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Bruce R. Cordell

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Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.brucecordell.com

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BruceCordell

Genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy

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October 2014

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Bruce R. Cordell authored books for Dungeons & Dragons over the course of 4 editions (2nd Edition through 5th Edition D&D). These days, he’s a senior designer for Monte Cook Games, LLC designing Numenera , Gods of the Fall, and The Strange. Also a novel author, his credits include several titles set in the Forgotten Realms. Bruce’s tenth novel, Myth of the Maker, is just out from Angry Robot Books:
http://brucecordell.blogspot.com/2017... ...more

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When was the last time a player character died under your watch? How did it go?

Bruce R. Cordell You know, it's been a long time. The Cypher System (used by The Strange, Numenera, Gods of the Fall, and now The Stars Are Fire) creates fairly robust…moreYou know, it's been a long time. The Cypher System (used by The Strange, Numenera, Gods of the Fall, and now The Stars Are Fire) creates fairly robust characters, and as a GM I'm usually in playtesting mode and can tell when PCs resources become strained and they're on the edge. That said, it's certainly in playtesting mode when a PC last died with me in the GM's seat. Multiple times, actually, when we were testing 5th edition to exhaustion :D. But as you can probably guess, a player whose dwarf fighter dies in a playtest knew the risks going in; they take their lumps with class and then create another instance of a dwarf fighter for the next round of playtesting.(less)

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Bruce R. Cordell I don't believe in writer's block; I believe in writer's malaise.

Sometimes, you just don't want to write. But to get myself over that hump, I might pi…moreI don't believe in writer's block; I believe in writer's malaise.

Sometimes, you just don't want to write. But to get myself over that hump, I might pick a random book off the shelf, open it to a random page, and read a paragraph. Something in that paragraph will probably serve as a writing prompt, a seed of a new angle or approach that I can apply to whatever I'm currently working on.(less)

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Bruce R. Cordell’s books

Average rating: 4.19 · 26,479 ratings · 1,131 reviews · 166 distinct works • Similar authors

	Tome and Blood: A Guidebook to Wizards and Sorcerers (Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd Edition) by Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author), Skip Williams 3.58 avg rating — 669 ratings — published 2001 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Underdark (Dungeons & Dragons d20 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Accessory) by Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author), Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jeff Quick (Goodreads Author) 3.96 avg rating — 525 ratings — published 2003 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Plague of Spells (Forgotten Realms: Abolethic Sovereignty, #1) 3.64 avg rating — 511 ratings — published 2008 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lady of Poison (Forgotten Realms: The Priests, #1) 3.65 avg rating — 463 ratings — published 2004 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City of Torment (Forgotten Realms: Abolethic Sovereignty, #2) 3.68 avg rating — 358 ratings — published 2009 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stardeep (Forgotten Realms: The Dungeons, #3) 3.76 avg rating — 328 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Darkvision (Forgotten Realms: The Wizards, #3) 3.64 avg rating — 324 ratings — published 2006 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Key of Stars (Forgotten Realms: Abolethic Sovereignty, #3) 3.75 avg rating — 306 ratings — published 2010 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sword of the Gods (The Abyssal Plague Spreads, #1) 3.81 avg rating — 216 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spinner of Lies: A Forgotten Realms Novel 3.97 avg rating — 158 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Bruce R. Cordell…

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Bruce R. Cordell's Blog

How About A Ghoul Log This Holiday?

Hey friends,

Wishing you a peaceful year's end and celebrations in whatever way you celebrate it. Like, maybe with a yule-tide log that burns long and bright thanks to a plump arm thrown into the blaze for that little extra bit of holiday cheer. Just like your ol' friend The Ghoul from Prime's video adaptation of Fallout. In fact, you can kick back with The Ghoul as he watches the fire and listens

Series by Bruce R. Cordell

Abolethic Sovereignty (3 books)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.68 avg rating — 1,175 ratings

Sword of the Gods (2 books)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.88 avg rating — 374 ratings

Numenera (5 books)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author),

Sean K. Reynolds,

Monte Cook (Creative Director)

4.45 avg rating — 146 ratings

Rise of the Underdark (1 book)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.97 avg rating — 158 ratings

Forgotten Realms (1 book)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.97 avg rating — 158 ratings

More series by Bruce R. Cordell…

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Bruce R. Cordell wrote a new blog post How About A Ghoul Log This Holiday? Hey friends,Wishing you a peaceful year's end and celebrations in whatever way you celebrate it. Like, maybe with a yule-tide log that burns long and Read more of this blog post »
Jan 23, 2026 10:18AM · like

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Quotes by Bruce R. Cordell (?)

“Mother, you’ve given me even more than you know,” he said. “I feel revived. That you’d never forgotten me was always my fondest hope. Knowing it’s true is a boon of incalculable value. Thank you.”
― Bruce R. Cordell, Key of Stars

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“He was far more human, with all the failings that implied, than he’d ever admitted to himself. He was only a fool with an outsize ego, like every other fool who pranced and paraded through life, deluded they were somehow finer and better trained than most others, until shown the truth.”
― Bruce R. Cordell, Plague of Spells

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