Rich Burlew

Rich Burlew

Infobox Comics creator


imagesize =
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birthname = Richard Burlew
birthdate = birth date|1974|9|1|mf=y
location =
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = American
area = Writer, illustrator
alias = "The Giant" or "Giant in the Playground"
notable works = The Order of the Stick
awards = Gold ENnie (2007 Best RPG Regalia) [cite web | url= http://www.ennieawards.com/2007-archive.html | title = 2007 ENnie Award Archives| publisher=ennieawards.com| accessdate=2008-02-10] Five WCCA awards [cite web| url=http://ryanestrada.com/wcca07/ceremony/gaming.htm| title= Outstanding Gaming Comic 2007| publisher=ryanestrada.com| accessdate=2008-01-30] [cite web| url=http://ryanestrada.com/wcca07/ceremony/longform.htm| title= Outstanding Long Form Comic 2007| publisher=ryanestrada.com| accessdate=2008-01-30] [cite web| url=http://www.ccawards.com/2005ceremony/fantasy.htm| title= Outstanding Fantasy Comic 2005| publisher=www.ccawards.com| accessdate=2008-02-10] [cite web| url=http://ryanestrada.com/wcca/ceremony/fantasy.htm| title= Outstanding Fantasy Comic 2006| publisher=www.ccawards.com| accessdate=2008-02-10] [ [http://www.ccawards.com/2008finalists.html|HERE ARE YOUR 2008 WCCA WINNERS!] , [http://www.ccawards.com/|The Webcartoonist's Choice Awards] , March 8, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2008. ]

Rich Burlew (born September 1, 1974) is an author, game designer, and graphic designer best known for his webcomic "The Order of the Stick". He has also written several works for Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons and Dragons game. He owns and operates Giant in the Playground, a small press publishing company formed to publish his comic work and named after his frequent forum screen name.

For his work on "The Order of the Stick" and his assistance in launching "Erfworld" from obscurity to critical acclaim, Rich Burlew was named #5 on ComixTalk's list of the Top 25 People in Webcomics for 2007. [" [http://comixtalk.com/comixtalks_people_of_webcomics_list_for_2007 ComixTalk's People of Webcomics List For 2007] ". " [http://comixtalk.com/ ComixTalk] ", December 20, 2007. Retrieved on December 31, 2007]

Biography

At the age of 12, Burlew first developed the basics of his now-trademark stick figure art, drawing a tiny comic called "Mr. Demon" for his lunchroom friends.Burlew, Rich. "Dungeon Crawlin' Fools", Giant in the Playground, page 5.] He kept doodling his stick figures long after, even as he attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, where he earned a degree in Illustration. He admits that "everything [he] learned about color use or panel composition... [he] picked up at Pratt."Israel, Cecily. " [http://sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=467 Order of the Interview: Rich Burlew] ". " [http://sequentialtart.com/ Sequential Tart] ", March 1, 2007. Retrieved on November 10, 2007] After leaving college, he worked as a professional graphic designer in New York for several years, working primarily on elementary school textbook design and layout." [http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20021209b Fantasy Setting Search Closes in on Finalists: Rich Burlew] , December 9, 2002. Retrieved on November 10, 2007]

Burlew first began playing Dungeons and Dragons in high school, but his interest in the hobby lapsed until 2000, when Wizards of the Coast released the Third Edition ruleset for the game. Upon running his first adventure with the new rules, Burlew found he needed several identical miniatures to serve as bandits for his players to fight. Rather than buy lead miniatures, he used his graphic design computer to draw simple stick figure cut-outs in the style he had developed as a youth. He continued using stick figure monsters for years in his D&D game. During his gaming, he was frequently the GM, a role he has likened to writing a webcomic in several ways.

Fantasy Setting Search and GiantITP.com

In 2002, Wizards of the Coast announced a contest to find a new campaign setting for their D&D game, dubbed the Fantasy Setting Search. [ [http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=4060 Wizards of the Coast Announcement!] , " [http://www.gamingreport.com/ GamingReport.com] ", June 14, 2002. Retrieved on November 10, 2007] From a field of over 11,000 gamers who sent in one-page descriptions of their worlds, one of Burlew's four entries was chosen as a finalist. He was asked by Wizards to produce a 100-page setting bible for his world, competing against two other designers. [ [https://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20021015x Participants in Next Round of Fantasy Setting Search Announced] , " [http://www.wizards.com/ Wizards.com] ", October 15, 2002. Retrieved on November 10, 2007] While the contest eventually selected Keith Baker's Eberron as its winner, [ [http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20030203x Fantasy Setting Search Winner Selected] , " [http://www.wizards.com/ Wizards.com] ", February 3, 2002. Retrieved on November 10, 2007] the experience encouraged Burlew to begin seriously pursuing a career in game design. He was also offered additional writing work from Wizards of the Coast the following year, contributing monsters like the battletitan and the shadesteel golem to Monster Manual III. [ [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ps/20040903a Monster Manual III: Design Team Interview] , " [http://www.wizards.com/ Wizards.com] ", September 3, 2004. Retrieved on November 10, 2007] His entry in the setting search remains the unpublished property of Wizards of the Coast, and Burlew is under a non-disclosure agreement to not discuss it. [Burlew, Rich. [http://www.giantitp.com/FAQ.html#faq26 What was your setting like? Will it ever be published?] , "Giant in the Playground Site FAQ"]

In June 2003, Burlew launched his website, GiantITP.com, in hopes of "turning [his] paltry name recognition into something resembling a job." He dubbed his new site, "Giant in the Playground," after his screen name on the Wizards.com forums, to try to capitalize on his reputation there as a knowledgeable gamer. [Burlew, Rich. [http://www.giantitp.com/FAQ.html#faq16 What is "Giant in the Playground"?] , "Giant in the Playground Site FAQ"] The site languished for several months, until he decided to add a webcomic to the site to bring recurring traffic (in the hopes that it would subsequently lead to more game design work). He transferred the images from the stick figure miniatures he had produced for his D&D game into a page-long comic, and thus began The Order of the Stick in September 2003.

The Order of the Stick

"The Order of the Stick" is the stick figure fantasy story told in webcomic form by Burlew on his website, GiantITP.com. It gained heavily in popularity through 2004, with Burlew realizing he had created a successful story when several friends in an online D&D game spent an entire session berating him for writing a scene where a villain [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0056.html impales a main character] . [Burlew, Rich. "Dungeon Crawlin' Fools", Giant in the Playground, page 66.] He announced the publication of the first compilation in book in December of that year. Shortly thereafter, he reported that preorders for the book had been so successful that he was prepared to quit his job as a graphic designer and apply himself to comic and game writing full-time. [cite web | url = http://www.giantitp.com/index2.html | title = http://www.giantitp.com/index2.html | work = News for 1/2/2006 ] Since then, he has produced two additional compilation and two original black-and-white "prequel" books to add to the "Order of the Stick" story.

In November 2005, new strips of "The Order of the Stick" began appearing in Dragon Magazine, [ [http://paizo.com/paizo/news/v5748eaic9k1l Paizo Publishing Creates Strategic Alliance with "The Order of the Stick" creator Rich Burlew] , " [http://www.paizo.com/ Paizo.com] ", September 30, 2005. Retrieved on November 10, 2007] extending the potential reach of the comic significantly. Burlew described the feeling of seeing his comic on the same page that once held "What's New with Phil & Dixie" as "awe-inspiring" and "weird". [Burlew, Rich. [http://www.giantitp.com/index3.html#5IhASdMsnXYoGr4cE7z Giant in the Playground News] , November 14, 2005. Retrieved March 9, 2008.] The comic ran in the magazine until its final print issue.

Burlew also drew a short-lived webcomic for the RPGA website, entitled "Five Foot Steps"," [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=rpga/hq/polyffs1 Five Foot Steps #1] ", Retrieved February 10, 2008] that featured more traditional cartoon art (i.e. not stick figures) and depicted a diverse roleplaying game group at fictional Rollmoore College. The strip only lasted for 5 installments, for reasons that have not been made public.

Bibliography

Game Design Credits

* " [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/179210000 Monster Manual III] ", Contributed. (September 2004, ISBN 0-7869-3430-1)
* " [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/eberron/178690000 Explorer's Handbook] ", w/Frank Brunner and David Noonan. (August 2005, ISBN 0-7869-3691-6)
* " [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/885987200 Spell Compendium] ", Contributed. (December 2005, ISBN 0-7869-3702-5)
* " [http://www.apegames.com/oots/oots-dod/oots-dod.html The Order of the Stick Adventure Game: The Dungeon of Dorukan] ", w/Kevin Brusky. (October 2006, ISBN 0-9663-4764-7)
* " [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/956847200 Dungeonscape] ", w/Jason Buhlman. (February 2007, ISBN 0-7869-4118-6)
* " [http://secure1.white-wolf.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=861 Tome of Artifacts] ", Contributed. (June 2007, ISBN 1-58846-935-9)

The Order of the Stick Trade Paperbacks

* "The Order of the Stick: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools" (February 2005, ISBN 0-9766580-0-3)
* "The Order of the Stick: On the Origin of PCs" (August 2005, ISBN 0-9766580-1-1)
* "The Order of the Stick: No Cure for the Paladin Blues" (November 2006, ISBN 0-9766580-3-8)
* " [http://www.giantitp.com/StartOfDarkness.html The Order of the Stick: Start of Darkness] " (June 2007, ISBN 978-0-9766580-4-7)
* "The Order of the Stick: War and XPs" (August 2008, ISBN 978-0-9766580-5-4)

Interviews with Rich Burlew

* [http://www.geeklabel.com/podcast/geeklabel_interview_005.mp3 Geeklabel Radio Podcast: Unedited Interview with Rich Burlew] , October 25, 2006.
* [http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20021209b Fantasy Setting Search Closes in on Finalists] , December 9, 2002.
* [http://sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=467 Order of the Interview: Rich Burlew] , March 1, 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.GiantITP.com/ Giant in the Playground]
* [http://index.rpg.net/display-search.phtml?key=contributor&value=Rich+Burlew RPGnet RPG Game Index] listing for Rich Burlew


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