But who is Eric? Eric is a French Canadian living in the USA, a family man, and a person that strikes me as some kind of “well-adapted introvert”, which I have no idea what it is supposed to mean, but he sure is fun to talk to… or listen to, on his podcast. Plus, he's portrayed like this, Wiseguys style:
1 Hello Eric. Tell us about Wiseguys as if you were trying to sell it to your aunt!
It’s full of Italian recipes! hehe
Wiseguys is Tarantino meets Ocean’s Eleven and Goodfellas. You play mob associates and soldiers trying to strike it big in Las Vegas in the nineties after the Giuliani led Mafia Commission Trials put all the godfathers back in New York behind bars and left Las Vegas ripe for the taking!
It’s also a modern bestiary with over 100 NPC stat blocks, primers on 6 other crime syndicates, and setting rules to run heist and manage contacts that you can use in pretty much any other setting or genre.
2 Let’s talk about design. How long did you work on it? Was it a night job? How would you describe your creative process?
Wiseguys began with the adventure scenario published 4 years ago that followed the misadventures of five mobsters on a road trip in the Nevada desert with a body in the trunk of their Cadillac. People wanted more so Wiseguys was born.
I worked on Wiseguys for over two years part-time. I started by doing a lot of research. I wanted it to be about more than just Italian American men. I read countless articles and books and watched documentaries, tv-series, and movies. That’s where Tarantino influences came in with its strong female leads. That’s where I also learned that the Italian American Mob employed people of all ethnic backgrounds. This opened up the scope of the game and the characters that people could play quite a lot. If you look at the pregens included in the Jumpstart, you’ve got a Latina roller derby player, a black Elvis impersonator, and a former med student showgirl with a pet venomous snake. You can’t get this roleplay experience anywhere else!
I then wrote the Demo Kit which was also a playtest document. I ran a playtest group, ran it at conventions, and also used feedback from a few playtest groups. After that came the Jumpstart which was more polished and used all that feedback and experience from the first year. This was pretty close to the final product. The last six months was a lot of grinding, rewrites, edits, and incorporating material from other writers.
3 Let’s get deeper into the design. Which was the hardest part of designing Wiseguys? And which was the easiest?
The hardest part of designing Wiseguys was to decide what made the cut. I ended up with way more than the 180 pages included in the final version. Managing the whole project from writing to managing the Kickstarter campaign to art direction was also quite the challenge. There were about 20 people working on this project from writers, editors, proofreaders, layout, graphic designers, and artists. The easiest part for me was probably running the playtest. It was a lot of fun.
4 Let’s talk about the Kickstarter that launched Wiseguys. How do you rate this experience? What have you learned?
The Kickstarter campaign was an amazing experience. It was my first project and it was quite stressful; I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. I’ve learned that we, at Just Insert Imagination, have the support of the Savage Worlds community and we’re so grateful for that!
5 Are you currently working on something? Can you tell us about it?
I’m currently working on two freelance projects. However, I’ll let the publishers talk about them when they’re ready.
Morne and I at Just Insert Imagination are currently exploring mini-settings for Savage Worlds. One is an urban fantasy setting that takes place in Cape Town, South Africa where Morne is from. The other one is a stone & sorcery setting where cavemen must save their homeland from cosmic threats. Think Genndy Tartakovsky,s Primal meets the Cthulhu mythos.
6 If you could buy any franchise and make an RPG of it, what would it be? Tell us about the franchise and the game you’d make out of it.
That’s a tough one!
I think the Chronicles of Riddick series would work great in Savage Worlds with planets trying to kill you and the Necromongers being the secondary antagonists. I’d design a deadly planet generator for sure!
The other one would have to be the Evil Dead franchise. Savage Worlds would be a great fit for Evil Dead’s campy and slapstick style.
7 Let’s see how good you really are as a role player. You are a Hollywood screenwriter, and you must now write a five lines email to convince Mr. Warner Bros to produce a movie based on one of Mr. Lamoureux’s adventures or settings. Go.
I would spike my hair straight up, show up unshaven and rant on about explosions, the underdogs taking on a bully, big guns, exotic location, and six-pack abs!
So...Do we have a deal?!
9 Talking about Savage Worlds, you are quite the authority. Which are your top three settings? Actually, I’m pretty sure one is Beasts and Barbarians, right? So tell us about the other two.
Yeah, Beasts & Barbarians has been a steady top 3 for me since the day it came out and satisfies my cravings for sword and sorcery stories.
The other two are very seasonal. Right now I’m quite enjoying Deadlands: The Weird West. It has a lot of depth and is quite versatile. Some people play it as a straight-up western, others use the horror elements, while some play it as a spaghetti western.
I’m on an Arabian Nights kick right now so I’m quite enjoying reading Hellfrost: Land of Fire.
10 One last question before we say goodbye. Please point us to a song you think we should listen to.
Very few songs move me the way Jeff Buckley’s Lover, you should've come over does.
Thank you, Eric!
Thanks for having me, Giuseppe! Keep writing great games and doing this service for the community!
Stay tuned for more interviews! Hit me on the Axian Spice Facebook page, on Twitter or even on Telegram to never miss one!
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