The Rogues' Gallery

[the_taken]

Life Story
I have no wish to share the details of my life, but let's just say that it's often been lonely and, ironicly, often invaded by unwanted atention.

Gaming Systems I use
I try to stick to the standard rules whenever possible. I do hunger for any splat book available, to remove limits.
I've glanced at D20 Modern and Deadlands, as well as a space one, but haven't been motivated to purchase and play in those systems.

General Gaming History
I was introduced to AD&D by a friend of mine when I was about 10. We didn't actualy play 'cause I was more interested in Mario than Paladins. I was reintroduced to it by Baldur's Gate, which much later inspired my to make the Holy Cow Drop spell. I was introduced to 3.0 by the local scouts group. I eagerly played a scyth weilding fighter, and was soon pwnd repeatedly over the few sessions I played.
I still liked the game, and started my own group out of my german class. I left them to their own fate when they kept begging for a gestalt hack-n-slash dungeon.
I've since turned to the online communities for my fix of RPGing gamming.

Published Settings
I don't think I've played enough to realy get the feel for any published setting. I think I'm in a PbP worms game though. Eberron sound nice.

Personal Likes and Dislikes
I like chocolate, anime, manga, mechs, transformers, fantasy, sci-fi, chocolate, Mario series 'cept for Sunshine and Party, The legend of Zelda, Halo, Half-life, Kingdom Under Fire series, Starcraft, Warcraft 2 (but not 3), Morrowind (must have Oblivion), Might and Magic 8, Spiderman, Teen Titans, Joecartoon, the PPGD, TIN, Snafu, and gothy people ('specialy women, don't know why).

Funny thing: I went through the entire Evangelion series and movies in one sitting. I still occasionaly have nightmares about it.

I dislike arrogant people, stupid people, acting or apearing like a hypocrit, and the fact that non-spellcasters are nerfed during high level play. I realy hate the Naruto d20 system and Frankto.

Strengths and Weaknesses in game design
Every now and then I will get a realy awesome idea. Like truly a way cool.
My genius is kinda like an eclipse. Doesn't show up all to often, but when it does, it's very special.
My problem is that my creativity is entirely reactive. That is, I answer questions. If somebody wnat's to know something, and they ask, I'll tell them. But if they're not interested, then I just forget about it.

Influences on my Design
So many! Let's just say that it's not too hard to figure out what my inspiration is.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

My real name is Matt.  To explain my handle a little, the phoenix knight was an idea I had years ago (early high school or late middle school, I don't remember for sure) of a phoenix choosing someone to grant part of its powers in exchange for some price.  I've used as a sort of logo or signature for my work on games, and as a handle on any forum in which I need one and it's available.  I've also tried to work the idea into many of game projects, though it's only been prominent in Kishar - in the form of Gaedren, the fallen phoenix knight, turning messianic anti-hero.

Gaming Systems
Beyond some howebrew systems I've created, I've played MERPs, Rifts, AD&D, D&D 3.0, D&D 3.5, Iron Heroes, Shadowrun, Vampire, Orpheus, Warhammer, and my favorite, The Riddle of Steel.  Maybe some others that have slipped my mind.

General Gaming History
While I was interested in fantasy and sci fi from a very young age, my first real experience with roleplaying was late 80s (88?) when my father bought MERPs which we played briefly.  I later began work on my own systems, most of which were entertaining, but nothing special.  It's only recently that I had a system I was actually fairly proud of.  Since I finished my 2 year campaign for that system, I moved on work on adapting d20 to a new setting since more people are familiar with it.

Published Settings
Uh, I ran a single adventure in Eberron to give it a try, but I generally make my own worlds.  I have, however, played in the published settings for several non d20 games.

Strengths
I think I'm good at weaving very intricate stories with internal consistency, complex characters, and deep histories and mythologies.  Sometimes too much so, as I fear I've lost people on occassion.

Weaknesses
I tend to have too many ideas, which can lead to me focusing less on one project than I should.  Which is why I resolved to make Kishar my main focus.
I tend to find detailing certain things such as cities or sometimes politics and economics somewhat tedious, perhaps because of desire for accuracy and consistency.
I'm not a great artist, so I'm hoping to find a master of photoshop to illustrate my maps.
My projects are often very ambitious, and rarely find core rules totally fit the ethos of my worlds.

Influences on my Design
I could hardly begin to name them all.  Everything I watch, read, play, or hear I do so from the persepective of a writer, with an interest in plot above just about all else.
Kishar is obviously influenced by history and mythology.  The original campaign series (The Omega Crucible) I designed it for had other inspirations.
My biggest hero is J.M. Straczynski.  Amy Henning is another.

Other
My two biggest projects were Roaa and Kishar.
Roaa (a project I am not currently working on) was a dark fantasy world for which I created a completely new game system.  It was high magic and very alien.
Kishar is my current setting and my signature work.  It is a mytho-historical world inspired by actual cultures and their legends and folklore.  Officially it's system neutral, but most of my work here assumes an adaptation of the d20 system.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Jürgen Hubert, named that way by loving parents, was born in a small city in Germany whose major claim to fame is that the MP3 file system was invented there, thus updating piracy for the modern age. He discovered Shadowrun, 1st edition when he was 14, and soon thereafter joined a local gaming group. He still remembers his first character fondly, a decker at a time when the hacking rules for Shadowrun were really, truly horrible (as opposed to mildly uncomfortable in the SR 3e) rules, and how much fun it was shooting a light machine gun supported by a gyro mount (later, real life experiences with a machine gun taught him that firmly putting the gun on the ground and pressing it against your shoulders is a better idea if you don't want to end up with broken bones...).

Since then he has played and run a variety of gaming systems - AD&D2E, Palladium Fantasy, WFRP 1 & 2, D&D 3.0 & 3.5, Mutants & Masterminds, Blue Rose, Exalted, and his personal favorite GURPS. Since he moved to Aachen, the westernmost city in Germany, he has mostly GMed - currently an Exalted campaign where he is currently learning how spectacular and high-stakes a campaign can get if the characters are sufficiently powerful.

Jürgen dislikes gamers who spend too much time arguing about rules, since he is bored to tears by such discussions. He does like gamers who give him lots of adventure hooks, since that takes a lot of work off him.

When it comes to game design, Jürgen reads a lot from any conceivable source - gaming or non-gaming - for inspiration, and he thinks that that shows. His strong point is creating unique but self-consistent societies. His weak point is rule design, and thus he prefers to avoid it whenever possible.

He has been impressed by the following settings:

- Fading Suns, for being possibly the best kitchen sink setting out there, and yet having strong and consistent themes.
- Forgotten Realms, for its sheer size and detail. It might not seem very "original" these days, but it was original when it was introduced in the Old Days of Yore.
- Eberron, for breathing new life into D&D while sticking true to its core.
- The universe of the Cthulhu Mythos, and especially its Delta Green incarnation, for showing that collecting treasures and rising levels isn't nearly as fun as pure, unadulterated cosmic horror.
- Shadowrun, for taking a very silly premise and turning it into something self-consistent, coherent, and detailed that actually makes suspension-of-disbelief possible.
- Warhammer Fantasy, for showing that liberally stealing from history doesn't prevent you from creating a both fun and dark fantasy setting.
- GURPS Cabal, for creating a modern "hidden magic" setting similar to the World of Darkness - but without the Angst and self-loathing.
- Transhuman Space: For showing that a hard SF approach can create human societies far more alien and strange than any dozen rubber mask Star Trek aliens you'd care to mention, and for its coherent and consistent approach to future world building.
- Blue Planet, for creating a realistic alien environment in which the classic tales of humanity can be retold under a distant star.
- Heavy Gear, for its sheer amount of great background information, and for finally doing a metaplot right.

Major influences on Urbis, his worldbuilding projects are, apart from D&D and its settings itself, the Obscure Cities by the Belgian comic artists Francois Schuiten and Benoit Peeters (for their vivid images of cities), the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett (especially those featuring Ankh-Morpork - a fantasy metropolis far more realistic than most of those in fantasy novels which take themselves far more seriously), Heavy Gear for its detailed approach to worldbuilding, 19th century Europe, and pretty much any book he can lay his hands upon - for inspiration for worldbuilding can be found everywhere.

His eventual goal is to publish Urbis professionally, and hopefully make some money from it.

[snakefing]

Well, okay then.

Who am I? I've been snakefing on IRC and BBS for over 16 years. I've never run across another in all that time.

What is a snakefing, anyway? That is one of the Secrets Man Was Not Meant to Know. Even telling you that much, I put your safety and sanity at risk. Inquire no further.

In real life: I'm married, 11 years, two adopted boys both 1 year old, software engineer, and general purpose nerd. I live in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States.

What is my gaming history? I started playing D&D in about 1978-79, with the Basic D&D box set. I've played 1e, 2e, GURPS (a little), Traveller, and DragonQuest. I also play tested and did design work for Ysgarth, back in the day.

I haven't had much time to do much gaming since 1990 or so, with a brief exception during my years at Amherst MA, mostly due to moving around a lot and not making it a priority. But I still like to play around with ideas. Many of them are impractical.

Interests: Mostly, I'm kind of exploring the possibilities of OGL and d20 as a general game framework, as opposed to D&D per se. I'm proud to say I've never seen the inside of a splat book, and I mean to keep it that way. I like to think about the relationship between the game mechanics and the kinds of games that they support or encourage. I also like to dabble in world creation, just for fun and creativity, you know.

:huh:

[Soban_KiithSa]

Soban_KiithSa is a Hiigaran from the distant future, named Malkus Soban.  He was sent back in time to this day and age by a hyperdrive malfunction.  

Gaming Systems I Use: D&D3.5, a little bit of d20 Modern and Future
Gaming History: I've been gaming as long as I can remember, computer gaming since my dad brought home our first DOS machine
Weaknesses in game design: well, its not so much as a weakness, but the campaign seeting I am designing is cloes to 90% parodies and rips.  But it was intended to be that way.
Settings I use/like: Eberron, Forgotten Realms, Spelljammer, Kingdoms of Kalamar, Rokugan, Warcraft d20
Influences on my world-building: Eberron.  And anime.  Lots of anime.

Occupations: College Student, Microsoft Certified Professional, Webmaster (www.druidsofthecoast.com and all of its subdomains), Blogger, Men's Basketball Manager

[Vaal]

Hey all, finally made my way over from WotC. Lets see...

-Gaming systems you use
DnD 3.25 ;)
d20 Modern

-General gaming history
I started palying DnD in college, arounf the fall of 2001, started DMing around winter. I've played DnD, d20 Modern, White Wolf, and the Hero system.

-Personal likes and dislikes
I like keeping things generic and letting the flavor text for classes/spells/etc come from the player and not the book.

I dislike things being completely set in stone, or that don't do what they profess to.

-Strengths and weaknesses in game design
I'm very bad at dungeon design.

-What published settings have you used/do you like?
Love Eberron to death, respect FR, dispise Greyhawk.

-Major influences on your world-building
Marvel comics' X-men, the anime series Slayers, Berserk, and Rune Soldier and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

[Fatum]

Well let me see here...

-Gaming systems you use
DnD 1st Ed, ADnD, DnD 3.25, d20 Modern, White Wolf, SilCORE, Vanguard (personal designed LARP system)

-General gaming history
I started roughly when I was 10 so that would put me at 18 years. Started out on the original 1st Ed DnD, moved on ADnD which is when I think I became an actual gamer as suppose to just messing around with it. Now adays I run a LARP and several table top games when I'm not game designing.

-Personal likes and dislikes
Player driven epics I like.
Min/Max I'm iffy on, depends on my mood.
Metagaming I do not like.

-Strengths and weaknesses in game design
Continuity I sometimes have a weakness with as I go off on a tangent with an idea and forget about what was aleady written.
A strength is coming up with ideas. Spur of the moment, campaign written on just a napkin is doable and generally when I'm at my best.

-What published settings have you used/do you like?
Exalted (The whole nine yards of it), Heavy Gear, Star Wars, Forgotten Realms, Mage: Ascension, Werewolf: Apocalypse, Vampire: Masqurade

-Major influences on your world-building
Anime (from Lodoss War to Ghost in the Shell to Samuari 7), LoTR among other various movies, wife (who also is a gamer)

[HyveMynd]

Life Story
born in 1980, and introduced to rpg's and wargaming through the old heroquest game by mb & games-workshop. picked up the original boxed set of gammaworld (by gary gaigax) at a fleamarket when i was around 11 or so. then finally got the d&d boxed game set in 7th grade, but missed the whole 80's craze thanks to not having friends who were as interested as i was. tried dming severl small games in various systems with my brother and sister, but they never went anywhere despite their intrest. despite never ACTUALLY playing, i have held a fascination for "pen and paper" rpg's, even writing papers on them through hs and college. now i return to d&d 3.5 after a 10 year absence.

Gaming Systems I have used
old school gammaworld, the NON d20 call of cthulu, the NON d20 star wars system (before wotc got it), r. talsorians fusion system (all the bubblegum crisis stuff), old school d&d, and ad&d 2nd edition.

General Gaming History
like i said before, i haven't ever run a "sucessful" campaign, or even been a pc. i still keep up intrest though, in the hopes that one day i'll get to do something great. either run a wildly sucessful multi-year long campaign, or be an active player in one.

Published Settings
i had forgotten realms for ad&d second edition, but i never really used it.

Personal Likes and Dislikes
i really dislike class & level based systems, buch perferring skill based ones. that's why i HATE the new d20 star wars by wotc.

Strengths and Weaknesses in game design
i always have a ton of ideas floating around my head at any given time, i just never know how to implement them. i loose intrest in things quickly, and become frustrated when things don't work as i want them to. and i'm rusty on actual mechanics thanks to my lack of play experience and long absence.

Influences on my Design
everything. my themes tend to be post-apacolyptical though. i like strange for the sake of strange, but still want my designs to make sense.

[Glen Galanodel]

Hello, I'm kinda new to this site, but I've been working on a campaign world for quite a while now, but I'm just now putting it to paper.

Gaming Systems
I've melded 3.5 and 3.0 with a healthy dose of some House Rules in WotC's boards and UA and pretty much created my own system (I'm probably the only DM that sets a time-limit on what you want to do).

General Gaming History
Let's see... my group started with 2nd Edition a long time ago (okay, not too long... 5 years), but became tired of how it seemed to be and migrated to 3.0 world shortly after graduating middle school. For a long time, I used a heavily-modified map of the Final Fantasy VII world and used it in campaigns (I'm usually DM), and when 3.5 came out I started using the world map from the Ace Combat series of games.

Now, I only have 3 people who RP with me, we use my 3.75 system, and we're running my original homebrew campaign to the floor.

Personal likes and Dislikes
As long as it's balanced, it's fine with me. Over and underpowered things tend to irk me the wrong way.

Strengths and Weaknesses in Game Design
My biggest strength comes from my storylines; usually, every campaign builds off of the other, and by the time the group split up (half went to the other side of the state for college), I had developed a storyline that went on for at least 5000 years, and an entire book filled with ramblings and storyline (which came to be known as The Book of Exalted Darkness).
My biggest weakness is that I tend to ignore rules and ad hoc my own, which usually angers my players (who like things set). I also DM on-the-fly a lot, and most of the storyline in my camapigns stems from that. Also, most of my campaigns have devolved into epic world-spanning wars between kingdoms.

What published settings have you used/do you like?
I have never once used a published setting to the fullest. The closest I've ever come was using Forgotten Realms during 2nd Edition and parts of Greyhawk in 3rd, but otherwise I don't use them, so I can't say if I like/hate them.

Major influences on your world-building
The Internet, Movies, and a lot of anime, along with other people's homebrewed settings. Oh, and some games. Most of it is imagination, though, and I'll fit my outside influences in the way I see it (except for maps; I used to steal maps all the time).

[Seraph]

Hi, I'm Seraphine_Harmonium.  I'm a Libra in Sagitarrius.  Don't ask, I couldn't explain.  My Campaign World is called Avayevnon, and it's basis is a Renaissance setting.  It is heavy in the themes of Rebirth, with tones of fear and paranoia intermingled with hope for the future.
I am obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera.  The name Seraphine Harmonium is actually a reference to Phantom.  The Phantom tells Christine that he is the Angel of Music.  Seraphine=Angelic, Harmonium=Organ=Music.  The Organ is also, of course, the Phantom's choice of musical instrument.
-Gaming systems you use
I use D&D 3.0.  I have not upgraded to 3.5 due to lack of a group, hence buying a whole new set of rulebooks being pretty pointless.  I have since then tried to run a game, but it's been going really slowly, and my most active player has moved away :(
-General gaming history
I started gaming about six years ago.  I think.  It was just before 3.0 was released.  I started in a 2e game playing a half-elf druid because the picture in the PHB of the druid holding the sickle was awesome.  I have never played the same character twice.
-Personal likes and dislikes
I like Steak.  I dislike tuna.  I like French Fries.  I dislike Potato Salad.  I like girls.  I dislike porn.  I like D&D.  I dislike D20 Modern.  I like Broadway.  I dislike Hollywood.
-Strengths and weaknesses in game design
Stregths: Ability to take criticism.  Open-mindedness.  Ability to pull disparate strands into one cohesive picture.  
Weaknesses: Tendency to fall into the cliche.

This could be viewed either way, but I have the mentality that if something has been created already that does what I want, there is no reason for me to make another one.
-What published settings have you used/do you like?
Besides mine, I have used Forgotten Realms.  I like Faerun, but I eventually decided I wanted to make my own.  I have never used or played in other settings.
-Major influences on your world-building
DMG
Dragon Magazine (disparate strands for me to pull together)
JRR Tolkein
History & Mythology
Forgotten Realms
Theatre

[shadowls]

I'm Shadowls, I've taken the name from one of the main gods of my world and the intisals of an othere. I've been working on the story of my world for long time and once I started playing D&D I starts making it playable.

Gaming systems you use

D&D and d20
General gaming history

I didn't really get to start playing untill 1999, but I spent many years trying to get my dad to start a game
Personal likes and dislikes

i dislike stupid people, game notizes, spelling and grammer notizes, the seat being left up, and cell phone bad reception. i like just about any thing else, ask for spifices.
Strengths and weaknesses in game design

i can spout story line, gods, history, how people get along and why. I have big problems with machinices
What published settings have you used/do you like?

i personally don't use one, i like parts of a lot of them
Major influences on your world-building

the voices in my head. i have some of the goddesses of the world in my mind and they wont shut up about how thier world/realm is.

[Lmns Crn]

game notizes

What does this mean, exactly? Do you mean announcements like "I'm starting a game, looking for players, etc."?

Because if so, I guess I'm guilty.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

LC, you avatar is on fire!  Has this always been a problem!?

At the risk of being a spelling nazi, I think she meant "nazi" LC.  Maybe?

Welcome to the CBG Shadowls.

[shadowls]

At the risk of being a spelling nazi, I think she meant "nazi" LC. Maybe?

yep, that's what i ment. and what i mean by nazis are the people that yell at you for spelling, grammer, ect. "these are the rules of the game, i have the very page number of that camitted to memory and there is nothing you can do that will change that rule", "use spell check next time you moron", "you realize that you had five run on senteces in that paragraph and i was so busy corecting as I was reading I didn't understand what you said. Can you repost with out the errors" and the like. yeah, those people, they bug me big time. the people that take the time read though the mistakes and then as did you mean this are fine with me. ~smiles~

[Lmns Crn]

Ah, I see. Thank you for the clarification. I try to stay out of nitpicky teacher-mode on this site, but I really couldn't understand what you meant. :)

Anyway, welcome to the community.