Richard Baker (full name L. Richard Baker III) is an American author and game designer who has worked on many Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings.

Early life, education, and military

Rich Baker was born and raised in Florida, then moved with his family to New Jersey at age ten. Baker graduated from Virginia Tech in 1988 with a degree in English.

Career

Baker began looking for a new career, and found one at TSR. "I'd been playing the AD&D game off and on since 1979. When I decided to leave the Navy, I sent TSR my résumé just for the pure hell of it. TSR sent me back a writing test, which I must have done pretty well on, since they brought me out for an interview in September of 1991. I'd never published a word before then or even worked the convention circuit, but they hired me anyway." The Birthright Campaign Setting boxed set won the 1995 Origins Award for Best New Role-Playing Supplement: "I'm very proud of it. It represents an entirely new approach to the traditional fantasy roleplaying campaign, and the world itself is filled with a strong sense of history."

In 2020, Baker announced on his blog that he was joining ZeniMax Online Studios as a senior writer on the Elder Scrolls Online video game.

Bibliography

Forgotten Realms Accessory Books/Adventure Modules

  • Unapproachable East (2003)
  • Player's Guide to Faerûn (2004)

Creative Director of:

  • Magic of Faerûn (2001)
  • Lords of Darkness (2001)
  • Races of Faerûn (2003)

Developer of:

  • Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001)
  • Lords of Darkness (2001)
  • Races of Faerûn (2003)
  • Unapproachable East (2003)
  • Underdark (2003)

Dark-Sun Accessory Books/Adventure Modules

  • Valley of Dust and Fire (1992)
  • The Will and the Way: Psionicists of Athas (1994)
  • Dragon's Crown (1993)
  • Merchant House of Amketch (1993)

Other Dungeons & Dragons Accessory Books/Adventure Modules

  • Spells & Magic (1996)
  • World Builder's Guidebook (1996)
  • Planescape Monstrous Compendium II (Planescape) (1999)
  • The Forge of Fury (2000)
  • Complete Arcane (2004)
  • Tome of Battle (2006)
  • Red Hand of Doom (2006)
  • Lost Mine of Phandelver (2014)

Gamma World 7th Edition

  • Gamma World Roleplaying Game Rulebook (with Bruce R. Cordell) (2010)
  • Gamma World Roleplaying Game Expansion: Legion of Gold (with Bruce R. Cordell) (2011)

Novels

  • The Adventures
  • The Shadow Stone (1998)
  • Double Diamond Triangle Saga
  • Easy Betrayals (1998)
  • Star*Drive
  • Zero Point (1999)
  • Birthright
  • The Falcon and the Wolf (2000 online publication [https://web.archive.org/web/20030418130055/http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20020121x5])
  • The Cities
  • The City of Ravens (2000)
  • (R.A. Salvatore's) War of the Spider Queen
  • Condemnation (2003)
  • The Last Mythal
  • Forsaken House (2004)
  • Farthest Reach (2005)
  • Final Gate (2006)
  • Blades of Moonsea
  • The Swordmage (2008)
  • Corsair (2009)
  • Avenger (2010)
  • Breaker of Empires
  • Valiant Dust (2017)
  • Restless Lightning (2018)
  • Scornful Stars (2019)

Board games

  • Risk Godstorm (2004)
  • Ultimate Scheme (2017)

References

  • Wizards.com interview
  • The old 'Ask Richard Baker' thread at wizards.com forums
  • The old 'Ask the Core Rules and Supplement Authors' thread at wizards.com forums
  • The new 'Ask the Core Rules and Supplement Authors' thread at wizards.com forums
  • Rich Baker's Blog at wizards.com Archived from the original on June 17, 2013.
  • Rich Baker's Blog