This GameWyrd interview first appeared in the RPGNow’s Downloader Monthly This month the free ezine looks at the Nuts and Bolts of the EABA system, has a round up of the latest PDF releases, Repetierpistole , top ten PDF RPG charts and some other stuff. It’s well worth taking a look.
GameWyrd’s questions appear in strange blue, Michael’s answers are in typical black.
HeartQuest is a Shoujo Manga RPG. In other words, it’s an RPG influenced by and designed to run in the Manga comic style especially targeted at young teenage girls.
1) What inspired you to write and publish HeartQuest? You could write the game as a labour of love but does that include seeing it published too?
It actually began as a labor of love — myself and other people writing a shoujo game. Eventually we decided our efforts should be published and I started my company to do it. It was a long process and there were a lot of growing pains. Then the reviews of the first edition came out and I questioned the wisdom of my decision. But people are still buying it, and the line is expanding, so it turned out OK.
2) The game’s been converted into Politically Incorrect Games’ Active Exploits system and d20. The original game used the Fuzion RPG system. Why the conversions?
That’s not quite correct. There has never been a Fuzion HeartQuest. The original design used FUDGE, a completely different system that was chosen because of its extreme flexibility and the ease with which it could be licensed. I don’t think Fuzion would be a good fit for HeartQuest. The conversion of AE Diceless was done because it occurred to me that this would be an ideal way to manage online play. You see, many people have told me that they would find it embarrassing to play certain types of roles live but have no trouble in an internet setting. Diceless saves them the trouble of rolling dice to resolve actions and then proving they really made the die rolls they claimed they did. Doing an OGL version started as a purely business decision — a lot of people were playing d20 and we wanted to see if we could tap into that market. That game proved so much trouble to design, however, that I ended up licensing it out to battlefield press.
3) What percentage of HeartQuest’s players do you think are likely to be teenage girls? Does it even matter to you?
It does matter, as I want to bring these people into the hobby. A lot of teenage girls play online shoujo RPGs that don’t use actual rules to resolve actions. My hope was that HeartQuest could help fill that void. I don’t hear back from enough people to tell me if it worked. I hope there are girls and women playing the game. But, as they say, “on the Internet nobody knows you’re a dog”.
4) What do you think the anti-RPG lobby would make of HeartQuest? Is a game that addresses issues like teenage sex comparable to one of the typical fantasy games that sees alignment as a black and white issue?
I’ve never encountered the anti-RPG lobby — I guess I’ve slipped under their radar. The discussion of things like sex is rooted more in the Japanese culture and the culture of the source material than anything else. I suppose those who think an anime series like Card Captor Sakura would be inappropriate for American audiences would find causes for objection in HeartQuest. But then again I have causes of objection with their arguments. By no means do I feel I am encouraging teenagers to be sexually active, though. Actions have consequences, especially in this game and in this genre.
5) Arcana Unearthed looks like a PDF. I mean it has the sidebar decoration, side comments, and similar appearance to your PDF layout. Was that a hard decision to make or was it just part of the natural flow?
I think of it not so much as escapism as exploration, as “What would I do in this situation?” it’s a sort of escapism, I guess, because most Americans would never find themselves in some of the situations HeartQuest characters confront. On the other hand, many of the themes in HeartQuest are universal and have indeed happened to many of the players. For them, it might be a chance to see what they could have done differently. It is escapism, but not as pure a form of escapism as, say, a standard superhero game where you can bench-press battleships and morality is pretty close to black-and-white.
6) Let’s imagine a scenario where a middle-aged man enjoyed playing HeartQuest, playing a teenage girl with teenage girlfriends, so much that he wouldn’t play any other RPG. Do you see a problem there?
Only if he were misusing the opportunity. By that I mean using the opportunity to roleplay a teenage girl as a pretext to do things like lure real teenage girls to him. That would, if it actually happened, case me a lot of problems. As long as he makes it clear to his fellow players that “My PC is a teenage girl, but I’m really a middle-aged man — I have a wife and teenage daughter of my own and I protect them and as long as nobody tries anything on all sides everything will be fine”, then there’s no problem. I’m a middle-aged man myself, although I usually GM.
7) In HeartQuest you point out that the game is about friendship and loyalty. Do you think other RPGs could do with similarly wholesome morals?
Most definitely. I had a very interesting experience along those lines. I converted to the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints during the design process for HeartQuest — two completely independent events. I enjoy the company of missionaries — the young men who leave their homes for two years to work to bring people into the Church in places far distant from their homes. Once a team of missionaries that was visiting me got a look at two RPGs; mine and WotC’s D20 modern rules. They were much happier with mine, because the heavy emphasis in D20 modern is on the sort of bloody violence that Mormons avoid. In most roleplaying games, player characters can slaughter the innocent and guilty alike without fear of moral consequences. Some would call this escapism, but it indicates to me that perhaps the player himself has been desensitized to violence and to the value of human life. That thug your PC just wasted for no reason may have had a wife and kids back home, who are now without a husband and father. Too few RPGs place an emphasis of the values that make us whole human beings, and it’s sad, much like it’s sad to see so many movies and TV shows indulge in pointless violence and sex for the purpose of titillation rather than driving the story.
8) What sort of support from the industry have you had? Do you get offers from authors willing and wanting to write supplements?
I get a surprising number of authors approaching me even though I can only pay very small amounts. I don’t know what it is about the game that appeals to them — maybe it’s the manga/anime underpinnings, the opportunities for storytelling and characterization, or simply the fact that I’m open to new writers and new ideas. That said, many of these writers have a difficult time making their deadlines, which truly frustrates me.
9) Do you think gamers are unwilling to move a way from dungeons and dwarfs? Why’s that?
The same inertia that makes people unwilling to switch away from their favorite TV show to watch the potential new classic that’s playing opposite it. The same inertia that makes people go see sequels rather than innovative new films. The same inertia that causes most people to continue to view animation as kid stuff, and gets upset when an animated film deals with serious or adult issues and themes. People develop prejudices over years in the hobby that they don’t want to break. These prejudices make some companies a lot of money, so they don’t want to challenge them. D&D 3.5 was, in a sense, a lost opportunity to ease people away from the paradigm of “open the door, kill the monster, get the treasure, move on to the next door” and into real roleplaying and storytelling.
10) Do you think gamers are unwilling to try niche games like HeartQuest. Why’s that?
I think a lot of gamers are afraid to buy a game only to find they can’t convince anyone to play it with them. I think a lot of people are afraid to explore certain things that a game like HeartQuest forces them to confront. I think a lot of gamers don’t want to be challenged anymore and want the familiar. But for those who do try the niche games, the rewards and enormous. That’s the thought that keeps me going.
11) After three rule editions and publication in both PDF and paper aren’t you tired of HeartQuest yet? Tempted to write another RPG?
No, I’m not tired of HeartQuest. I read the book cover to cover about four to five times a month, for pleasure. It’s something I’ve done, and I’ll always be proud of it. But of course I write other games — or rather, get ideas for new games and help other people bring them into fruition. Seraphim Guard has four or five new games already on our schedule for 2004, which I could go on at great length about if you had the patience. Most of them are anime/manga based, but I will contemplate many ideas. So while I’m always finding something new and intriguing in HeartQuest, I also have all these other ideas I’m brimming with that I am continually asking people to help me with — and to my astonishment they’re doing just that. Your question is like asking an author whether he writes a new novel because he is tired of his old ones. New games are the lifeblood of a company — they’re what bring in both the creative energy and the money to operate and publish. The businessman in me knows that I need new product as often as I can get it.
12) Is there anything in the RPG industry that you find especially interesting or exciting at the minute?
There are some of my competitors who are always doing things that get me excited. I wouldn’t call myself good friends with mark MacKinnon of Guardians of order, but I am fascinated by his product line and we are often able to talk frankly on many issues related to business. The resurgence of the Hero System has excited me. I’m glad there are finally major game conventions on the West Coast. The independent publishing movement and the growing PDF market are very exciting developments and open up for publication innumerable new and exciting ideas. If you have an open mind, these are great times to be a gamer.
- Visit the Seraphim Guard website
- Read GameWyrd’s review of HeartQuest with the FUDGE rules.
- Read GameWyrd’s review of HeartQuest Diceless.
Hit us up with some intelligent observations in the comment box below.
