.gif)
David Cook (game designer)
Encyclopedia
David "Zeb" Cook is an American
game designer best known for his work at TSR, Inc.
, where he was employed for over fifteen years.
, and grew up on a farm in Iowa
where his father worked as a farmer and a college professor. In junior high school, Cook playing wargames such as Avalon Hill
's Blitzkrieg
and Afrika Korps
. “I was primarily a wargamer, but there wasn’t any role-playing available then,” although in college, he was introduced to the Dungeons & Dragons
role-playing game through the University of Iowa
gaming club.
Cook earned his B.A. in English (with a Theater minor) in 1977. He married his high school sweetheart, Helen, with whom he had one son, Ian. Cook became a high school teacher in Milligan, Nebraska
, where his students gave him his nickname of "Zeb"; the name derives from his signature, which is dominated by a stroke resembling a 'Z', as well as his resemblance to the James Arness
character Zeb Macahan in the TV series How the West Was Won
.
magazine for a game designer position at TSR
. After completing the designer test that the company then used, and writing a sample module section, Cook became the third full-time game designer hired by TSR. He later became Senior Designer. “Game designing is hard work,” he says, “but everything worth doing is hard work. The important thing is to do it well, and to have fun while you’re doing it.” Cook created role-playing games, modules, family board games, card games, rulebooks, and party mystery games.
He created the Partyzone mystery game line, and The Spy Ring scenario, the first Partyzone game, was named one of the Top 100 Games of 1985 by Games Magazine. Other notable works for TSR include the Conan the Barbarian, The Adventures of Indiana Jones, and Star Frontiers
role-playing games, and the Sirocco and Escape from New York
games. Cook also wrote several influential early adventure modules for D&D and AD&D, such as A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity
, I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City
, X1: The Isle of Dread, and X4: Master of the Desert Nomads
and X5: Temple of Death
(the 'Desert Nomads' series). Other module work included CM4: Earthshaker!
, AC5: Dragon Tiles II, AC2: D&D Game Combat Shield
, B6: The Veiled Society
, CB1: Conan Unchained!
, M1: Blizzard Pass
for D&D and AD&D, and Top Secret
module TS005: Orient Express and Boot Hill
module BH2: Lost Conquistador Mine.
Cook, with Jim Ward
, Steve Winter
, and Mike Breault, co-wrote the adventure scenario that was adapted into the game Pool of Radiance
. Cook is particularly known for being the lead designer on the 2nd edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
role-playing game
and the Planescape
campaign setting
.
One reviewer described that work as "the finest game world
ever produced for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons". He was the primary author of the original Oriental Adventures
, ostensibly under the guidance and direction of Gary Gygax
, which amongst other things introduced the concept of non-weapon proficiencies into AD&D, and designed the far eastern setting, Kara-Tur
.
Cook left TSR in 1994 to work in the field of electronic media. He was the lead designer on City of Villains
computer game for Cryptic Studios
. After he left Cryptic, he joined Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment as the lead systems designer for the video game Stargate Worlds
.
In 2001 he was inducted into the Origins
Hall of Fame.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
game designer best known for his work at TSR, Inc.
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
, where he was employed for over fifteen years.
Early life
Cook was born in East Lansing, MichiganEast Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 48,579 at the time of the 2010 census, an increase from...
, and grew up on a farm in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
where his father worked as a farmer and a college professor. In junior high school, Cook playing wargames such as Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
's Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg (game)
Blitzkrieg was an early strategic-level wargame first published in 1965 by the Avalon Hill Game Company. The game depicted a war between two fictional countries on the map of an imaginary continent...
and Afrika Korps
Afrika Korps (game)
Afrika Korps is a two-player wargame published by the Avalon Hill Game Company in 1963 and then re-released in 1965 and 1977. Played on a mapboard depicting the northern coastline of Africa, the game follows Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps and their Italian allies as they fought back-and-forth...
. “I was primarily a wargamer, but there wasn’t any role-playing available then,” although in college, he was introduced to the 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...
role-playing game through the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
gaming club.
Cook earned his B.A. in English (with a Theater minor) in 1977. He married his high school sweetheart, Helen, with whom he had one son, Ian. Cook became a high school teacher in Milligan, Nebraska
Milligan, Nebraska
Milligan is a village in Fillmore County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 285 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Milligan is located at ....
, where his students gave him his nickname of "Zeb"; the name derives from his signature, which is dominated by a stroke resembling a 'Z', as well as his resemblance to the James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
character Zeb Macahan in the TV series How the West Was Won
How the West Was Won (TV series)
How the West Was Won is an American western television series that featured an all star cast that included: James Arness, Eva Marie Saint, Fionnula Flanagan, Bruce Boxleitner, G. W. Bailey, Trisha Noble, William Shatner, Jack Elam, Woody Strode, Anthony Zerbe, Richard Kiley, Lloyd Bridges,...
.
Career
Cook responded to an ad in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
magazine for a game designer position at TSR
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
. After completing the designer test that the company then used, and writing a sample module section, Cook became the third full-time game designer hired by TSR. He later became Senior Designer. “Game designing is hard work,” he says, “but everything worth doing is hard work. The important thing is to do it well, and to have fun while you’re doing it.” Cook created role-playing games, modules, family board games, card games, rulebooks, and party mystery games.
He created the Partyzone mystery game line, and The Spy Ring scenario, the first Partyzone game, was named one of the Top 100 Games of 1985 by Games Magazine. Other notable works for TSR include the Conan the Barbarian, The Adventures of Indiana Jones, and Star Frontiers
Star Frontiers
Star Frontiers is a science fiction role-playing game produced by TSR beginning in 1982. The game offered a space-opera action-adventure setting.- Setting :...
role-playing games, and the Sirocco and Escape from New York
Escape from New York
Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security...
games. Cook also wrote several influential early adventure modules for D&D and AD&D, such as A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity
Scourge of the Slave Lords
Scourge of the Slave Lords is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published by TSR, Inc. in 1986...
, I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City
Dwellers of the Forbidden City
Dwellers of the Forbidden City is an adventure module, or pre-packaged adventure booklet, ready for use by Dungeon Masters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
, X1: The Isle of Dread, and X4: Master of the Desert Nomads
Master of the Desert Nomads
Master of the Desert Nomads is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure module designed by David Cook for use with the Expert D&D set.This is the first part of a two-part adventure, with Temple of Death being the second part.-Plot summary:...
and X5: Temple of Death
Temple of Death
Temple of Death is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure module designed by David Cook for use with the D&D Expert Set.-Plot summary:In Master of the Desert Nomads, the nomad tribes of Sind Desert have rallied together under the leadership of the enigmatic figure known as the Master, and it is the mission...
(the 'Desert Nomads' series). Other module work included CM4: Earthshaker!
Earthshaker!
Earthshaker! is a 1985 adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Its associated code is CM4 and the TSR product number is TSR 9128.-Plot summary:...
, AC5: Dragon Tiles II, AC2: D&D Game Combat Shield
Combat Shield and Mini-adventure
AC2 Combat Shield and Mini-Adventure is a 14 page accessory designed for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
, B6: The Veiled Society
The Veiled Society
The Veiled Society is an adventure module for the Basic Rules of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Its product designation is TSR 9086.-Plot summary:...
, CB1: Conan Unchained!
Conan Unchained!
Conan Unchained! is a 1984 adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Its associated code is CB1 and its TSR product code is TSR 9123.-Plot summary:...
, M1: Blizzard Pass
Blizzard Pass
Blizzard Pass is a 1983 solo adventure module for the Basic Rules of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:Blizzard Pass is a solo adventure for a thief level 1–3. The thief must cross Blizzard Pass, and then penetrate a cavern system within Blizzard Pass to free the other...
for D&D and AD&D, and Top Secret
Top Secret (role-playing game)
Top Secret is an espionage-themed role-playing game written by Merle M. Rasmussen and first published in 1980 by TSR, Inc.-Top Secret :...
module TS005: Orient Express and Boot Hill
Boot Hill (role-playing game)
Boot Hill is a western role-playing game designed by Brian Blume and Gary Gygax. First published in 1975, Boot Hill was TSR's third role-playing game, not long after Dungeons and Dragons and Empire of the Petal Throne.-System:...
module BH2: Lost Conquistador Mine.
Cook, with Jim Ward
Jim Ward (game designer)
James M. Ward , is an American game designer and fantasy author. He is most famous for his game development and writing work for TSR, Inc., where he worked for more than 20 years. In 1989 he was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Hall of Fame...
, Steve Winter
Steve Winter
Steve Winter is a game designer who has worked on numerous products for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game from TSR and later Wizards of the Coast.-Early life:Steve Winter was born in Dubuque, Iowa on December 8, 1957...
, and Mike Breault, co-wrote the adventure scenario that was adapted into the game Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game for home computers. It is the first in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games...
. Cook is particularly known for being the lead designer on the 2nd edition of Advanced 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...
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...
and the Planescape
Planescape
Planescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by Zeb Cook. The Planescape setting was published in 1994...
campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
.
One reviewer described that work as "the finest game world
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
ever produced for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons". He was the primary author of the original Oriental Adventures
Oriental Adventures
Oriental Adventures is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
, ostensibly under the guidance and direction of Gary Gygax
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
, which amongst other things introduced the concept of non-weapon proficiencies into AD&D, and designed the far eastern setting, Kara-Tur
Kara-Tur
Kara-Tur is a fantasy world created by David Cook in the Oriental Adventures rulebook for the First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game in 1986. Kara-Tur's cultures and peoples are fantasy analogues of medieval China, Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Tibet, and other regions of...
.
Cook left TSR in 1994 to work in the field of electronic media. He was the lead designer on City of Villains
City of Villains
City of Villains is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCSoft. Released on October 31, 2005 , the game is integrated with their previous release, City of Heroes...
computer game for Cryptic Studios
Cryptic Studios
Cryptic Studios, a wholly owned Perfect World subsidiary, is a small American massively multiplayer online role-playing game developer headquartered in Los Gatos, California.-History:...
. After he left Cryptic, he joined Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment as the lead systems designer for the video game Stargate Worlds
Stargate Worlds
Stargate Worlds was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game video game in-development by Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and published by FireSky for Microsoft Windows. The game's setting was mainly borrowed from military science fiction series...
.
In 2001 he was inducted into the Origins
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
Hall of Fame.
See also
- Amazing EngineAmazing EngineAmazing Engine was a series of role-playing game books that was published by TSR, Inc. from 1993 until 1994.Each publication employed the same minimalist generic rules, as described in the Amazing Engine System Guide, but each world book had an entirely different setting or genre...
- Dwellers of the Forbidden CityDwellers of the Forbidden CityDwellers of the Forbidden City is an adventure module, or pre-packaged adventure booklet, ready for use by Dungeon Masters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
- List of Dungeons & Dragons modules
- Scourge of the Slave LordsScourge of the Slave LordsScourge of the Slave Lords is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published by TSR, Inc. in 1986...
External links
- Bibliography at Pen & Paper.
- Interview at Grognardia.com