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Rob Heinsoo

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Rob Heinsoo (born 1964[citation needed]) is an American tabletop game designer. He has been designing and contributing to professional role-playing games, card games, and board games since 1994.[1] Heinsoo was the lead designer on 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons (2008). He has also designed and contributed to miniatures games and a computer game.

Career

Heinsoo began playing Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 at age 10, using the original edition.[2] His interest in games informed his interest in science fiction and fantasy, and vice versa.[3]

With Wizards of the Coast, Heinsoo was involved in a number of Dungeons & Dragons game products. He is the designer of Three-Dragon Ante, a unique card game. Other Forgotten Realms works include the sourcebook Monsters of Faerûn. He served as lead designer for the Fourth Edition of the core rules. The Player's Handbook for this edition was nominated for an Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game in 2009.[4] His teammates referred to his role on the 4th Edition team as the "mad genius."[5] He also helped write the third edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, which reached the top 50 of the non-fiction bestsellers in Canada in 2002[6] and won an Origins Award for best roleplaying supplement of 2001.[7] His book Monster Manual 2, co-written with Chris Sims, was a Wall Street Journal bestseller in 2009.[8]

While at Wizards of the Coast, he also led and contributed to various miniatures gaming projects. Subsequent to the release of the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game, he took over as lead designer on that project.[9] He was also one of three designers of Dreamblade, for which he was nominated for an Origins Award in 2007.[10]

After Wizards, Heinsoo designed the 13th Age RPG, which brings cinematic storytelling from indie RPGs to d20 gaming.[11] He designed 13th Age with Jonathan Tweet, the lead designer of 3rd Edition D&D.[11] Heinsoo and Tweet are close friends who have played tabletop games together for years.[11]

Rob Heinsoo also contributes to Alarums and Excursions.

Tabletop roleplaying games

  • Nexus: the Infinite City (1994) (Lead Editor, Writer)
  • Back for Seconds (1996) (Co-Editor)
  • Marked for Death (1996) (Co-Editor)
  • Feng Shui: Hong Kong Action Movie Roleplay (1996) (Co-Editor)

3rd Edition D&D

  • Creatures of Faerun (2000) (Co-Designer)
  • Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001) (Co- Author)

4th Edition D&D

  • Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition (2008) (Lead Designer)
  • Player’s Handbook (2008) (Lead Designer)
  • D&D Essentials: Rules Compendium (2010) (Lead Designer)
  • The Plane Above (August 2010) (Lead Designer)
  • Underdark (2010) (Lead Designer)
  • Primal Power (September 2009) (Designer)
  • Adventurer’s Vault 2 (2009) (Lead Designer)
  • Monster Manual 2 (2009) (Lead Designer)
  • Divine Power (2009) (Lead Designer)
  • Forgotten Realm’s Player’s Guide (2008) (Lead Designer)
  • Martial Power (2008) (Lead Designer)

13th Age

Card games and board games

  • Surviving On the Edge (1995) (Co-Author)
  • Shadowfist (1995) (Lead Playtester, Editor)
    • Netherworld (1996) (Developer, Additional Design)
    • Shadowfist Player’s Guide (1996) (Author)
    • Flashpoint (1997) (Co-designer, Art Direction)
  • Legend of the Five Rings Gold Edition (2000) (Story Lead)
  • Football Champions (2001–2004) (Designer, seven sets)
  • Three-Dragon Ante (2005) (Designer)
  • Inn-Fighting (2007) (Designer)
  • Castle Ravenloft (2010) (Additional Design)
  • Three-Dragon Ante: Emperor’s Gambit (2010) (Designer)
  • Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mount Skullzfyre (2012) (Game Design)

Miniatures games

  • Chainmail (2002) (Co-Designer)
    • Sets 1-4 (2002–2003) (Co-Designer, Developer)
  • D&D Miniatures Sets 1-9, Harbinger, Dragoneye, Archfiends, Giants of Legend, Aberrations, Deathknell, Angelfire, Underdark, Wardrums (2003–2006) (Designer)
  • Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures (2003) (Lead Designer)
  • Dreamblade (2006) (Co-designer)

Computer games

  • King of Dragon Pass (1999) (Lead Q&A, Additional Design, Manual)

References

  1. ^ "Rob Heinsoo" game credits on Pen & Paper.
  2. ^ Interview, Guys Lit Wire.
  3. ^ Interview, Guys Lit Wire.
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ "Rob’s definitely the mad genius of the group, particularly when it comes to mechanical design." Kobold Quarterly, Summer 2008, page 32.
  6. ^ (September 2002). "Bestsellers Lists", Books in Canada 31 (6): 11.
  7. ^ 2001 Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design
  8. ^ (May 29, 2009). "Wall Street Journal Best-Sellers", Connecticut Post.
  9. ^ http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4spot/20090313
  10. ^ [2]
  11. ^ a b c "13th Age: The New Tabletop Game From The Lead Designers Of 3rd And 4th Edition Dungeons And Dragons". Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  • Wizards of the Coast
  • Rob's Livejournal blog
  • "Rob Heinsoo". Pen & Paper. Archived from the original on Aug 1, 2005. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  • Gamespy Interview
  • Critical Hits interview
  • Guys Lit Wire interview
  • 13th Age – My D & D Next: An interview with Rob Heinsoo, Jonathan Tweet and Lee Moyer, Obskures, December 17, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  • Forbes interview about 13th Age (with Jonathan Tweet)

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