10 QUESTIONS TO: Gavriel Quiroga

Gavriel Quiroga is a game designer and self-publisher from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

He has written and published Neurocity (which I’ve reviewed here) and Warpland (which I can’t wait to receive!), and he’s currently crowdfunding Ascet on Kickstarter, not a RPG but a “minimalist playing card game with roleplaying overtones”.

His games, in my eyes, share a sombre (if not straight on dark) view of the world, or at least offer a bleak view of their worlds. Let’s find out if Gavriel is a gloomy person too!

1 Hello Gavriel. Let’s talk about Ascet straight away. It’s a card game ok, so tell us how it works!

Hello Giuseppe. Well, Ascet is a card game with RPG characteristics. In it players take turns to interpret ascetic monks seeking enlightenment while the rest of the players play the part of demons which will lure them with temptations. It has a minimal character creation and it uses a d8 and a d10, each temptation comes with a small beautiful short description to set the mood of the game. During each turn, the player playing the ¨Ascet¨ needs to choose one of the offered Temptation and roll a result equal or below the Virtue being affected (there are four) if he is successful he will ascend one step in the Stairway towards Enlightenment. Whoever ascends the five steps first wins the game. 

2 Now I want to know how role-play gets into the game!

The game requires that you make a very minimal character creation distributing 20 points between your four Virtues (Temperance, Humility, Faith and Compassion) and each Temptation comes with a small descriptive story about how the conflict occurs, so you really get the feeling of being a protagonist. There are also unique special effects cards which cause unpredictable consequences in the game like ¨Lost in the Desert¨ which makes you lose a round or ¨Darkness¨ which allows Demons to play their cards upside down. Furthermore, interpreting Demons is also mechanically appropriate and suitable for scheming and plotting, there is a lot of diplomacy involved in the game. Each player is essentially handling two opposite characters that act as two sides of the same coin.

3 Let’s talk about your published RPGs. Both Neurocity and Warpland share the same basic rules system. Would you explain the core of it for our readers? Can we expect more games with the same system?

Sure! It basically is a 2d6 roll under the stat which creates a complication if you roll 1/1 or 6/6 and is considered a critical success for any successful roll of 8 and above. It also has a damage within the attack roll included (highest rolled number + weapon damage) and I stole Black Hack´s initiative system. That is it. No classes, just skills, you get a negative modifier if you try to do something you are not skilled at and 4 attributes: Might, Agility, Wits and Lore. You also have Willpower that acts as something that enables a single dice reroll and is similar to heroic feats.

I think the beauty of the system is both its simplicity and flexibility. I am perfectly aware that learning a new system is something that few players want to do. Many are just looking for a setting to use with their systems. So I consciously made an effort to design something that was super easy to understand and present it as optional, use it if you like it! I was surprised to find out that our playtesters are effectively including it for their own setting.

4 One thing that struck me in particular with Neurocity is that the book offers more than one possible reason for the game world being what it is. I think that’s the first game that offers such a possibility for the GM to actually choose the true, secret nature and the founding event of the game world. This intrigues me to no end. How did you come to think of that? Did you first think of one “official” version, but weren’t satisfied with it, or what?

Neurociy offers 6 possibilities as to what is its origins and Warpland presents 3 possible different ways in which that setting is tied with Neurocity. 

Truth is nobody knows what Warpland is, is it earth? is it another planet? Who are the Eloi? The book is filled with queues and hints that stir curiosity. I think I am very influenced by Gene Wolfe and Raymond Carver, both authors from different genres, but who were masters of the craft of leaving space for mystery to brood. This causes the reader to be involved with the world, and it creates a creative communion, he is now naturally and effortlessly obliged to make his own theories and presumptions about it and that makes the setting so much richer and personal. We all know that always happens with RPGs, we know that my Dragonlance or Mork Borg won´t be the same as yours. So instead of struggling to be painfully specific with details I decided I wanted to embrace that collaborative aspect of RPGs and just concentrate on feeling and aesthetics circulating around powerful themes. Show, not tell. I think that is more or less the ideology behind it. 

5 You have two games published and one being funded these days, all of them financed on Kickstarter. Crowdfunding has become more and more important for RPGs. Do you see that changing anytime soon? How would YOU like things to change?

Crowdfunding allows me to live doing what I love. It is a great tool. My only criticism is I wish the community was more conscious that it is a platform for independent creators, artists and small companies. Personally, I feel embarrassed when I see huge corporations launching campaigns for their products and people jumping to finance something that does not need financing. I think we need to draw a line there. Still I feel the schism between mainstream RPGs and, let's call it indie RPGs or the new OSR movement, is bigger and greater than ever, and I think the approach to gaming is so different that both scenes might eventually become considered different things entirely. 

6 I know you are currently working on several games. I heard you are working on a game with motorbikes, demons and stoner rock. What can you tell us about it?

It will be called Hell Night and we are having a blast playing it with my playgroup! The project will be presented immediately after Ascet is done. I wanted to make an original premise in an original setting. Hell Night will be inspired by Mandy from Panos Cosmatos and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas from Hunter Thompson, and yes, it will be about demonic bikers hunting other fugitive demons on a brutal night in 1992. The aesthetics relies heavily on doom metal cover albums from the 90s and we are already working on the art.

7 What are the inspirations for your worlds? And for your rules? What games would you consider to be influential to your design? 

I think we creators need to be a sponge for whatever catches our interest and we need to try to be in contact with whatever it is the Zeitgeist of our time. RPGs give me a chance to express myself and I need to be absolutely critical of everything I do if I want to mingle with sensible, contemporary issues. It is not escapism for me. Roleplaying is an artform, and like many artforms it is linked with entertainment (like theater, music, comics or cinema) but that should not be forcefully associated with banality. On the contrary, games have always been instruments of learning about the world and about ourselves. 

I remember Fischer creating Fischer Random chess in order to turn it into a game about logical thinking and creativity instead of memory. Any game you play ends up being influential if you love game mechanics. From Catan to Magic The Gathering, Rising Sun or Risk, I love them all and I enjoy tearing them apart. 

If you are open and pay attention you can find inspiration behind anything from a lame talk in a grocery store to an awfully bad B-movie. Stephen King said you can learn more from bad writers than from good ones, and that is the case for almost anything. I think new RPGs like Mork Borg, Troika, Blacksun Deathcrawl and Mothership have also inspired many of us to do our own thing and that is how art should work. Just like the way the Sex Pistols inspired Joy Division, right?

8 If you could buy any franchise/IP for an RPG, which would it be? Tell us about the franchise and the game you’d make.

I would have a hard time owning an established franchise and not ripping it apart and changing it entirely. I had some offers to become part of the writing team for some cool franchises which I have played and admired since childhood, but the truth is that they are not my worlds. I cannot make concessions in my creative process, I cannot respect canon. I would just use what I like about it and shred what I dislike, maybe even change names or events. It would never work and the fans would rightfully hate me!

9 You have published your games with your own independent label. You never considered submitting your stuff to an established publisher?

That might happen in the future. I had some talks with Exalted Funeral and we are pending on a definition on that. Always looking to go beyond drivethrurpg which at the moment is still convenient. Between creation and promotion I do not have the time or energy to deal with the logistics of living in the farthest country in the world (Argentina) and having a warehouse and taking care of the shipping. But I am working on it, it will definitely happen because I want my books to improve and look better. 

10 When I interviewed Diogo Niogueira, I wrote that he was the only game designer that I knew from South America. Well, here’s you now. Do you think your origin has affected your games? Have you ever felt as an outsider in the rpg community at large (in a good or bad way)?

Of course any life experience we have affects our creativity. I used to work for a leather distributing company and thus had the chance to travel around the world for 15 years, mainly shoe factories in Asia and the Middle-east. Now I live in a quiet neighborhood in the Buenos Aires suburbs and I do not miss planes one bit.

I have always felt as an outsider in the Argentine RPG community. It is too mainstream focused. I presented some local organizers with an idea to make a monthly fanzine and they just could not understand the appeal behind it. When I published the first version of Neurocity, they were like "Huh, we play lotr". It was honestly discouraging for me. My own playgroup were originally hardcore Pathfinders players until I managed to make them sit down and help me develop my games just as a favor. Now they cannot believe they used to take 30 min to resolve a combat situation, they are never looking back. I wish there was a scene like in Brazil, I see the stuff Diogo posts about Brazilian creators and it is rad. But we do not get that here, hopefully someday! 

I have only words of gratitude for the help and interest I have received from the english speaking RPG community. Even with Neurocity, a game I released without a professional proofreader or editor, all I got was words of encouragement. This is the best community ever, period!

11 As usual, they were supposed to be 10, but I have one more question before we say goodbye. Please point us to a song you think we should listen to.

That's easy! The Untouchables, Ennio Morricone's soundtrack. It is a song that speaks about defiance despite overwhelming odds, quite appropriate for these times. 

Thank you Gavriel!

Thank you, Giuseppe, for the interview!

So folks, check out Ascet on Kickstarter, and Graviel’s web page.

Stay tuned for more interviews! Hit me on the Axian Spice Facebook page, on Twitter or even on Telegram to never miss one! Hit the comments if you want me to interview your favorite author, artist, or publisher!

If you want to support this blog, check my OSR and Savage Worlds stuff, or simply shop on DriveTrhuRPG (affiliate link).

About Lands of Legends!

Lands of Legends is a series of five zines designed to assist you in both prepping and running hexcrawl, sandbox, open world campaigns with classic fantasy OSR games such as Old-School Essentials, Labyrinth Lord, Sword & Wizardry and the various simulacra of the Original, BECMI and B/X editions of the classic fantasy role-playing game.

It was successfully funded in February 2021 as part of ZineQuest3 on Kickstarter, with over 200 backers in two weeks.

How?

Each zine contains 100 Special Areas and 100 Unique Encounters, with both categories sorted by terrain type (forests, mountains, cities, swamps and so on) and organized as d10 tables.

Special Areas are designed to help you create an engaging sandbox setting, where every mountain, swamp, island, forest, city, desert etc is unique and interesting.

Unique Encounters are designed to be used straight away while playing, and offer interesting and story-enhancing situations. No more boring random monsters! Have your group face unforeseen hazards, interesting NPCs, and puzzling situations during their travels!

Five Zines?

The Lands of Legends series includes five volumes:

Lands of Legends - Mundane focuses on the commonplace situations and everyday accidents, imbuing your campaign with the fresh breath of a living world! It suited for low magic settings, and can be used with just about anything you want to run.

Lands of Legends - Grim focuses on the darker, grittier nuances of fantasy games, and is the perfect fit for campaigns that explore grimdark, gothic, horror themes.

Lands of Legends - Fairy is the perfect book to enrich your campaign with the enchanted prodigies of the fae, bringing back the sense of wonder into the game, with magical places and events that are true to the spirit of the fairytales and folktales roots of the fantasy genre.

Lands of Legends - Holy makes the Gods -benevolent, whimsical, indifferent or cruel- an active power in your campaign world, along with their priests and prophets, crusaders and champions, and a whole lot of omens and portents to challenge your players.

Lands of Legends - Primeval is the tool to unleash the raw, prehuman, tumultuous forces of primeval civilizations and antediluvian elemental chaos into your campaign, enhancing a brutal Sword & Sorcery vibe! 

The five zines series totals at 500 Special Areas and 500 Unique Encounters!

The PDF version features:

• Full color, bookmarked PDF
• Printer-friendly/improved accessibility version via layers that can be turned off

Each volume is also available in a Print-on-Demand version:

• 6x9" reversible book so that you have Areas on one end, and Encounters on the other, which is printed upside-down!

Some Reviews:

"Whether your adventurers are traveling to civilizations, deserts, forests, fresh waters, jungles, mountains, hills, plains, valleys, seas, islands, swamps, marshes, or wastelands there’s plenty to find and experience among the Lands of Legends!" - Cannibal Halfling Gaming

"Lands of Legends – Mundane is plain and simple in appearance, but its content is anything but. For the Game Master wanting ideas or inspiration, there can be no denying that Lands of Legends – Mundane is rich in both. Plus the fact that it can do both inspire world building and encounters gives Lands of Legends – Mundane a pleasing versatility to both the inspiration and the ideas." - Reviews from R'lyeh

"Do you like random charts? Then these books are for you. These entries are unique and engaging" - Thac0 blog

"The sheer level of creativity that went into these zines is staggering. Beautifully designed and incredibly well-executed" - Welcome to the Deathtrap blog, reviewing Lands of Legends Mundane & Grim 

"I have been amazed with just how much creativity goes into these zines; they always stun me. But this one has been a cut above. If you are looking for new locations, cool encounters, and want a divine twist on them, this will gave a few things you will want to steal." - Welcome to the Deathtrap blob, reviewing Lands of Legends Holy

"Incredible creativity. I have said this of the previous volumes of Lands of Legends, but I am again staggered by the level of creativity that has gone into the creation of Lands of Legends: Fairy." - Welcome to the Deathtrap blog, reviewing Lands of Legends Fairy

"If you like running sandboxes, hex crawls, or need some inspiration for the setting you are prepping, you really can't go wrong with Lands of Legend” - Tenkar's Tavern

Sounds good? Check it out on Drivethru!

10 QUESTIONS TO: Roderic Waibel

Roderic Waibel is the mind behind Chromatic Dungeons - Old School Fantasy RPG Rules, currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter.

Roderic has already published a series of old school adventures and the Altus Adventum RPG, and he’s also contributed a lot of illustrations for several products by Raging Swan Press (among others). 

This time, with Chromatic Dungeons, he is offering an old school ruleset which is largely compatible with the earlier editions of D&D.

But who is Roderic? Rod is a nice guy from Portland, Oregon. When he’s not busy with RPGs, he’s a father and also a system analyst!

1 Hello Roderic. First of all, tell us about Chromatic Dungeons, as if you were trying to explain it to my aunt!

Well, Chromatic Dungeons is a tabletop role-playing game.  I’m going to really simplify down what that is, because I don’t want to insult your audience by going on and on with something they may already know.  In a nutshell, all players but one take on the role of a persona they want to play in the game: warrior, wizard, etc.  The other player controls all of the other creatures the players run into in the game (the Game Master).  Basically, a giant game of pretend.  With dice and unknown outcomes.  And lots of fun.  What makes Chromatic Dungeons different is that it replicates that old school feel when the game first took off in the 70s and 80s, but applies some lessons learned rules-wise, and is presented to be welcoming and inclusive of all gamers.  Back then, it was catered to white young males.  As one myself, it was right up my alley.  But looking back, and looking at how things are today, the game wasn’t presented all that well for those who weren’t white young males.  Not a dig on the original creators, as it was a product of its time.  But I believe that there is room in the modern era to also enjoy an old school game, and to have it representative of who are gamers today.

2 Tell us more about the contributors to Chromatic Dungeons, who designed that stylish character sheet, and why you’re not doing any art for the game??

Well, I did the design of the character sheet lol, so there’s your art from me.  Actually, there are a few other pieces of art by me, but I kept myself off the artist’s credit list because it’s not about celebrating me, it’s about celebrating them.  I am exceptionally lucky to have had some excellent contributors to this.  Evlyn Moreau was my primary sensitivity reader, but I also reached out and had consultation from Teo Morgan (Dungeons&Diversity), Luca Alexander Volpino, and Jennifer Kretchmer (who created a great adventure in the recently released Candlekeep book from WoTC).  For artists, I hired people from literally around the world: Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Uganda, the US, Britain, Poland, etc.  Cultural appropriation is a big deal for me to avoid, and I found hiring diverse artists from all over helps prevent that.  

 3 You haven’t released a “quick start” or “sample” pdf of Chromatic Dungeons. Any chance you will during the campaign?

There is a really good chance of that :)  The basic set is already done, and there just might be a pdf release of it for free during the campaign….

4 I’d really like to know, rules-wise, which edition of D&D is the closest to Chromatic Dungeons, and what changes in the rules differentiate it from a faithful retroclone.

The game is sort of a mix-match of what I feel are the best elements of Basic/Expert, 1e, and 2e.  For example, alignment is simplified, and more along the rules of B/X.  Speaking of, one of the big changes is that no mundane intelligent humanoid has a default alignment, like orcs, goblins, etc.  That’s up to the individual game table.  Classes are structured like 2e, with them belonging to class groups.  Fighters, berserkers, paladins, and rangers all belong to the Warrior group for example.  But the aesthetic is very much 1e.  The goal is to be compatible with those older adventures with the least amount of conversion, so there are many similarities.  

Other big changes include using an ascending AC rather than THAC0 or attack tables, and giving each class something at every level--a class feature.  Races are now called Ancesteries, and rather than stat bonuses based on ancestry, you get them based on class choice.  Introduced are heritages.  Rather than get a long list of traits from ancestries like in AD&D, you get some, but most are based on your heritage choices.  A character with a fey heritage would get resistance to sleep and charm magic, for example.  There are many, many heritages to choose from :) 

5 Your project is the perfect example of what crowdfunding was originally designed for. Through the years, though, it has become more and more important even for the “big players” in the RPG industry.

Do you consider that unfair? Or is the presence of big publishers beneficial to the small ones? Do you see that changing anytime soon? How would YOU like things to change?

I don’t consider it unfair.  Really, if the big players are using KS, they are doing themselves a disfavor, as KS takes a big cut.  Ideally with a good business model, they shouldn’t have to use KS but could use their existing customer base.

The only thing I’d like to change is the reliability and refund options.  In our industry in particular, there are way too many creators who created a project, took the money, and never delivered.  I’d create a rule that if you haven’t fulfilled a past project, you aren’t allowed to create another.  It’s a sore spot for me.  It’s also why I made sure I created this project to completion before launching.  The work is done.  You will get what you back (assuming project funds).

5 You’re a white male living in the US, who started gaming in the 80s, launching a game that aims at being welcoming to all gamers of every demographic to better represent just how diverse our hobby has become. I’m sure you must have pondered this a lot, what convinced you to take this step? 

I was expecting this question to be the first, and am honestly surprised more people haven’t asked me.  It’s a totally fair question.  I’m part of the privileged group, so why am I doing this?

I certainly do not in any way am trying to speak for any marginalized group, and I want to put that out there straight away.  First a bit of background.  I served in the military when I was younger, and all of us who did so swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the US.  That’s important, because that document has many amendments, not just the 2nd.  To be frank, several of those (the 4th, 5th, 8th, 14th, and 15th in particular) have been violated, particularly if you’re a person of color in this country or other minority.  Fairness and equality are important to me, or I wouldn’t have sworn to uphold them.

Then I’ve also got a mixed race family.  Seeing my oldest son grow up through his eyes as a black man in the US was, pardon the pun, eye opening indeed.  And then I’ve also got many close friends and other family members who are part of the LGBTQ community, and my heart hurts from all the things they suffer every day.

But it all comes down to being fair and equal to everyone.  So when I keep hearing folks who proclaim to speak for the OSR (old school revival) community repeat toxic, bigoted, and exclusionary statements about a game I love, I’m not going to take it lying down.  The OSR is for everyone.  They don’t speak for me.  I’m not going to let them take down and destroy something I think is great.

And then there’s the whole garbage fire over the past two weeks with the new TSR, Ernie Gygax Jr, Justin LaNassa, and crew.  The timing of this project was a coincidence with that, but it just reaffirms it’s needed.

6 Inclusion and representation of minorities in RPGs have become a hot topic, recently. How does Chromatic Dungeons address that within the game?

The most obvious is to look at the art.  It’s very diverse, done by diverse artists.  And as I mentioned earlier, if the art represents a certain culture, an artist from that culture did the work.  Additionally, one of the recurring NPCs in the book is Faridah.  They are in the character creation section, and appear later on as well.  Faridah is a trans woman who identifies with they/them.  So to be respectful, I ensured I had a trans woman do the art for them.  Now, you might not ever know that by reading the book, because I am not taking an approach of “Look at me!  I’m a gay or trans character!”  Rather I’m simply including them like anyone else.  Gender and sexuality aren’t mentioned unless that aspect is important to the game or story.  We don’t have to (and in my opinion shouldn’t) include underrepresented minorities and then put a giant flag that says “Look at me!  I’m a minority!”  We simply just need to treat everyone the same, and include everyone.  I want this book to be one where anyone can pick it up regardless  of age, body type, gender, orientation, ethnicity, etc and see someone that can represent them.

7 Tell us more about the stretch goals of Chromatic Dungeons!

The first stretch goal is the basic set.  VERY streamlined ruleset, even more basic than the B/X D&D version.  It’s meant to be a quick start into rpgs.  If it gets unlocked, the pdf will automatically be a free download to everyone, regardless of backer level.

The other stretch goals are the zines.  Each one is about 24-28 pages, and has a central theme: either a highlight for a monster, or a new class.  For example, the first issue is about the Mrav Covjeka (and ant-human hybrid).  There is an ecology section for them, stat blocks, a small adventure, and then some goodies like a comic humor section, new magic items, and NPCs you can put in your campaign.  

8 Let’s talk about you as a family man. Already started playing RPGs with the young ones? What are your thoughts about RPGs with younger players?

LOVE IT!  The great thing about kids is that they don’t have preconceived notions about how to play.  They let their imagination run wild.  It’s great.  Just two days ago, I was reading one of those old Endless Quest D&D books (Dungeon of Dread) to a six year old.  You know the choose your own adventure format?  Where you read and then get a couple choices?  Well, before we even got to the choices part, as I’m describing that there’s this giant ogre in the room but hasn’t noticed him yet, he interrupts me and says, “I take my rope out of my backpack and set up a booby trap!”  It was great.  Kids naturally fall into that role-playing mode.

9 “KS days are crazy days”. How are you coping?

I’m glad I have a great day job lol.  Right now super busy after launch, and I’m trying to keep up with all the questions while also trying to spread the word.  Honestly, one of the best things that could happen to me is if someone can’t back the project for whatever reason, they can still share it.  Boosting the signal would be the biggest favor for me.  Every once in a while imposter syndrome kicks in when I don’t get as many backers as I’d hope, but it’s a campaign, and gotta stick with it.  I honestly think I’m doing the right thing.  And it’s a fun game!  I don’t want that to get overshadowed by the diversity part of it.

10 Please point us to a song you think we should listen to.

O Fortuna, Carmina Burana.  To get you in the mood for fantasy lol.  Outside of that?  A good song to get what I’m trying to do, and also from the 80s (same era as the game I’m replicating)?  That’s Just the Way it is, by Bruce Hornsby, or Another Day In Paradise by Phil Collins.  Great songs.  And sadly relevant.  

Thank you Roderic for your time, and best luck with Chromatic Dungeons!

Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity.

Stay tuned for more interviews! Hit me on the Axian Spice Facebook page, on Twitter or even on Telegram to never miss one! 

If you want to support this blog, check my OSR and Savage Worlds stuff, or simply shop on DriveTrhuRPG (affiliate link).

My TOP 5 Zine Quest 3 Projects FOR NOW

Zine Quest 3 is the third edition of Kickstarter's RPG event showcasing small RPG projects in the shape of zines, and is going strong with hundreds of cool brand new mini-games and supplements for existing RPGs.

I'm in there too with Lands of Legends, the OSR six-zine set I've concocted together with my good friend Mauro Longo.

So many projects, in fact, that it's hard to figure out what are the coolest offerings. So here's my personal TOP 5 of ZQ3 projects FOR NOW, and in no particular order. More and more projects are coming in the next days, until the end of February,  so a second round will surely be in order!

The Lair of the Manticore

A Micro-Dungeon Adventure and mini-campaign setting for several systems: Savage Worlds, 5e, Swords & Wizardry, and Tiny D6. 

This one by Frank Turfler Jr. is an obvious choice for me: an old school dungeon, with stats for THREE of my favorite rulesets!

It also features several interesting stretch goals, including an amazing old style character sheet!

The Many Crypts of Lady Ingrade

A series of Old School dungeon adventures by Gothridge Manor, (with stats for Old School Essentials), focused on Lady Ingrade's crypts: the lady feared a filthy group of adventurers would violate her in death, so she compulsively built crypts to lure in tomb raiders and dispatch them with deadly traps and creatures.

Bonus points: maps are drawn by Rob Conley!

Superstition

A solo journaling rpg about creating rituals you don't actually believe in, for the sake of your community. This one struck me immediately because of the parallelisms with one of my favorite Spanish novels: San Manuel Bueno Martir. This one launches on Feb the 10th, but I was so intrigued by the theme I contacted the creator Alberto Furlan to get to know more about it, and can't wait to pledge!

MechTek

A tabletop role playing game with minimalist art, where you play a mech pilot and mix-and-match parts to build your own mech and fend off invading alien forces. I love mechs, and simple games, this looks perfect!

Tactical Deck

An original single-player roleplaying/strategy game about infiltration, espionage, and careful use of resources. The game begins as you, an operative of D.I.C.E (The Department of Infiltration and Covert Extraction), parachute down onto the roof of the Royal Flush Corporation headquarters; a 52-story skyscraper (represented by the deck of cards) that has been taken over by an unknown terrorist organization. I LOVE games that create content using cards!

And then there's my thing: Lands of Legends!

A set of 5+1 Old School zines packed with tables to create and run sandbox/open world campaigns!

It's just hit 100+ backers and is 500%+ funded and racing through stretch goals to fill up the sixth Companion zine with awesome tools, check it out!

New projects pop up everyday, so I'll surely post more soon!

10 QUESTIONS TO: Allan Wroe

Allan Wroe is the mind behind The Secret Files of Section D, an officially licensed Pulp / Espionage Roleplaying Game setting for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter.

Allan has previously written an adventure for Triple Ace Games' Hellfrost but this is, as yet, unpublished and believed to be scheduled for the Hellfrost Second Edition… But now he’s taken the big step! He got his Ace License from Pinnacle Entertainment Group and is launching his setting book for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.

But who is Allan? Allan is a nice guy from Manchester (and the word for that is Mancunian, believe it or not!). He’s worked in the print and packaging industry and IT Recruitment, but is now determined to make a career as an author, designer and publisher. He’s got a clever, amiable sense of humour and knows how to pour it into his writings.

1 Hello Allan. First of all, tell us about The Secret Files of Section D, as if you were trying to explain it to my aunt!

Hi there, thanks for giving me the opportunity to chat about my baby! And ciao Zia Rotondo!

The Secret Files of Section D is a tongue-in-cheek game about the adventures of a group of fictional spies who work for a real world organisation. Section D of the Secret Intelligence Service existed in the late 1930s and ultimately became a part of the Special Operations Executive. Imagine Indiana Jones, Reilly Ace of Spies and Monty Python in one book!

2 What are the influences from any type of media that are more easily recognizable in Section D?

It’s hard to ignore things like the Indiana Jones and Mummy movies when you’re writing something like this so there is a definite influence there. X Company, a fantastic series about WWII resistance fighters, was also a big influence but shows the very serious side of clandestine operations in occupied Europe. 

Added to this are more comedic elements from TV shows like Blackadder Goes Forth and the sublime ‘Allo ‘Allo which both show the more farcical (or should that be futile) side of war. 

Lastly, we took a lot of inspiration from the “dime book” novels and comics of the era to establish the look and feel of the game. The Commando comic books also heavily influenced the art style. The artwork in the book is mostly provided by Mat McGawley but there are a  couple of other contributors as well. 

3 The Taster Edition of Section D shows a nice mix of pulp action and subtle humour. How are they developed in the full game?

A lot of this comes from the new Edges and Hindrances I’ve written for the game. For example, the Edge “Magic Laundry”, which is previewed in the Taster Edition, draws heavily on James Bond and The Last Action Hero. No matter what the hero goes through, they always look immaculate within moments. Humour around a game table almost always comes from the players so I’ve made sure there are plenty of tools to allow opportunities to try outlandish things. 

Worth noting is that the book presents the world pretty much as it was in 1938 when Section D was founded. The pulp and humour elements are built on the top of that but it’s often the case that the truth is stranger than the fiction!

4 You’ve released the Taster Edition free PDF of Section D a few weeks ago. What feedback have you received? Has it proved helpful?

We’ve had close to 500 downloads of the Taster Edition and most of the feedback received has been extremely positive. People feel the art style, while not like modern RPG books, is fitting for the time period (which is what we were going for) and the few Edges and Hindrances they’ve seen are appropriate to the setting. In general the look and feel of the Taster Edition was well received though a couple of people commented that the text spacing could have been a bit more generous. I’ve taken those comments on board and when layout starts for the full setting there will be subtle changes. 

I haven’t received any scathing criticism as yet so I’m taking that as a good thing!

5 You’re currently using Kickstarter to fund your first big project, which is the perfect example of what crowdfunding was originally designed for. Through the years, though, it has become more and more important even for the “big players” in the RPG industry.

Do you consider that unfair? Or is the presence of big publishers beneficial to the small ones? Do you see that changing anytime soon? How would YOU like things to change?

It’s fair to say that Kickstarter is now the most used route to market for RPGs and Table Top Games in general. Without it, I think our industry would be a much poorer place. 

I don’t consider it “unfair” for the larger publishers to use Kickstarter at all, in fact I’d say a lot of them are now big publishers because of Kickstarter. The larger companies draw the audience to the platform and help the smaller ones get noticed. Pinnacle is a great example because they put out great products. I hope that by association, my product will also be seen as great. If Pinnacle trust me enough to give me an ACE license then maybe the backers will also give that trust. 

How would I like things to change? That’s a great question. One thing I would like to see more of in Kickstarter is support for retailers, particularly in the games industry. A lot of companies use Kickstarter to bypass the FLGS and I think as publishers we should be supporting them. That’s why The Secret Files of Section D Kickstarter has a retail pledge at a wholesale price. We want to open up that channel and build a relationship with game stores and gamers around the world. 

6 You’re an Englishman launching a setting about a British intelligence group, for a game whose audience mainly is from the US. Do you see a challenge or an extra value in that?

Another great question. I certainly don’t see it as a major challenge, at the end of the day it’s a roleplaying game so, by definition, it’s supposed to take people out of their day-to-day life. Also, I think if you ask pretty much anybody to name a spy they’ll say “James Bond”. Ian Fleming was heavily influenced by Section D and the SOE when he wrote the initial Bond stories. 

I’ve had really good feedback from US based people I’ve spoken with and I ran three sessions for the recent Hollerween event which were really well received by a primarily US based audience.

There’s no reason at all why players couldn’t play a US agent, in fact one of the pregenerated characters in the Taster Edition is American. At the time of the beginnings of Section D, the US didn’t really have anything other than Naval Intelligence by way of a clandestine unit. Who is to say that an American wasn’t seconded to Section D to ultimately help set up the OSS?  

I will say at this point though, US based readers should have a read of question 9!

7 Inclusion and representation of minorities in RPGs have become a hot topic, recently. How does Section D address that? And I’m asking both as a product and as the in-game organization.

This is something I thought very hard about when I started planning the book because we’re talking about a different era with different attitudes and, let’s face it, some pretty horrendous things were happening in the world. 

The history of the real Section D actually gives the best answer to the “in-game organization” question so I’ll address that first: 

One of my best information sources for the game is a book called Section D For Destruction, superbly written by historian Malcolm Atkin. The book discusses some of the recruitment techniques for Section D and, for the time period, the methods were groundbreaking. Candidates were targeted (you didn’t apply for Section D, they found you!) for recruitment because they had a particular skill set and that was all. It’s worth mentioning at this point that most people targeted for Section D were experts in communications, journalism / propaganda, engineering and so forth. They weren’t “soldiers” for the most part. Gender, sexual orientation, religion and ethnic background were largely irrelevant, it was the skills that mattered. For example, It is now known that Section D’s upper echelons hid the fact that several of its agents were homosexual at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain. Section D recruited from all over Europe, and further afield, and trained agents to go into situations where a heterosexual, male, anglo saxon christian might stand out like a car at a bike show. 

So it’s safe to say, any character a player can come up with is likely to be fine from an historical point of view. 

As for handling the inclusion and representation of minorities as a product, that’s a tougher question. As I mentioned above, The Secret Files of Section D is set at a time when the world had different attitudes and while I certainly don’t share those attitudes, I can’t say  they didn’t exist.

In game terms, the GM will be advised on the historic attitudes of some people to certain others but also that bringing those into the game should probably be avoided. In some circumstances that may make roleplaying a certain situation a little less realistic but certainly more palatable. We want to encourage players to play any character they can dream up without boundaries. 

8 Let’s see how good you really are as a role player. Now you are a Hollywood screenwriter and must write a short email to convince Mr. Warner Bros to produce a movie based on The Secret Files of Section D. Go!

Dear Mr Warner,

Please read this like you are the movie trailer voiceover guy. 

“In a world where Nazi Pseudo Science, Miracles and Magic are real, and sinister figures stalk the shadowy corridors of power, a group of secret agents with an overriding mission to protect King and Country take on their greatest adventure yet.”

Cut to action montage: 

Silhouetted figures rappelling from a gigantic airship onto the roof of the British Museum

Fleeting glimpses of a high speed car chase through 1930s London

A huge brawl in a casino 

A deep volcanic cave in which stands a maniacal villain, a strange statue stands behind him bathed in a lava red glow. The villain speaks…

“You cannot stop me! Soon, you will be dead and the Fuhrer will live FOREVER!! Muahahaaaa”

Back to voiceover guy

“Can Section D save the world again and blow up some really big stuff? Find out in the new Section D movie, Trouble In Tripoli”

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

9 You’re quite the creative, so I’m sure you already have at least three other ideas for new RPG products that you might be publishing in the future! Am I right?

Absolutely right! The Secret Files of Section D takes the unit through to the end of WWII time wise. Section D doesn’t have to be a WWII game but the world changed in 1945. It’s worth noting that officially Section D was merged into the Special Operations Executive in 1940. We like to think, somewhere within the depths of the intelligence network, there is still a Section D for Destruction!

The second book handles the Cold War era which has some really interesting possibilities. The CIA and other agencies are introduced as sides change, enemies become allies and vice versa, and the arms and space races begin. It’s also the era of UFO paranoia and Project Blue Book etc. So the pulp and espionage elements are huge for this expansion. 

Next is the modern era expansion with much cooler gadgets and more dangerous villains. The battlegrounds may change but the threats are always very real!

I also have a whole bunch of adventure ideas to develop. Section D is supposed to be a little bit of off the wall fun but I have ideas for a more serious campaign which is rooted in actual WWII history rather than alternate history. It’s more gritty but if there’s a desire from players for it then it will get done. 

10 If you could buy any franchise/IP for an RPG, which would it be? Tell us about the franchise and the game you’d make.

An easy question at last! I really want to make an RPG set in David Gemmell’s Drenai world. It’s a series I’ve read over and over since the mid 80s and I just love the way David wove his stories. 

I’d use Savage Worlds for the mechanical aspects of the game because it’s a perfect system for the world. Flawed heroes and really nasty villains abound and there are great big holes in the timeline that an RPG could easily operate in without affecting canon. 

I’ll let you into a secret. A couple of years ago I partnered with Triple Ace Games and we put a proposal to David’s estate to get a license to produce this game. We had fans, famous authors and even a member of David’s family on our side but we heard nothing back. I was gutted.

11 I know, they were supposed to be 10, but I have one more question before we say goodbye. Please point us to a song you think we should listen to.

On The Turning Away by Pink Floyd.

It carries a poignant message that is highly relevant in these difficult times. 

Thank you Allan! Bye!!

Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you and to everybody who has read this far!

Stay safe and Happy Gaming. 

So go check out The Secret Files of Section D!

Stay tuned for more interviews! Hit me on the Axian Spice Facebook page, on Twitter or even on Telegram to never miss one! 

If you want to support this blog, check my OSR and Savage Worlds stuff, or simply shop on DriveTrhuRPG (affiliate link).

10 QUESTIONS TO: Diogo Nogueira

Diogo Nogueira is a one man band: game designer, illustrator and layout artist of Old Skull Publishing games.
His most successful games include:

Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells

Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets

Lost in the Fantasy World

He’s also designed Garden of Bones, one of the “Deadly Dungeons Hosts” adventures for Gold & Glory!

Diogo is also a father, a cat lover, and one of the few internationally known game designers from Brazil.

 

1 Hello Diogo. Tell us about your work as a designer, as if you were trying to explain it to my aunt!

I write, I draw and I combine the two things in a pretty and comprehensive package? Well, I love tabletop gaming, especially RPGs, that brings friends together to create something unique only they can create together. So I try to follow my heart and I create games I would like to play. I try to draw from many different sources, from literature, comics, cartoons, movies, other games, history and even our daily lives to make something that speaks to me and, hopefully to others as well. My focus is to make games with simple yet very flexible rules that allow people to play with as little preparation as possible, and requiring very little rules consultation during the game.




2 Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells was your first hit as Old Skull Publishing. What have you learnt about design in particular since its publication?

I’ve learned that the way you present the rules and arrange them is as important as the rules themselves. You may have a very tight and well thought system, but if the presentation isn’t good, it won’t seem it’s like that for many people. Graphic Design, Information Design and Game Design are actually way more connected than we think. I am still learning a lot and each new game I make I think gets me a little bit further in my practice.

3 Dark Streets & Darker Secrets is defined as a “Street & Sorcery Rules Light Role-Playing Game with an Old School spirit”. That’s a lot! Can you explain the setting, and how the rules are Old School?

Street & Sorcery is my way of saying this is a sword and sorcery game in modern times. So imagine if Conan, Fafhrd and Grey Mouser and other iconic S&S characters lived in our world today, and you get Dark Streets & Darker Secrets. It’s a game that’s inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Dresden Files, X-Files, Grimm and so on. In terms of rules, it presents a modern and streamlined system that fosters the style of play presented in the Quick Primer for Old School Gaming and Principia Apocrypha. It focus on player’s skill instead of character powers and rules, it’s open ended, it encourages improvisation, the focus on emergent storytelling and not character building and so onz

4 The Rumors rules in the Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells Addendum are, in my view, one of the smartest rules I’ve ever read, and the perfect example of how your games blend the Old School spirit with more modern solutions. Which are the modern games that you’ve appreciated the most?

I play everything. I love the OSR, but any games that seems interesting to me I do my best to try it and experiment with it. Some of the games that inspire me outside of the OSR are The One Ring, Cortex Prime, Genesys, Fate, Blades in the Dark, Fiasco. There are probably others, but it’s hard to keep all of them on your mind. There are so many cool games out there.

5 Crowdfunding has become more and more important for RPGs. Do you see that changing anytime soon? How would YOU like things to change?

I don’t see it changing any time soon, at least internationally and in the US. Here in Brazil Crowdfunding is not seen with good eyes anymore as many publishers have done less than reputable things with it. I like crowdfunding because it’s a great way to connect with a community and get people involved. It allows people to pursue projects they could not pursue by themselves alone. However, it would be great if the fees were reduced or if there was a way to give more visibility to indie creators in these platforms. I would love to say that I wish creators earned enough money to be able to fund projects themselves, but nowadays almost everyone is struggling. But I can dream.

6 I know you are currently working on several games. The one that intrigues me the most is Descent into the Abyss, a Diablo inspired dungeon crawling solo rpg. A project that shares the same inspiration as Curse of Aufgartz... What can you tell us about it?

I can tell you that I have little idea of what I am doing, lol. Solo Game Design is a bit scarier for me because balance seems a bit more important because you won’t have the GM as a buffer and companion Game Designer to help you. The book has to do all the work. So I am experimenting with it and will probably release parts of it for people to play with and give me feedback. The goal is to make a Solo Dungeon Crawling game that feels like diablo but plays nice and easy. You will be able to choose different builds for your character. You will make choices before going to the dungeons that will affect the game. The dungeons will be procedurally generated, but will have unique tables and themes for each area (Cathedral of Death, Haunted Catacombs, Infernal Caverns and so on). It’s a love letter to a game I played a lot but also a reinterpretation of it.



7 If you could buy any franchise/IP for an RPG, which would it be? Tell us about the franchise and the game you’d make.

Gosh, that’s hard. I love so many IPs and would love to make games about them. This is the hardest question here. I think if I gotta pick just one, I would pick… Cadillacs and Dinosaurs!



8 Younger players. Any experience or tips you want to share? Has your experience as a father influenced the design of Lost in the Fantasy World?

Oh yeah, absolutely. I played with younger audiences before my son too as we organize Tabletop Events in schools here in Brazil from time to time. Kids and people new to the hobby have a lot of untapped creativity and they want to pour it all out on the game. And if you say no to them they will shut down. So try to say yes as much as you can, even if it a “yes, but…” where there are consequences or they need to pass a test of sorts. Some games are more loose than others and fit this style better.

9 Your games are published by Gallant Knight Games. What can you tell us about your collaboration?

Gallant Knight Games is great! They do all the boring stuff for me and I get to just create things with total freedom. Not to mention being from Brazil, I am very limited geographically, ans GKG is able to take my games to conventions and deal with distributors more easily than I can. Not to mention that Alan Bahr from GKG is a great friend and a mentor to me. I’ve learned a lot with him.


10 You are the only game designer that I know from Southern America. Do you think your origin has affected your games? Have you ever felt as an outsider in the rpg community at large (in a good or bad way)?

I’ve been asked this a few times and I am not 100% sure if it has. I try not to think so much about it and being too close to analyze my own stuff, I think this is easier to answer for someone else. But I am starting to think it affects my stuff a little bit. Being from a country always under the influence of more powerful nations, I often associate power and influence with something bad. The distrust of authority, the way governments, corporations and people appear in my games may be shaped by my perception of reality from down here. And yes, I constantly feel like an outsider in the RPG Community at large, in many ways. The way that people talk about living of games, production and distribution, or simply their reality. I go outside the house here and I am always afraid I can get shot. People in my social media from other places seem really surprised to hear gunshots. Here it’s a constant reality. I wish it wasn’t.



11 I know, they were supposed to be 10, but I have one more question before we say goodbye. Please point us to a song you think we should listen to.

A song? Just one? I guess I will have to go with What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone. It just fills me with hope and joy!

Thank you Diogo! Bye!!

Stay tuned for more interviews! Hit me on the Axian Spice Facebook page, on Twitter or even on Telegram to never miss one! 

If you want to support this blog, check my OSR and Savage Worlds stuff, or simply shop on DriveTrhuRPG (affiliate link).