Bruce R. Cordell

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-08-06

Bruce Robert Cordell was born in Watertown, South Dakota, and earned a biology degree from the University of Colorado, where he also wrestled and competed on the debate team. Before entering the game industry he worked in biopharmaceuticals, where he learned to synthesize DNA. TSR hired him as a full-time designer in 1995, and he went on to become one of the most prolific Dungeons & Dragons designers of his era. He created the Far Realm concept for The Gates of Firestorm Peak (1996) and designed numerous influential AD&D adventures, including Return to the Tomb of Horrors and Die Vecna Die!, winning an Origins Award for the former. He co-designed the fourth-edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide and the seventh edition of Gamma World, and worked on the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons before leaving Wizards of the Coast in July 2013 to join Monte Cook Games as Senior Designer, where he co-created The Strange roleplaying game. As a novelist, Cordell wrote the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy and the Sword of the Gods series, plus standalone Forgotten Realms novels Stardeep and Darkvision, and contributed short fiction to anthologies such as Realms of War. He has also won multiple ENnie Awards, including for the Manual of the Planes, and currently lives in Seattle, Washington.

Universe(s)

Books

• Lady of Poison (2004) · Forgotten Realms Expanded Canon
• Darkvision (2006) · Forgotten Realms Expanded Canon
• Stardeep (2007) · Forgotten Realms Expanded Canon
• Plague of Spells (2008) · Forgotten Realms Expanded Canon
• City of Torment (2009) · Forgotten Realms Expanded Canon
• Key of Stars (2010) · Forgotten Realms Expanded Canon
• Sword of the Gods (2011) · Forgotten Realms Expanded Canon
• Spinner of Lies (2012) · Forgotten Realms Expanded Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 40 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 0 (None recorded)

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