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Bruce R. Cordell

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in The United States

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http://www.brucecordell.com

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BruceCordell

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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 · 26,116 ratings · 1,116 reviews · 165 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) 3.95 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) 3.65 avg rating — 502 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) 3.64 avg rating — 454 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 — 352 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 — 325 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) 3.65 avg rating — 319 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 — 301 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) 3.80 avg rating — 214 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
	Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) by Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author), James Wyatt (Goodreads Author) 3.79 avg rating — 163 ratings — published 2006	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

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Bruce R. Cordell's Blog

We all roll on

Hey ya'll!

Wow, did October sneak up on and then slip by you as quickly as it did for me? I think one reason time moved relatively more quickly for me was because of travel. Gameholecon 2025 in Madison, WI, was a weeklong experience that included planes and airports, setting up (then eventually packing away) the MCG lounge, running games, giving seminars and interviews, and doing a whole lot of ta

Series by Bruce R. Cordell

Abolethic Sovereignty (3 books)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.68 avg rating — 1,155 ratings

Sword of the Gods (2 books)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.87 avg rating — 366 ratings

Numenera (5 books)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author),

Sean K. Reynolds,

Monte Cook (Creative Director)

4.45 avg rating — 148 ratings

Rise of the Underdark (1 book)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.97 avg rating — 152 ratings

Forgotten Realms (1 book)
by

Bruce R. Cordell (Goodreads Author)

3.97 avg rating — 152 ratings

More series by Bruce R. Cordell…

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Bruce R. Cordell wrote a new blog post We all roll on Hey ya'll!Wow, did October sneak up on and then slip by you as quickly as it did for me? I think one reason time moved relatively more quickly for me Read more of this blog post »
Nov 16, 2025 12:29AM · 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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