Editing Monte Cook (section)

=== d20 licensed works and Malhavoc Press ===
Cook left [[Wizards of the Coast]] in 2001.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://icv2.com/articles/games/view/22766/monte-cook-exits-d-d-next-design-team | title=Monte Cook Exits 'D&D Next' Design Team | publisher=ICV2 | access-date=November 14, 2015}}</ref> Cook wrote the adventure ''Beyond the Veil'' (2001), one of the later releases in the "Penumbra" line of [[d20 System]] books from [[Atlas Games]].<ref name="designers" />{{rp|258}} Cook formed the new company [[Malhavoc Press]] in 2001 to work with the [[Sword and Sorcery Studios]] imprint of [[White Wolf Publishing|White Wolf]], starting with the d20 ''The Book of Eldritch Might'' (2001) as his first product.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|225}} ''The Book of Eldritch Might'' was the first commercial book sold exclusively as a PDF to be published by a print company.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|288}} It was an immediate success and has been credited with demonstrating the viability of PDF publishing within the role-playing industry.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dyingearth.com/rpgsuccess2006.htm | title=View From the Pelgrane's Nest | publisher=Pelgrane Press | access-date=November 14, 2015}}</ref> This and other early Malhavoc products were initially released only in electronic format, though print versions of most of them have since been released by White Wolf, Inc.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/9/Malhavoc-Press | title=DriveThruRPG.com-Hottest Malhavoc Press Titles | publisher=DriveThruRPG.com | access-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> Malhavoc Press worked with [[Fiery Dragon Productions]] after Fiery Dragon ended their arrangement with Sword & Sorcery in 2002, and the majority of the licensed work from Fiery Dragon was through their arrangement with Malhavoc.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|226}} Cook's work under the Malhavoc banner has included ''[[Arcana Unearthed]]: A Variant Players Handbook''.<ref>{{cite book | title=Arcana Unearthed | isbn=1-58846-065-7 | last1=Cook | first1=Monte | date=July 2003 | publisher=Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated }}</ref> Cook set the d20 rulebook ''Arcana Unearthed'' in his giant-dominated world of "The Diamond Throne".<ref name="designers" />{{rp|226}}

He caused controversy in mid-2004 by exclusively selling his electronic d20 material with the DriveThruRPG.com store, which then used only a proprietary [[digital rights management]]-encrypted PDF system.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/16467-drivethrurpgcom/ | title=DriveThruRPG.com | publisher=Hero Games | access-date=November 15, 2015 | archive-date=November 17, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117034725/http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/16467-drivethrurpgcom/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> He eventually succumbed to pressure from his customers to sell his products in standard-PDF form,{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} and DriveThruRPG has more recently done the same.

In August 2006, Malhavoc released ''[[Ptolus]]'', a campaign setting based on Monte Cook's home game that was used as the playtest campaign for the third edition D&D designers.

Shortly after the release of ''[[Ptolus]]'', which Cook has often described as the culmination of his original ambitions for Malhavoc, he announced that he would be focusing on writing fiction and other unspecified forms of creative work, rather than role-playing games, for the foreseeable future.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?mc_los_157|author=Monte Cook|title=The Next Chapter|publisher=montecook.com|year=2006|access-date=August 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723161704/http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?mc_los_157|archive-date=July 23, 2011}}</ref> White Wolf and [[Goodman Games]] announced his final RPG books. ''Monte Cook's [[World of Darkness]]'', his own take on White Wolf's modern horror setting, was released at [[Gen Con]] 2007. From Goodman Games is ''[[Dungeon Crawl Classics]]: #50, Vault of the Iron Overlord'', which was also targeted for the same Gen Con release.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.white-wolf.com/index.php?line=news&articleid=639|title=White Wolf Announces Monte Cook's A World of Darkness|date=December 6, 2006|publisher=whitewolf.com|access-date=August 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618182038/http://www.white-wolf.com/index.php?line=news&articleid=639|archive-date=June 18, 2008}}</ref>

However, due to demand by fans reading his [[LiveJournal]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://montecook.livejournal.com/ |title=The Chapel Perilous |publisher=Monte Cook |access-date=November 15, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118125454/http://montecook.livejournal.com/ |archive-date=January 18, 2016 }}</ref> and posting their desires on the Malhavoc message boards,{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} Monte Cook released one more RPG product in early 2008, ''The Book of Experimental Might''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rpgnow.com/product/54689/Book-of-Experimental-Might | title=Book of Experimental Might | publisher=DriveThruRPG.com | access-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> This was quickly followed by ''The Book of Experimental Might II: Bloody, Bold and Resolute''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rpgnow.com/product/55582/Book-of-Experimental-Might-II-Bloody-Bold-and-Resolute?term=book+of+experimental+might+ii | title=Book of Experimental Might II | publisher=DriveThruRPG.com | access-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref>