What I've Been Writing
Well, since I've updated my livejournal about my life, I might as well start updating about my writing and gaming.
Last August, Hex Games released Sex, Lies and Ultraspies in .pdf format (you can find it here). It has apparently generated decent enough sales (It was the hottest item for Hex Games on rpgnow until recently getting supplanted by their Frat Boys Vs. game. Of course, I don't think it ever got above 12th on their sister drivethrurpg site, but go figure.) It has also received some favorable buzz on Hex Games forums. I'm anxiously awaiting the first official review for it.
In a perfect world, I would have used this livejournal to post a type of Designer Notes for Sex, Lies and Ultraspies immediately or very soon after it was released. I enjoy reading this type of thing (just as an insight into what the author is thinking), but I can also understand those who are completely uninterested and are put off by having to pay for something like it (when it is included in the actual product). Posting it online would seem to offer the best of both worlds.
Since I couldn't get it done in a timely manner, this will have to suffice.
Sex, Lies and Ultraspies is something I was born to write. I know, I know, you were probably born to write anything you've actually wrote. Still, I feel uniquely qualified to have done Sex, Lies and Ultraspies. You see, I'm a '60s spy fanatic. While I'm too young to have watched it first hand on television and the movies, I definitely caught the reruns. One of the first movies I can remember watching on TV was James Bond's Thunderball. In high school, I was obsessed with The Avengers, catching it whenever I could in reruns. Later, I even collected the entire VHS collection of the Emma Peel years, and a good smattering of the Cathy Gale and Tara King episodes.
As far as roleplaying games are concerned, the very first one that I owned was Top Secret (although I did hear about D&D first). I was never into the fantasy genre (I could barely make it through The Hobbit, forget about Lord of the Rings). Of course, I collected the entire 007 Roleplaying Game line. Spycraft was even the game that eventually made me decide to purchase 3rd Edition D&D.
One of the things I've noticed with the more recent roleplaying games about spies was a tendency to fall into one of two traps.
The first is what I call the Cold War trap. The Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union was a dominant political and social force during the '60s. It's all too easy to assume '60s spies would be directly concerned with that aspect as well. I almost fell into this trap while I was writing Sex, Lies and Ultraspies myself. In looking back at the genre, however, '60s spies tried their best to avoid dealing with the Cold War at all. The threats tended to be shadowy organizations, often led by individuals with Eastern European accents, but never coming right out and claiming sides.
In order to have Sex, Lies and Ultraspies avoid the Cold War and better emulate the genre, I created an incident and a truce between the two sides of the Cold War. I'm definitely planning on focusing on Cold War anxiety in a future supplement.
The second trap is what I will call the Austin Powers trap, since that character is the most recent and familiar of the '60s spy farces to have come along. For some reason, the spy genre makes for excellent farce. For one thing, I believe because it is so rooted in our own real world, the spy genre can always dial back up to more seriousness and reality.
To give a better example, I have a hard time watching any western and seeing cowboys sitting around a campfire and not think about the scene from Blazing Saddles, no matter how serious the movie is trying to be. Blazing Saddles has seriously impacted my ability to watch any western with a serious mind. On the other hand, watching James Bond talk into a miniature radio doesn't necessarily always make me think of Maxwell Smart talking into his shoe. I would argue that spy farces have been among the most successful of any genre farce in history. You have Matt Helm, Derek Flint, Maxwell Smart, and Austin Powers are prime exhibits.
Still, for the most part '60s spies were meant to be reasonably serious, with an occasional foray into wit and amusement. Again, there are certainly enough counter examples that I am strongly considering doing a farce supplement for Sex, Lies and Ultraspies in the future as well.
As far as actual game design is concerned, my main philosophy is to keep things as simple as possible. I have really grown to appreciate the QAGS system. I've been a fan of too many other systems (Champions and BESM come to mind) that became bloated an ultra complicated. Any rule I introduced I wanted to make sure that there was an easier, if less structured, way to do it as well. So, I came up with the easy way, and the slightly more complex way, and it seems to have been accepted by QAGS fans.
Next up, I plan on completing Racing Spies, a supplement for Sex, Lies and Ultraspies. I write more about where I'm headed with that product next.
Last August, Hex Games released Sex, Lies and Ultraspies in .pdf format (you can find it here). It has apparently generated decent enough sales (It was the hottest item for Hex Games on rpgnow until recently getting supplanted by their Frat Boys Vs. game. Of course, I don't think it ever got above 12th on their sister drivethrurpg site, but go figure.) It has also received some favorable buzz on Hex Games forums. I'm anxiously awaiting the first official review for it.
In a perfect world, I would have used this livejournal to post a type of Designer Notes for Sex, Lies and Ultraspies immediately or very soon after it was released. I enjoy reading this type of thing (just as an insight into what the author is thinking), but I can also understand those who are completely uninterested and are put off by having to pay for something like it (when it is included in the actual product). Posting it online would seem to offer the best of both worlds.
Since I couldn't get it done in a timely manner, this will have to suffice.
Sex, Lies and Ultraspies is something I was born to write. I know, I know, you were probably born to write anything you've actually wrote. Still, I feel uniquely qualified to have done Sex, Lies and Ultraspies. You see, I'm a '60s spy fanatic. While I'm too young to have watched it first hand on television and the movies, I definitely caught the reruns. One of the first movies I can remember watching on TV was James Bond's Thunderball. In high school, I was obsessed with The Avengers, catching it whenever I could in reruns. Later, I even collected the entire VHS collection of the Emma Peel years, and a good smattering of the Cathy Gale and Tara King episodes.
As far as roleplaying games are concerned, the very first one that I owned was Top Secret (although I did hear about D&D first). I was never into the fantasy genre (I could barely make it through The Hobbit, forget about Lord of the Rings). Of course, I collected the entire 007 Roleplaying Game line. Spycraft was even the game that eventually made me decide to purchase 3rd Edition D&D.
One of the things I've noticed with the more recent roleplaying games about spies was a tendency to fall into one of two traps.
The first is what I call the Cold War trap. The Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union was a dominant political and social force during the '60s. It's all too easy to assume '60s spies would be directly concerned with that aspect as well. I almost fell into this trap while I was writing Sex, Lies and Ultraspies myself. In looking back at the genre, however, '60s spies tried their best to avoid dealing with the Cold War at all. The threats tended to be shadowy organizations, often led by individuals with Eastern European accents, but never coming right out and claiming sides.
In order to have Sex, Lies and Ultraspies avoid the Cold War and better emulate the genre, I created an incident and a truce between the two sides of the Cold War. I'm definitely planning on focusing on Cold War anxiety in a future supplement.
The second trap is what I will call the Austin Powers trap, since that character is the most recent and familiar of the '60s spy farces to have come along. For some reason, the spy genre makes for excellent farce. For one thing, I believe because it is so rooted in our own real world, the spy genre can always dial back up to more seriousness and reality.
To give a better example, I have a hard time watching any western and seeing cowboys sitting around a campfire and not think about the scene from Blazing Saddles, no matter how serious the movie is trying to be. Blazing Saddles has seriously impacted my ability to watch any western with a serious mind. On the other hand, watching James Bond talk into a miniature radio doesn't necessarily always make me think of Maxwell Smart talking into his shoe. I would argue that spy farces have been among the most successful of any genre farce in history. You have Matt Helm, Derek Flint, Maxwell Smart, and Austin Powers are prime exhibits.
Still, for the most part '60s spies were meant to be reasonably serious, with an occasional foray into wit and amusement. Again, there are certainly enough counter examples that I am strongly considering doing a farce supplement for Sex, Lies and Ultraspies in the future as well.
As far as actual game design is concerned, my main philosophy is to keep things as simple as possible. I have really grown to appreciate the QAGS system. I've been a fan of too many other systems (Champions and BESM come to mind) that became bloated an ultra complicated. Any rule I introduced I wanted to make sure that there was an easier, if less structured, way to do it as well. So, I came up with the easy way, and the slightly more complex way, and it seems to have been accepted by QAGS fans.
Next up, I plan on completing Racing Spies, a supplement for Sex, Lies and Ultraspies. I write more about where I'm headed with that product next.