#AprilTTRPG Maker 1-15

1. Who are you?

26 year old creative-student-worker-father-gamer

2. Where ya at?

West coast of Ireland. Wouldn't have it any other way really.

3. How did you start creating ttrpgs?

Ooh. Funny how I spent my youth creating new card and board games based off old ones or inventing whole new concepts altogether. A very elaborate game of chess involving the red hit dice from Battle Masters of all things comes to mind.

TTRPGS specifically? Myself and two old friends used to play Lego and hey would have their set characters, player characters if you will, while I had one guy but also controlled the world and all other people - DMPCs, NPCs, and dungeon mastering all at once. We transitioned easily over to 3.5 edition D&D after a failed GURPS one-off. A great two year campaign followed.

4. Describe your work.

Very elaborate RPG systems if designing in isolation from the setting.

5. Favorite game you've worked on.

GURPS can be absolutely fabulous if there is a limit to what tables and rules you plan to use. Still one of my favorites.

I got fed up with D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder and whatnot but not ruling out a return. Probably the one I worked on the most.

Would love to work with something less rules intensive.

OWOD is great for characters, you get a real feel of what your strengths and weaknesses are

6. Favorite game mechanic?

After playing Warhammer 1st edition, critical hit tables can be great fun. Years of playing D&D have made me extremely averse to long, tit-for-tat combat so anything that makes fighting fast and brutal is good.

7. Your workspace.

Finally returned to it after about 4 years away. Laptop, room for pen and paper and coffee. Paper ideal for actually getting work done, laptop great for committing it to cloud memory.

8. Describe your routine.

I have made massive strides when I should be doing something else. Had an essay due this month and spent a good chunk of my off time thinking about a particular continent in my setting.

9. Describe your process.

At work, think about world. Doing anything else, think of the world. Blank piece of paper? A world map will get sketched onto it. Free time? Coffee and typing what I've developed.

10. Favorite game to relax with.

After making a tense, exhilarating return to Age of Empires 2, I believe actually relaxation comes with Civilization 4. Sit back and watch the empire grow.

11. What's yer brand?

The setting is paramount. This... might need to get inverted in favour of the characters.

Took a lot of my history and society-politics learning, inverted and played out in simulation in this world. Add Elves and Orcs and own races and subvert/invert the tropes again.

12. How do you get your work out there?

Occasionally put something on the blog or other social media. Used to make a few maps for an old game on Heavengames forums which were based in the world.

13. Biggest influences?

Steven Erikson taught me its OK to take something we all know and love/hate, tweak a few things and create something entirely new. One word: Tiste.

14. What are your dreams and plans

Would be nice to have a good day job and create games on the side.

15. Do you design in public or private?

Private of course, but might try and expand into that whole 'sit in cafe for hours writing/typing' in the very near future, we'll see.