Robin Laws
Encyclopedia
Robin D. Laws is a writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
. He is the author of a number of role-playing game
s and related products.
, as well as the role-playing game (RPG) Feng Shui
, originally published by Daedalus Entertainment in 1996 and later published by Atlas Games
, as well as supplements for Feng Shui. Laws also designed the Rune RPG for Atlas Games, based on the computer game Rune, for which he determined that "the game would need to have a big point of difference to distinguish it from the many other fantasy games available"; in this case, the game would allow players to swap roles with the Game Master (GM): "You can win! And when you're not the GM, it's not boring because the GM can win!" Laws was the senior designer for the Dying Earth Roleplaying Game based on the Jack Vance
stories in the Dying Earth setting, and a sourcebook for the setting titled White-Walled Kaiin. Laws also had stories published in Synister Creative's pulp magazine, and in the fiction anthology The Book of All Flesh for the All Flesh Must Be Eaten
RPG: "The first is a light-hearted adventure, and the other is really, really dark".
Laws is also known for design work on Over the Edge
(with Jonathan Tweet
), Hero Wars, GUMSHOE System
and Dungeons & Dragons
supplements such as Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells
and Dungeon Master's Guide II
. He has also authored or contributed to dozens of supplements for other RPGs, worked as co-designer on the Shadowfist
collectible card game
, contributed to the King of Dragon Pass
computer game, and written several novels, among them Pierced Heart and The Rough and the Smooth. He is currently working on a new version of HeroQuest as well as products for 4th Edition of D&D called Raiders Guild. He writes an irregular advice column for role-players called See Page XX.
in Finland.
Laws attends Gen Con
Indy and the Toronto International Film Festival
every year. He has stated that he often cannot attend Fan Expo Canada
because that convention often takes place too soon after Gen Con and too soon before TIFF, but he likes to attend it whenever he can. He was Fan Expo's gaming guest of honor in 2005 and 2010.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He is the author of a number of role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s and related products.
Works
Robin D. Laws designed the collectable card game ShadowfistShadowfist
Shadowfist is a collectable card game that was created by Robin Laws and Jose Garcia and released in 1995. It shares the same background as the Feng Shui role-playing game, which was also created by Laws and Garcia and released the following year...
, as well as the role-playing game (RPG) Feng Shui
Feng Shui (role-playing game)
Feng Shui is a martial arts-themed role-playing game, designed by Robin Laws, published first by Daedalus Entertainment and now by Atlas Games. The game shares its setting with the collectible card game Shadowfist. The system is simple, with most detail being in the game's combat system. Combat...
, originally published by Daedalus Entertainment in 1996 and later published by Atlas Games
Atlas Games
Atlas Games is a company which publishes role-playing games, board games and card games. Its current president is John Nephew.Games published include:...
, as well as supplements for Feng Shui. Laws also designed the Rune RPG for Atlas Games, based on the computer game Rune, for which he determined that "the game would need to have a big point of difference to distinguish it from the many other fantasy games available"; in this case, the game would allow players to swap roles with the Game Master (GM): "You can win! And when you're not the GM, it's not boring because the GM can win!" Laws was the senior designer for the Dying Earth Roleplaying Game based on the Jack Vance
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
stories in the Dying Earth setting, and a sourcebook for the setting titled White-Walled Kaiin. Laws also had stories published in Synister Creative's pulp magazine, and in the fiction anthology The Book of All Flesh for the All Flesh Must Be Eaten
All Flesh Must Be Eaten
All Flesh Must Be Eaten or AFMBE is a multiple Origins Award winning and nominatedsurvival horror role-playing game produced by Eden Studios, Inc. using the Unisystem game system....
RPG: "The first is a light-hearted adventure, and the other is really, really dark".
Laws is also known for design work on Over the Edge
Over the Edge (role-playing game)
Over the Edge is a surreal role-playing game of secrets and conspiracies, taking place on the mysterious Island of Al Amarja. It was created by Jonathan Tweet with Robin Laws, and published by Atlas Games...
(with Jonathan Tweet
Jonathan Tweet
Jonathan Tweet is a game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games Ars Magica, Everway, Over the Edge, Talislanta and the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, as well as the Collectible Miniatures Game Dreamblade.-Early life:Jonathan Tweet started playing D&D in...
), Hero Wars, GUMSHOE System
GUMSHOE System
The GUMSHOE System is a role-playing game system created by Robin Laws, designed for running investigative scenarios. The premise is that investigative games are not about finding clues, they are about interpreting the clues that are found...
and Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
supplements such as Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells
Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells
Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells is an optional supplemental source book for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.-Contents:...
and Dungeon Master's Guide II
Dungeon Master's Guide II
The Dungeon Master's Guide II is a book of rules for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons seminal fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
. He has also authored or contributed to dozens of supplements for other RPGs, worked as co-designer on the Shadowfist
Shadowfist
Shadowfist is a collectable card game that was created by Robin Laws and Jose Garcia and released in 1995. It shares the same background as the Feng Shui role-playing game, which was also created by Laws and Garcia and released the following year...
collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
, contributed to the King of Dragon Pass
King of Dragon Pass
King of Dragon Pass is a 1999 computer game published by A Sharp. Set in the fictional world of Glorantha, it depicts the lives and fortunes of one of several barbarian clans, settling the untamed lands of Dragon Pass over the course of several decades...
computer game, and written several novels, among them Pierced Heart and The Rough and the Smooth. He is currently working on a new version of HeroQuest as well as products for 4th Edition of D&D called Raiders Guild. He writes an irregular advice column for role-players called See Page XX.
Conventions
Robin Laws is frequently invited to be a guest speaker at conventions around the world, having made appearances at Gen Con Australia and RopeconRopecon
Ropecon is a role-playing convention held annually in Finland. The convention is one of the largest non-commercial annual event of its kind, having reached a record of 3946 attendees in 2007. The current venue is the Dipoli convention centre and surrounding buildings in Espoo...
in Finland.
Laws attends Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
Indy and the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
every year. He has stated that he often cannot attend Fan Expo Canada
Fan Expo Canada
Toronto, Canada's Fan Expo Canada is an annual multigenre fan convention. It was founded as the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in 1994 by Hobby Star Marketing Inc...
because that convention often takes place too soon after Gen Con and too soon before TIFF, but he likes to attend it whenever he can. He was Fan Expo's gaming guest of honor in 2005 and 2010.
Role-playing games and supplements
- For Dungeons and Dragons
- Dungeon Master's Guide II
- Feng Shui: Action Movie RoleplayingFeng Shui (role-playing game)Feng Shui is a martial arts-themed role-playing game, designed by Robin Laws, published first by Daedalus Entertainment and now by Atlas Games. The game shares its setting with the collectible card game Shadowfist. The system is simple, with most detail being in the game's combat system. Combat...
- Four Bastards
- Burning Shaolin
- Hero Wars
- Thunder Rebels (et al.)
- Glorantha: the Second Age (for RunequestRuneQuestRuneQuest is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 1978 by Chaosium, created by Steve Perrin and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of Glorantha. RuneQuest was notable for its original gaming system and for its verisimilitude in adhering to an original fantasy world...
) - The Esoterrorists
- The Esoterror Factbook
- Fear Itself
- Stunning Eldritch Tales for Trail of CthulhuTrail of Cthulhu (role-playing game)Trail of Cthulhu is an investigative horror role-playing game designed by Kenneth Hite that uses the GUMSHOE System developed by Robin Laws. Trail of Cthulhu is published by Pelgrane Press under license from Chaosium...
- Mutant City Blues
- Hard Helix
- Jack Vance's The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game
- Kaiin Player's Guide
- Turjan's Tome of Beauty and Horror (with Ian Thompson)
- Cugel's Compendium of Indispensable Advantages (et al.)
- Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering (ISBN 1-55634-629-8)
- Pantheon and Other Roleplaying Games
- GURPS Fantasy 2: Adventures in the Mad Lands
- Rune
- Heart of Chaos (Doomstones Campaign Volume 3 for Warhammer Fantasy RoleplayWarhammer Fantasy RoleplayWarhammer Fantasy Roleplay is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. Over the years, it has been through a number of phases and different publishers, most of which were related in some way to Games Workshop...
) - House of Tremere
- Over the Edge (with Jonathan Tweet)
- Over the Edge, 2nd Edition (with Jonathan TweetJonathan TweetJonathan Tweet is a game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games Ars Magica, Everway, Over the Edge, Talislanta and the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, as well as the Collectible Miniatures Game Dreamblade.-Early life:Jonathan Tweet started playing D&D in...
)- Unauthorized Broadcast
- Weather the Cuckoo Likes
- Seven Strongholds
- For the Earthdawn RPG:
- Throal: The Dwarf Kingdom
- Infected
- Horrors
- Denizens of Earthdawn (Volume 2)
- The Theran Empire
- Parlainth Adventures (et al.)
- Ways and Means (for the Underground RPG)
- HeroQuest: Roleplaying in GloranthaHeroQuest (role-playing game)HeroQuest is a narrativist role-playing game written by Robin D. Laws and published by Moon Design Publications under license from Issaries, Inc....
(with Greg StaffordGreg StaffordFrancis Gregory Stafford , usually known as Greg Stafford, is an American game designer, publisher and shaman.-Glorantha and gaming:...
et al.) - Shadowfist Players' Guide (Volume 1) (with Rob HeinsooRob HeinsooRob Heinsoo is an American tabletop game designer. He has been designing and contributing to professional roleplaying games, card games, and board games since 1994. He has also designed and contributed to miniatures games and a computer game.-Career:...
) - Star Trek RPG (et al.)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation RPG (et al.)
- Raiders, Renegades, & Rogues (et al.)
- Monsters, Muties and Misfits (et al.)
- Nexus: The Infinite CityNexus: The Infinite CityNexus: the Infinite City is a role-playing game designed by Jose Garcia and published by Daedalus Games. Its setting is a meta-city made up of reality chunks of various realities of the megaverse.-Setting:...
(et al.) - The Excellent Prismatic Spray 2 (et al.)
- Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy
- Pandemonium!: Adventures in Tabloid WorldPandemonium (role-playing game)Pandemonium is a comedy role-playing game designed by Stephan Michael Sechi and published by MIB Productions, Inc. It is inspired by the fictional "news" that appears in tabloid publications such as the Weekly World News.-Setting:...
(Contributor)- Stranger Than Truth: Further Adventures in Tabloid World (Contributor)
- OG: Unearthed Edition
- Sub-men Rising, a supplment for TalislantaTalislantaTalislanta is a fantasy role-playing game written by Stephen Michael Sechi, with significant stylistic input by artist P.D. Breeding-Black. Initially released in 1987 by Bard Games, the game quickly gained a reputation as an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons that was both much simpler mechanically...
Novels
- Pierced Heart
- The Rough and the Smooth
- Honour of the Grave
- Sacred Flesh
- Liar's Peak
- Freedom Phalanx
- The Worldwound Gambit