Watch Well Games: Issue # 10
In This Issue:
Interview with Dragonzine Founder & Editor
Pocket Quest 2024 Progress: Week 3
Welcome to Issue #10. I'm K.J. Today's newsletter highlights one of my favorite games, Dragonbane. Who's with me?
You can learn more about me here if you want.
Interview with Dragonzine Founder & Editor
I was privileged to interview Śraddhāpa Shan Welsh, founder of both Dragonzine and Dragon Cult Games.
As the editor of Dragonzine, an e-zine for Free League's Dragonbane created under Fria Ligan AB’s Dragonbane Third Party Supplement License, Śraddhāpa organized over a dozen contributors to make this endeavor happen.
At the time of writing this newsletter, Dragonzine is already a Silver Best seller on DriveThruRPG, and it's been out for less than a week!
Be sure to grab a copy if you haven't already. In the meantime, enjoy the following interview about one of Śraddhāpa's creations titled Necromancy.
K.J.: What inspired you to create Necromancy?
Śraddhāpa: When the Dragonbane BETA rules came out about a year ago I was looking for a campaign to run to try out the game. Because I can read Swedish, I had access to a huge range of classic Drakar och Demoner content from the 80s and 90s, and I decided to run Svavelvinter (“Brimstone Winter”), one of the best known campaigns for Drakar och Demoner from the 1980s. This meant converting it to the new edition, which was mostly very straightforward, but the main antagonists in that campaign are a sect of necromancers, so I needed to create some rules for necromancy. What started off as a fairly straightforward spell list gradually expanded to an 80-page supplement! I wanted this supplement to have the right "feel" for players familiar with the classic editions of Drakar och Demoner, so I took a lot of inspiration from the magic supplements for Drakar och Demoner from 1985 and 1990. I was also inspired by the necromancy rules for Old School Essentials. Dragonbane isn't explicitly an OSR game, but I think it's a lot closer to the OSR in its approach and philosophy than it is to heroic fantasy games like D&D 5e or Pathfinder.
K.J.: For fun - Describe your creation in 10 words or less.
Śraddhāpa: I love the combination of horror and absurdity necromancy brings.
K.J.: What was the most rewarding part of the creation process when making this?
Śraddhāpa: This is the first RPG supplement I’ve published, so there was a lot that was new. I learned loads about game design in the process, but the steepest learning curve was definitely the graphic design and layout side. For me, learning new skills is always really rewarding, and it’s also been lovely to get such positive feedback from readers.
K.J.: If you could go back and do it all over again, what would you do differently in the creation process?
Śraddhāpa: I’m not sure there is anything I would do differently. There were plenty of things in the development process that turned out to be mistakes or dead ends, but I learned from all of them! I’ve worked as a teacher for a lot of my career, and I often tell my students not to be afraid of making mistakes, as if you’re not making mistakes you’re not really engaging with the learning process.
K.J.: What advice or encouragement would you give new creators?
Śraddhāpa: Don’t be afraid to share what you’ve created, and don’t be afraid of criticism or negative feedback. Even if you create something you’re really pleased with, you can always be trying to develop and improve as a writer and game designer.
K.J.: Do you have a future creation you can give us any teasers or hints about?
Śraddhāpa: My next project will be an adventure called The Necromancer’s Apprentice, which will use the rules from the Necromancy supplement. This will be a mystery with an emphasis on investigation and roleplaying, so a bit different from a lot of the adventures that have been published for Dragonbane so far. I’m also designing it in such a way that it can be played either as a normal group adventure, or as a solo adventure. After that, I’m planning to release another magic supplement: this time for Demonology.
K.J.: How did you discover RPGs?
Śraddhāpa: I played a little bit of Cyberpunk 2020 in my teens, but I only really got seriously interested in RPGs about 5 or 6 years ago. At the time I was doing a Master’s degree in English Literature and ended up writing my thesis about H.P. Lovecraft. When I found out that there was an RPG based on his work I had to try it out! I only really played Call of Cthulhu at first for a couple of years, but then started exploring other RPGs.
K.J.: What other hobbies do you enjoy aside from RPGs?
Śraddhāpa: One of my other main interests is learning languages. I have a good working knowledge of about 10 languages and recently started a PhD in Buddhist Studies where I’ll be researching Buddhist wisdom literature in Sanskrit. I live in Taiwan so I’m always trying to improve my Mandarin, and at the moment I’m also taking classes in Japanese.
K.J.: Favorite RPG item(s)?
Śraddhāpa: I love maps! Apart from Dragonbane, the RPG I play the most at the moment is The One Ring, and I get such a thrill every time I get to spread the map of Eriador out over the table at the start of the session. I also love dice that are designed for a specific game, like the dice from The One Ring with Gandalf’s rune and the Eye of Sauron. My latest RPG purchase was Mutant Year Zero, and I’m loving the dice that came with that.
Work for Dragonzine: Issue 2 has already begun! Anticipated release date is later this year.
So far, over 100 folks have downloaded my free* Dragonbane supplement! Grab your copy of Moments of Mirth: Vol. 1 - Elora's Emporium on DriveThruRPG!
Elora, a young maiden who runs a small shop at the base of Dragonfang Peaks, has disappeared. Learn about Elora, her quaint emporium, and the secret between these two entities.
Moments of Mirth: Volume 2 coming in Spring 2024!
*NOTE: As of December 2024, I began charging for this supplement after 500 free downloads. I’d like to start earning compensation for my time and energy.
Pocket Quest 2024: Week 3
DriveThruRPG's third annual game jam known as Pocket Quest is well under way. I've met so many great folks who are participating, and I'm really excited to see the final results because:
More content = more gaming!
Last week, I asked, "How do you support other creators?"
One of you answered: "Ensuring we always have a different ad swap on every episode, be they other actual plays, talk shows or shouting about new game releases, regardless of size of their audience."
Also last week, I mentioned that I had decided to offer support to a few of my fellow PocketQuesters by doing free layout design. I simply had no ideas for a heist-themed pocket adventure.
However, I think my internal muse has now started speaking to me about an idea or two. Unfortunately, I have other irons in the fire. I now run the risk of trying to do too much in a short amount of time. This means I could jeopardize quality over quantity. It also means I could have some self-induced stress - something I really don't need right now.
Say tuned for Week 4’s update in the next newsletter.
