HOST: So, what you are implying is that Dr Bentley is a dangerous individual?
THADDEUS KILGORE: I’m implying nothing, I am certain that William Bentley is a criminal. He has perfected torture methods while working for Third World dictators. He should be immediately arrested and led to trial…
[At that moment, a panel opens behind the host and the interviewed. A tall, handsome grey-haired man in a classic suit enters, apparently carrying a gun. He points the gun at Thaddeus Kilgore]
MAN: Mr Kilgore, I was backstage listening to all that drivel and decided to make an appearance. You, sir, are a dirty, rotten scoundrel. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour!
The man shoots the gun. Thaddeus Kilgore grabs his chest in pain and falls from his chair. The audience is in absolute silence.
HOST: My God, I think he’s gone, doctor!
DR BENTLEY: Well, it’s all in the day’s work.
[Dr Bentley takes a bow before the bewildered audience and leaves the stage]
Excerpt from a Talk the Talk show, hosted by Raoul Fontana. Later, it was discovered that William Bentley shot Kilgore with a mere toy gun, and the later died from a heart attack.
Thaddeus Kilgore was the founder of the Democracy Now movement, the most important active political movement in the city, which goal is to put an end to the current state of Avalidad, as a corporate owned city.
Thaddeus Kilgore is the founder of the Democracy Now movement
“Our destiny is constantly changing, constantly shifting. It is the turns we take at every junction that build that thing we call fate, step by step. In that view, there is no such thing as a future to wait for. The universe itself, by definition, encompasses all that was, all that could have been, all that is, and all that could eventually come to be. Everything at the same time. Can you embrace the concept? I think no one can fully grasp it.
Myself, I try to humbly understand and accept that everything we do plays a role. In the end, we usually simply watch in wonder and amazement, and let the wholeness take us where we should go. Yes, because it truly does! I very rarely act, I usually just watch, advise, and comment. To the point of being annoying, perhaps? Well, my apparent inaction comes from understanding the implications and ramifications of the future are vast, and that it is useless to try and use them to our advantage. Or to anyone’s benefit, by that matter. Personally, I simply try to navigate life as best I can, and help those in need to do so as well.
Nonetheless, there are focal points that draw me to them, as if they were magnets within a vast sea of possibilities. Like a whirlpool, slowly drawing within everything that floats around it. Please, do not try and refrain your smile. I know how I am seen from the outside. A nosy and weird meddler who rants about strangeness. Sometimes, a very irritating and imposing nosy meddler.
But, in the end, we all ride the waves of the entirety together. When you take a turn, or go back to your apartment because you forgot your biocomputer, you open up a sea of possibilities and run away from a sea of would have beens. I am simply more aware, and thus I consider my mission to help and improve your fate and mine, present and future. So, now, tell me, do you really wish you knew?
Well folks, that’s what Mr Aziz Crowe, Ka’athryn’s husband and, as you may know, ZoneSec’s director of operations and a very experienced psionic, told me about fate and his work in Avalidad when I spoke with him at Doc Bentley’s latest party. And all I asked him for was advice on a date!”
Excerpt from Dreamachine, presented by Selene Kelyah, covering a William Bentley party, with Aziz Crowe as a guest
A single drop of blood fell in the exact centre of the lake. It opened a wound in the crystalline waters. The wound rippled outwards in slow undulating cries of silent pain. Silence. The wound bled and the pond was dark red. An unborn child fell into the thick liquid, and drowned. He raised the weapon and shot the Asian man once, twice. He watched the man die at his feet. The dead lover smiled and lulled herself to quiet peace and forgetfulness. The blood was in his hands. A single droplet fell and hit the cold water. A sudden, blinding light filled all space around him. It wasn’t harsh and painful though, it was warm, comforting, loving. His light. He woke up and his conscious self was suddenly aware of all the small noises surrounding him. It took him a few seconds to place himself. He took a deep breath and tried to ignore the throbbing pain that still numbed his senses.
Aziz Crowe, ZoneSec’s Director of Operations
He was in Avalidad. Aziz opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. His belongings were stacked away on a small table in the corner. He got up from the bed, his body completely sore, as if he had been severely beaten over and over again, and walked with some difficulty across the small room.
Aziz quickly found what he was looking for. He picked up a small blue object and held it inside his closed hand. After the biocomputer read his vital signs, it turned on and the image of a green-eyed blonde woman appeared next to him.
– Hello. Finally. What has been happening since yesterday? I have been able to re-establish my up-link to the communications satellite; I have already received… twelve messages from ‘you-know-who’ asking me what has been going on. It is 12.20 now. Please explain…
He stared at the image of a woman talking in front of him, slightly overwhelmed by the personal assistant’s verbal assault. He blinked, and gestured her to wait.
– Please, Nastassja, more slowly, I am still not well.
– I understand. Would you like me to open a communications channel now?
– No, not now, I’m going home. Inform ZoneSec of my present location and relay my audio and visual memories of what happened this last day. Here is the data.
He inserted the small crystalline object into an opening on his biocomputer’s side.
– Relay the data into to my office’s mainframe and to ZoneSec for analysis. Download all the information on the current process. Start a cross-reference of this data with the already gathered information.
– Accessing. Starting download. Estimating time for download and cross-reference. Five hours.
He put down the biocomputer, searched his bag for PainAways and took two. Grimacing from the pain he felt from every movement, he changed back into his own clothes, and hoped the painkillers would work fast.
– Transmission arrived. Sender: Kuan Peng.
His expression became much more serious, and he almost jumped towards his biocomputer, but was stopped by his sore muscles.
– Read it.
– Opening transmission. Text message “Ask me.” End of message.
– Reply. Text. Begin message. “This is more serious than you had told me?” End message. Send.
He paced around the small room and his expression grew more sombre. He glanced nervously to his Personal Assistant’s augmented reality image, anticipating and interrupting her words.
–Transm…
– Read it.
– Opening transmission. Text message. “Yes”. End of message.
He nodded, gathered his belongings, and left the room.
Aziz Crowe exited from the transport that had taken him to the City of Glass district. The streets, seething with life and movement deafened him for a moment or two before he managed to balance himself. He slowly walked towards home, closing his thoughts from all the activity that surrounded him.
‘This must be much more serious than I had anticipated. I made a mistake in underestimating its importance. There are several loose strands that I do not know how to weave together. And these others. The interest in this process seems to transcend ZoneSec.’
As I exited the lift, still trying to puzzle out which Gershwin tune was remixed with what Cole Porter song in that Lounge Cut-Up version playing inside, I saw this gorgeous woman extending her hand, with a big smile on her pretty face.
“Mr Reed, Doctor Bentley is expecting you.”
The broad looked like a fashion model dressed up as a 1950s pin-up. Probably she really was a model before Bentley gave her this job as secretary. Doc sure knows how to pick them! Except for Veronica… Veronica is a baboon!
I greeted her and followed her scent through a maze of exquisitely decorated corridors. The money these people waste on frills could feed all those miserable wretches out there in the bidonvilles. Well, fuck those mutants… I don’t really give a rat’s ass about them anyway.
A couple of turns later, the pin-up lady stopped by a huge double door, beyond which Bentley’s office stood. As she motioned to the entrance someone greeted me from inside.
“Clayton Reed, please come in.”
I went ahead. Bentley was staring at the cityscape though the glass wall on the other side of the room. The office so wide it seemed the man was a mile away. My boss – that’s Aziz Crowe – was sitting by a desk, in the middle of the room, lost in thoughts, with that sombre, absorbed look on his face. I couldn’t see that fucking purpled-assed Veronica anywhere, but I was on the lookout for her. Those bloody baboons give me the creeps.
“Come closer, but beware of that thing beside the desk”.
At first I thought he meant Aziz, they don’t quite like each other, but then I saw there was something on the floor, wrapped in black plastic. A body bag in Bentley’s workplace… What the fuck had those jokers been up to?
“Doctor why, may I ask, is there a body bag in your office?”
Bentley turned around, a grin on his suntanned, square-jawed face. He was wearing a grey three-piece suit, very fashionable, very retro, most likely by Jean-Pierre GivenXXX. Not that I care about such stuff… But he does, the narcissistic prick! Doc’s probably sixty, but looks younger than me.
“Someone died, obviously.”
I waited for him to expound on that. No point rushing him, Bentley is a weird one. Then Aziz jumped in:
“He was a ZoneSec Officer, Mr Reed. Was patrolling this very street, near the building, last night, when someone – more likely something – attacked him. Another mangled body, just like the other three. Well, not quite the same, this one is in a… slightly worse condition.”
I realized shit had hit the fan. Unsurprising, though, they wouldn’t call a troubleshooter like me to deal with trivialities. Anyway, we’re in Takeda Technologies Headquarters, right in the middle of the City of Glass; people just don’t get butchered in a place like this! And the other mangled bodies… I recalled what he meant. Three ZoneSec employees had been torn apart by some unknown perp sometime last month. Brutal affairs, the killer is likely a mutant, no regular human could possibly do that.
“I know what you’re thinking”, Aziz said.
He probably did, the psionic fricking master.
“Not a mutant. We believe the killer is another kind of… fiend.”“
Fiend, interesting word choice. Kind of what you would expect from someone like ZoneSec’s Chief of Operations. More of a guru than a director, if you ask me… I approached the body bag, knelt and unzipped it. Yup, it was worse than the others, alright! Face mauled beyond recognition, throat and torso torn apart… The chest appeared to have been savagely clawed, but not with those fancy biotech augmentations operatives and bodyguards tend to favour. These were probably nasty looking and organic. But, surely, they knew more than I did already. I looked at Aziz, he was staring back at me with piercing icy-blue eyes.
“So, what do you make of it, Clayton? Those slashes form an uncanny pattern on his chest. Unusual wounds, are they not?”
I nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Bentley had moved closer.
“There is a war going on, Mr Reed” he said, in his deep baritone voice. “I was expecting a conflict to arise, but not this soon. It is troubling, to say the least!”
The mention of war caught me off guard. I had no idea what he was talking about and I don’t like to be played like a sap. Then a hissing sound behind me got my attention. Veronica had silently approached and was now baring her teeth, menacingly. I hate that baboon, but she despises me even more.
“Be still Veronica, Mr Reed is our associate. Perhaps even a friend. Come here, darling.”
The baboon avoided me and jumped straight into Bentley’s arms.
“War, Dr Bentley? And who is the enemy?”
“The Devil himself, quite likely…”
Well, that was unexpected, even from Dr Bentley. I looked back at Aziz Crowe. This time the bitter rivals seemed to be in total agreement. I think this is going to be a rough month…
What follows is an excerpt from the show BeatFreak Season Awards, presented by Nassima on Holovision Prime, the number one provider of augmented reality contents:
“Get ready, get safe, and sit down tight as your always faithful Nassima walks you down the great hits and sounds for this year. Well, some of our winners were sure things but we’ve got a few novelties coming so there may be some surprises down the line. We’ll start by announcing our top sales for this month, and then announce our BeatFreak’s spring awards for Best Artist, Best Album, Best Alternative Album – for the handful of you who follow the trends –, Best Look, and this season’s Revelation Album and Artist.I have to tell you that some of my favourite singers are here, we have an excellent selection of talent, and I’ll walk you through our top-fourteen and offer you some personal listening tips from your Nassima. So, without further ado, here we are, BeatFreak’s top ten
Number One: Vorace. Last season’s number one is this season’s number one. All of you know this French singer, of course. And I do mean ALL of you, all around the planet. The true Megastar, there are no surprises here. What’s my listening tip for Vorace? Well, just about anything she has published!
Number Two: Duke Fray. Everyone’s, and particularly Transzendenz’s – his editors – favourite Neocrooner, and still taking his Straight Talker tour to just about anywhere he can play at. Meanwhile we’ll keep buying his works, waiting for the next title, Space Cowboy, coming out just after the tour’s end. Can he keep the second place until then? Well, you’ll have to ask the two ladies that follow…
Number Three: Ka’athryn. Dub Revival at its best, with Transzendenz’s diva darling. I’ll lift the curtains a bit and tell you the Russian-born singer is the author of this season’s Best Album, climbing from last season’s number four after this New Year’s memorable concert in Paris. My listening tip won’t be the obvious latest release, as I know you’ll all be listening to it by now, but I’ll suggest her previous work, Body and Dreams, as one of my personal favourites.
Number Four: Andalusia. Last season’s number three, and Moondog’s Media counterpart to Ka’athryn, lost her third place mainly because she hasn’t published any new works since last year. But those boys at Moondog will be quickly preparing a response to Ka’athryn’s New Year extravaganza, if I know them at all; and trust your Nassima, I do know them! While Transzendenz capitalized on the New Year, Moondog’s marketing boys are probably waiting for the mid-summer season to bring out their star’s new work. Listening tips for now? Pick up an oldie, Screaming Murmurs. Not quite as charismatic and flamboyant as the extravagant and socially energetic Ka’athryn, Andalusia has enjoyed a longer and very steady career with a solid and mature body of work. My opinion? Andalusia is more visual, less musical, more dreamlike, and less physical. Who’s better? Why choose? Enjoy both!
Number Five: Revolution Starting. Another Transzendenz winner bet, the alternative and always socially pertinent – guess what? The average Joe doesn’t seem to care about politics… – Byelorussians of whom we still remember the major hit of two years ago No Time for Goodbyes. Well, it seems us girls have the top five covered with four out of five places… Let’s see what the rest of the charts bring us.
Number Six: Mute Crew. From the Asian Dub Revival music scene comes Mute Crew with their acid-styled sounds. Check out Electric Orgasm, released early this year, hitting our charts hard.
Number Seven: Malena y el Río de la Plata. The Uruguayan stars and their unique Electronic Candombe style are hitting hard not only in South America, but everywhere else, as their place on our tops indicates.
Number Eight: Dual Beat. The standard-bearers of Marrakesh Dub Revival have enjoyed a long, steady career, spreading the sounds and rhythms of Northern Africa throughout the globe, and are quoted as a source of inspiration by several influential figures in the music scene. Check out their latest album, Afrofuturistic, from last year, still holding on to the top ten.
Number Nine: The Electro-Acoustic London Orchestra. The classically devoted London based orchestra maintains their seventh place on our charts with their long running series of the classics recorded from live performances in selected worldwide concert halls. My listening tip will be their rendition of Mozart’s Requiem played in St Stephen’s Basilica, in Budapest. That is, if you’re into that kind of ancient stuff…
Number Ten: Winston Magnus Seven. The retro-jazz group Winston Magnus Seven, a permanent fixture on our charts, coming down from last season’s number nine. Always faithful to their improvisational and acoustical style, this jazz septet is the style’s current reference. Watch out for their latest album, the smooth and velvety Night Moods.
And to finish off this edition of BeatFreak, the much anticipated Season Awards: Best Artist: (who else?) Vorace! Best Album: Follow into Infinity, by Ka’athryn. The follow up to Body and Dreams, it has much less body and much more dreams. It’s a walk into the wholeness, led by the diva’s hand. Best new revelation: Oazys. This girl is making it big into the media scene this year and to comment our revelation award we got a statement from our number one dub revivalist, Ka’athryn, about the new starlet:“Good choice, very intense dub! With some more hard work she’ll start to bring out some really good stuff. Still needs to go deeper into her soul though, embrace it without fear… I mean, a pretty face is a pretty face, but art is much more than that. She’s had great media coverage, especially because of that movie starring next to Leon MacArthur – who’s a dear by the way, and I hope the two hit it off! But the future is a building we add to day by day, isn’t it? So we’ll wait and see.” Best Look: Véronique Lune. We, at BeatFreak, came to a tough choice between Vorace, Ka’athryn and Véronique Lune, but the latter had to get the award as her look is really an intricate part of her art and she weaves herself physically as much as musically. That’s it for now, friends!”
ankur: the revised edition of this “sword & rayguns” role-playing game enters crowdfunding stage on september 1st. the author talks about the game’s setting and explains what changed since the first version.
MAD SCRIBE GAMES’ANKUR – Kingdom of the Gods mixes sciENCE-fiCTION and fantasy, while puting an ancient alien spin on various real world HISTORY. The setting is based on Sumerian mythology, but also inspired by the works of h. p. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Maurice Chatalain among otheR WRITERS.
Red Room: What’s coming up next is – I think – ANKUR’s second edition, but you’ll correct me if I’m wrong. When is it expected to be released?
Chris Miller: I’m officially calling it a revised second printing, as there are some criteria that need to be met before calling it a “second edition”. So, the book is essentially finished. However, I will be running the Kickstarter to re-coup some of my expenses for making all the changes and to possibly fund new cover art. I plan to launch the KS campaign on Sept 1st.
RR: What are the main differences between the first printing and this one? Did you just correct typos and such, or are there more extensive changes to the game?
CM: There were numerous typos to be sure, but I was never really satisfied with the overall aesthetic of the book. I did most of the work myself, using only Microsoft Word. As a result, I was very limited in the visual appearance of tables, etc. Some of the information within those tables had also been accidently bumped by one line due to inexperience and negligence on my part, or that of my editor. This made the info contained in the weapons and armour section especially difficult to comprehend. New changes fixed these problems immensely, and replaced clunky text boxes with clean, professional-looking tables.
Another problem with the text of the original book was that my editor forgot to indent or add paragraph breaks. The result was page-long “paragraphs” that were hard on the eyes. This made it difficult to easily find information, particularly for GMs. I’ve added breaks to most paragraphs, and in doing so had to also place about 100 pieces of spacer art to fill gaps that were created. Finally, I decided to update the new book with all of the rules errata that have built up over the past five years; some of which had never been uploaded to the official errata on DrivethruRPG.
There were other changes as well. For example; after running my own regularly scheduled ANKUR campaign with friends in Atlanta, I noticed some issues with the mechanics surrounding both crafting and the use of spiritual powers. As a result, I made extensive re-writes to those sections of the book. Because of this, and other changes, the book became too thick to print at any profit. So, I decided to cut the book in two. Rather than one core rules book, there is now a Player’s Guide and a Game Master’s Guide.
This decision makes both books a lot more reasonable to print and ship. Also, my thinking was that the average player isn’t going to need three chapters of GM stuff if they never plan on running the game.
RR: It was a massive core book for an independent game. What is the page count for the new two volumes?
CM: It’s 314 for the Player’s Guide and 134 for the Game Master’s Guide.
RR: About the game setting itself: what is the genre? Is it sword and sorcery or is that too limited for it?
CM: Eeehhhh… Sword & Rayguns? It’s a mix of stuff from old school fantasy and semi-pulp sci-fi. I like to think it’s similar to Conan meets Flash Gordon…. with a twist of Stargate.
RR: So, what is ANKUR about?
CM: ANKUR (Sumerian for kingdom of the gods) is a sci-fantasy TTRPG based on Sumerian mythology and the ancient astronaut theory. The game takes place on Earth some 25,000 years in our mythological past. The game world features pre-historic monsters, alien spacecraft, lost cities, barbarians with laser guns riding pterodactyls and more!
“It’s a mix of stuff from old school fantasy and semi-pulp sci-fi. I like to think it’s similar to Conan meets Flash Gordon…. with a twist of Stargate.”
Aliens from the planet Nibiru; which is located in our own solar system beyond Pluto, need an abundance of gold to save their dying world. They find it on Earth, but quickly realize that their immortal lifespans are shortened to human lifespans while on Earth. After a worker’s strike, they devise a plan to create human workers by adding their own DNA to that of primitive hominids.
This new species becomes a little too similar to the aliens of Nibiru and they begin to quarrel over the rights of the slaves/workers. Every 3,600 years the planet Nibiru passes close to Earth during its path around the sun. It is known by the Nibru-ene that this will cause planetary upsets, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods… Earth at this time also had two moons by the way. The smaller moon’s orbit is disrupted and it leaves Earth. This causes a 400 foot tidal wave across the entire planet. The Nibru-ene get off world, but decide to leave the humans to their fate. 3,600 years later, the aliens return to find the humans have not all been killed, but neither are all of them so keen on returning to a life of slavery.
New alien cities have been established, and some human cities as well. They compete for resources on a primitive, hostile world where humankind is not yet the dominant species.
“Aliens from the planet Nibiru; which is located in our own solar system beyond Pluto, need an abundance of gold to save their dying world. They find it on Earth, but quickly realize that their immortal lifespans are shortened to human lifespans while on Earth.“
RR: Was the setting developed as you were playing it with your own group, or was it planned from the start?
CM: Well, a little of both. Very early on – about 12 years ago –, before the concept had become its own entity, I was using my own homebrew mechanics for my D&D game. I fantasized back then about publishing my own game, but had no idea how to do that, and honestly, didn’t have a setting worthy of publishing. Then I met a guy who introduced me to the Ancient Aliens show. I was hooked, and started watching and reading everything I could on the subject. After a few years Kickstarter became a viable option for backing new games and I decided to combine my homebrew mechanics with the ancient alien setting to launch ANKUR.
RR: How much of the setting is real world History and how much of it is ancient alien’s theory?
CM: Ah, good question. If you believe in the ancient alien’s theory, then the answer is simple: “all of it”. However, for those who don’t believe, the answer is a little muddier. I was an Ancient History major in college and have worked as a historical reenactor, and historical advisor for multiple museums, schools and motion pictures. I have lived in Italy, India, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Even before I saw my first episode of Ancient Aliens I encountered the Hindu Rig Veda; in which, the text describes how to properly build a space suit to withstand exposure to the “Heavens”. It requires between 50 and 200 layers of specially treated silk, and must be dyed orange for “safety”. It also included thickness and dimensions for a glass helmet to be worn with the suit. There are thousands of these ancient texts that describe flying ships and weapons capable of destroying entire cities in a mushroom of fire “1,000 times brighter than the sun”. These are “historical” texts. Some historians claim they are just allegory or fanciful musings of a simple people trying to explain natural disasters, but the people who wrote those texts and built those statues and monuments to those “gods” believed it. I’ve seen pyramids in Central America that have Sumerian script and pottery at their sites. I’ve compared root words from multiple languages around the world that never had ancient contact, and they all use the same words for mother, father, food, water, earth, sky, etc. Whether or not the Ancient Alien show is correct (and they are not on many subjects), there was some ancient connection between cultures in our past that just isn’t explained by the modern historical narrative.
All I’ve done with ANKUR is treat ancient Sumerian mythology as if they were telling the truth. I did the same with my setting expansion for ancient Africa. I simply asked myself: “What if any of this was true”? “What kind of game world would it be”?
“I was an Ancient History major in college and have worked as a historical reenactor, and historical advisor for multiple museums, schools and motion pictures. I have lived in Italy, India, Nicaragua and Guatemala.“
RR: Since you’re talking about non-Western cultures – African ones in particular – were you the target of the usual cultural appropriation criticism by “progressive” gamers?
CM: Yeah, of course there has been some of that. The supplement came out on the coat tails of the Black Panther movie (not by design). I had thought this would be a stroke of luck because of the interest in African sci-fi fiction, but this was not the case. Though many of my backers are African-American, I received a fair amount of criticism (particularly on Twitter) over the fact that I was “white”. Attackers didn’t hate the content, but rather, were upset that it was written by a white man… A fact that I can’t help in the slightest. It puzzles me why they argue on one hand that there isn’t enough black representation in fiction, yet on the other hand, they insist on it being written by non-whites. To add insult to injury, the African-American population in general seems to routinely avoid the professions necessary for the creation of their own fiction. If you want your own Afro-centric sci-fi setting, but don’t want a non-black to write it, then stop complaining and do it yourself.
RR: Yes, I know what you mean… What do you think about people writing games inspired by R. E. Howard and Lovecraft but, at the same time, pointing out their “character flaws” in a contemporary point of view?
CM: My game was also heavily inspired by those two authors and many others. It’s hard for me to say that I find “character flaws” in them, because I don’t buy into the whole critical race theory. But, even if I did have issues with some belief or comment of theirs made 60 years ago, I try not to judge people based on contemporary norms. That’s something I think (hope) most historians try to divest themselves of. If you are going to truly understand the people of the past, you can’t allow your own beliefs and prejudices to influence how you see them.
“It puzzles me why they argue on one hand that there isn’t enough black representation in fiction, yet on the other hand, they insist on it being written by non-whites. “
RR: Lovecraft isn’t as easy to point out as an inspiration as RE Howard. Which are the Lovecraftian parts of Ankur?
CM: Oh, but Cthulhu is an actual Sumerian demi-god, HPL did not invent him.
RR: Yes, of course, I was thinking about Lovecraftian only in a Call of Cthulhu type of setting…
CM: There are tales of a race of aliens who interbred with humans and sought refuge from the great flood in the bowels of the earth. After the flood and the return of the aliens of Nibiru, these subterranean dwellers, who had evolved into a new species, saw themselves as the rightful rulers of earth. They enticed surface dwellers to join the cult of “kutu-Ulhu” (to be born again into the vaulted firmament). Actually, there are even Greek myths about this cult attacking worshipers of Zeus.
RR: Now about game mechanics: how does ANKUR work?
CM: ANKUR works on a unique D12 system of my own invention. There are no class levels in this game, but there are skills and skill levels. Rather than using a DC number for scenarios, ANKUR uses what I call an “Action potential number” or APN for short. Your APN is derived from your skill level and the corresponding stat number. You add the two together and roll this number or less to successfully accomplish your goal. A roll of 12 is always a critical failure. A roll of 1 is always a success, but never a critical success. You score a crit success if/when you roll your exact APN.
There aren’t many modifiers in the game, but if a character’s APN is increased or decreased above 12 or below 1, stop at those numbers and count backwards the difference. This increases the crit range. When attacking, a roll will tell the players whether or not they hit, the damage and if it passed through the opponent’s armour or not.
RR: The d12 based system is an unusual option. What was the reason behind that choice?
CM: Well, honestly, it wasn’t my first choice. Remember, this was originally my home brew rules set for D&D and D20. But, I wanted to differentiate my game from D20, so I tried various different dice. I tried dice pools, D100, 2 D6 etc. Nothing really seemed to work well. Then I learned that the number 12 was a sacred number to the Sumerians. They had an early form of numerology and #12 was featured very prominently in it. So, I decided to use a D12 and it worked fairly well. It only works however, if you change the stats from a 1-18 range to a 1-5 range. This ended up making sense to me anyway because in D&D only the top 4-5 stats had any positive effects on outcome anyway.
“ANKUR works on a unique D12 system of my own invention. There are no class levels in this game, but there are skills and skill levels.”
RR: Oh, well, if 12 was a sacred number for Sumerians it does make a lot of sense in this case… I think we covered enough ground about ANKUR itself, just a few more questions about your background as role player. When did you start role playing? How old were you? How did you find out about it? Which game did you start with?
CM: I started Playing D&D in 1981 at the age of 8. My next-door neighbour had some cool looking dwarf and hobbit miniatures. They were poorly painted with testers paint in primary colours. But, I had never seen anything like them. I asked where he had gotten them from and it happened to be a little hobby shop a few cities over called “Titan games & comics”. Once I found the place I convinced my parents to take me there to buy some of those metal toy soldiers. I ended up getting the game, a bunch of minis and a hobby that lasted me over 40 yrs. Titans had a small, cramped store-room in the back with a table and some folding chairs. An odd assortment of characters took me under their wing and showed me the ropes. There was Dale: a hippie Satan worshiper who only used black dice, Steve: a retired champion body-builder with super thick glasses, Weird Bob: who was in the air force and worked in a nuclear silo, Tony: a klepto-maniac security guard, Ginger: a foxy, curvy blonde who never wore a bra, Shannon: a midget who always carried a samurai sword, Butch: who loved sports and slaw dogs, Charlie: an over-zealous police officer, and a half dozen others that rotated through over the years.
RR: That’s probably the best “how did I get started in the hobby story” I’ve ever heard about! At which point you felt you needed to write your own game?
CM: The owner of Titan comics eventually created Dragon-Con and I worked for him for 10 years as a guest liaison. At the convention I saw a panel on game design. The guests seemed so normal and their comments on game design made it seem so easy. It was then that I decided… I can do that!
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ANKUR VISIT MAD SCRIBE GAME’S OFFICIAL SITE
After five releases – the Giallo trilogy, Welcome to St. Cloud and Postcards from Avalidad– there will be a pause… No, I haven’t given up, nor have I run out of ideas (not yet, at least). But James ‘Grim’ Desborough has his own game to finish: Wightchester is about to enter Crowdfunding stage. Since he’s the one doing his magic and turning my words into something you can work with, for a while the Red Room will appear to be quiet. Appearances can be deceiving, though. We will keep publishing interviews and some new content for the previous releases.
Meanwhile…
We’re working on a new game setting for *Punk and there are already two Double Features written and ready for layout. The Double Feature scenarios try to emulate the Grindhouse phenomenon of the 1970s in a role-playing framework. There are now four of those short scenarios, prepared to be paired up in two volumes. And perhaps more to come…
Double Features: Sexual Holocaust: the fictional town of Hammettville, New York, is shaken by a series of gruesome and mysterious murders. The victim are all members of a sadomasochism private club.
Brides of the Vampire: a collection of plot hooks, set in different time periods, introduced along one character’s story: Nikolai Andreievich Petrov, an old Eastern European vampire.
The Devil’s Country: a story within a story scenario about a movie cast and crew about to shoot a spaghetti western based on a cursed movie script. Players start out as movie industry people, later slipping into their characters in a western town outside our own reality.
Resort of the Dead: a George Romero/ J.G. Ballard crossover about a Zombie Apocalypse set in a formerly luxurious – but now decaying – summer resort in Portugal, during the 1980s.
GRIM JIM: British writer, editor, game designer, YouTuber and outspoken left-wing egalitarian discusses his views on cancel culture, the negative impact of safety tools and woke propaganda in role-playing games. We also talked about the worst controversies he has been involved in, his suicide attempts and other cheerful subjects. Tabletopless is also mentioned, so it’s not all that dreary…
Disclaimer: my own game settings are being published by Postmortem Studios, but I wanted to avoid this becoming something like a self-promoting plug. So, I opted for a slightly alternative interview format from what I would usually do: questions are less about what James Desborough does, and more about what he thinks. Since he is quite active on social media, I believe people are interested in knowing a little more about him. We talked a bit about some of his work too, namely Wightchester, a game about a zombie apocalypse, set in England during the Early Modern period, on which Grim Jim has been working lately and which is due for release early next year.
Red Room: Your “cancelling” (most likely in the plural form) is almost legendary in the role-playing scene, but we still must address it and it seems to be the proper way to begin the interview. When, how and why did it all start?
James Desborough: It’s a hard thing to pin down exactly. I suppose my first hint was some time after the release of Hentacle* where a handful of headbangers started in on me on RPGnet. They called this (humorous, if pornographic) card game – amongst other things – ‘fetishised child rape’. I used some of those comments as advertising blurb, but it was demanded I take them down.
The weird part is that by modern standards I did almost everything right. I gave plenty of disclaimers and warnings, the artist was Asian, and a woman, and it was – obviously – sex positive.
That cancelling didn’t really stick, at least not at that point, though resistance to it was worn down over time.
The big issue was my article ‘In Defence of Rape’, which I wrote after the fuss about the ‘sexual threat’ in the Lara Croft reboot trailer. It was, of course, actually a defence of free speech and the right of creative people to use anything – even sexual violence – in their stories.
Nobody, it seems, read past the title and I was shocked, and am still shocked, by the extent to which the industry rolls over for these loonies.
* Hentacle was published in 2004
“The big issue was my article ‘In Defence of Rape’, which I wrote after the fuss about the ‘sexual threat’ in the Lara Croft reboot trailer. It was, of course, actually a defence of free speech and the right of creative people to use anything – even sexual violence – in their stories.”
RR: Was there a moment when you felt you could still surrender to the mob and keep working freely?
JD: No apology, however grovelling, would have been good enough. Nor could I have lived with myself if I made the performative apology and said the magic words they wanted. I couldn’t have lived with myself.
RR: What about self-publishing, did that arise from the need to get your work out there somehow?
JD: Freelancing is hard to get at the best of times, and I was typecast as a comedy writer. It arose out of necessity after I lost my job during the .com crash and couldn’t find any other work for 18 months. So it was a combination of things.
Also I bump up against other people and am anti-authoritarian in my bones.
RR: You frequently dare to touch the subject of men’s rights, which is probably not the best way to make friends at the moment… Why do you find it so important to talk about it: your own personal experience compels you to do it, or you believe you should speak out on behalf of those who can’t (or won’t) voice their own opinion?
JD: I wouldn’t say men’s rights. While I’ve appeared on shows with men’s rights activists and to talk about men’s issues I feel that the modern men’s rights movement has courted the right too much and is making many of the same mistakes as today’s ‘revenge’ feminism.
RR: What would you rather call it, then?
JD: No doubt there are issues around a deficit in men’s rights. Things like the draft, like circumcision, like legal, or at least unpunished and socially licensed, discrimination against men, like the Duluth model, like the woeful lack of support for failing men and boys. Still, I am an egalitarian, and that’s what I would call it. I don’t want to lose sight of the greater context. What we’re supposed to be striving for is equality, for everyone, before the law. My focus is upon men’s issues, solely because they have gone unaddressed for so long, and there is such resistance to considering them.
My mental health issues obviously lead me to talk about the high rate of male suicide, otherwise I think – as an egalitarian – we should address the issues where men are trodden down as much as we do those that affect women. Few people do talk about it, and they’re often cranks. I’m at least articulate and left-wing, might reach more people.
RR: You do talk about politics and social issues often, and you’re particularly eloquent about it, much more so than a great deal of YouTubers, certainly more than most other role-players. Did you have formal education or are you an autodidact?
JD: A bit of both. I dropped out of art-school but kept learning by myself. I do have a reasonably high formal education in history, politics and art however, as well as a big interest in these topics. I find I often know more about these subjects than formal graduates. I think the only thing I missed out on was the social side of university. My family needed me at the time, so no regrets – just wistfulness.
RR: Now for a sensitive subject, obviously connected to the previous questions. You have frequently talked about your suicide attempt, so I feel there’s no problem in bringing that up. What brought you to that point?
JD: There have been multiple attempts. The most public one was related to feeling utterly cut adrift during the Gamergate controversy. I was absolutely horrified about the way in which so many people I had previously respected did no independent research, didn’t trust me – their colleague and friend – and instead went with a false narrative, blindly and obediently.
It wasn’t Gamergate itself, but the ground shifting under me and releasing people who had done the right thing so often in the past had changed too much to keep doing so.
RR: Something I find interesting is that you do not give up on explaining about Socialism, Marxism and Communism to the American audience. You still hope you’ll get the message through about differences in those concepts?
JD: I’m fighting against 70 years of propaganda, so I don’t think I can make much of a dent. I just can’t let it lie! I would say my highest value is truth, I just can’t let people lie or be wrong when I know that’s what is happening.
“I was absolutely horrified about the way in which so many people I had previously respected did no independent research, didn’t trust me – their colleague and friend – and instead went with a false narrative, blindly and obediently.”
RR: Don’t you get tired of debating – not just this – but several other things over and over on social media? As you know I follow you in several networking sites and I sometimes get tired of just glancing over all the drama!
JD: I do, but it’s such a core value I can’t leave it. It feels like a hopeless, Sisyphean task, but it’s in my nature.
RR: Is there something nasty you haven’t been accused of on social media yet?
JD: Murder? Maybe?
RR: Yeah, it’s not too late for that, though… I will not mention again that one blog article whose title keeps coming up out of context but, other than that, which was the worst controversy you got caught up on?
JD: Possibly the one time I genuinely did something wrong and referred to a transperson as ‘it’. In my defence they were a horrible person who soon after got accused of sexual misconduct, were being a dick, didn’t have pronouns in their bio and was listed as both male and female online. Also, I apologised. Still, that got people in a tizzy.
RR: And since that came up, you recently got involved in all the drama surrounding TSR3, partly taking their side, as you felt some issues should have been brought up against them, other than the fake transphobia outrage. Have those other topics been already addressed?
JD: I didn’t take their side so much as the side of the truth, my core value. I was disgusted that they were being hung drawn and quartered over a lie, while points of genuine concern were left unaddressed. They mostly still haven’t been.
RR: Safety tools are a frequent subject of yours and you find their use, as most people probably know, disparaging. In what ways has that trend damaged the hobby?
JD: They’ve created the idea that games could ever be unsafe, for one. They’ve created a big divide in camps of players and have hobbled the capacity to properly do horror games, to surprise or shock players or to take risks with storylines.
RR: In Actual Fucking Monsters Companion you proposed something called the M-Card (M for Mature) as an alternative to X-Cards and such. Do you think something like that is viable?
JD: It’s slightly tongue-in cheek, a simple reversal. It seems easier to me to label your game as unsuitable for those of a particular disposition, rather than to negotiate your way through a series of almost random, catastrophised preferences from 4-6 other people.
The people who demand safety tools, X-cards etc. seem – to me – to be rather surface level thinkers. They don’t reason through the impact of their demands and requirements and the negative effect they can have on stories and drama, on plot, how disrespectful they are to the other players and the Games Master. For better or worse I am cursed with a fretful mind that almost cannot help but consider these issues.
I look at the massively negative impact these things have had already, and how they simply do not work. From allowing for the social lynching of players and Games Masters, to not preventing problems as they have with streamed games. The whole effort seems pointless and worse than useless, an empty gesture of performative conformity and fear.
Better then, as I say, to advertise that the game you are running is ‘not for you’. Then, at least in theory, you don’t have to worry.
“The people who demand safety tools, X-cards etc. seem – to me – to be rather surface level thinkers. They don’t reason through the impact of their demands and requirements and the negative effect they can have on stories and drama, on plot, how disrespectful they are to the other players and the Games Master.“
RR: I’ve decided to translate Orpheum Lofts after a few online discussions about Monte Cook’s Consent in Gaming. It made me want to put something “unsafe” out there so, in my case, the safety tools had the opposite effect. Do you feel there’s enough of a struggle against their use from the community?
JD: There is in the rank and file, there isn’t from conventions, stores and publishers.
RR: Do you think there will be a winner to the role-playing “culture wars”, or are we all doomed to lose?
JD: We all lose. Woke people are creating insufferable and insipid games and are turning crowdfunding into confession. They’ve also made games that tackle ‘progressive’ topics from a non-propagandist stance hard to publish. Equally edgy content, the interesting stuff frankly, has a lot to overcome.
“Woke people are creating insufferable and insipid games and are turning crowdfunding into confession. They’ve also made games that tackle ‘progressive’ topics from a non-propagandist stance hard to publish.”
RR: That’s an interesting point, the propagandist tone of woke game designers. The ones on the “wrong side of History” seem to have avoided propaganda in their gaming contents, haven’t they?
JD: Yes. There is a somewhat valid argument that you cannot help but influence your writing and games from your viewpoint, but the unwoke (the slept?) manage to avoid propagandising.
You’ll find common threads in my work, anti-authoritarianism, dangerous ideas, the importance of sexuality, contrarianism, second and third-order effects of SF and fantasy elements, the idea of affecting the world around you. You’ll also find shades of my personal philosophies and personal outlooks, but also things that I hate and find appalling. Their presence doesn’t mean I advocate for them, any more than writing a villain means I endorse their atrocities. It’s a bizarre way to interpret fiction, to see everything as a deep probing insight into the mentality of the creator. Some aspects of the argument are valid, but they take it too far, into the realm of parody.
Even the games that avoid propagandising now tend to include all sorts of disclaimers, and telling all sorts of people that their game is ‘not for them’. For me that’s a tell, tracing back to the disclaimers that used to be de rigeur for games during and after the Satanic Panic, underlining that the games are not real, and that you shouldn’t do anything based on what was in them.
Absurd, of course, just like all the other panics.
Speaking for myself, an alt-right gamer’s money spends as well as anyone else’s, and if they want to pay for a Left-Anarchist game designer’s lifestyle, I find that oddly fitting – and quite funny.
RR: Tell us about your most important references and influences as a writer, of both fiction and role playing games.
JD: I devour pop culture, so it’s hard to pin down anything super specific. I would say, however, that my major influences stem from the paperback Science Fiction of the 60s, 70s and 80s. When 50,000 words was good enough for a novel, short stories were valid and people played around with ideas more. Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions still excite and challenge, even today.
“You’ll find common threads in my work, anti-authoritarianism, dangerous ideas, the importance of sexuality, contrarianism, second and third-order effects of SF and fantasy elements, the idea of affecting the world around you.”
To drop a few names… Ted ‘Theodore’ Sturgeon, Bill S Burroughs (esquire), Phillip K Dick, Silverberg, Poul Anderson, Phillip Jose Farmer, Bloch, Aldiss, Niven, Pournelle and a bunch more. Fantasy is not so much my bag, save the classics that made the genre. Horror-wise my taste is more 80s, Barker, Herbert, Hutson – not so much King, much as I respect his cocaine-fuelled work ethic.
A lot of more modern fiction leaves me cold, but John Courtney Grimwood, China Mieville, Joe Abercrombie, Richard Morgan, Max Barry, Stephenson, Peter F Hamilton. People who experiment and play around with ideas the way the New Wave did.
Comics are a big influence. Moore (obviously), Mills, Ellis, Gaiman.
Art too, oddly perhaps. Tim White and Jim Burns stand out in particular.
RR: You published a few works of fiction, but much less than role-playing content. Why was that?
IJD: It’s a lot more work for a lot less reward, and agents and houses aren’t interested in my kind of writing. Plus I can’t stick to a single genre and prefer short stories. Much like my Youtube channel, I do it wrong.
RR: I think I remember you mentioning you once wanted to be an artist. What went wrong (or right)?
JD: I did one year of art college (Salisbury), which was meant primarily to be a prep time to get a portfolio together to get into a degree course. The teachers were awful. I was interested in illustration, anime, comics, science-fiction and fantasy. They were interested in fine art. Once again, I simply didn’t fit what was wanted.
I attended interviews around various universities, but the interviewers were obviously hostile to what I wanted to do. There was one course that was appealing, but it was in Salford and looking at the area around the university I didn’t much fancy it. My parents had divorced a year or two before and I was needed at home. Don’t regret it. Much.
RR: How hard (pun intended) is game mastering porn stars for Tabletopless games?
JD: It’s tricky in some ways. I have to turn away when the sexy stuff comes to the fore or I’ll be too distracted to run the game. We have to balance sexytime stuff, performance and our own preference for presenting a more realistic game (in other ways) than something like Critical Role. It helps that everyone’s into the game and the story as well though, and we allow viewers to buy in and shift events. So it keeps me on my toes.
RR: How did that start? Has anything like that ever been done before?
JD: Anna and Richard had tried before with a different group and GM, but it didn’t really work out. There was ‘D&D with Pornstars’ with Zak Smith and Satine Phoenix amongst others, but they didn’t combine the two in the way we do. I think we’re the first to really make it work in terms of a combined experience, and others are coming up in our wake.
RR: You do it mostly for the money, am I correct?
JD: Hah! It’s nice to have a regular paycheque for a day or two’s work a week, and the knock on sales, and it pays better for the time spent than my regular sales, but I’m in it to get some gaming done and to have fun.
RR: If I’m not mistaken, these are the only streaming games you are currently game mastering. Did you run others before, with fully clothed players?
JD: I’ve not been a huge fan of online play before, people treat it with less commitment than face-to-face sessions. However I did run a full Dragon Warriors campaign online during lockdown, and have run odd sessions here and there.
RR: Wightchester has been in the works for some time. When do you expect to release it?
JD: Early next year, with a Kickstarter starting in August to cover additional costs and the time already spent writing. It’s taking so long because other projects keep popping up and the time taken with Tabletopless. Once I’m caught up with already submitted projects I’m putting 100% focus on Wightchester and not taking anything else on until it’s done.
RR: Now, tell us a bit about the game setting.
JD: It’s a walled city in the South of England, during the Early Modern period (1667). It’s not long after the Civil War and the Restoration, so it’s interesting times even before the dead rise and devour the living. The undead are beaten back, but the most afflicted city is walled in, filled with the dead, and used as a prison in the vague hope that prisoners will – eventually – clear out the dead.
“Once I’m caught up with already submitted projects I’m putting 100% focus on Wightchester and not taking anything else on until it’s done.”
RR: And since settings were mentioned, most of your games don’t have very detailed game worlds. Why is that?
JD: I think, as a designer, my job is to provide a context in which people make their own stories. Not to try and impose my story and particulars upon people. Too much canon becomes stifling. It’s not like writing a novel or a hyperreal imaginary atlas. I prefer to provide the tools than the finished product.
RR: When did you get into role-playing and how did you find out about the hobby?
JD: It depends, really, what you mean by ‘roleplaying’. I started with Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, which means I would have been seven or eight. Myself and a friend would play them together, with me reading the book and them making the choices. In 1984 (I was 9) Fighting Fantasy – The Introductory Role-Playing Game came out, and that was my first ‘true’ RPG encounter. Reading about other games in that led me to a model shop in Basingstoke, and thence to MERP.
RR: Fighting Fantasy was also what got me into the hobby, though I think they were only translated to Portuguese in the late 80s… Which role-playing games did you enjoy most and which influenced you as a game designer?
JD: Games that I enjoy fulfil both criteria, so… WHFRP, Dragon Warriors, SLA Industries, Cyberpunk 2013, Cyberpunk 2020, Mekton, Starblazer Adventures, FUDGE, Old World of Darkness (especially Vampire and Mage), Traveller TNE, Twilight 2000, Blood!, Legend of the Five Rings, Feng Shui, Wasted West… lots.
RR: When did you publish your first commercial role-playing content and which was it?
JD: If you count more fanzine type stuff, 1992 or so, at Gamesfair I think. Published by someone else, The Munchkin’s Guide to Powergaming in 2000. Published by myself, Cloak of Steel in 2004.
RR: Interesting, I remember Munchkin’s Guide to Powergaming but I had no idea it was your work. Do you have a favourite “child” among your games?
JD: Whichever thing I’m working on at the time. Perhaps Blood!, perhaps AFM, perhaps The Little Grey Book.
RR: For what companies did you work before publishing your own material?
JD: Mongoose Publishing, Steve Jackson Games, Nightfall Games, Cubicle 7 Entertainment, Wizards of the Coast and numerous smaller companies.
RR: Do you have a favourite genre in RPGs, both as a gamer and a game designer?
WARPLAND: Weeks after launching his new OSR dark fantasy RPG Warpland, this game designer from Buenos Aires, Argentina, talks about the new release, his creative process and how art has influenced the way he works.
Two years ago, Gavriel Quiroga dedicated himself entirely to role-playing games, experimental music and poetry. First, he wrote the acclaimed NEUROCITY, a dystopian nightmare set in a subterranean city complex watched over by a supercomputer named I.S.A.C., after which came Warpland, a primeval science fantasy role-playing game, inspired by Heavy Metal comics and fuelled by psychedelia. In Warpland, Humanity lives trapped in an Iron Age, where knowledge and science are anathema and only a few brave ones dare to explore the ruins of forgotten temples, searching for ancient artefacts. Gavriel is about to Kickstart a campaign for Ascet, a card game about monks seeking enlightenment, while being lured into temptation by demons, and he also has been working on a yet undisclosed new role-playing game.
Red Room: NEUROCITY is dark and partly Kultish. Is this what we should expect from Warpland?
Gavriel Quiroga: I aimed at a Paranoia/ Kult hybrid setting for NEUROCITY, but Warpland is a different animal, though. I think you will enjoy it. I made a huge effort for that world to make sense!
RR: Is it a science fantasy setting?
GQ: I guess it is a science fantasy and sword & sorcery mash up. My friends say it is He-Man on a bad acid trip in the middle of Patagonia.
RR: You are from Argentina, right?
GQ: Yes. I was born here but most of my life I have been travelling in Asia.
“I guess it is a science fantasy and sword & sorcery mash up. My friends say it is He-Man on a bad acid trip in the middle of Patagonia.”
RR: Is there a role-playing scene over there? I know there are lots of people working in RPGs in Brazil, but I know nothing about what’s going on in other South American countries.
GQ: The scene here is big, but it is dull and lacks courage. Most are just content with playing official mainstream RPG products. Brazil has the edge. With Diogo Nogueira as the spearhead. There is zero interest for my work in my own country!
RR: For most people the hobby is still Dungeons & Dragons and then all the rest, isn’t it?
GQ: Is it? I don’t know. I feel so alienated from those products that they feel from another dimension. Everyone I know is into the OSR independent scene. I love it.
RR: When was Warpland officially released for non-backers?
GQ: In the middle of June, but people are starting to play it only now. The setting is a bit demanding.
RR: So this is the right time to target new customers, is that so?
GQ: Yes. I’m growing awareness beyond backers, before moving to my next project, Ascet, a card game where you interpret an ascetic monk that seeks enlightenment, while demons try to lure him with temptations. Pre-launch Kickstarter will start in less than ten days.
RR: Have you developed any other games besides NEUROCITY and Warpland?
GQ: No! I have lost friends and fell into a profound vortex of chaos and depression because of these works. They are not products. I really have something to say. Every time I do this I need to bleed myself before I am finished. It is a nightmare trip.
“I have lost friends and fell into a profound vortex of chaos and depression because of these works. They are not products. I really have something to say.”
RR: You really did put a lot of effort into these projects…
GQ: I walked endless nights my friend!
RR: But they do look great! They have aesthetic references in common, but you are not a visual artist, are you?
GQ: No, I am not. I work with a big team of illustrators that are patient enough to work with me. I am a poet and an experimental musician in the underground Buenos Aires scene.
RR: There is a playlist for Warpland, is that correct?
GQ: Warpland’s playlist features two official soundtracks, one by me and another by other artists. And we are launching a dungeon synth album for Warpland soon, with several great musicians from the scene. It also includes an adventure written by Walton Wood.
RR: People I have talked to about the independent role-playing market have mentioned how difficult it is to promote new games. What has been your own experience so far?
GQ: It is like waving in a crowd. You only get a chance if you have a visually distinct product. Half of most social media groups don’t allow independent creators to advert. I guess it is understandable because they need to control spam. I know I can only compete for attention if I make something that is both good and original. And attention is the most expensive thing nowadays.
RR: There’s much more people writing games now. Probably those numbers increased while Covid restrictions kept us at home.
GQ: Yes, there are. There was a popular phrase from the New York ‘no wave’ scene “everyone here has a band”. It has to do with movements and creative forces, people feel that inertia, and want to be part of it. It is a good thing.
“I know I can only compete for attention if I make something that is both good and original. And attention is the most expensive thing nowadays.”
RR: When did you start with role-playing games?
GQ: I was 14 years old. We only had the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook, second edition, and we somehow made it work without having a clue or guidance. Great times! We played on recesses. We got bullied for being nerds, but we kept on playing.
RR: Was that still in your home country?
GQ: Yes, in Buenos Aires. I am trying to collect the books. They were a bit hard to find in those days. Then I found World of Darkness, and we started playing in a homebrewed fantasy setting using a variation of WoD’s system.
RR: Was that in the mid-1990s or later? I remember when everybody was playing Vampire, the Masquerade, but I am probably a bit older than you are.
GQ: It was in 1997. There was a popular role-playing Vampire, the Masquerade scene in Buenos Aires, but I was only marginally part of it.
RR: And from World of Darkness you moved on to Kult, I suppose?
GQ: I bought Kult on a visit to Madrid. Never found anyone to play with. Read it extensively. Love it! I wrote adventures and mechanics for it, even though I did not have a playgroup.
RR: Was that the Spanish translation? I purchased it recently, in a very good condition, I might add!
GQ: Yes. But it was not the current version. I think it was the second edition.
RR: Was it the one with the black and white cover?
GQ: Yes. It is awesome!
RR: Probably my favourite RPG cover ever!
GQ: Probably my favourite RPG creators. I’ve read and listen to their interviews.
RR: Yes, I also enjoyed those interviews, they were very informative. In the old days I knew nothing about them. Have you read their novel?
GQ: Yes, Jonsson and Petersén… I have not read it. Do you recommend it?
RR: I think they are in the process of rewriting it, or maybe the rewrite is being translated into English, I’m not quite sure about it. Well, they are better at writing games than novels, but it’s an excellent mood setter, especially for the old Kult. It is set in Berlin.
GQ: That’s OK, you can always read Clive Barker. It depends how your brain is wired. There are few great poets that could write a novel. I guess a similar thing happens with this format. Like a collage and a kaleidoscopic vision of a world with its characters and singularities; it’s the only way I know how to write.
“Like a collage and a kaleidoscopic vision of a world with its characters and singularities; it’s the only way I know how to write.”
RR: Which were your most important influences in literature, movies and music?
GQ: I am sincerely open and eclectic to all genres and most art forms. There is always something that picks my interest. I have a strong foundation that was built by the 1970s comic scene in Argentina, which was amazing and strongly influence by the Heavy Metal magazine. For literature: Kafka, Borges and Dostoyevsky. For cinema: Kubrick, Tarkovsky and Kurosawa come up to my mind as fundamental.
RR: I forgot to ask you about music influences, those surely are important to you.
GQ: Same thing. I listen to classical, doom, minimal tech, 80s rock, cumbia, trap and ambient depending on the mood and mind-set. I am very picky and usually respect the privilege of silence, when I am not in a social atmosphere.
RR: That’s really an eclectic taste! What about role-playing games, any other that was important in your gaming life, besides the ones you’ve already mentioned?
GQ: Black Sun Deathcrawl had a profound effect on me and the possibilities of being an independent creator. I think it is a worthy precursor to Mork Borg, the sense of the immediacy of the world ending soon. There is also an obscure splatterpunk science fantasy French RPG called Mantoid that I also love. And I am positively jealous and fond of Mothership.
“I am sincerely open and eclectic to all genres and most art forms. There is always something that picks my interest. I have a strong foundation that was built by the 1970s comic scene in Argentina, which was amazing and strongly influence by the Heavy Metal magazine.”
RR: That was a big hit. And yet it seems so simple. What do you think made it special?
GQ: The concept and aesthetics are so dead on that it brings tears to my eyes. It takes great talent, vision and effort to pull it off so perfectly. You cannot fake that with money, it is pure heart. And there was a vacuum in the industry for that concept.
RR: The same applies to Mork Borg I suppose?
GQ: Of course, same thing. I am a fan of Mork Borg. Warpland has a Johan Nohr illustration on the last adventure and the first line of the Tenet “What was written must be destroyed” is a wink to Mork Borg.
YOU CAN PURCHASE GAVRIEL QUIROGA’S GAMES ON DRIVETHRU OR VISIT HIS WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO
CHA’ ALT AFTER DARK: The extra-sleazy Old School Renaissance adventure anthology for the Cha’ alt role-playing game is due for release next month, promising depravity, immoral exploits and sordid affairs for a mature audience.
Venger As’ Nas Satanis, master of eldritch gonzo role-playing, talks about his next releases, a successful game designing career, recent trends of the RPG market, keeping your dark sense of humour around the table, edgy storytelling and the shadow cast over gaming by the culture wars.
Red Room: What can you tell us about Cha’alt After Dark that wasn’t already mentioned in the Kickstarter campaign? Why do I really need that in my RPG book collection?
Venger Satanis: For me, Cha’alt is the ultimate D&D campaign setting. It’s eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, and post-apocalyptic. It’s also occasionally a bit sleazy, though not nearly as much as Alpha Blue. The Cha’alt After Dark adventures ride that razor’s edge between standard fare and the X-rated stuff you’d find on premium cable late at night or behind the curtain at your local used bookshop.
I’m including optional rules for sexual encounters, like mechanical benefits to incentivize hooking-up. I’m trying to achieve that pulp feel without letting players game the system, so it’s a balancing act. I’ve had lots of practice with Alpha Blue, so I know a thing or two about in-game sex and the pitfalls that go along with it.
If you love Cha’alt, then you hopefully want to see it flourish. Supporting these adventures supports me and that keeps me going.
RR: Are you working on something new right now?
VS: The feedback I got from the Cha’alt After Dark Kickstarter is that backers want physical books, even if it’s only print-on-demand. I spared no expense with the quality of both Cha’alt and Cha’alt: Fuchsia Malaise. The third book of the trilogy will be called Cha’alt: Chartreuse Shadows and that’s my next big project. I’ll be Kickstarting that book in September or October. It will include the adventures from Saving Cha’alt, Cha’alt After Dark (releasing in August), and another 100+ pages of new content… Possibly another megadungeon or several smaller dungeon-like areas ready to explore.
RR: What are your major influences as a role-playing game author?
VS: I take the vast majority of my influences from movies and TV shows from the ‘70s and ‘80s, also some older stuff like The Twilight Zone. The ‘90s to a lesser degree, although some of those might be cautionary tales. Definitely H.P. Lovecraft, as well. I’ve gone on about all the media I grew up with, but here are the highlights: Heavy Metal, Star Wars, Beastmaster, Alien, Dune, Conan, kooky fare like Zardoz, and probably an unhealthy dose of Monty Python and Weird Al Yankovic.
Simple, rules-light games inspired me system-wise, dice pools, simple D20 resolution mechanics, and free-form adjudication without dice… Or, at least, less dice rolling.
“The Cha’alt After Dark adventures ride that razor’s edge between standard fare and the X-rated stuff you’d find on premium cable late at night or behind the curtain at your local used bookshop.”
RR: And besides the major ones, were there any influences on your work you usually don’t talk about because role-playing nerds don’t care much about them?
VS: I feel like art could have influenced my tastes or a better way to understand it might be that there’s something inside of me that likes fauvism – wild beast, lots of bold colors – and old-school D&D and RPGs where you can go crazy and do wild off-the-wall stuff.
I’ve certainly been influenced by watching porn and years of trial and error in the dating scene. I was so bad at it for so long that I finally went full-nerd and bought some books on dating, basically putting myself through pick-up artist school. Learned a lot, put my acquired knowledge into practice, and eventually got married and had kids. RPGs like Alpha Blue give me an outlet that would normally go unfulfilled as a faithful husband: I get to pretend and/or watch horny humanoids from the 23rd century try to get laid.
RR: Your horror scenarios seem to be very “European” in nature for an American author. There are obvious references to Italian horror movies but, quite likely, there’s more than that. Would you care to elaborate on it?
VS: I like older American horror movies like Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but they’re all pretty straightforward. European – especially Italian – horror movies seem to have more going on, subtext, detective work, psycho-sexual eroticism, bold weird colors (Dario Argento), Lovecraftian weirdness happening for no apparent reason (Lucio Fulci), grossly awesome special effects (Demons), copious female nudity.
RR: Do you play a soundtrack while running adventures? If so, do you have any standard suggestions for people playing your games?
VS: Lately, when I’ve been running Cha’alt one-shots on Roll20, I’ve been searching for desert or Arabian themed dark ambient music and listening to that while we play. I’ve been a fan of dark ambient music since discovering it way back in the early ‘90s – and that musical genre is great for any kind of horror game, like Call of Cthulhu. Specific names of groups? Lustmord or Oneiroid Psychosis would do the trick. Maybe Nine Inch Nails? It’s been awhile since I’ve fished out my old CDs, but I should do that.
“European – especially Italian – horror movies seem to have more going on, subtext, detective work, psycho-sexual eroticism, bold weird colors (…)”
I like old-school heavy metal and stuff like Depeche Mode, too, but anything too distracting or with vocals gets in the way of immersion, or just me trying to talk as the GM. After discovering Vampire: the Masquerade my friends and I played it all the time. I must have played Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures just about every single time on a loop – to this day, I can’t hear those songs without being reminded of Vampire: the Masquerade. Haha!
RR: In a role-player’s mind your name is associated with the word “gonzo”. Was this planned, as a way to exploit a smaller niche of the role-playing game market, or has it always been your trademark as a game master?
VS: When I started out I was just a dumb, enthusiastic kid. I would run dungeons “on the fly”. Pretty much everything would be created spontaneously in my head from a handful of hastily scribbled notes. And I’m sure some of the weirdness I came up with was completely ridiculous and gonzo.
I never set out to create or exploit a specific niche, but once I got going and produced a handful of products, I noticed a couple trends in my work and deliberately steered towards that for the sake of consistency and my own enjoyment. Any time I try complex, rule-heavy systems, a small part of me dies on the inside. Same goes with games that try so hard to be “realistic” that they just become boredom-immersion therapy.
Since I’m now known for gonzo, I try to make my specific kind of gonzo fresh and vibrant and even more Venger than the last effort. One should never let one’s specialty become stale.
RR: Cha’alt presents a mixed science-fiction and fantasy setting, something that a lot of gamers appreciate. Quite frankly I have a hard time combining both. What is, in your opinion, behind the appeal for mixing two (apparently) contradictory things?
VS: The main one is probably not limiting myself. If I want sword and sorcery but also lasers and robots, then I don’t have to pick and choose. I can do both at the same time. There’s also a subversive element, too. Science-fantasy makes you feel like you’re doing something wrong, violating long-standing taboos. Dungeoncrawls that eventually lead to a crashed starship seem inherently off the rails – in a good way. I don’t like railroads as a play-style, nor do I like them as a design philosophy. Break barriers (in moderation) and you’ll eventually find an audience.
RR: Several of your role-playing scenarios and settings are based on humour. Alpha Blue immediately comes to mind, but it’s prevalent in most of your work. That isn’t easy to keep up while role-playing. Do you feel dark humour may have scared some players away?
VS: Humour may have scared some people off, that’s true. For whatever reason, I feel like humour is the natural state of roleplaying. I have to really concentrate in order to run a completely serious session or campaign. If I’m just being myself and doing what comes naturally, my GMing style is going to include jokes and eventually veer off into silly or slapstick or raunchy territory.
“Humour may have scared some people off, that’s true. For whatever reason, I feel like humour is the natural state of roleplaying. I have to really concentrate in order to run a completely serious session or campaign.”
RR: Would you like to mention some pro-tips to integrate humour into role-playing?
VS: If you know how to be humorous in real life, then just do that in the game. All I can say is look at yourself objectively as you’re roleplaying, see how ridiculous it is that we’re all sitting at a table, pretending to be elves and wizards and smugglers with a price on our head, then embrace that ridiculousness.
RR: And since tips were mentioned, you have authored a book titled How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss and you have a lot of experience in game mastering over the years. In your opinion, which are the essential skills a game master must possess?
VS: Yeah, that’s a favourite of mine and one of my top sellers. For me personally, a sense of humour is essential in life, not just game mastering. The ability to laugh at yourself, everybody else, and the world. My other two essential skills would be the ability to cut through the bullshit and the desire to have a good time. This is supposed to be fun – find the fun, damn it, or let someone else GM!
RR: Most OSR game designers make use of very simple layouts and mostly black and white artwork. Not you, though. Is this a personal preference or is it because you feel visually appealing books are lacking?
VS: I started out with black and white and simple layout. As I kept doing it, I took shots at higher production values until I started doing full-colour with some cool layout visuals. I don’t do the layout myself, though I do make plenty of recommendations. “No, put that over there. Those things are almost touching, move them further away. That yellow-green isn’t quite right, try this.”
Obviously, visual appeal is important. People do judge books by their covers, as well as their insides, how the pages feel. I want people to like what they read, what they’re holding. I try to impress the audience. Whether or not I succeed is up to the individual.
“People do judge books by their covers, as well as their insides, how the pages feel. I want people to like what they read, what they’re holding. I try to impress the audience. “
RR: Right now you are among the game designers immediately recognizable as OSR authors, but your games don’t seem to be as “gamist” (making use of the old GNS Theory jargon) as most of the other old-school RPGs available. Is your style the narrative or the simulationist side of the OSR?
VS: I actually spent some time at the Forge forum, so I know what you’re talking about. The jargon makes sense even though its foundation has cracks. In a way, my stuff may be more simulationist because I try to put characters into situations and let them role-play their way out. The role-play may take the form of social interaction, combat, or exploration, but the PCs have to want to keep going; some kind of motivation must be present. You motivate players by putting them in situations that are realistic and have emotional weight.
We play games, but I also want players to feel like they’re actually there, in a sense – to connect with the game world via their characters. The story invariably comes out of the disparate elements of each session, you just have to thread them together.
RR: Between games, adventures, YouTube videos and social media presence you devote plenty of time to role-playing. Do you have a day job, or do you make a living out of it?
VS: Yes, I do have a day job. The actual work I put into that job wasn’t very time consuming before the kung-flu. Since March of 2020, it takes even less of my time. That allows me to pursue my passion for RPGs. So, I’m extremely blessed and grateful.
RR: Though you are somehow connected to the conservative role-playing scene you seem not to really fit into that category…
VS: I always felt like the outsider. Growing up and probably even now in the suburbs, I was the weirdest one in any group I was in. That’s one of the reasons I gravitated towards Lovecraft. So, it seems bizarre that I would be the voice of reason, the sane one, the person speaking up for ordinary, Midwestern American values. But here I am, the champion of conservatism. That just goes to show how crazy the radical-left has become – and how they’ve managed to influence virtually every major institution – education, big tech, the media, Hollywood, the deep state, our military…
I’ve been harassed numerous time, people have tried to cancel me. I’ll have friends and colleagues leave me high and dry because I believe in biology or individual freedom or non-violence in the face of pseudo-oppression. After a while, you start putting two and two together. I’m pretty sure I know why a big online retailer won’t continue to sell Cha’alt on their virtual shelves. It’s because I won’t kneel before the woke mob and their SJW minions.
“I’ve been harassed numerous time, people have tried to cancel me. I’ll have friends and colleagues leave me high and dry because I believe in biology or individual freedom or non-violence in the face of pseudo-oppression. “
RR: While I don’t want to turn this into the theme of the interview, it does need to be addressed: What do you make of the newer generations forcing what they deem to be the necessary “inclusion” and “diversity” into the hobby? And as someone who has been attacked on social media by allegedly progressive gamers, has this been bad for business, or have you been able to turn the tables on your detractors?
VS: It seems like madness, but then revolutions can easily turn insane. Before you know it, the baby’s been thrown out with the bathwater. There was never a problem with including people. Folks didn’t gatekeep those who were different than them. Back in the day, we were ones who were different, and we’d welcome anyone who wanted to sit down and play. Didn’t matter what race, orientation, sex…
Standing firm against the woke mob hasn’t been easy. I’ve lost business opportunities, and friends, too, as I already mentioned. But I’m not the sort of person who goes along with the majority just because they’re the loudest or most aggressive. I do my own thing based on what I feel is just.
I put my faith in two things – the revolution ending as the pendulum inevitably swings back the other way and the next generation, Generation Alpha (as I’ve heard it called), are poised to be way more conservative than Millennials. It’s the natural state of rebelling against what came before. I don’t think kids today will put up with the critical woke theory being pushed on them as cultural Marxism continues to rise.
RR: Most readers will surely know the answer to this question, but I’ll ask it anyway: Your work deals with mature subjects, mainly sex, violence and drugs. What is your take on so-called safety tools?
VS: The greatest safety tool is communication. If you’re unsure, just have a quick conversation with someone. Failing that, use your legs. If a particular game just isn’t for you, walk out. I’ve done it myself. I don’t believe in checklists or X-cards. And I also don’t believe in forcing other gamers to bend to your will. I give potential players a heads-up so they know what to expect, but after that, I do what I do, using my own judgement to determine what lines to cross and when to cross them.
“The greatest safety tool is communication. If you’re unsure, just have a quick conversation with someone. Failing that, use your legs. “
RR: Is mature role-playing again missing from the gaming market due to so many worried about “sensitive” content?
VS: It’s there in the right places and right amounts, I feel. Mature content probably shouldn’t make up the majority of RPG content because that’s not what most people want. But there’s a strong and vibrant sect of gamers who crave roleplaying with blood, guts, drugs, sex, and tentacles… And I’m here for them.
RR: When did you publish your first commercial role-playing content and what was it?
VS: The first RPG content I put out into the world and charged money for was a little something called Empire of Satanis. It was bad on purpose (though, I may have only realized that subconsciously) and should only be appreciated ironically. It was my Andy Kaufman phase where I tried my hardest to make something awesome but in the most hackneyed and amateurish way – a bit like Encounter Critical, actually. I followed it up with a sourcebook called Satanis Unbound. That was around 2004 and 2005. It wasn’t until 2012 that I started becoming aware of, and interested in, the Old School Renaissance.
In 2013, I self-published Liberation of the Demon Slayer, a megadungeon that could be used with most versions of original Dungeons & Dragons. I did that as a way of testing out a prevailing theory. Like many my age, I grew up with old-school D&D but realized I wasn’t having as much fun as an adult with 3rd and 4th edition. There were two reasons for that. Either I had out-grown my passion for RPGs or modern D&D lacked certain fundamental principles we implemented in the early days of roleplaying. I needed to see which one fit me, so I created an old-school type of dungeoncrawl using either B/X or one of those retro-clones. As I hoped, it turns out that I wasn’t outgrowing D&D, I just enjoyed old-school styles of play better than modern versions.
Liberation of the Demon Slayer was successful artistically, critically, and commercially. So, I kept going after that. There are a lot of people, such as the RPG Pundit, who consider The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence to be their favourite product of all my stuff. Cha’alt was a return to that type of adventuring, which is probably why it’s been such a hit with the OSR crowd.
RR: Has the market changed since you first started as a game designer?
VS: I don’t think there’s been any kind of huge shift in the market. There’s still a lot of gamers who love roleplaying, but most are into whatever the modern incarnation of D&D is (thankfully, 5th edition is closer to old-school D&D than 3rd or 4th edition) or the other 800lb gorillas or super-niche, artisanal, boutique RPGs that seem to generate a huge following overnight and then fade into obscurity after 6 months. Of course, get enough of them on a consistent basis and you have a movement, like the Apocalypse World story-games.
The traditional way will always have a following. Just as there will always be a place for normal, old fashioned, conservative values, even when the rest of the world is jumping up and down, screaming, shouting, flaunting its rainbow monkey dong in your face.
RR: When and how have you discovered role-playing games?
VS: My aunt gave me and my cousin some D&D stuff when I was 10 and he was 11 or 12. I got the magenta box Basic set in 1983 with the Erol Otus cover. At first, we didn’t get it – but I still loved the pictures, words, and idea of pretending to be a warrior or wizard in that fantasy world.
A few months later, a friend at school who learned from his older brother showed me how to actually play D&D. I distinctly remember a one-on-one session where my character kept dying until a change in tactics and some lucky die rolls allowed me to survive long enough to reach 2nd level… and then 3rd. He was a fighter named Root.
“The traditional way will always have a following. Just as there will always be a place for normal, old fashioned, conservative values, even when the rest of the world is jumping up and down, screaming, shouting, flaunting its rainbow monkey dong in your face.”
RR: What was the game that caught your interest? And was there some game everybody else liked, but you hated?
VS: Besides D&D, I gravitated towards TMNT and other Strangeness, Paranoia, the WEG Star Wars RPG, Call of Cthulhu, Toon, Amber the Diceless RPG, Vampire: the Masquerade, etc.
I remember not liking certain games because the session itself was extremely boring. Bad GMing, I’d call it. I really liked the idea of Shadowrun and all the d6s, but the rest of the system wasn’t to my liking, same thing with Palladium games and GURPs. I owned the DC Heroes RPG, as well as, the FASA Doctor Who boxed set with Tom Baker on the cover – but I never really played them, nor did I try to run such games. Not sure if they seemed overly complicated or what, but I simply looked through them a lot and made a few aliens via random rolls with Doctor Who. Same goes for Over The Edge. Always wanted to play or run it, but just never had the opportunity.
RR: Do you have time to run other people’s games? If so, is there something that you’ve tried recently that you liked?
VS: Unfortunately, I don’t have time to run other people’s games right now. A few years ago, I did a short series of one-shots where I went back and ran some old favourites like Paranoia, Vampire: the Masquerade, and Marvel.
After Cha’alt: Chartreuse Shadows, I’ll be focusing on Encounter Critical, so that’s another person’s game (which I bought the rights to a couple months ago). Other than that… I’d like to run more of the games I grew up with for nostalgic reasons, and because they’re great games. Call of Cthulhu, Toon, Amber, and WEG Star Wars. The limited amount of time is a big factor. If I want to keep putting out my own stuff, my energy needs to be spent playtesting. But playing in games I’m unfamiliar with would also be valuable research. We’ll see what happens.
RR: Before we end this, one final question: Is the Cult of Cthulhu a real thing or a very elaborate joke?
VS: It’s real. Well, as real as any conception of the unknowable. We talk about God like we’re intimately familiar with him – and know exactly what he’s about. Religion is just a way of understanding God. Neither religion, nor God are within our mortal purview. The human race is on this mysterious journey without much to go on. Finding answers is key, but no one has a monopoly on those answers.
I’ve found a lot of deep truth in Lovecraft’s writing. The Cthulhu Mythos is as good as any pantheon or theology you could name. Plus, it has tentacles! Back when I was writing Empire of Satanis, I was also trying to found my own group involved in magic, occultism, and the esoteric wisdom found in the Fourth Way. Aligning all my interests with Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Cult seemed like a natural (or unnatural) fit.
YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT VENGER’S WORK BY VISITING HIS OLD SCHOOL GAMING BLOG
