1. Forthcoming game you're most looking forward to
I’m kind of out of the loop these days on what’s coming up…
Any good suggestions?
2. Kickstarted game most pleased you've backed
I have yet to back a Kickstarter, not from lack of those I
would like to back, but mostly out of lack of funds. Were the funds available,
I would pretty much back any Kickstarter from Goblinoid Games, Troll Lord
Games, and/or Goodman Games.
3. Favorite New Game of the last 12 months
I haven’t bought any new game systems in the last 12 months.
The last RPG system I bought was 5E D&D; while I was briefly enamored of
it, the relationship turned sour pretty quickly when I realized the resemblance
to B/X was only skin deep. But there were a few good bits there that I steal
now and again for my B/X houserules.
4. Most Surprising Game
Not sure how to answer this one, so many ways a game can be
surprising. I’d have to say recently, 5E D&D, as I was pleasantly surprised
at first that I liked it, then disappointedly surprised that it wasn’t really
as good as I’d thought it was. Two surprises for the price of one, I guess.
5. Most recent RPG purchase
The Petty Gods hardcover I bought during the July Lulu sale
is the best thing since sliced bread (other than Betty White).
6. Most recent RPG played
Villains & Vigilantes, the original from FGU.
7. Favorite Free RPG
Labyrinth Lord from Goblinoid Games.
8. Favorite appearance of RPGs in the Media
The cameo appearances of D&D elements in Futurama.
Always fun!
9. Favorite media you wish was an RPG
Thundarr the Barbarian. Tim Snider of Savage Afterworld hasdone an awesome Thundarr supplement for Labyrinth Lord/Mutant Future, and I
expect that is as close as we will ever get… likely for the best, as any
official game would probably end up being some godawful bloated system like the
latest Star Wars RPG.
10. Favorite RPG Publisher
Existing: Goblinoid Games. They brought back B/X in the form
of Labyrinth Lord, and then topped that with the Advanced Edition Companion,
which brought all the cool stuff from Advanced D&D without all the
extraneous material that added confusion.
Extinct: TSR (pre-Williams era, mostly). ’Natch.
11. Favorite RPG Writer
A tough question… I’d have to say Gary, still, thanks to his
Gygaxian writing style in the vein of Vance.
RPG Designer, now that’s another question entirely… I’d
probably have to this is shared by Tom Moldvay and Dave Cook (and their
editorial crew), as I still feel that the Moldvay Basic/Cook Expert set,
together, are the best representation of D&D anytime, anywhere. Frank
Mentzer’s work on the 1983 edition of Basic added the best introductory version
of an RPG I’ve ever seen.
12. Favorite RPG Illustration
The Bill Willingham illustration of a battle with a dragon
from the Moldvay edition of the Basic Set has always struck me as highly
representative of what D&D was all about.
13. Favorite RPG Podcast
I don’t listen to them. Just not my thing.
14. Favorite RPG Accessory
Ready Ref Sheets, from Judges Guild. I’ve used them in
virtually every game I’ve ever run.
15. Longest campaign played
As a player, two years in middle school, the “Awesome
Campaign” run by my friend Thad, at the end of which everyone had at least one
artifact and we traveled around in Baba Yaga’s Hut. Yes, it was a glorious
campaign indeed!
As a DM/Judge, three years, played every two weeks to three
months, set in the Wilderlands using 3rd Edition.
16. Longest game session played
Can’t recall, though if our marathon sessions of playing
several different games back-to-back back in the day count, there was a massive
three-day session where we played AD&D, Top Secret, and Twilight 2000 from
end-of-school Friday until we were dragged home by our parents late Sunday
night…
17. Favorite Fantasy RPG
B/X Dungeons & Dragons/Labyrinth Lord, if that wasn’t
already obvious.
18. Favorite SF RPG
Gamma World, the wacky and wahoo version of 1st
and 2nd edition.
19. Favorite Supers RPG
Marvel Super-Heroes (FASERIP)
20. Favorite Horror RPG
Cryptworld; I loved the old Chill system from Pacesetter,
and this is the most worthy of the successors to date.
21. Favorite RPG Setting
This one is a toughie. For published settings, it is pretty
firmly a tie between the Wilderlands and Mystara; Mystara is more on my mind
these days, as I’ve had to back away from the Wilderlands, due to sad memories.
22. Perfect gaming environment
Years ago when I owned a house we had a mostly finished
basement. One of the rooms was just the perfect size to set up bookshelves
along the sides, complete with a computer hutch; a small fridge for drinks; and
a large table in the center, big enough to seat 12 people, with me in a big
captain’s chair at the head of the table, with side tables to hold all the
miscellaneous stuff I needed during the game, including miniatures. That was a
sweet setup!
23. Perfect game for you
B/X D&D.
24. Favorite House Rule
Three-way tie between “Carousing Rules” to squander treasure and cause chaos by Jeff Rients, “Shields Shall Be Splintered” to save your ass from Trollsmyth, and “Turn Over The Body to see if he’s Dead” and roll a save
versus Death from Dungeon Crawl Classics.
25. Favorite Revolutionary Game Mechanic
Being pretty old school, I can’t say I have one…
26. Favorite inspiration for your game
So many things have inspired my gaming over the years, it is
hard to say any one thing is my “favorite.” Fantasy literature as a whole, I
guess, would be the thing most influential to my gaming, rather than say movies
or TV. I keep going back to the literary well for new ideas and campaigns and
races and classes…
27. Favorite idea for merging two games into one
Found in Mutant Future, the Mutants & Mazes mash-up of
Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord codifies my long desire to mix D&D and
Gamma World in a more unified fashion than the small rules section in the old
DMG.
28. Favorite game you no longer play
I really, really liked Dangerous Dimensions: Mythus and its
little cousin, Lejendary Adventure. It’s just way too hard to get others to try
Mythus these days; and LA is tough to play, as my fondest memories of it are
playing with Gary.
29. Favorite RPG website / blog
Eeesh, so many good ones.
30. Favorite RPG playing celebrity
I’ll say Vin Diesel, because it is hard to choose between
Charlotte, Mandy, and Stoya…
31. Favorite non-RPG thing to come out of RPGing.
Countless friendships and a career that enabled me to both
make a living and live my dreams for most of two decades.
1. Worst game you ever played
RPG system wise, Powers & Perils. I know some people
swear by it, but I’ve tried to wrap my mind around it for decades, and just
don’t see the appeal. But for hard-cord dark Sword & Sorcery, you just
can’t beat Perilous Lands, the P&P campaign setting.
2. Interesting rule embedded within otherwise baleful game
The Drama Deck from Torg. Always wanted to adapt that to
D&D.
3. Game you never played but you knew it sucked just looking
at it
The World of Synnibarr. Ye gods, Rifts on crack…
4. Game you most wish didn't suck
The d6 System game brought out by West End at the end of
their existence. I love the d6 System; it is totally my favorite system for
Star Wars and space-opera style play. But the changes they made to the d6
System for the generic version were just too extreme; they tried to make it
into something it wasn’t. Mini-Six fixed a lot of that…
5. Game about which you have the most mixed feelings
5E D&D. I really want to like it; I think as a casual
player, I might enjoy it. Trying to run a campaign as a DM? Not again, thanks…
6. Old game most in need of an upgrade
Rifts. Love most of the world, especially like the fact that
the system is essentially D&D; but golly, does that game need a solid edit,
a good streamlining, and a re-baselining.
7. Game you can run with the least prep
B/X D&D. Gimme some dice, pencils, and paper, and I can
run off the cuff without even checking the books.
8. Game with awful art (and who you wish you could hire to
fix that)
I’m not really an art kind of guy; if the art is *dreadful*,
I generally avoid the game because if the art is that bad, well, how good can
the game be? So I’ve never really owned a game with dreadful art, and
otherwise, never noticed much or cared. Though someone really needs to go back
and put in new halfling art in the 5E D&D books; scary, scary stuff.
9. Best houserule you've seen in action and now use in your
own games.
Most of the houserules I’ve adopted that were from others
were from online posts, not in actual play, so really, none…
10. Game you've most changed your thoughts/feelings about
Old World of Darkness. Always thought the whole Vampire LARP
thing was kind of poncey, so I thought the tabletop game was, too; but like
most RPG systems, it can be used for whatever style of play you want.
11. Game you'd use to
run just about any setting if you had to
BRP from Chaosium.
12. Game that haunts you and you're not sure why
GURPS. I want to like that game, but every time I play it I
feel like I am studying for a math exam. I also never played Champions/Hero
System for the same reason, only moreso.
13. Game that would probably be most fun to play a bee in
Mutant Future.
14. Best Star Wars game?
WEG D6, hands down, though I prefer the earlier editions to
the final revised one, which lost some of the edginess the earlier versions
had.
15. Game that's good in theory but you're kind of on the
fence about it to be honest
Tom Moldvay’s Lords of Creation. Played once when it first
came out; have stared at it long and hard since. Great idea, beautifully
realized for the day, but something just doesn’t seem right…
James’ Appendix
1. Best non-RPG property to licensed RPG you’ve ever played
Tie: Marvel Super-Heroes and WEG Star Wars
2. Best RPG you’ve ever read but never played
Artesia: Adventures in the Known World by Mark Smylie.
Beautiful book, reads very well, game seems solid, but dang… it would take a
special group of players to make it work without breaking the setting ideals.
3. RPG core rulebook you would take with you on a desert
island
If I can’t take a B/X Lulu mash-up I’d take the D&D
Cyclopedia, which is the next best thing.
4. Favorite RPG vaporware
Still, after all these years, I’d love to see that TSR Proton
Fire RPG about robots and cyborgs and humans fighting the battle between the tyrannical
Corporation and the University…
5. Best houserule that ended up with the worst results
Using the d30 once per game to replace another die. I
allowed the players to not only use it for d20 rolls, but also in place of
damage rolls. This worked out very poorly when the party encountered some young
dragons. They were getting ready to run, having stumbled upon a dragon
hatchery, but then realized they all still had their d30 rolls left. I think
out of the whole group, only one rolled less than 20 points of damage; result,
three dead dragons, one jubilant party (with only one casualty), and one
unhappy DM.
6. Worst kerfluffle that ever ended an otherwise good,
ongoing campaign
The party found a +5 holy avenger, and they had no paladins
among the group. Trying to figure out how to dispose of the weapon drove the players
apart…
That’s if you don’t count the ending of the Party of Evil
campaign, in which the wizard cast a sleep spell on the two anti-paladins and
had the assassin slit their throats… after all, that betrayal was inevitable…
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