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by Lost to the Ages

Interview: Robin Laws

September 30, 1999 in Articles

Graveyard Greg: Hey! Who are you? And why do you have those grenades strapped to your shirt?

Unknown Stranger: Quick, look behind you, it’s a flying monkey!

GG: A monkey? Where?!

(pause)

Hey, wait a minute, I recognize that trick! It was used by Robin Laws, who is you! You’re the writer of many games and gaming supplements. In fact, let’s have
a list of past, present, and future credits!

Robin Laws: Roleplaying Games

  • HERO WARS, Issaries Inc., release TBA
  • FENG SHUI, Daedalus Entertainment, 1996
  • OVER THE EDGE (additional material), Atlas Games, 1992
  • NEXUS: THE INFINITE CITY (additional material) Daedalus Games, 1994
  • PANDEMONIUM (additional material) MIB Productions, 1993

Collectible Card Games

  • SHADOWFIST (co-designer), Daedalus Entertainment, 1995

Novels

  • Pierced Heart, Over the Edge novel, Atlas Games, 1996

Collectible Card Game Expansions

  • THE CUT-UPS PROJECT, On the Edge, Atlas Games, 1995
  • NETHERWORLD (design team member), Daedalus Entertainment, 1995
  • FLASHPOINT (continuity), Daedalus Entertainment, 1996

Collectible Card Game Supplements

  • Surviving On the Edge (contributor), Atlas Games, 1995
  • Shadowfist Player’s Guide (contributor), Daedalus Entertainment, 1996

Computer Games

  • King of Dragon Pass (writing/design), release TBA; see http://a-sharp.com/opal/
  • Magic: The Gathering Battlemage (additional dialogue) Acclaim Entertainment, Spring 1997

Roleplaying Sourcebooks and Supplements

  • The Weather the Cuckoo Likes, Over the Edge, Atlas Games, 1994
  • Infected, Earthdawn, FASA, 1994
  • Parlainth: The Forgotten City, Earthdawn, FASA, 1994
  • Nexus Life, Nexus: The Infinite City, Daedalus Games, 1995
  • Throal: the Dwarf Kingdom, Earthdawn, FASA, 1996
  • Ways and Means, Underground, Mayfair Games, 1995
  • GURPS Fantasy II, GURPS, Steve Jackson Games, 1992
  • Unauthorized Broadcast, Over the Edge, Atlas, 1993
  • Sub-Men Rising, Talislanta, Wizards of the Coast, 1995
  • Stranger Than Truth (developer, contributor), Pandemonium, Atlas Games, 1994
  • Wildest Dreams (development, contributor), Over the Edge, Atlas Games, 1993
  • “Dead Man’s Hand”, in Parlainth Adventures, Earthdawn, FASA, 1994
  • “Revelations on the True Nature of Orks” in Denizens of Earthdawn Vol. 2,
  • Earthdawn, FASA, 1994
  • Friend or Foe (contributor), Over the Edge, Atlas Games, 1994
  • Adept’s Way (contributor), Earthdawn, FASA, 1995
  • Horrors (contributor), Earthdawn, FASA, 1995
  • Blades (contributor), Earthdawn, FASA, 1995
  • “Bliss of Death” and “Doppleganger Plague” in Myth of Self, Over the Edge, Atlas Games, 1996
  • Prelude to War (contributor), Earthdawn, FASA, 1996
  • The Theran Empire, Earthdawn, FASA, 1997
  • The Great Maze, Deadlands, Pinnacle Entertainment, 1997
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation Roleplaying Game (contributor), Last Unicorn Games, 1998
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Roleplaying Game (contributor), Last Unicorn Games, coming soon
  • Star Trek Roleplaying Game (contributor), Last Unicorn Games, coming soon
  • Player’s Companion (contributor), ST:TNG, Last Unicorn Games, coming soon
  • Pirates, Renegades and Rogues (contributor), ST:DS9, Last Unicorn Games, coming soon
  • Iron and Ash: Cardassian Boxed Set (contributor), ST:DS9, Last Unicorn Games, coming soon
  • Through A Glass Darkly: The Mirror Universe Sourcebook,(contributor), Star Trek, Last Unicorn Games, coming soon
  • Doomstones 5: Wars and Death (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay), Hogshead Publishing, coming soon
  • “Escape to Level M” in End Time: Glimpses, Pagan Publishing, release TBA

GG: Dang, is that a boat load of games! Robin, what is your favorite book outside of gaming?

Laws: If you mean novel, _The Red and the Black_ by Stendhal.
If you mean anything ever published in book form, it’d
be Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

GG: How about a favorite book INSIDE of gaming?

Laws: The only piece of gaming fiction I’ve ever read all the
way through is my own novel, Pierced Heart.

GG: What’s your favorite RPG?

Laws: HERO WARS, the upcoming Glorantha game I designed
for Issaries, Inc. Followed by everything else
I’ve ever worked on, in the reverse order in
which I worked on it.

My favorite game that I’ve never worked on would
be CALL OF CTHULHU.

GG: How did you get into the gaming business?

Laws: I got involved with an APA called Alarums and
Excursions, and wrote about the games I was running
as well as various and sundry other RPG topics.
Among the A&E contributors I started corresponding
with was Jonathan Tweet, at that time just launching
the Ars Magica game with co-creator Mark Rein*Hagen.

A few years later, Jonathan, inspired by an A&E
article I wrote on adapting William S. Burroughs
to roleplaying, sent me notes on a campaign he
was running. I sent him background material to
use if he wanted. The campaign became OVER THE
EDGE, and stuff I sent him appeared in that
game close to verbatim.

Meanwhile, Steve Jackson invited me to write
a GURPS book based on the weird-fantasy game
I was writing. And before I knew it I was
getting lots of offers and working full-time.

(Check out http://www.starport.com/xeno/aande.html if you’re not sure what an APA is.)

GG: I had the pleasure of meeting you last year at one of the gaming
conventions–I think it was GenCon–and I noticed two things: You are a
humble guy, and you wore a Hawaiian shirt. I hear you wear them a lot. Is
this true? :)

Laws: I do like to wear colorful shirts — though only a couple of them
are Hawaiian, strictly speaking. Though now they’re really hip
and I may have to come up with a new distinguishing sartorial
feature.

GG: Tell our readers the origin story of the soon to be re-released FENG
SHUI–one of the best cinematic RPGs hands down. How did you create such an
interesting game?

Laws: I’ve been a fan of Hong Kong action movies since
seeing A BETTER TOMORROW at the 1987 Toronto
International Film Festival. By 1993, as I
got more involved in the game industry, the
genre seemed a natural for translation into
an RPG. At the same time, mainstream interest
in HK movies was beginning to bubble up. Now
we have Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Chow-Yun Fat
and Michelle Yeoh all appearing in Hollywood
movies, with John Woo and others directing
mega-blockbusters. So I guess my timing was
right.

Anyhow, I pitched the idea for the RPG to
Jose Garcia of Daedalus Games, then preparing
its NEXUS: THE INFINITE CITY game. Jose
agreed to publish the game and later decided
to base a collectible card game, SHADOWFIST,
based on the same setting. The card game came
out before the RPG, even though the roleplaying
game was the original treatment of the idea.

GG: And then there was a dark moment in Feng Shui’s “life”. But thanks to Atlas
Games, we have a new beginning! What can we expect in the future for Feng
Shui?

Laws: The new book is back from the printers and seems to
be getting really good initial orders. It should
ship on Monday and be ready for GenCon, knock wood.

Greg Stolze is acting as line developer for the game.
The first Atlas supplement is his SEEDS OF THE NEW
FLESH, the Architects sourcebook. It’s due out in the
fall.

Nothing else has been announced yet.

GG: Favorite snack food at 12 am?

Laws: Bits and Bites.

GG: What do you think of the gaming industry right now? If you had the power,
would there be anything you would change?

Laws: The industry is on an upswing after suffering severe damage
to the distributor and retailer tiers due to the boom-bust
cycle of the CCG craze. Let’s hope we don’t get nailed
by a similar boom-bust on Pokemon.

If I could change something, I’d make the audience bigger.
That’s the only way to improve the industry’s many
systemic problems. WotC will actually succeed in doing
this if it successfully rolls out a credible, national
retail chain.

GG: OK, it’s Celebrity Deathmatch Time! We’ve got Steve Jackson, Matt Forbeck,
and Steve Long are fighting for control of the Feng Shui site! Who would
win, and how do they pull it off?

Laws: I am sure they would all work together to capture the
Feng Shui site in the name of truth, justice, and
hamburgers with the works. They would use their
special fu powers against the Architects of the Flesh
currently infesting the site. Steve J. would employ
The Walk of a Thousand Exclamation Points; Matt would
whip out his Cloud of Gentlemanly Poise, while Steve
“Writes” Long would dazzle them with his Path of the
Astounding Word Count.

GG: Hm. That sure does sound like them, all right. Here’s a question from a Feng Shui fan. Shane Mitrovic of St.. Catharines,
Ontario asks: “Feng Shui is said to be a ground breaking game. What was the
one thing driving its creation for you?”

Laws: I wanted to recreate the wild and woolly feel
of the source material, while also creating a
fun, distinctive world that could be spun
off into other media.

GG: Sounds sweet, but I’m sure the ladies out there would like to know this one:
Boxers or Briefs?

Laws: Boxers.

GG: Finally, what advice would you give to our gaming youth who wish to make it
in the gaming industry?

Laws: Read widely — not just game stuff, or fantasy/SF, or
even fiction. Write anything you get the chance
to write — articles for the school newspaper,
ad copy for local businesses, anything. Learn self-discipline.
Learn the basic principles of professionalism. Go to
conventions; politely ask people like me for advice.
Understand that you’ll start out by working on supplements for
existing games, not publishing the AD&D variant rules
you and your friends have been polishing for the last
decade. Make contacts. Adjust your lifestyle to the
low pay rate of the creative professional. If you want
to make a lot of money, become a computer programmer or
lawyer instead of a professional in the hobby games
industry. (I do this full time, but I’m one of a very
small number of freelancers who have done so successfully
for any significant period of time.)

Once you start getting gigs: make deadlines, meet
the specifications your clients give you, be talented,
be pleasant to work with, and continue to network.

GG: Thanks for your time, Robin, and good luck with FENG SHUI!

Laws: Take care!

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Avatar of Lost to the Ages

by Lost to the Ages

Interview: Steve Long

September 7, 1999 in Articles

Graveyard Greg: Hey, who are you?

Unknown Stranger: I’m Steve Long, Line Developer for Last Unicorn’s STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE ROLEPLAYING GAME game line and occasional freelance game writer.

GG: Oh yeah. You’re the guy who’s written a lot of stuff. Care to give us your credentials–past, present, and future?

Long: Oh, let’s see, things I’ve written. I got my start in the industry with Hero Games, for whom I wrote DARK CHAMPIONS, swiftly followed by JUSTICE NOT LAW, AN EYE FOR AN EYE, THE ULTIMATE MARTIAL ARTIST, THE ULTIMATE MENTALIST, and WATCHERS OF THE DRAGON. I recently finished for Hero the long-awaited Fifth Edition of the HERO System, which I am eagerly waiting to see on the shelves. Other Hero books I currently have on tap are revising THE ULTIMATE MARTIAL ARTIST, THE ULTIMATE SKILL, THE ULTIMATE WEAPON, THE ULTIMATE ARMOR, and a revised JUSTICE INC.

The next company I worked for after that was White Wolf. For them I’ve done part or all of DESTINY’S PRICE, WORLD OF DARKNESS: COMBAT, KINDRED OF THE EAST COMPANION, TECHNOCRACY PLAYER’S GUIDE, ABERRANT, and the forthcoming PROJECT UTOPIA.

After I became a full-time game writer (see next question), I began working for lots of other companies, doing whole books or parts of books. In the past two years I’ve worked for Pinnacle Entertainment Group (LAW DOGS, TALES O’ TERROR: 1877, BRAINBURNERS, BACK EAST: THE SOUTH, and the forthcoming SOUTH O’ THE BORDER), Chameleon Eclectic (the now-defunct WORLD MILITARY SOURCEBOOK for Millennium’s End and bits and pieces for some B5 RPG books that also never saw print), XID Creative (the forthcoming BOOK OF WIRD), and some others.

However, these days, most of my work is for Last Unicorn Games, either writing for various books or my duties as DS9 RPG Line Developer. Since they started publishing Trek books, they’ve only come out with a couple that I haven’t been involved in somehow; likewise for their forthcoming DUNE RPG line. I really enjoy working with the LUG guys and am looking forward to putting out some tremendously cool products in the near future.

GG: Is it true you were a lawyer? How did you go from being a lawyer to a gaming writer?

Long: I’m a licensed attorney. I practiced for four years before quitting to take up game writing full-time. I came to find out that the law was not for me — too stressful in too many ways — and decided to follow my dream of writing. Fortunately, through hard work and a bit of luck, I’ve managed to become successful at it.

GG: What’s the last good movie you saw?

Long: THE MATRIX. It’s the only really enjoyable movie I’ve seen this year so far (and even it had flaws). Frankly, the website for BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is more exciting and interesting than every other movie I’ve seen this year, including SW:TPM. I’m incredibly picky when it comes to movies and books.

GG: This one might get you in a world of hurt, so I’ll phrase it in the safest way possible: Which is your favorite gaming company (besides Last Unicorn Games) to write for?

Long: I couldn’t possibly confine it to just one. Besides LUG, I’d have to say Hero Games, because they have the best rules and give me the most creative freedom; and Pinnacle, because they have this awesome little Western sandbox I get to play around in. :)

GG: In your opinion, what is the best game out there right now?

Long: The HERO System. Always has been, and as far as I can see, always will be. If I were Grand High Poobah of the World, all gamers would use it (even over systems I’ve designed myself). It’s the only one that lets you do *anything* you want. All other game systems are incredibly limited by comparison.

GG: If you had the power, what would you do to make the Gaming Industry even better?

Long: Hmmmm, that’s a toughie. Advertise and market itself better, probably. That, of course, requires money — which, sadly, the industry lacks.

GG: What’s the deal with Starburst hard candy?

Long: They’re molded from Martians’ armpit excretions.

GG: Are we allowed to say excretions? (pause) I guess we can get away with it! Steve, you have just been given 1 million dollars to produce your own RPG. What would the game be about?

Long: About me putting a million bucks in my bank account and keeping it. :)

Seriously, my first love has always been modern-day action games. I’d love to do an awesome modern-day action game. They never seem to do well — but I’d love to roll the dice and try to break that trend.

GG: Favorite Midnight Snack food?

Long: Chili Cheese Snacks, a culinary delight of my own invention.

GG: Yummy! You’ll have to bring the receipe to GenCon. Is Advanced Dungeons and Dragons an old dinosaur ready to die horribly?

Long: Not at all. It’s still immensely popular and the Big Daddy o’ gaming. Like any other 25-year-old product, it shows its age compared to more recent games using more “state of the art” design (whatever that means), but it’s certainly not ready to die horribly. Heck, I’m excited about a lot of they upcoming products.

GG: Good. A lot of us grew up playing D&D, but OK, it’s Celebrity Deathmatch Time! We have Steve Jackson, Greg Stolze (of Unknown Armies fame), and Peter Adkison (prez of WoTC). Who would win, and how?

Long: Greg, because he’s sickest. Steve, because he’s orneriest. Peter, because he has the biggest stick. ;)

GG: No clear-cut winner, eh? What games are you looking forward to?

Long: Well, I already mentioned HERO System Fifth Edition. :) The DS9 RPG core rulebook. The DUNE RPG core rulebook. Some things on the horizon from White Wolf that I can’t talk about yet. More Delta Green wickedness. Future DEADLANDS supplements. Return to White Plume Mountain.

I could go on and on. I love this hobby; I’m incredibly lucky to get paid to do work I enjoy so much.

GG: Any closing remarks, Mister Long? Maybe something to encourage the future gaming writers out there?

Long: The best advice I can give is: learn how to write well! Rules design is not that difficult and is often the easiest part of game writing. Writing well is difficult; you need to learn how, and then practice.

GG: Thanks for your time, Steve Long! Best wishes to your continuing success.

Long: Thanks! Likewise to you, Greg; good luck with !

GG: Now, now, Steve–that is a secret! ;)

P.S.: Let me know if you have any other questions, or follow-ups. I love talking about myself. ;)

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Avatar of Lost to the Ages

by Lost to the Ages

Interview: Greg Stolze

August 30, 1999 in Articles

Graveyard Greg: Who are you? What makes you so special in the gaming field?

Unknown Stranger: I’m Greg Stolze. As to what makes me so special, you’d have to ask my editors. Personally, I think I can write the pants off just about anyone else in the business. But I’m sure every writer secretly thinks that. After all, the world at large is tremendously indifferent to any individual’s creativity. The individual has to have a blind, irrational, resilient faith in order to overcome that indifference.

GG: Ah, yes. Greg Stolze. I’ve heard of you. You’re the guy responsible for a lot of games nowadays. Care to tell us some of your past, present, and future credits?

Stolze: Lessee… did a bunch of articles for SHADIS, that’s how I started out. Wrote a number of pieces for “Over the Edge” — parts of “Wildest Dreams” and “Forgotten Lives.” My first fully solo book was “Spherewalker,” which got an Origins award. I worked for AEG for a while, wrote “City of Lies” for them and did little bits and pieces of other things. I did two chapters of “Star Trek” and a piece of “Uneasy Peace” for Last Unicorn. I wrote “Usagi Yojimbo,” another Origins bridesmaid, and I coauthored “Unknown Armies.” More recently I’ve been doing stuff for White Wolf — had a piece of “Great War,” coauthored “Stellar Frontiers” and “Shattered Europe” for “Trinity.” I didn’t make it into the “Aberrant” main book, but did a fun little “Expose” piece for them. Now I’m working on “Hunter: The Reckoning” sourcebooks after putting a few chapters in the main book there.

GG: That’s pretty impressive. How did you get into the Gaming Field?

Stolze: I knew someone. When I was in college, a friend said “you should come play this game with this guy I know.” The guy turned out to be Jonathan Tweet, who was selling life insurance at that time, and the game later evolved into “Over the Edge.” A year later, Magic the Gathering came out, WotC got huge, and Jonathan was off to Seattle to design Everway.

There was a time when I felt kind of cheap — you know, “I’m only getting published because I had a buddy to speak up for me.” On the other hand, Jonathan pointed out that he’s met thousands of people in his life, and I was one of the few who put in the effort to make money off the acquaintance.

In the end, people seem to like my stuff. I guess that’s what counts in the final analysis.

GG: I agree with that. What’s your favorite food in the “Must eat to live” category?

Stolze: I subsist on microwave dinners far more than is probably healthy. Plus, I married a chocolate addict, so now I’m one two.

GG: Greg, I hear you’re in charge of the Feng Shui support line. Mind giving the FS fans some hints as what to expect in the future?

Stolze: Looking at “Feng Shui,” my attitude is “if it works, don’t fix it.” I’m not planning any immediate, sweeping changes. One thing I’ll NEVER change is essential feel of the game. I’m not about to turn it into a game of square-jawed, unironic do-gooderism or into a nihilistic melodrama. “Feng Shui” is a big tent that can contain everything from slapstick humor to very intense, gritty crime drama, and I’m going to continue along those lines.

More concretely, I can give you the supplement schedule. First up is “Seed of the New Flesh,” which I wrote years ago when Daedalus was still viable. It’s finally coming out, and I think it’s aged pretty well. Next is “Golden Comeback,” basically the player book for “Feng Shui,” chock full of new shticks of all descriptions. After that, “Elevator to the Netherworld,” which will be loads of setting and background material.

GG: Same question, Greg–just add Unknown Armies.

Stolze: Tynes is the developer for Unknown Armies, so I can’t speak with as much authority. I don’t know about any sweeping setting changes, though we’ve kicked around a few ideas… but probably better that I don’t say. The next books are “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” by yours truly, and “Postmodern Magick,” by a veritable banquet of talented writers. “Lawyers, Guns and Money” is the sourcebook for The New Inquisition. (For you non-UA playing readers — hey, what the hell is wrong with you? Go buy my book! THEN you’ll know who The New Inquisition is.) “Postmodern Magick” is pretty much what it sounds like — new schools of magick, new Avatars… probably more critters, artifacts and spells for established schools too.

GG: We’re still on the subject of Unknown Armies. It seems to be a hit, and it keeps on growing in popularity. Did you expect it to be so big?

Stolze: Expect? I try not to expect anything in the gaming industry. It’s a contingent system. You can look back on what happened and see WHY it happened, but that doesn’t give you any clues about what’s going to happen next. I’m certainly pleased that it’s selling well.

GG: Quick. It’s Wednesday. What’s your favorite show?

Stolze: Simpsons reruns. It’s like a drug to me.

GG: It’s my favorite “drug” as well, but that’s enough about my pastimes. Let’s talk about movies. What game would you like to see transferred onto the Silver Screen? Don’t say Dungeons and Dragons.

Stolze: “Unknown Armies,” natch. Then I’d get the big bucks and could finally stand tall and tell all my enemies where they could get off! But (of course) I also think it would make a good film. Get Denzel Washington as Alex Abel, bring in Tarantino to punch up the dialogue — it would be cherry.

If you restrict the questions to games I didn’t write and wouldn’t get royalties from… well, it gets harder. I think it would be difficult to put an RPG on the screen, because the settings are generally quite involved, and it’s the depth of background that makes them interesting (or even comprehensible). With that, I’d probably say “Over the Edge.” It’s contemporary, and looks like the world of today… on the surface, anyhow. I’d love to see Terry Gilliam take a crack at that one!

GG: Celebrity Deathmatch Time! We’ve got Richard Garfield of Magic: The Gathering, Matt Forbeck of Brave New World, and John Tynes of Unknown Armies–who would win, and how?

Stolze: Hm… I’ve never seen Matt Forbeck in a muscle shirt, but Richard Garfield has to be pretty bulked up from carrying all his money around. Plus, his wife just had a kid, so we know he’s virile. Tynes on the other hand, he’s unpredictable. Depends on what he’s been drinking. If it’s those wicked Velvet Hammers, he’d probably be sluggish and logy, but if you get some gin into him, he turns mean. Plus, he’s incredibly well armed. I mean, those guys at Pagan celebrated the success of Delta Green by going out and buying matching AR-15s. They’re probably the best armed publisher in the RPG business. Now that I think about it, maybe that’s why they don’t seem to have much trouble with U.S. distributors…

GG: (laughs) Stop, you’re killing me! Finally, what game line would you like to work on in the future, and why?

Stolze: I’d like more work on “Trinity.” I’ll admit that I was kind of lukewarm on it when I read the book, but the more supplements I read, the more I got into it. Now I think it’s neat, and I’d love another chance to get my grubby, clutching hands all over Bates’ sweet sweet plotline.

GG: Well, that’s about all the time we have. Fans, be on the lookout for Greg Stolze in the future, because you ain’t heard the last from this guy!

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Avatar of Lost to the Ages

by Lost to the Ages

Interview: James Ernest

August 11, 1999 in Articles

Graveyard Greg: Hey! You there! Who are you?

Unknown Stranger: Hey! I’m James Ernest! I run Cheapass Games!

GG: Did you wash your hands before you got here?

James Ernest: “Got Here?” I never leave my house!

GG: OK. Name your gaming credits of the past, the present, and the future!

Ernest: Age 6: Invented “Cow.” Upside: Helps pass the time on long car trips. Downsides: You need cows to play.

Age 26: Started “Cheapass Games.” Upsides: Fame and Fortune. Downsides:

Makes all my other gaming credits seem miniscule.

Age 46: Thrown out of “Caesar’s” for palming a six of clubs. Upsides: Was losing anyway. Downsides: Later found dead in alley with cap in ass.

GG: Hm. What a way to go. How did you get into the gaming business?

Ernest: I knew a couple of people who worked at Wizards of the Coast, the year before they produced Magic. I even went out on a limb and bought some stock in the company. My wife got a job there, I did some freelance work, and I discovered that I liked writing games.

My first big design was a TCG for Wizards which they liked, but never published. No, you haven’t ever seen it. They still have it, and it’s being worked on by Top Men. After that, I wrote a couple of board games, and then wrote the XXXenophile CCG for Phil Foglio. I’ve also had a few games published in GAMES Magazine, done some freelance writing and design for Wizards, and other stuff. But mostly, I’ve focused the last few years on products for my own company.

GG: Let’s talk about those Cheapass Games you make. What is the cheapest one you have? Don’t count the free ones.

Ernest: Devil Bunny Needs a Ham is $2. I originally wanted to sell most of my games for $2-$4, but my friends convinced me that I was insane. So, it’s usually $5 or $6 for a new Cheapass Game, but we’re figuring out clever ways to give you more for that same price. And, since I can’t count the free ones, it’s pointless to mention that there are lots of great free games at my website. They aren’t free because they are dumb, they are just free because you really don’t need anything special aside from the rules.

GG: And you can find those free games at the Secret Website at http://www.cheapass.com! What’s your favorite cheapass snack?

Ernest: Goldfish. I’m a goldfish processing facility. Put in Goldfish, take out games.

GG: Is it true you used to be a Juggler?

Ernest: Almost. I’m still a juggler. But I don’t do it professionally anymore. For about 10 years I worked cruise ships, birthday parties, and everything in between. And it was tough. One day I realized I was completely maxed out, and decided to change careers. You can only be so successful as a variety act.

GG: So, you went from juggling to President of Cheapass Games. Somehow, it makes a warped kind of sense.

Ernest: I suppose.

GG: What is your favorite Cheapass game?

Ernest: I usually don’t have an answer for that, but these days it’s BRAWL. BRAWL isn’t -technically- a Cheapass Game, but it’s close enough. It’s my real-time card game for the year. I was pleased with the breakthroughs I made with FALLING, my first real-time card game, but not enough people “get” that game. BRAWL makes improvements in nearly every regard, and I’m really excited about finally getting it out.

GG: To those readers, I had the pleasure of playing a demo of BRAWL at GenCon. James Ernest even play a couple of games against me. He spanked me the first few times, but then I got the hang of it, and he let me win a game. Nowadays, all I hear and see are Button Men. And now it’s growing! I saw the SANCTUM Button Men at Origins. They’re going to have Legend of the Five Rings Button Men at GenCon. Not to mention Lunch Money Button Men! When will it end?

Ernest: Never. Actually, that’s not true. Button Men is probably going to be a fad, so I hope it does really well in its short life span. Everybody who signs on realizes that it can’t last forever. What’s more important is that it’s a test case for BRAWL, which will get the same treatment next year, but on a much bigger scale.

GG: How did you came up with the idea for Button Men?

Ernest: The story of Button Men: Dalmuti’s Restaurant, the experimental add-on to Wizards’ flagship game center, commissioned a suite of six microgames for their opening. They wanted games you could fit on coasters, like the game I have on my business card.

After I wrote and sold them the first set, I realized that what they really needed was a game where the playing pieces, not the rulebooks, were coasters. So I showed them Button Men (which was called something else at the time, I forget what). They liked it, but didn’t need it. So, as has happened many times, I wound up with a random free game.

I didn’t want to sell Button Men myself, because I didn’t sell polyhedral dice, and I don’t expect all of my customers to have them. Dalmuti’s was a great environment for the coaster game, because they sold dice next door. But I finally decided to start carrying dice on my website, and figured the stores who would stock Button Men would enjoy the extra dice business.

So far that works. But what’s really great about Button Men is that it’s a platform anyone can use. Lunch Money, Legend of the Five Rings, Sailor Moon, and other characters can fight on level ground in the Button Men world.

GG: There are those unlucky enough not to know about Cheapass Games’ Secret Website (which, by the way, is http://www.cheapass.com), so can ya tell us what is in the near future for Button Men?

Ernest: As I mentioned above, Sailor Moon is coming out in October. After that, I’m releasing a dozen Button Men illustrated by Brom. I don’t have anything else to announce yet, but do keep your orbs peeled. A couple of really big possibilities are in the works.

GG: Quick! Boxers or briefs?

Ernest: Depends.

GG: Aren’t you a little young for those? Nevermind, because it’s now time for a Special Cheapass Edition of Celebrity Deathmatch! The following Button Men are trying to gain the title of Grand Master Dicechucker. In the black corner is Jolly Blackburn of Knights of the Dinner Table fame. At the plaid corner is Mark J Young of Multiverser infamy. Finally, Susan Van Camp arrives and sits herself in the Mauve corner. Who would win, and what kind of Special Swing Die would they have?

Ernest: Jolly and Mark have Annihilating dice, which destroy everything they capture. They get in an all-out knife fight with each other, never giving Susan a turn. They don’t percieve her has a threat, since she has only one 1-sided die. Jolly’s last attack rolls a 1, which Susan neatly captures, winning the game.

Moral: never let people perceive you as dangerous.

GG: What do you see in the future for the Gaming Industry?

Ernest: Decipher, Wizards, and Games Workshop get in an all-out knife fight over the kids who are getting tired of Pokemon. Each drives away more of the other’s customers, eventually alienating the entire hobby game customer base. Tapped out, each company is bought by Hasbro for pennies on the dollar, and Cheapass Games wins by signing up the two hundred gamers who remain for lifetime subscriptions.

Moral: See above.

GG: Well, James–thanks for this Cheapass Interview. Any last words or advice to our readers before I send the Hounds after you, sir?

Ernest: Buy more Cheapass Games!

GG: Words to live by, my friends…

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by Lost to the Ages

Interview: Steve Jackson

July 26, 1999 in Articles

Graveyard Greg: Who are you? Why are you here answering these questions?

Unknown Stranger: Who wants to know? Fnord.

Hm. Wait, I recognize you! Oh yeah, you’re Steve Jackson, the founder of Steve Jackson Games. How long has it been in business, and what was the first game they published?

Steve Jackson: Since 1980. Our first release was four things at once – RAID ON IRAN, ONE-PAGE BULGE, KUNG FU 2100 and the first packet of CARDBOARD HEROES.

GG: Quick, name some of your gaming credits–past, present, and future!

Jackson: Ogre, Car Wars (with Chad Irby), Illuminati, INWO, GURPS. Someday, HOT LEAD and a new edition of TRIPLANETARY.

GG: You really like conspiracies, don’t you? Especially if they deal with the Illuminati?

Jackson: Who told you to ask that?

GG: Sorry, Steve–I never reveal my sources. I can reveal, however, that I remember the first edition of GURPS. What’s the origin story behind that one?

Jackson: Basically, I just thought it was a real shame to have to learn a new set of game mechanics every time you changed genres. So I wanted to do one set of mechanics that would work for everything. Sounds obvious now. Back then it was radical.

GG: Tell me, what’s the best thing about your job? Besides having absolute power, that is.

Jackson: Seriously? Meeting and developing new talent.

GG: In my opinion, there are two men who can be dubbed as the “Gawdfathers of Gaming”: yourself and Gary Gygax. Who are your “Gawdfathers of Gaming”?

Jackson: Rick Loomis and Marc Miller.

GG: In your opinion, what’s the state of the gaming industry right now, and what direction are we headed?

Jackson: In flux, big-time. Electronic stuff will grow and grow, but books won’t vanish for a LOOOONG time. Mid-size companies will get squeezed between monsters like WotC and classy garage operations like Cheapass. That doesn’t mean all the midsizers will vanish — I’m doing fine — but there will be fewer of us.

GG: Favorite snack food at Midnight?

Jackson: Peanut butter cups.

GG: What’s the deal with Legos?

Jackson: They’re cool.

Can’t argue with that, and speaking of Legos, will that Pirate Game of yours ever see print? Or is there some legal red tape to wade through first?

Jackson: Print like “on dead trees”, probably not. But it’s on the web now as freeware.

GG: Cool! I’ll take a look as soon as I can. If you had to work with anyone in the Gaming Field, who would you like to work with?

Jackson: It would depend on what we were going to do. If it’s paintball, I want Richard Garriott on my side. If we’re going to take over the world, I’d choose Greg Costikyan. If we’re going to do a new version of TRAVELLER, I want Marc Miller and Loren Wiseman. Hey, wait, I got that wish already.

GG: And we gamers are very lucky you got that wish. Next question, and you knew this was coming: What is your all time favorite game?

Jackson: I don’t have one favorite. Life is too short to have one favorite.

GG: Avoiding the question, eh? Well, quick Steve! It’s Celebrity Deathmatch time! Gary Gygax (who needs no introductions), Dave Williams (of L5R and Doomtown fame), and Richard Garfield (of Magic: The Gathering) are squaring off against each other. Who would win, and how?

Jackson: How can they square off when there’s three of them? That would be a triangle. And the triangle has an I in it. So I would win. Fnord.

GG: Point taken. What’s the deal with Evil Stevie? Does he look just like you, only without the beard? :)

Jackson: No, he’s got a beard.

GG: Now I’m scared. Finally, here’s a question from Nathan Hill of Oklahoma: “Steve, what are you and your company planning on doing to shake things up in the RPG industry?”

Jackson: Heh. Watch our website. I can’t leak that just yet.

GG: I like that, it leaves us with a touch of mystery. Thanks very much for your time, Steve Jackson–may you have continued success in the gaming field!

Jackson: You’re welcome!

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by Lost to the Ages

Interview: Peter Adkison

July 21, 1999 in Articles

Graveyard Greg: Who are you? And what the heck makes you qualified for these questions?

Unknown Stranger: I’m Peter Adkison, founder and CEO of Wizards of the Coast. I’m qualified
for the questions because I know the answers?

GG: Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, Mister Adkison, can I call you Mister Adkison?

P: Sure. While my preference is simply to be called “Peter,” I don’t really care what people call me, as long as they don’t call me late for meals.

GG: Enough with the small talk for now–time to get down to the nitty gritty. Give us your past gaming credits.

P: Earliest memories: traditional card games (mainly Peanuchle) since 4 or 5
years old.

Started playing strategy games like Risk and Stratego in grade school and
moved quickly into wargaming. Avalon Hill, SPI, etc. Even had a lifetime
subscription to Strategy & Tactics magazine.

Exposed to Dungeons & Dragons for the first time in 1978. It blew me away.
The flexibility and world creation aspects of the game, as well as the long
term character development angle were fascinating. Started my own campaign.
Trashed it and started another one. Trashed it and started a third one,
called Chaldea–by this time it was 1981–and I’ve been running Chaldea
ever since.

In 1991, one year after starting Wizards of the Coast, I met Richard
Garfield and he explained to me his idea for a trading card game. I was
immediately intrigued. I hadn’t heard any concept that was as innovative
since D&D back in ’78. Magic and D&D remain my two favorite games.

I’ve played many other games, of course, traditional, strategy,
roleplayings, TCGs, etc. Of all those other games I’d say my favorite is
Twitch. Beyond that it’s hard to rank them, but off the top of my head,
games I’ll play in an instant, include Settlers of Catan, Robo Rally, Call
of Cthulu, Vampire: The Masquerade, L5R RPG, and any of a large number of
wargames.

GG: Sweet! How did you get involved with the gaming business?

P: By starting my own company, Wizards of the Coast, along with several
friends and my wife. We simply didn’t know better. :-)

GG: How did you wind up the President of Wizards of the Coast?

P: By starting the company and squashing all rebellions!

GG: The Bill Gates method, eh? Do you play Magic: The Gathering much?

P: Yes, but mainly at conventions. I love to play limited environments, like
sealed deck or pre-constructed decks. I’ve never been as fond of
constructed formats, mainly because I don’t have time to keep up with all
the tech.

GG: What about other CCGs? What are some of your favorites?

P: My favorites are Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and Legend of the Five Rings.

GG: What about RPGs? Name one of the newest ones you think will be a hot
ticket–you can’t use anything published by TSR!

P: That’s no fair!

I like the stuff AEG does. The L5R RPG is great, and if that’s any
indication, the 7th Sea game will probably be great too. I love the White
Wolf stuff too, although I don’t think I fit their target customer profile
very well! I also watch certain designers like John Tynes, or Gregory Stolze.

GG: Speaking of game designers… OK, Gaming Deathmatch Time! It’s Richard Garfield, Shane Hensley, and Steve
Jackson. Who would win?

P: In any gaming competition my money would be on Richard.

GG: Any predictions for the Origins Awards? Who do you think will win for Best
RPG? (note: this interview was done before Origins ’99)

P: My guess is that Star Trek: Next Generation will win, although my vote is
for Alternity of course.

GG: What kind of food goes great with gaming?

P: A year ago I would have said pizza and nachos. But I’ve changed my diet to
more healthy foods and, unfortunately, I haven’t quite found anything that
measures up to those. It’s sad, really!

GG: Mmmmmm! What kind of drink to wash it down?

P: Diet Coke is stilly my drink of choice.

GG: Yummy! You know something? Some said CCGs would kill RPGs, but it seems
those people are wrong. What do you think the state of gaming is today?

P: Gaming will always be with us, although it’s going to be difficult to grow
it dramatically, mainly because computer gamers are so good, and they’re
only going to get better over time. But social interaction will always be
best around a table, so tabletop games will be with us always. I think in
the future we’ll see more of a blend between the two.

GG: Any advice for those budding game designers and writers?

P: Stay in school, get a degree in English or something like that if you want
to do writing and/or RPG design. If you want to do traditional game design
focus on a hard science like mathematics or physics. Then start to write
like crazy for independent zines, web sites, discussion boards, etc.,
eventually start going to conventions, and network. Volunteer at the
conventions, get to know the insiders, and show them you have good ideas.
Start with the small companies who are desparate for help, and work up.

GG: Two words for you: ARC System. What happened? It seemed like a good idea. Is
there a future for it?

P: The Arc system strategy lives on in Pokemon, if you stop and think about
it. The real idea was to tie a simpler TCG to a license and expose people
to TCGs that way. That’s exactly what Pokemon is doing. Maybe we’ll use the
Arc system in the future with a big license, maybe we won’t , who knows.
But the basic idea is something we believe in strongly.

GG: Speaking of “Whatever happened to…?” Where is the Netrunner CCG?

P: We actually plan on releasing some new cards for Netrunner in the coming
months. Not a full blown expansion, but a mini-expansion, on the order of
25 new cards or so. We hope to do the same with V:TES, Spellfire, and
perhaps a couple others, depending on how things work out.

GG: Finally, can ya give us a glimpse into WoTC’s future? Say…AD&D 3rd
Edition? Will it have anything to do with Dominara?

P: If we do an AD&D 3rd Edition, no, it won’t be based around Dominaria. We
would love to eventually do a Dominaria line for AD&D, but that’s at least
a couple of years away, due to some other priorities.

GG: Well, thanks Mister Adkison–it was a pleasure to interview you. On behalf
of the Gaming Outpost, I bid you goodday!

P: You’re welcome! Stay on target!

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by Lost to the Ages

Interview: Shane Lacy Hensley

April 26, 1999 in Articles

Gaming Outpost’s Graveyard Greg asked Shane Lacy Hensley, creator of Deadlands: The Weird West, how he came up with the Weird West RPG. Here’s his reply:

The deal is, I was at GenCon doing the freelancing thing. I had just completed work on Thunderscape for SSI and was working on some new TSR projects. One of the many cool things I saw at GenCon was a picture of an undead Confederate by Brom (it became the cover to Vampire’s Necropolis Atlanta). That image stuck with me during the long 14 hour drive home through the night. I frequently have neat ideas during this long trip after being surrounded by so much creativity at GC, but this one just wouldn’t die (literally!).
A few months later, I kit-bashed a system and ran a “historical” Civil War game. Or so my friends thought. At the end of the second session, I had them all caught and hung. They awoke in 1876 in the desert, in what eventually became the adventure from Book o’ the Dead.

Everybody loved the game and Charles Ryan of Chameleon Eclectic wanted me to publish it through him as I had Fields of Honor and the Last Crusade. I knew this would be a full-time gig if I did, though, and set about the arduous task of making Pinnacle a full-time company. I then flew Greg Gorden and Matt Forbeck down to help me put things together, and they decided they wanted to be part of the company as well. Greg was having personal problems at the time and bowed out, but came up with several key concepts before leaving (Fate Chips were one of Greg’s insights). He also hooked me up with Allan Nunis, who did a quick comic book page showing a gambler throwing cards as he cast spells. That became the huckster.

As for the system, I had the idea that I wanted the Trait to tell you what type of die to roll, and the skill would tell you how many. It just went from there.

The cards were used for initiative because we wanted a system that let most characters act once or twice in a round, but a gunslinger could get off several shots. But how do you do that without the gunslinger going first and killing everyone first? Our system lets you break down a combat into tiny fragments of time and simulates the fast action of a Spaghetti Western without making everyone else sit around and watch the gunslingers all night.

Fate Chips: I wanted a tangible reward for roleplaying and solving the adventure. Greg Gorden figured out how to make it work.

From there it was a trip to GAMA in Atlantic City, and then the debut of Deadlands at GenCon ’96.

Shane Lacy Hensley started freelancing for West End Games, TSR, White Wolf, FASA, SSI, and every other major game company in the industry in 1992. He’s written 3 novels, over 50 game products, several card games, scripted two computer games, and of course, created the hit Deadlands. He’s a long-time resident of Blacksburg, VA, with his wife Michelle, and their incredible son, Caden Lacy.

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by Lost to the Ages

Interview: Stephen J Herron

January 7, 1999 in Articles

Graveyard Greg: Who are you?

Unknown Stranger: I’m Stephen J Herron, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, born in 1970, a man who thought that Lidsville was a deeply buried
childhood trauma until I found the
theme tune on the internet recently. I also have an English degree I keep forgetting about.

GG: One must never forget the degrees!

What’s your claim to fame in the Gaming Industry?

Herron: Creator / Publisher of The Nearside Project, wrote the Belfast / Northern
Ireland material that appears in Court of All Kings by White Wolf- the
creator of the official WoD setting for Northern Ireland and my home town.
Oh, and the Belfast Child novel that I wrote and which appears online at
http://www.moonlit-trod.com/

GG: Favorite drink?

Herron: Vanilla Milk Shakes.

GG: Quick, name your gaming credits–past and present!

Additional Material, Court of All Kings, Creator, Writer, Editor of The
Nearside Project, and all the other stuff sitting on my hard disk waiting to
escape.

GG: When do Irish Eyes smile?

Herron: When they’re watching South Park.

GG: When did you know you were in the Gaming Industry?

Herron: When I got an email from Ian Lemke at White Wolf and Nicky Rea and Jackie
Cassada saying that yes, I could provide my material for Court of All Kings.

GG: As of this moment, you are going to be publishing a 2nd edition of “The Nearside Project”. For those who haven’t read the intro (and shame on you
if you haven’t!), would you mind telling us about this game?

Herron: It’s about this world and 12 other variations of it that co-exist, called
the Nearside. Only some people with a particular ‘problem’ called Hind Brain
disorder can travel between these worlds. All the others came into existance
at the same point in time, just after 1pm on August 13th 1989. On one world,
an asteroid smashed into the Sahara, on another aliens invaded, and on
another magic suddenly came into existance. There’s a reason behind all of
this, which is what the Nearsiders, those who can travel, will discover.

GG: How did “The Nearside Project” come to be?

Herron: I had written 90% of an RPG based on X-COM, a PC game from 1994 written by
Mythos Games in England. I phoned them up one day and asked them if I could
do an RPG based on their game. They said sure, but I got distracted. The
Nearside itself is based upon some concepts for a series of short stories
that I came up with in 1991 or 1992. I’d been (and still do) use Nearside as
a handle on the net, especially when playing Half Life : Counterstrike.

I came up initially with only about a half dozen world concepts… in the
first edition, I left some empty for gamers to make up their own. Then a guy
called Barry Gibson persuaded me to develop the game further, and to deepen
the ideas behind the Big Picture. This was happening at the same time as I
was converting the original percentage system of Nearside 1 into a d10
system for what I was calling The Fantasy Engine (a fantasy system) so it
all came together.

Second Edition (in a basic photocopied book form) was actually released (I
did about a dozen copies !) at Q-Con in Belfast in 1998, but I consider that
to have been a preview release. The game has been refined further since
then, and if I do release it on the net, I’ll be able to put a ton of extra
stuff in, because I won’t have to worry about the physical size of the thing!

I have to mention Colin Sinclair, the main co-writer of the Project. He
provided a couple of the Variations, and is the other part of Nearside
Games. But I do most of the work, and he’d be the first to admit that.

GG: You are trapped on a tropical island, and you could only bring THREE games with you (we assume you have people there too–gotta have someone to play with!). What games would you take, and why?

Herron: 1) The Pokemon card game: it’s fun and simple.
2) The Nearside Project: Well, I’d have plenty of time to play-test it.
3) SLA Industries: I could look at the art for hours, and the game is so
well written, and is the best kept secret in gamedom.

GG: I didn’t expect POKEMON–gotta catch them all!

What will be in the future for Nearside Games?

Herron: I hope to publish the game online for free, or as shareware or something.
I’d like to support it more, and with my possible relocation to the US (due
to marriage, I hope !) then I’d try and get into the market here. But in the
end, it’s not for money, it’s a love thing.

GG: Word association time! I’m going to say a word, and you say the first thing that pops into your mind: Tyrant

Herron: Eye ? As in Eye Tyrant ? My AD&D past revealed…

GG: Spooky!

Speaking of which, it’s time for CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH! Your opponents are GARY GYGAX of D&D Fame! Waiting to battle him is DAVE ARNESON of D&D Fame! There can be only one, so who emerges victorious, and how?

Herron: Dave Arneson grabs Gary Gygax hard behind the ears, and smashes his head
repeated into a corner post screaming: “Cyborg Commando !!! Cyborg Commando !!!”

Gary knows he’s done a bad thing and doesn’t resist.

Repeat til fade.

In the end, Dave Arneson relents, but his mercy just gives Gary Gygax time
to commit another horror: Dangerous Journeys II.

GG: With all due respect to Gygax–NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

“I want to write for Nearside Games”–what would your company’s reply be to that statement?

Herron: Bemused silence, followed by a big grin. Maybe a scary one.

GG: Spooky!

Any final words for our readers?

Herron: Support any and all RPG companies, big and small. Without players, it’s meaningless.

GG: Wise words from the Irish–you read it here first!

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