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havard]I have another question for Bruce:

My impression is that at the time of the Gazetteer line, you were mostly organizing freelancers to do the writing. Most of whom, possibly were not even in the same workplace as you. Was it lonely work? Did any of the other TSR designers pitch in with ideas now and then (even if not credited)? How was your working relationship with Aaron Allston?

Havard

This is correct. At the time of the Gazetteer launch my job was to manage freelance designers. In addition to this, I was also designated as the de-facto Basic D&D-guy since no one else at TSR gave a hoot about that product line. As a result of this, in the mid-80's nearly ALL of D&D/Mystara projects went to freelancers. A convenient thing since I managed freelancers.

It was almost a certainly that freelancers would operate from other places. One of the exceptions was... myself. I was a freelancer for my own products, under the approval of my direct report. The company trusted me enough to allow me that kind of latitude.

Aaron Allston was in Texas. A great guy, very patient with his demanding TSR contact. Aaron had a lot of impact on Mystara obviously. Ken Rolston was in New Jersey. Carl Sargent was in England. Ed Greenwood was in Canada. I had authors in West Virginia, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, etc. A few authors were staffers who ended up designing Mystara products as the result of budgeting, internal politics, misguided intentions, and so forth. These weren't successful with Mystara because they weren't familiar enough or honestly that interested in the series.

In-house staff had little to do with the actual writing of the products, especially early in the Gazetteer series. There was an in-house "team-Mystara" who got together to do some general concept work especially when putting together a product lineup for the next year, but they usually worked on other products. Their impact was limited, except for staffer Steven Schend who did an incredible job with the compilation of the Rules Compendium.

I have another question for Bruce:

My impression is that at the time of the Gazetteer line, you were mostly organizing freelancers to do the writing. Most of whom, possibly were not even in the same workplace as you. Was it lonely work? Did any of the other TSR designers pitch in with ideas now and then (even if not credited)? How was your working relationship with Aaron Allston?

Havard[/quote]
This is correct. At the time of the Gazetteer launch my job was to manage freelance designers. In addition to this, I was also designated as the de-facto Basic D&D-guy since no one else at TSR gave a hoot about that product line. As a result of this, in the mid-80's nearly ALL of D&D/Mystara projects went to freelancers. A convenient thing since I managed freelancers.

It was almost a certainly that freelancers would operate from other places. One of the exceptions was... myself. I was a freelancer for my own products, under the approval of my direct report. The company trusted me enough to allow me that kind of latitude.

Aaron Allston was in Texas. A great guy, very patient with his demanding TSR contact. Aaron had a lot of impact on Mystara obviously. Ken Rolston was in New Jersey. Carl Sargent was in England. Ed Greenwood was in Canada. I had authors in West Virginia, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, etc. A few authors were staffers who ended up designing Mystara products as the result of budgeting, internal politics, misguided intentions, and so forth. These weren't successful with Mystara because they weren't familiar enough or honestly that interested in the series.

In-house staff had little to do with the actual writing of the products, especially early in the Gazetteer series. There was an in-house "team-Mystara" who got together to do some general concept work especially when putting together a product lineup for the next year, but they usually worked on other products. Their impact was limited, except for staffer Steven Schend who did an incredible job with the compilation of the Rules Compendium.

Bruce

Hugin]Thought I'd say how glad I am that you allowing us to have access to you, Bruce. Thanks for the time you spend and the experiences you share with us - it is much appreciated.

You're welc wrote:

Cthulhudrew]I have a question for Bruce. How do you envision the Temples of Rad in Glantri? For a nation that seems to be vehemently anti-religion, the Temples seem to be pretty standard religious institutions- they have services, clergy/shepherds who receive their commands from "on high" (the Brotherhood of the Radiance). Is it just that they don't worship named Immortals that sets them apart from other religious organizations in the Known World?

Temples of Rad are a cynical sham. They were put in place as an ersatz religion. They look like a religion, they taste like a religion, but... they're really not. They are a "place-holder" in case some people feel the need to honor a greater power, but they are really a front for the Brotherhood of the Radiance. They are an excuse for a religion in a place that does not tolerate clerical orders, and would never allow any kind of clergy developing political power that could potentially interfere with that of wizards. Temples of Rad are "OK" because they are an integral part of the power that emanates from beneath Glantri City, however secret it may be.

I have a question for Bruce. How do you envision the Temples of Rad in Glantri? For a nation that seems to be vehemently anti-religion, the Temples seem to be pretty standard religious institutions- they have services, clergy/shepherds who receive their commands from "on high" (the Brotherhood of the Radiance). Is it just that they don't worship named Immortals that sets them apart from other religious organizations in the Known World?[/quote]
Temples of Rad are a cynical sham. They were put in place as an ersatz religion. They look like a religion, they taste like a religion, but... they're really not. They are a "place-holder" in case some people feel the need to honor a greater power, but they are really a front for the Brotherhood of the Radiance. They are an excuse for a religion in a place that does not tolerate clerical orders, and would never allow any kind of clergy developing political power that could potentially interfere with that of wizards. Temples of Rad are "OK" because they are an integral part of the power that emanates from beneath Glantri City, however secret it may be.

Also, a second but related question- where did the Flaemish lack of tolerance for Immortals derive from? From their introduction in Gaz3, they seem to have had a degree of religious bent in their past (they call the time traveling students "infidels" and are preparing to sacrifice them to the Great Flame). Again, is it just a lack of tolerance for "named" Immortals as opposed to the elemental powers (like fire) more than anything else?

Immortals are responsible for the destruction of their original homeland, thus their current distrust of anything Immortal. Elements can be controlled. Immortals cannot. And since the Flaems are control freaks, you get the picture... :D

LoZompatore]But what about the "horrible monsters"? Which kind of monsters you were thinking about? They are not mentioned anywhere else.
I think that these monsters should be quite a tough race (races?), given the fact that the N'djatwa (a race that has the best parts of the elven and ogrish heritages) need to build mountain fortresses to keep them at bay.

You have to keep your tongue firmly planted in your cheek here. OK, we have natives guarding a mist-shrouded forgotten valley with big-huge wooden palissades, and even bigger-huger-sized "horrible monsters". Doesn't it ring a big-huge bell, hmmm?

Sounds like the kind of place where you ought to meet the likes of King Kong or Godzi wrote: