A Talk With Cindi Rice

A 30th Anniversary Interview

I can remember Cindi Rice's first days at TSR very well. It was a period when the company was hiring a lot of new creative staff, and it was sometimes hard to keep them all straight. I remember Cindi hanging around with editor Miranda Horner and designer Bill Connors a lot. Cindi seemed to fit in really well, and really fast -- which is to say that she figured out quickly how to have a lot of fun.

It wasn't, however, until we both moved to Wizards of the Coast that Cindi and I worked together. The first time was on a Ravenloft module called Vecna Reborn. Not only did she do a really good job editing the book, but I remember being really impressed that she took the initiative to run a playtest of the adventure on her own. The second time we worked together in a different capacity, when she took to the brand and business side of things and worked on the launch of 3rd Edition D&D.

Cindi is fearless, hardworking, and creative -- all good traits for someone doing what she's doing now... but I'll let her tell you about that. It's my pleasure to interview Cindi Rice to help commemorate the anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.

Monte Cook: How did you come to start playing D&D?

Cindi Rice: When I was in high school, I had a crush on the manager of the restaurant where I worked. He was a college student, and I thought he was sooooo cool. When he invited me to play D&D with him and his friends, I jumped at the chance! They were playing 1st Edition D&D, set in Greyhawk, and it was a campaign they'd been playing for years. They let me take over a character that one of their little brothers had been playing. Thus, my first character was a 17th-level cleric. It was great! I really didn't know what was going on the first couple of games, but I fell in love with it nonetheless. Even after the guy went back to college, I kept playing the game with his friends, and then introduced it to my own friends. Plus, my mom actually encouraged me to keep playing, since it meant she knew where I was and what I was doing, which was a big relief to her!

Monte: What did you do before you came to TSR, and did it prepare you for a job dealing with roleplaying games?

Cindi: The only real preparation I had was in editing one of the college magazines and working as a copy editor for the newspaper at my university. Oh, and I wrote my own campaign worlds for my D&D game. :-)

Monte: How did you get the job of being an editor at TSR?

Cindi: I applied. And applied. And applied. And applied. And then, after two years of no responses, I wrote an angry letter to David Wise, who was head of Creative Services at the time, telling him how foolish he was being for not hiring me, since I was perfect for the job. He flew me out the next week and hired me on the spot. Apparently, my resume, which had the education and editing background they were looking for but didn't mention my gaming experience and knowledge (since I was trying to look professional), didn't interest him, but my letter filled in the blanks for him and painted my portrait as both editor AND gamer.

Monte: What were your impressions of TSR, both as a new hire and as you got to know your way around?

Cindi: I was really scared at first, but everyone was so nice to me that it became home very quickly. Right away, I was invited to games at Miranda Horner's house and Ed Stark's house, and they made me feel very welcome. Within the company, I was excited by the amazingly creative environment, though for the first time in my life, I felt a little inadequate, since I was used to being the most creative person I knew! My only real problem was with the schedules. I was so enthusiastic that I finished my first couple of products in less than half the scheduled time, but David Wise took care of that quickly enough, by finding extra duties to fill up my time. He wasn't about to let me get bored!

Monte: Although you worked for TSR/Wizards of the Coast for a long time, when you think back, what's the most memorable period?

Cindi: My most memorable period was when I was hired onto the brand team in 1999 by Ryan Dancey. I was working with Ryan, David Wise, Keith Strohm, Jim Butler, and Lisa Stevens, and we were tasked with getting the business side of the roleplaying game division in shape for the launch of 3rd Edition. I don't think I've ever worked harder in my life. We put in ludicrous hours and spent a lot of time traveling to meet with partners, distributors, retailers, etc., but it was extremely educational, and I really believe we contributed a great deal to the long-term success of those [roleplaying] brands.

Monte: What was it like to leave editing behind and start to work on the business team?

Cindi: It was hard at first. I had been chosen as one of the editors for 3rd Edition, and I was very excited about that, especially with getting to work alongside Kim Mohan*, the great editing god! When I was offered the brand management job, I had to give up that opportunity, which wasn't easy. Plus, it was hard to stop thinking about the creative side all the time. It's just in my nature to think about stories and characters. However, I really enjoyed the steep learning curve involved with the transition into business management. I enjoy my job the most when I'm learning a lot, and I certainly learned a lot working for Ryan! I would definitely not be able to do what I'm doing now if I hadn't been through that experience.

Monte: Since you experienced it first hand, how about a funny or interesting story involving the move to Washington?

Cindi: When we were packing up our offices to move from Wisconsin, we were each given a stack of stickers with our office/cube number on it, so that the movers would know where to deliver all of our stuff. We had to put those stickers on EVERYTHING, from the computer monitor and the chairs to the boxes and boxes of books we each had. Well, the last night before we left, I took a bunch of stickers and tagged every trash can in the building with [editor] David Eckelberry's cube number. When we got to Seattle to start unpacking our offices, he had to dig through about a hundred trash cans before he could get into his cube! I don't know if he ever figured out that I was the one who did that, but I'm sure I'll pay for it next time I see him!

Monte: What were, in your views, some of the differences between working at TSR and Wizards of the Coast?

Cindi: The biggest difference I noticed was in how we were viewed by management. At TSR, the designers and editors were often viewed as weirdos and second-class citizens. We were expected to stay out of the way and speak when spoken to when dealing with the executives. At Wizards of the Coast, the designers and editors were appreciated and valued. I felt that what we had to say made a big difference to management and that we were important to the company.

Monte: Please share with us a funny or interesting story about your time working on D&D.

Cindi: My favorite story was actually about Spellfire**. At TSR, we did a couple of expansions for Spellfire that featured photos of actual designers and editors in costume. Miranda Horner had been posing for these right and left, but I kept avoiding it, since I was self-conscious. Finally, [game designer and Spellfire guru] Kevin Melka got me to pose for a card called the Fair Princess. When I saw the final card, I thought I looked awful, and I got really embarrassed whenever anyone brought it up. [Vice President] Jim Ward seized on that opportunity to tease me, and started carrying the card with him whenever he'd come to my office. Eventually, this evolved into an even more elaborate joke, where Jim would come to my door and sing out "Princess Magic Bright, Princess Magic Bright, may I enter your office?" And if I said no (which I usually did), he would say "I will spin around three times and ask again," at which point Jim Ward would do little pirouettes in front of my door until I invited him in. It was hilarious, but still a little embarrassing. Because Jim was teasing me so much about my card though, Kevin Melka decided to help me get him back, and for Christmas that year, Kevin had a special set of cards made called the Ugly Princess. It was exactly the same as my card, but he had superimposed Jim Ward's face over mine. He had about 40 cards made and handed them out to the entire department. I still have one of those cards, autographed by Jim. It says "From the uglier, but smarter, princess -- love, Jim."

Monte: You moved down to California a few years ago. What are you doing there?

Cindi: I am doing two different things. First, I serve as the entertainment agent for all of the Wizards of the Coast properties. Thus, I'm trying to set up Magic, D&D, and the D&D worlds in TV and film. It has been a long time coming, but we have a lot of exciting things in the works right now. Secondly, I work as a TV and film producer. I have a film deal with Lighthouse Productions (producers of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Taxi Driver, The Sting, Mimic, Imposter, etc.) to produce sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films, and I've set up a few things at studios and networks as well. On that front, I am striving to serve as a conduit between the game manufacturers and Hollywood, which is why I'm also working on World of Darkness, Deadlands, Exalted, and several other game properties.

* In his years with the company, veteran editor Kim Mohan has helmed Dragon and Amazing Stories magazines, led the 3rd Edition editorial team, run the periodicals department, and edited scores of game products from 1st Edition to present.
** TSR's Spellfire collectible card game emerged in the wake of Magic: the Gathering. It featured decades worth of the company's fantasy art and highlighted the many D&D campaign worlds.

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