Interview: John Goff

Graveyard Greg: Who are you?

Unknown Stranger: I'm a cast-off from a failed biological replicant project during the mid-60s. My design series was deemed too obvious for mass infiltration of the human race after it was discovered the second toe on each of my feet is actually shorter than the big toe.

Since being thrown into the world by my pitiless creators to fend for myself I've pursued a variety of occupations to avoid having to live in a van down by the river. Recently, I decided to give full-time freelancing a try because it's one of the few professions where it is not only acceptable to go to work in your underwear with a beeer in hand, it's actually expected.

GG: With that kind of answer, you must be John Goff.

How did you get into the writing business?

John Goff: Shortly after completing my second enlistment in the US Army, a very good friend of mine, Shane Hensley, told me about this game he'd created called Deadlands. Shane and I met back in college through gaming and had kept in touch on and off over the years. To make a long story short, he told me he thought I could do a good job at writing RPG material. I gave it a shot, and Shane, being the nice guy that he is, hasn't had the heart to tell me he was wrong yet.

GG: Favorite way to terminate a Player Character?

Goff: I try to avoid playing favorites. I feel it limits my creativity.

GG: Gotcha. Name your writing credits, kind sir.

Goff: Night Train. PEG, 1997. Dime Novel

Hucksters & Hexes. PEG, 1998. Character Sourcebook.

Fire & Brimstone. PEG, 1998. Character Sourcebook.

Cry Havoc. PEG, 1998. Miniatures Rules Compendium.

Hell or High Water. PEG, 1998. Full-length Adventure.

River o’ Blood. PEG, 1999. Boxed set.

GURPS Warriors. SJ Games, 1999. Character Sourcebook.

City o’ Gloom. PEG, 1997. Metal Mage booklet.

Boomtowns. PEG, 1999. Town of Liberty.

City of Lost Angels. PEG, 1999. Adventure.

Deadlands: Marshal’s Guide. PEG, 1999. Introductory Adventure

Load of Bull. PEG, 1999. Short Story in A Few Dead Guys More.

GURPS Special Ops 2nd edition. SJ Games, 1999. Revised and Updated.

Those are the big ones. I've done a magazine/website article or two and a whole fistful of convention adventures for PEG. Most of those are on the PEG website now.

GG: Favorite drink?

Goff: Coca-Cola (non-alcoholic)

Dixie Blackened Voodoo Ale (beer)

GG: What's in the future of the Goff writings?

Goff: Let's see...

Coming up with PEG, there are two Dime Novels, Killer Clowns (for HOE) and Worms (for Deadlands). I also have small projects with LUG, and White Wolf in various states of completion.

GG: OK, I'm sure by now many have heard of the PC Death Train--why not explain this phenomenon to our readers?

Goff: Well, that's the fan name for the first Dime Novel I wrote, Night Train. Without going into any spoilers, it's a particularly nasty little Deadlands adventure that's gained a fair bit of notoriety for its propensity for killing player characters. Originally, I'd intended to write it as a series of encounters to intersperse in an ongoing campaign to build suspense. However, the Dime Novel format doesn't lend itself well to that sort of thing--there's just not enough room. Night Train contains a short warm-up encounter and then, to be honest, all Hell breaks loose.

Over time, it's almost become a measure of a posse's (a group of Deadlands heroes) toughness to say they've completed the adventure and lived. I think it's telling that my own Deadlands group avoided the final encounter like the plague every time I tried to run it.

GG: Favorite TV Show?

Goff: Close race between Seinfeld and Futurama.

GG: How's the Gaming Industry holding up? Are we doomed?

Goff: I doubt the gaming industry is "doomed." Granted it's hard for a new company to make a go of it and even some of the old guard are falling, but that's largely due to the amount of competition for the hobbyist's dollar now. It used to be there were only a handful of companies making products; now, I couldn't even guess how many are out there. You've got to stand out or die out.

GG: What will you do when the Y2K Bug takes over, and enslaves us all?

Goff: All of our (my wife and I) emergency plans are designed to account for crazed, flesh-eating zombies overrunning the planet. We figure if we're prepared for George Romero, we're ready for anything.

I do expect I'll grumble a lot if the entertainment industry (TV, movies, etc.) is interrupted for more than a nanosecond, though. Oh, and if I can't take a hot shower, I'll be a bit peeved as well.

GG: What is the one game you were (or still are) looking forward to, and why?

Goff: Jeez, that's hard to say. I haven't really looked forward to a game in so long I couldn't say. Even HOE, which is probably my favorite game right now (and darn close to all-time), was just a pleasant surprise. Maybe Star Trek: TOS, 'cause I'm a total original series goober and wanted to see the stats on everything from my childhood.

GG: Favorite Movie?

Goff: Tough one. I doubt I could name just one, so here's a few:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Big Jake

Big Trouble in Little China

Saving Private Ryan

I'd be tempted to throw The Matrix and The Mummy in as well, but I'll wait and see if either of those is the "see again and again" type. I suspect The Mummy is--I've already seen it four times. The Matrix, while very smart and very slick, however, loses some of its impact once you know the secret behind the storyline. However, it is the only movie with a scene that caused me to say "That's the coolest thing I've ever seen" so it's got a few points right there.

GG: I still don't see the big deal with Live Action Role-playing. What are your thoughts on the subject?

Goff: I'm not a LARPer myself, but I have tried it once or twice. I can see where it is easier to get into character and that does bring the story more to life. However, I'm too lazy to pursue it more than once a year or so. And then in a private location--I think public games are a tad overt for my tastes.

GG: What's your favorite RPG? Favorite CCG?

RPG: Hell on Earth. Mutants, magic, zombies and automatic weapons. What's not to love?

CCG: Doomtown. I like just about everything about the game: mechanics, storyline, and setting. David Williams, Rob Vaux and the rest at AEG/FRPG/WotC did themselves proud with that one.

GG: Gygax and Arneson--the original founding fathers of Dungeons and Dragons--are back in the saddle for D&D 3rd Edition. What do you expect from this reunion?

Goff: I'll wait and see. I'd like to see a return to the old Greyhawk style adventuring, but then that's me. I think there are plenty of "cutting-edge" roleplaying games (whatever that means) that attempt to appeal to a younger crowd available today, and I'd like D&D to stay the same it's always been. However, to appeal to a younger audience, they may have to change that approach; that's why WotC has lots of folks deciding what to do with the product and I just sit in my basement and type. :)

GG: John, that siren you hear is the signal for the Celebrity Deathmatch Question! Sitting over there is Ron Edwards of the SORCERER RPG. He's waiting to rumble with John Wick of 7TH SEA and John Hopler of CYBORGS (for Deadlands: Hell on Earth). Who wins, and how do they pull it off?

Goff: Ron begins slowly mustering his netherworld allies for an attack that will surely crush both Johns once his demonic servitors arrive. Out of a billowing cloud of murky darkness behind him, a pair of searing red eyes, nearly nine feet above the floor of the ring begin to appear. Ron gestures toward his opponents and commands, "Destroy theAAWWKK" as John Wick swings down on a guy line and runs him through with his cutlass. Wick doffs his hat and bows low to the ladies with a roguish smile on his face.

With a flourish of his cape he turns to face John Hopler across the ring. Hopler aims an enormous and monstrously complex, cybernetically-linked, shoulder-fired, heat-seeking rocket launcher at the rakish pirate and pulls the trigger. The arena is rocked by the explosion and shrapnel falls onto the crowd like burning metal rain. As the smoke clears, Wick strides laughingly from the wreckage toward Hopler brandishing his wicked cutlass and proclaims, "Your weapon can't kill me--I'm a Hero!"

Hopler grabs a rulebook and quickly rifles through it. Suddenly, he finds an obscure rule and quickly jots something on the side of his weapon. He fires again, this time to greater effect, leaving only a pair of smoking calf-high boots and a plumed hat wafting slowly to the ground. As Hopler walks from the ring, the scrawled word "Villain" is visible on his rocket-launcher.

GG: Thanks for your time, John, but before I close this interview, any words of wisdom for our readers?

Goff: Anybody that's looking for advice from me has bigger problems than I can even begin to address...