd von Zarovich, a vampire in the original AD&DRavenloft I6 module released in 1983, became the first Darklord, both ruler and prisoner of his own personal domain of Barovia. The story of how Count von Zarovich became Darklord of Barovia was detailed in the 1993 novel I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire. As originally established in the Ravenloft: Realm of Terror boxed set known as "the Black Box" released in 1990, the Ravenloft campaign setting was located in the Ethereal Plane. As a physical manifestation of that plane, lands, monsters and even people were created out of the mysterious mists, and the realm acted as a prison where one could enter or be transported, but means of escape were few. Other Ravenloft Domains and Darklords were eventually added in various AD&D 2nd edition products establishing a core continent attached around Barovia which could be traveled to by others if their respective lords allowed entering or leaving their borders; while some Domains remained isolated in the mists and were referred to as Islands.
Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job interview. Tracy Hickman met his future writing partner Margaret Weis at TSR, and they gathered a group of associates to play the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The adventures during that game inspired a series of gaming modules, a series of novels, licensed products such as board games, and lead miniature figures.
Vecna is a fictional character appearing in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Vecna has been named one of the greatest villains in the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.
Ravenloft is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. The American game publishing company TSR, Inc. released it as a standalone adventure booklet in 1983 for use with the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. It was written by Tracy and Laura Hickman, and includes art by Clyde Caldwell with maps by David Sutherland III. The plot of Ravenloft focuses on the villain Strahd von Zarovich, a vampire who pines for his lost love. Various story elements, including Strahd's motivation and the locations of magical weapons, are randomly determined by drawing cards. The player characters attempt to defeat Strahd and, if successful, the adventure ends.
Lord Soth, the Knight of the Black Rose, is a fictional character appearing in the fantasy realms of Dragonlance and later Ravenloft. He is depicted as a death knight and fallen Knight of Solamnia from the world of Krynn.
Count Strahd von Zarovich is a fictional character originally appearing as the feature villain in the highly popular Advanced Dungeons and Dragons adventure module I6: Ravenloft. Later, this character and his world would be explored in follow-up modules, novels, and the Ravenloft campaign setting. Within this setting, Strahd is the first and best-known of Ravenloft's darklords. He is a powerful ancient vampire. He is also a master necromancer, a skilled warrior, and the unquestioned ruler of the domain of Barovia.
Keith Baker is an American game designer and fantasy novel author. In addition to working with Wizards of the Coast on the creation of Eberron, he has also contributed material for Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing and Green Ronin Publishing. In 2014, Baker and Jennifer Ellis co-founded the indie tabletop game company Twogether Studios.
James Wyatt is a game designer and a former United Methodist minister. He works for Wizards of the Coast, where he has designed supplements and adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) roleplaying game. He is the author of sci-fi and fantasy novels, including Forgotten Realms books, and the 4th edition Dungeon Master's Guide.
The flexibility of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game rules means that Dungeon Masters (DM) are free to create their own fantasy campaign settings. For those who wanted a pre-packaged setting in which to play, TSR, Wizards of the Coast (WotC), and other publishers have created many settings in which D&D games can be based; of these, the Forgotten Realms, an epic fantasy world, has been one of the most successful and critically acclaimed settings. Many campaign settings include standard sword and sorcery environments, while others borrow Asian, Central American, swashbuckling, horror and even space-travel themes.
Unearthed Arcana is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Both were designed as supplements to the core rulebooks, containing material that expanded upon other rules.
Michael Mearls is an American writer and designer of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction.
Greg A. Vaughan is an American writer who creates material for roleplaying games.
This is complete list of works by American science fiction and fantasy novelist Tracy Hickman.
Amanda Hamon Kunz is an American game designer known for her work on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and other d20 role-playing game products.
Explorer's Guide to Wildemount is a sourcebook that details the continent of Wildemount from the Critical Role campaign setting for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Matthew Mercer, creator of the setting, said the book is "meant to be both [...] for fans of Critical Role" and "for people who have never watched an episode. It's an entirely new setting to set an entire campaign or more in". It was published by Wizards of the Coast and released on March 17, 2020.
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is a sourcebook that details the Domains of Dread from the Ravenloft campaign setting for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos is a sourcebook, published in December 2021, that details the Strixhaven campaign setting for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The plane of Arcavios and its magical university Strixhaven were originally created for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game and first appeared in the card set Strixhaven: School of Mages, which was released in April of the same year. The book is centered on the most powerful magic university in the multiverse and focuses on the lives of the player characters who attend its various colleges.
Journeys through the Radiant Citadel is an adventure anthology for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Each adventure was created by an author of color. Additionally, this book introduces a new location within the Ethereal Plane which acts as a hub city for the various adventures. In 2023, the sourcebook was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Game Writing and won the Silver ENNIE Award for Best Adventure.
Ajit George is an Indian-American tabletop role-playing game writer and nonprofit residential school director.
After working on other projects, George met with D&D senior designer F. Wesley Schneider. George, also the Chief Operating Officer of the nonprofit Shanti Bhavan Children's Project, was given the chance to work on another D&D product, he said, and during that time, he thought about what would eventually become 'Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel.'