The author of Masks’ foreword: Wolfgang Baur

With his excellent foreword off to layout, I’m thrilled to be able to announce that Wolfgang Baur, gaming industry legend and the man behind Kobold Quarterly and Open Design, is the Mystery Author of the foreword for Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game!

Wolfgang is one of the best-known names in gaming, with credits stretching back more than two decades. You’ve probably read his work, and if you haven’t, you should — he’s an excellent writer and game designer. Wolfgang has also been a friend of the Stew for years, and he loved our first book (here’s his review of Eureka).

Hot damn am I excited that Wolfgang agreed to do this! It’s an honor and a privilege, as well as a huge vote of confidence in Gnome Stew’s second book.

Many thanks to Wolfgang!

Masks Status Update

The Fantasy and Sci-Fi chapters, which together represent roughly 2/3 of the book, have come back from layout. God willing and the creek don’t rise, Modern will be off to layout this week.

From there, I’ll be wrapping up loose ends — chapter openers, a final pass at the GMing advice chapter, etc. — as soon as humanly possible. Things are looking good for a late June/early July preorder, and for our fulfillment partner, Studio 2 Publishing, to have copies of Masks for sale at GenCon.