A Talk With Ray Vallese

A 30th Anniversary Interview

Ray Vallese started working at TSR just a few months after I did. He was, if I remember correctly, the first new hire after me. His cubicle was right next to mine, and one of my earliest memories of him is of the two of us discovering that if we fashioned a bunch of rubber bands together and hooked them into the ceiling via a paper clip, we could fling action figures up over the cube wall between us to knock stuff off my shelf. That was the beginning of a long series of devious creations involving our cubes, toys, and office supplies we would fashion together, not the least of which was Ray's Cube Comics and Stories, which you'll read more about in this interview.

On the topic of actual work, as opposed to an awful lot of goofing around, Ray was one of the finest editors I worked with while at TSR. Best known for his work on Planescape products, Ray edited Factol's Manifesto, Dead Gods, Hellbound, Faces of Evil, and more. He also wrote or cowrote Uncaged: Faces of Sigil, Something Wild, and Faction War. Ray's list of Planescape credits reads an awful lot like mine, which is to say that we collaborated a lot, whether as designer/editor or as codesigners. Working with Ray was, as can be expected, fun, but also highly rewarding. We share a real passion for original, really innovative ideas above all else. I was always impressed and amazed with his work, and grateful to be able to work with him on so many projects I'm still very proud of today.

Ray's a good guy. I'm happy to have been able to ask him a few questions to help commemorate the 30th (31st) Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.

Monte Cook: What did you do before you worked at TSR?

Ray Vallese: Before I joined TSR in 1994, most of my jobs involved technical or business writing (developing software manuals, documenting procedures, crafting sparkling marketing copy -- that kind of thing). But I wanted to channel my energies more creatively. I'd already earned a Master of Arts in Creative Writing and thought I'd end up teaching writing and literature in a college somewhere. (Didn't happen.) Still, this background prepared me well for working on roleplaying games, since I developed strong editing and creative skills alike, allowing me to write and/or edit products.

Monte: How did you get the job at TSR?

Ray: I was always amused to participate in "How to Get a Job in the Industry"-type panels at conventions, because I listened to my colleagues deliver their inspirational sermons on starting small, getting your foot in the door, proving yourself to the pros, landing your big break, blah blah blah. And then I'd give my own response: I answered a newspaper ad one day. I did well on the subsequent editing test and interview. And that was it! The supervisor who hired me, Tim Brown, told me that he took some flak for not having hired a typical dyed-in-the-wool gamer, but he specifically wanted someone from outside the industry. It worked out great! But I cringe now when thinking about the cluelessness with which I answered questions during my interview. I'd played D&D a few times as a teenager, and that had been it, so when the interviewers asked me about my gaming history, I had to resort to describing what I thought was on the cover of the books I owned in order for them to determine exactly what I'd been doing! Luckily, they valued my skills as an editor, writer, and project manager -- not as a gamer.

Monte: What kind of preconceived notions did you have about TSR before you came on board? What was your initial reaction to the work environment and the people?

Ray: I had few preconceived notions because my entire experience with TSR had been playing D&D a handful of times many years prior. But boy, during my first few days, I thought I'd landed in a loony bin, what with mobs of people throwing darts at me¹, arguing about elves till they were red in the face, and expecting me to know everything about D&D and the complex steps of the publication process. I remember wanting to hide under my desk on the second day because I was afraid I'd gotten in over my head. Literally. There was a moment when I suddenly felt that I had no idea what I was doing or what anyone was talking about, that I'd made a horrible mistake, that I'd be found out and given the bum's rush out the door. But that all passed quickly enough as I learned more about the job.

Monte: Eventually, your wife Val started working in the company in the novel department. How did that change your overall TSR experience?

Ray: It made the experience that much more fantastic because we could share it. Val gave up good opportunities of her own to move with me to little Lake Geneva so that I could have a fun job, and I was thrilled when she was hired as an editor in the book department. Our jobs were different enough that I could go all day without seeing her, but it was nice knowing that she was just a short walk away. Plus, then we could BOTH yammer on endlessly about the latest "You'll never believe this" story about what happened at work each day.

Monte: What was your most memorable time at TSR? What were you working on then, and who were you working with?

Ray: Frankly, most of my time on the Planescape team was memorable, and it's hard for me to pick out just one period. But I really enjoyed working on a product called Hellbound: The Blood War, which was a boxed set of adventures and source material on the eternal war fought by the baatezu and the tanar'ri (or the devils and demons, or whatever they're called today). I remember the fun of working closely with you and Colin McComb, the writers, and working out the details of how the fiends would do this or that, and how we could explain various inconsistencies that had appeared in print over the years. I remember receiving the wonderful illustrations from artist Adam Rex, who was following popular Planescape artist Tony DiTerlizzi and had big shoes to fill. I remember that we feared our bosses would veto the name of the product because it incorporated the word "Hell" so we tried to come up with alternate titles -- my favorite of which was "Hello! The Blood War." In general, it was a rewarding project from beginning to end.

Monte: What kinds of gaming did you do while you worked at TSR?

Ray: My first experience was joining a regular ol' D&D game at [editor] Thomas Reid's house with people who ended up becoming very good friends, like you, Colin, and others. I don't really remember how I fell into the group, but I enjoyed playing almost as much as I enjoyed the camaraderie. When that campaign fizzled, you invited me to join a new sci-fi game he was starting, which later led into other D&D and Cthulhu games at your house. I never ran any games, and while I played in shorter games here and there with other DMs, most of my gaming took place under your watchful eye. You were great, and I'm not saying this just because you're asking me these questions. Though a kickback wouldn't hurt.

Monte: You spent a lot of time working on Planescape products at TSR. Tell us a little bit about the team and the process involved in producing a Planescape product.

Ray: For most of my time at TSR, the core Planescape team included me, you, Colin, and Michele Carter, with occasional contributions from writers like Wolfgang Baur, Lester Smith, Bill Slavicsek, and others, and with various supervisors depending on which way the wind was blowing that month. Coming up with cool new products always seemed to be a group effort. You, Colin, Michele, and I would hang out in a poor excuse for a lounge and build on each other's wacky ideas until we came up with adventures and sourcebooks that just begged to be written. We tried to create an overall theme for each year's worth of products and to tie the new releases together in some fashion to reward the diehard Planescape fans with a greater sense of continuity. The four of us worked together very closely and had loads of fun.

Monte: Some products you wrote (as opposed to edited) have the name RV Vallese in the credits. What's up with that?

Ray: It was just a way to acknowledge that the product was written by me and my wife, Val. (RV = Ray and Val. Get it?) I think we really only did that on Uncaged: Faces of Sigil, where she easily did half the work in coming up with characters, ideas, rough drafts, etc. The contract (it had been a freelance project) was in my name only, and I didn't know if I could include her as co-writer officially, so this was our way around it. Surprisingly, almost no one seemed to ask about or even notice the odd credit. I guess most people just thought "V" was my middle initial, despite the lack of periods after the letters. But I wasn't really trying to hide anything. We told the truth to anyone who asked.

Monte: What is "Ray's Cube Comics and Stories?"

Ray: The best comics line you've never heard of. My cubicle at TSR was the home for scores of action figures and props (many donated to the cause by [designer] Steven Schend), stored in a huge box under my desk. We'd set up complicated scenes on a large portion of my desk left unused for just that purpose, and then summon a crowd to observe the new "issue" -- which consisted of describing what each figure in the scene was doing and saying. It was like performance art comic books. (This was before Wizard magazine started doing their Toyfare Theater, I might add -- if only we'd patented the idea.) Sometimes each new issue was a one-time joke, and sometimes it was a small part of a storyline that could go on for days or weeks. But each issue had to be funny, and we spent way too much time setting up action figures and loudly cracking each other up (much to the dismay of my poor cubicle neighbors). The more absurd the story development, the better, and the timing of the delivery of each character's dialogue was crucial. I tell ya, it became a fine art. We even wrote fan letters to "Ray's Cube Comics and Stories" (and sometimes answered them, too) and pinned them to the surrounding walls. Sometimes I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning just so I could set up a great new idea for an issue, and many's the time that you, Colin, Ed Stark, or another "writer" invaded my cube to set up a new issue while I blithely worked away at my computer.

I'm sure all this sounds stupid to people reading this right now, and perhaps it's one of those situations where you really did have to be there to appreciate it. But doing those tabletop issues are some of my fondest TSR memories. Come on, wouldn't YOU want to see what hilarity ensues when the gluttonous Penguin tries to microwave a burrito in Professor Ape's² time machine and sends everyone back to the Wild West, where Sheriff Worf and his Worf deputies³ are trying to run a gang of lawless Spider-Men -- including one with six arms and another with NO arms (a Pez dispenser) -- out of town? Sure you would.

Monte: Please share one (or more) of the many funny or interesting stories about your time at TSR with us.

Ray: I could rattle off issue plots from "Ray's Cube Comics and Stories" (see above answer) all day, but instead, let me mention the quote board. You had to be careful what you said around the office, because if you uttered anything worth quoting (for whatever reason, though usually a bad one), someone would inevitably overhear you, rush up to the games library, write out your quotation in bright red marker on a big piece of paper, and hang it up for all to see as the "Quote of the Day." Everyone got skewered by this at one time or another, but for some reason -- maybe because I talk too loudly -- I kept getting on the board for making comments that could be interpreted as being lewd, confused, or just plain stupid.⁴

But my favorite quote of all time was delivered not by me, but by Colin, who, while setting up an action-figure issue in my cube, asked my neighbor [designer] Skip Williams whether he wore boxers or briefs. (I'm sure the question made sense at the time.) Skip, however, shouted back over the cube wall in mock (?) exasperation, "A hairless man who plays with dolls is asking me about my underwear!" I had that sucker on the Quote Board within two minutes, attributed to "Skip 'At Last!' Williams." I remember that poor Skip tried to write in an explanation of what had prompted him to make that statement, but Colin wouldn't let him do it. No context allowed on the Quote Board!

1 A reference to the Mask of Valor, described in Colin McComb's and Keith Strohm's interviews. —Ed.

2 Professor Ape was actually a ferocious-looking gorilla action figure from the movie Congo, which someone had outfitted with a pair of professorial spectacles. —Ed.

3 Ray's cube contained at least six different Worf action figures in a variety of sizes, but a favorite was the one outfitted as an Old West sheriff. —Ed.

4 One memorable Ray quote: "When my pants come off, things just start happening!" (Sorry, no context allowed.) —Ed.

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