Monte Cook Teams up With Mystic Eye Games and Fiery Dragon Productions for Offical Tie-Ins

January 13, 2003 (Renton, Wash.) -- Game designer Monte Cook follows up the announcement of his forthcoming variant player's handbook with the news that he's partnering with two other companies to produce official adventures based on his Arcana Unearthed: A Variant Player's Handbook.

Mystic Eye Games plans a 144-page anthology featuring a series of small adventures tied together in an epic storyline that takes characters from 1st to 5th level. Fiery Dragon Productions has in the works a 64-page adventure co-authored by Monte with James Bell and Todd Secord. Monte said he's looking forward to seeing these products reveal more about the setting of Arcana Unearthed, in addition to applying the handbook's rules.

"I've made it no secret that Fiery Dragon and Mystic Eye Games are two of my favorite d20 companies," Monte said. "I've worked with both of them professionally in the past and I can't wait to do so again. They're great guys."

"We enjoy Monte's work so much that when an opportunity like this came up we just had to jump in with both feet," said Doug Herring and Hal Greenberg of Mystic Eye Games. "This partnership will let us take our unique and exciting ideas and send them in an entirely new direction with Monte at the helm. We will be working very closely with him to ensure that the anthology has the feel and accuracy to be placed appropriately in The Diamond Throne setting or played by itself."

Fiery Dragon's Director of Marketing James Bell said he aims to create the foundation for a campaign with his adventure. "Much as NeMoren's Vault has been the introductory 3rd Edition adventure for lots of gaming groups out there, we want to fill the same niche in Malhavoc's Arcana Unearthed setting," he said. "We're pushing to include all the hallmarks of Monte's amazing new handbook in the adventure, highlighting some of the great elements that make it unique."

The adventures will accompany the release of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed: A Variant Player's Handbook in August, but advance copies of all three books will be available at the Gen Con game fair in late July. On the heels of this launch, Malhavoc Press offers a 32-page Arcana Unearthed DM's Screen and Player's Guide, as well as a 96-page supporting sourcebook, The Diamond Throne, which focuses on the handbook's setting and some of its unique denizens. In addition, Mystic Eye Games hopes to have one more tie-in adventure in stores before the end of the year, and Fiery Dragon is working on Counter Collection IV, an accessory containing full-color cardstock counters for use with Arcana Unearthed and its tie-in products.

Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed: The Malhavoc Handbook offers a collection of new classes, feats, spells, equipment, variant rules, and optional systems that you can integrate into your d20 roleplaying games or use as a stand-alone open-gaming system. This 240-page hardcover is suitable for characters of all levels and any fantasy campaign. It will be available only in a print edition from Malhavoc Press' publisher, Sword & Sorcery™,

"From the very beginning, we've been thrilled to have Monte as part of the Sword & Sorcery stable," said Sword & Sorcery Studios Managing Editor Andrew Bates. "Malhavoc books are guaranteed to include great new ideas for gaming -- plus they're a great read. Arcana Unearthed should take that to the next level. We're pretty excited to be helping Monte bring this to the fans. And to have folks like Fiery Dragon and Mystic Eye Games publishing adventure tie-ins? That's icing on the cake."

Read about the book's development in Monte's ongoing Design Diary.

Mystic Eye Games is a premiere d20 publisher of such fan-favorite, award-nominated settings as The Hunt: Rise of Evil and Bluffside: City on the Edge. In addition, Mystic Eye Games has produced other popular d20 lines such as Foul Locales (Urban Blight, Beyond the Walls), Arcane Mysteries (Blight Magic, Wild Spellcraft, Necromancer's Legacy), licensed Dragonstar™ adventures (Raw Recruits, Heart of the Machine), and the non-d20 smash hit product Giant Monster Rampage. Find out more about Mystic Eye Games at their website.

Fiery Dragon Productions debuted with NeMoren's Vault in November 2000. Since then they have released seven additional fantasy adventures (including Queen of Lies by Monte Cook and the ENnie-nominated Of Sound Mind by Kevin Kulp), a rules supplement (Psionics Toolkit by Mike Mearls), three Counter Collections, and three smaller Counter Packs. Featuring the distinctive art of popular Brazilian illustrator Claudio Pozas, Fiery Dragon products are known for their imagination and coherence, and are written for people who like to have fun! For more information on current and upcoming FDP projects, visit their website.

Monte Cook, co-creator of the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons® (the basis of the d20 System of roleplaying), also penned the Dungeon Master's Guide and many other books for TSR/Wizards of the Coast. He launched Malhavoc Press in May 2001 with the publication of the bestselling Book of Eldritch Might, which won three EN World d20 System Awards for excellence. Hallmarks of Malhavoc Press and Monte's game design include unusual magic, monsters, and evocative game elements that go beyond traditional fantasy, as well as a mastery of the d20 System rules that only one of the game's original designers can offer. Current Malhavoc Press titles are available in electronic format at this website, along with free samples of Monte's recent game design.

A division of White Wolf Publishing, Sword & Sorcery is an affiliation of design studios producing roleplaying products fully compatible with the open-gaming d20 System. The studios include: Sword & Sorcery Studios, Malhavoc Press, Scarred Lands, Necromancer Games, Ravenloft, Gamma World, and EverQuest RPG.

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CONTACT: Sue Weinlein Cook
Malhavoc Press
sue@montecook.com

Click here to read about Arcana Unearthed miniatures!

 

 

 

©2003 Monte J. Cook. Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeon Master, and Wizards of the Coast, are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast Inc. Sword & Sorcery and White Wolf are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing. Dragonstar is a trademark of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. Malhavoc and Eldritch Might are trademarks of Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.