Rich Burlew
Encyclopedia
Rich Burlew is an author, game designer, and graphic designer best known for The Order of the Stick
webcomic
. He has written several works for Wizards of the Coast
's game Dungeons and Dragons. He owns and operates a small press publishing company, named Giant in the Playground, which he formed in order to publish his comic work.
Rich Burlew was ranked #5 on ComixTalk's list of the Top 25 People in Webcomics for 2007 for his work on The Order of the Stick and his assistance in launching Erfworld
from obscurity to critical acclaim.
Burlew has a chronic illness to which he often alludes, which disables him every few weeks and causes the periodic delays in the schedule. On July 10, 2011, he reiterated on his website that the Order of the Stick comic is produced on "a random schedule... depending on [his] ability to work"
in Brooklyn, NY, where he earned a degree in Illustration, and has noted that "everything [he] learned about color use or panel composition... [he] picked up at Pratt." After leaving college, Burlew worked for several years as a professional graphic designer in New York, primarily working on elementary school textbook design and layout.
Burlew first began playing Dungeons and Dragons in high school, but his interest in the hobby lapsed until 2000, when Wizards of the Coast
released the Third Edition ruleset for the game. Upon running his first adventure with the new rules, Burlew found that he needed several identical miniatures to represent a group of bandits, and so used graphic design software to draw simple stick figure cut-outs in the style he had developed as a youth instead of purchasing lead miniatures. He continued to use stick figure monsters for years in his D&D sessions. Burlew frequently assumed the role of the GM
, a role he has likened to writing a webcomic.
announced a contest to find a new campaign setting for their D&D game, dubbed the Fantasy Setting Search. From a field of over 11,000 gamers who sent in one-page descriptions of their worlds, one of Burlew's four entries was chosen as a finalist. He was asked by Wizards to produce a 100-page setting bible for his world, competing against two other designers. While the contest was won by Keith Baker's Eberron
, the experience encouraged Burlew to seriously pursue a career in game design. He was also offered additional writing work from Wizards of the Coast the following year, contributing monsters such as the battletitan and the shadesteel golem to Monster Manual III. His entry in the competition remains the unpublished property of Wizards of the Coast, and, as such, Burlew is prohibited from discussing it by a non-disclosure agreement
.
In June 2003, Burlew launched his website, GiantITP.com, in hopes of "turning [his] paltry name recognition into something resembling a job." He dubbed his new site "Giant in the Playground" after his screen name on the Wizards.com forums, in order to capitalize on his reputation there as a knowledgeable gamer. The site languished for several months, until he decided to add a webcomic to the site to bring recurring traffic. He transferred the images from the stick figure miniatures he had produced for his D&D game into a page-long comic, starting The Order of the Stick
in September 2003.
fantasy webcomic
. It gained heavily in popularity through 2004, and Burlew realized that he had created a successful story when several friends in an online D&D game spent an entire session berating him for writing a scene where a villain impales a main character. He announced the publication of the first strip compilation in December of that year. Shortly thereafter, he reported that preorders for the book had been so successful that he was prepared to quit his job as a graphic designer and apply himself to comic and game writing full-time. Since then, he has produced four additional compilations and two black-and-white prequels for the Order of the Stick not featured on the website.
In November 2005, new strips of The Order of the Stick began appearing in Dragon Magazine
, significantly extending the potential reach of the comic. Burlew described the feeling of seeing his comic on the same page that once held What's New with Phil & Dixie
as "awe-inspiring" and "weird". The comic ran in the magazine until its final print issue.
Burlew also drew a short-lived webcomic for the RPGA
website, entitled Five Foot Steps, that featured more traditional cartoon art instead of stick figures, depicting a diverse roleplaying game group at the fictional Rollmoore College. The strip only lasted for 5 installments for reasons that have not been made public.
The Order of the Stick
The Order of the Stick is a comedic webcomic that celebrates and satirizes tabletop role-playing games and medieval fantasy through the ongoing tale of the eponymous fellowship of adventuring heroes...
webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
. He has written several works for Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
's game Dungeons and Dragons. He owns and operates a small press publishing company, named Giant in the Playground, which he formed in order to publish his comic work.
Rich Burlew was ranked #5 on ComixTalk's list of the Top 25 People in Webcomics for 2007 for his work on The Order of the Stick and his assistance in launching Erfworld
Erfworld
Erfworld is a story-driven fantasy/comedy webcomic about a master strategy gamer stuck in a wargame. The first book, The Battle for Gobwin Knob was written by Rob Balder and illustrated by Jamie Noguchi. It was recognized as one of the top 10 graphic novels of 2007 by Time Magazine. The second...
from obscurity to critical acclaim.
Burlew has a chronic illness to which he often alludes, which disables him every few weeks and causes the periodic delays in the schedule. On July 10, 2011, he reiterated on his website that the Order of the Stick comic is produced on "a random schedule... depending on [his] ability to work"
Biography
Burlew first developed the basic style elements of his stick figure art at the age of 12 while drawing a comic called "Mr. Demon" for his lunchroom friends. He attended Pratt InstitutePratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
in Brooklyn, NY, where he earned a degree in Illustration, and has noted that "everything [he] learned about color use or panel composition... [he] picked up at Pratt." After leaving college, Burlew worked for several years as a professional graphic designer in New York, primarily working on elementary school textbook design and layout.
Burlew first began playing Dungeons and Dragons in high school, but his interest in the hobby lapsed until 2000, when Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
released the Third Edition ruleset for the game. Upon running his first adventure with the new rules, Burlew found that he needed several identical miniatures to represent a group of bandits, and so used graphic design software to draw simple stick figure cut-outs in the style he had developed as a youth instead of purchasing lead miniatures. He continued to use stick figure monsters for years in his D&D sessions. Burlew frequently assumed the role of the GM
Gamemaster
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...
, a role he has likened to writing a webcomic.
Fantasy Setting Search and GiantITP.com
In 2002, Wizards of the CoastWizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
announced a contest to find a new campaign setting for their D&D game, dubbed the Fantasy Setting Search. From a field of over 11,000 gamers who sent in one-page descriptions of their worlds, one of Burlew's four entries was chosen as a finalist. He was asked by Wizards to produce a 100-page setting bible for his world, competing against two other designers. While the contest was won by Keith Baker's Eberron
Eberron
Eberron is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, set in a period after a vast destructive war on the continent of Khorvaire...
, the experience encouraged Burlew to seriously pursue a career in game design. He was also offered additional writing work from Wizards of the Coast the following year, contributing monsters such as the battletitan and the shadesteel golem to Monster Manual III. His entry in the competition remains the unpublished property of Wizards of the Coast, and, as such, Burlew is prohibited from discussing it by a non-disclosure agreement
Non-disclosure agreement
A non-disclosure agreement , also known as a confidentiality agreement , confidential disclosure agreement , proprietary information agreement , or secrecy agreement, is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties...
.
In June 2003, Burlew launched his website, GiantITP.com, in hopes of "turning [his] paltry name recognition into something resembling a job." He dubbed his new site "Giant in the Playground" after his screen name on the Wizards.com forums, in order to capitalize on his reputation there as a knowledgeable gamer. The site languished for several months, until he decided to add a webcomic to the site to bring recurring traffic. He transferred the images from the stick figure miniatures he had produced for his D&D game into a page-long comic, starting The Order of the Stick
The Order of the Stick
The Order of the Stick is a comedic webcomic that celebrates and satirizes tabletop role-playing games and medieval fantasy through the ongoing tale of the eponymous fellowship of adventuring heroes...
in September 2003.
The Order of the Stick
The Order of the Stick is a stick figureStick figure
A stick figure is a very simple type of drawing made of lines and dots, often of the human form or other animals. In a stick figure, the head is represented by a circle, sometimes embellished with details such as eyes, mouth or crudely scratched-out hair. The arms, legs and torso are all...
fantasy webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
. It gained heavily in popularity through 2004, and Burlew realized that he had created a successful story when several friends in an online D&D game spent an entire session berating him for writing a scene where a villain impales a main character. He announced the publication of the first strip compilation in December of that year. Shortly thereafter, he reported that preorders for the book had been so successful that he was prepared to quit his job as a graphic designer and apply himself to comic and game writing full-time. Since then, he has produced four additional compilations and two black-and-white prequels for the Order of the Stick not featured on the website.
In November 2005, new strips of The Order of the Stick began appearing in Dragon Magazine
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
, significantly extending the potential reach of the comic. Burlew described the feeling of seeing his comic on the same page that once held What's New with Phil & Dixie
What's New with Phil & Dixie
What's New with Phil & Dixie is a comic strip by Phil Foglio originally published in Dragon magazine from 1980 to 1984, returning to print in the 1990s. The comic stars Phil Foglio, along with Dixie Null, as they explore the world of tabletop RPGs with a mixture of reportage and advice to the reader...
as "awe-inspiring" and "weird". The comic ran in the magazine until its final print issue.
Burlew also drew a short-lived webcomic for the RPGA
RPGA
The RPGA , is part of the organized play arm of Wizards of the Coast that organizes and sanctions role-playing games worldwide, principally under the d20 system...
website, entitled Five Foot Steps, that featured more traditional cartoon art instead of stick figures, depicting a diverse roleplaying game group at the fictional Rollmoore College. The strip only lasted for 5 installments for reasons that have not been made public.
Game design credits
- Monster Manual III, Contributed. (September 2004, ISBN 0-7869-3430-1)
- Explorer's HandbookExplorer's HandbookThe Explorer's Handbook is a game manual for the Eberron campaign setting of the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Publication history:...
, w/Frank Brunner and David Noonan. (August 2005, ISBN 0-7869-3691-6) - Spell Compendium, Contributed. (December 2005, ISBN 0-7869-3702-5)
- "The Order of the Stick Adventure Game: The Dungeon of Dorukan", w/Kevin Brusky. (October 2006, ISBN 0-9663-4764-7)
- Dungeonscape, w/Jason Buhlman. (February 2007, ISBN 0-7869-4118-6)
- Tome of Artifacts, Contributed. (June 2007, ISBN 1-58846-935-9)
The Order of the Stick Trade Paperbacks
- The Order of the Stick: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools (February 2005, ISBN 0-9766580-0-3)
- The Order of the Stick: On the Origin of PCs (August 2005, ISBN 0-9766580-1-1)
- The Order of the Stick: No Cure for the Paladin Blues (November 2006, ISBN 0-9766580-3-8)
- The Order of the Stick: Start of Darkness (June 2007, ISBN 978-0-9766580-4-7)
- The Order of the Stick: War and XPs (August 2008, ISBN 978-0-9766580-5-4)
- The Order of the Stick: Don't Split the Party (November 2009 ISBN 978-0-9766580-6-1)
Interviews with Rich Burlew
- Geeklabel Radio Podcast: Unedited Interview with Rich Burlew, October 25, 2006.
- Fantasy Setting Search Closes in on Finalists, December 9, 2002.
- Order of the Interview: Rich Burlew, March 1, 2007.
External links
- Giant in the Playground
- RPGnet RPG Game Index listing for Rich Burlew