Q&A with Jeffery Quinn

[Havard]

Where would I put those two modules? Hmmm... Interludes would go well near Jackport (Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Jackport?). Idylls could be set pretty much any where, but the Iron Hills would be a good spot or somewhere along the east border of the Dutchy of Tehn.

Interesting! Rafael has been telling me some really good things about Idylls. I think I will have to try and get my hands on these, especially now that I know where to place them...

As for the Mage Wars, that was mostly all Dustin Clingman's idea. It was a good way to explain the edition change and the schism in magic and class systems. Many of the little core ideas were there to help explain gaps in the original world design, edition changes, design team preferences, and Dave's whim.

That confirms some of our speculations. Thanks!

Another thing that was new in the D20 Sourcebook was the additional information about the elves (Cumasti/Westryn split for instance). Who came up with those ideas?

Dave's master idea was to have fun. Our "design meetings" took place in a number of emails and online chats where he'd tell us stories. The stories had very little to do with the topic at hand, if at all. But a month down the road you'd suddenly realize that the stories he was telling were helping to shape your perception of the world Blackmoor belonged to.

Brilliant! Emails and online chats you say? Sounds like someone is sitting on a goldmine there...

I swear he was psychic. He knew what you needed before you knew it yourself. He even knew about my third child 2 months before her conception with this line that he wrote on the inside cover of my Blackmoor book, "may all your treasures be tripled."

"Dave's Ideas" - there is really no way of knowing what else he had in store for Blackmoor. The 3e design teams were given a pretty free hand after the main campaign book. Other than some hand written campaign notes (some over 30 years old), our major references were the modules and setting material that wass already printed.

I hope this answers some questions for ya.

Again, its pretty interesting to hear how these processes worked.

Here's another question:

Do you have a favorite location or aspect of the setting that you find particularly interesting?

Havard