3. Hidden Tradition was the first module I've come across to take place on planet Earth, which is rather unique. Why did you decide to go this route instead of most traditional D&D world setups?

I've never been a huge fan of the standard fantasy world setups in RPGs - most of them seem to lack real depth. With D&D particularly I didn't really like the deity system much, and also I find it strange that there's so little conflict between the races. So I was thinking one night that it would be nice to play in a world where the magic was more "real" and the races and religions had serious problems to contend with. I had also been reading Robert Shea's novel "All Things Are Lights" which deals with the Gnostic heresy in 12 century France, and with the Crusades, and it really captured my imagination. So I thought the Crusades period would make a really interesting backdrop to an RPG.