But it has modeling by Sixus1/Les Garner (http://sixus1.com/).
But for now, the interview:
Interview Questions: Torn World (Alyssa Faden, Jack Cull)
Torn Armor
·
Did you start out saying, “We want to make a
miniatures game!” or did Torn Armor spin off of other ideas?
o
Torn Armor spun off the core “Torn World,” a
fantasy setting that has been the evolutions of decades of playing, multiple
groups, and even a transatlantic history as it followed me from England.
o
Initially – like many others- our inclination was to release a RPG setting
for it, and while this is still on the cards we really wanted to introduce the
world, its people, creatures, heroes, anti-heroes, lore and history in a
different way.
o
We could have selected a book, a computer game,
and a host of other viable options out there, but Jack and I are avid board
gamers, huge miniatures fanatics, and it seemed logical to combine the two.
o
Games such as DUST and Descent inspired us to
therefore introduce Torn to the avid gamers out there in a similar way: great
miniatures, great setting, and fast game-play. The board gamer will be happy,
the miniature enthusiast will be happy, and table-top players will be intrigued
by what they read (and the fantastic artwork and miniatures we have!)
·
What did you think was missing from other
miniatures games that you wanted to bring to the table with Torn Armor?
o
Great question. Ultimately there are a lot of
great games out there – we doubtlessly own some of them! – but what we wanted
was a fantasy squad-based skirmish game: affordable entry point, quick set up,
quick game play, coffee-table playing area, fantastic looking miniatures,
highly customizable play to fit any playing style, and a rich lore. Torn Armor
combines all of these things and so as a package we believe that it is unique
and interesting.
·
What miniatures wargames (or other games)
influenced the mechanics for Torn Armor, both in the sense of what you liked
and also what you didn’t like about them?
o
Three games stand to the forefront here. “Magic
the Gathering”, “Descent” (either edition), and Fantasy Flight’s “Dust.” In
many ways Torn Armor has taken the best-of these games.
o
For “MtG”it was the card aspect.
o
The concept of “building your deck” translates
into selecting a battle scenario, receiving your in-game allocation of funds,
and then buying the unit-cards that will make up your side for that conflict.
You might select a balanced side of missile and melee units, or sacrifice in
one area in order to add a magic user, or perhaps forgo several smaller units
to play a large war golem. This type of “build your hand” enables every game to
be very different than the previous ones, players to play according to their
style and strengths, and allows for enormous flexibility.
o
This same concept we took one stage further:
what if there were spell and magical equipment cards that you could use to
further customize your squads and heros? Want to broaden the spell-book of a
magic user unit, or add magical spears to your hoplites? Pick out the equipment
and spell cards, pay for them during game set-up and voila, instant
customization!
o
From “Descent” it was the story-board aspect,
the great miniatures, fast-paced play, and character cards. The fact that each
character has their own equipment, abilities, statistics … we wanted to bring
that into Torn Armor.
o
And then from “Dust” we found inspiration in the
game-play mechanics, how quickly everything moved, how simple it was to
understand, and the fantastic miniatures. Seriously, they are the best I’ve
ever seen. The quality of sculpt and the quality of production are top-notch.
Is it any wonder that we are working with the same production company for Torn
Armor? =D
o
But those are the things that inspired us, what
about the things that we didn’t like? Well we do not want to release a unit in
the future that obsoletes previous units of the same type. Every gamer out
there that invests in Torn Armor is more than a customer, they’re a friend and
a game-play buddy. It’s not cool to watch them spend good money on the core
game and a few expansions, only to release a game play mechanic, future unit,
or a version of the game that will utterly render their collection obsolete.
That will never happen. Everything they buy will always be playable in Torn
Armor, no matter how many expansions and new factions we release.
o
The only other aspect that we’re endeavoring to
minimize lies in predicting the future and understanding where Torn Armor could
go. I’m not going to single out any of these individual games, but sometimes as
new expansions have arrived to market so previous rules have had to be
re-written, or new rules have ended up being spread across many books, or
perhaps a unit/character card has become complex to look at and comprehend.
What we took from this is that there is a very real risk of expanding a game
beyond the foundation on which it was designed, so we have taken great efforts
to predict what we will be releasing in the future and accommodating for it
now. For example I created “The Lich King” as a playable until the other day,
just to understand how bad-ass something could get in the game. This has
allowed us to design unit cards and rules that will expand up to one of the
toughest avatar-like units in the world.
·
Do you already have factions (and accompanying
mechanics) in mind beyond the Sisk and Maychian forces? What kind of
considerations have you taken to avoid the inevitable power-creep of
expansions?
o
Ah! I answered this, lol. =D But actually, I can
add more to that subject.
o
Faction-wise we actually have a whole lot more
than the Sisk and the Maychian forces. It was easy to boil it down to those two
for the core set, because they are so distinctive in so many ways. A faction
HAS to have personality, and it HAS to have a certain play-style – and all of
them in Torn do – but these guys are right up there, making the biggest noise,
over the biggest war, and – let’s face it – they started the bloody thing.
o
But there’s a whole world out there and a long
time ago Jack and I sat down and hammered out the personality of every region,
determining if they were a minor force, a major faction, or something in
between. We have orcs in their millions (with accompanying ogres, trolls,
goblins and everything else you would expect), stalwart knights and armored
dwarves, an Arabian-like desert region with some really wonderful personality
to it, samurai elves, and – of course – the Valley of the Lich King.
o
One of the earliest factions we will expand into
will be The Mercenaries. A concept of forces not being tied to a faction and
being for hire (purchase at the start of the game) by any faction. Some
mercenary units may have restrictions on who they will work alongside (good
will not work with an evil unit, for example), but otherwise they are a faction
that either player can tap into and bolster his/her forces with them.
o
And in our back pocket as one of the later
factions is the whole concept behind the other world which has crashed into
this world, each coming to rest touching each other across a meta-physical
level. So while the forces of Torn are scrapping to get to the artifacts and
riches of that other world, what exactly is there waiting for them? *smiles*
o
For power-creep in expansions. This is a great
topic that I briefly touched on earlier and it’s something we’re very cognizant
of. To begin with we’re starting carefully and ‘humbly.’ Let’s set a good solid
foundation here and not go crazy. Secondly, we’re already created a lot of the
abilities and structure to expand into, it may not be in the core boxed set,
but we have written the rules for it: more powerful spells, equipment, units,
heroes, avatars have all been created upfront so we can test them now and
ensure that we have a nice sliding scale between the two. Flying creatures,
cavalry, god-like units, and a whole slew of unit abilities have been created,
tested, and tweaked so I feel confident that we have a long and safe power-curve
that we can follow.
o
Additionally, the mechanic of “gold cost” is
tied to a formula we have developed. The more powerful the unit, equipment or
spell, then the more it costs. Could the Lich King fight an entire army on his
own? Yes, yes he probably could. But his cost is the equivalent of an entire
army! So as and when power-levels rise, in-game costs for those items will as
well and this will help keep the sides evenly matched.
o
And lastly, while this has not taken place yet
it is something I consider to be an important part of the process: public play
testing and feedback is part of our release-cycle and this will enable us to
tap into those crazily wonderful minds of the gamers and root out any
unforeseen balance issues. And we’ll do this before releasing any Torn Armor
product.
·
Are any of those expansions possible stretch
goals for the upcoming Kickstarter campaign?
o
Oooooh, are there expansions and stretch goals!
*rubs hands together*
o
I do now want to position the Kickstarter as one
long stretch goal whack-a-mole, *BUT* unlocking stretch goals is fun and we do
have great plans for that.
o
The core boxed set will come with at least 36
miniatures (likely more) ranging from 22m in height through to over 60mm. Color
rule book, scenario book, 4 double-sided color battle posters, spell cards,
equipment cards, unit cards, and 25 dice in 5 different colors. It’s quite the
package and it’s great value.
o
But we’re also going to offer (for a slightly
higher pledge level) a limited edition unit that will only be available through
the kickstarter. This will be our first mercenary unit so either faction can
use it. A competition prior to the kickstarter will determine WHAT unit this
will be; we’re going to offer a choice of two.
o
There will also be an add-on. A really, really,
really special add-on. I’m talking something that stands 120mm tall on the
battlefield. It’s going to be crazy. I can’t reveal what it is yet, but imagine
behemoth-like creatures with guys hanging off the back firing bows and ballista
and you won’t be far off the mark. There will be TWO of them, one for each
faction. I’ll share more information on this as we get closer!!!
o
Stretch-goal wise we’ve already calculated how
much additional funding would be needed and what we could offer at each level.
Each stretch goal will introduce a major influx of miniatures, I’m talking 2
units of 8-10 minis, a mercenary unit with a hero, or two beautiful looking war
golems, siege weaponry, the whole nine-yards. And every one will come with new
spell, equipment and unit cards, of course!
o
If we can really push this thing to some nice
levels we have plans to bring in a whole new faction as well … and maybe the
backers can select which one that will be from the options available!
o
And on this note, there will also be a pledge
level that gets you the core game, the limited edition unit, and every other
pledge level attained. That’s going to be some incredible bang-for-buck.
·
Do you have plans to get Torn Armor into retail
outlets, through or after the Kickstarter?
o
Yes, absolutely. The kickstarter is to raise
funds to put this into production and effectively get all of the backers a
pre-release of the boxed core game (and limited edition units) later this year.
o
There will be brick-and-mortar pledge levels to
obtain multiple copies of the game at a reduced cost, but we also have plans to
distribute any remaining copies worldwide. Several languages are under
consideration for the translated books.
The Torn World
·
Where did the Torn World start? How long has it
been in your imaginations?
o
Strictly speaking I can trace the Torn World
back to a Bushido game I was running back in the early 80’s. It wasn’t “Torn”
then, but a player’s action essentially ended the game in a cataclysmic way.
o
I picked up with a D&D game a little while
later and decided to place it in the same world, this time post-apocalypse, and
from this the seeds of the Torn World were formed.
o
After many years of writing and running games
for various groups, all in Torn, I grew somewhat jaded and really wanted to
branch out into something very new and very unique. I developed a concept for a
world and really hammered on it, only to conclude that it was too alien for
players to have fun in, so I abandoned the idea and went back to Torn.
o
But now I was full of god-like zeal and so I
smashed the whole thing, wrote in a massive cataclysmic event (two worlds
smashing into each other), and redrew all the part of the world that didn’t
like. The modern Torn World in its current iteration was born.
o
So Torn has been the product of many decades,
two countries, half a dozen different gaming groups, and multiple gaming
system!
o
The “other” world - the one I abandoned due to
its alien nature – that has not gone away. The world that crashed into Torn
will be visited one day, right?
·
Are your home games (of Pathfinder, I assume) set
in the Torn World? Have any PCs made it into the Torn World lore/canon?
o
Yes, since I started GMing back in ‘81
(something like that) I’ve always written my own material. I’m not saying that
there is anything wrong with pre-written material and the Paizo products are
outstanding, I just like the creative process of developing my own ideas, you
know?
o
We currently play Pathfinder rules, but we own
man other systems and have played a lot of them. We alternate between some form
of d20-esque campaign that will typically last a year or more, then switch to
something different (Shadowrun, Earthdawn, Call of Cthulhu, etc) to reset our
brains before the next d20 game.
o
PCs have made it into the lore: how could I
ignore that foolish samurai in the Bushido game that started the whole thing?
There are also several key names in the lore and setting that were original
PCs, typically from when I was in England and we were playing under a very
different ruleset. I wouldn’t rule out current PCs making it into the lore
either at some point; systems that do this always make me smile.
·
What led to the idea that you should bring this
setting to the masses?
o
Because it kicks ass, will make you popular with
the lady-folk, and can make a mean barbecued burger.
o
*smiles*
o
In all seriousness I’m actually somewhat of a
humble person, quite polite and not at all egotistical (some of my facebook
posts may argue against this, but I swear it’s true!) So I never really thought
of this for mass release, until the third playing group in a second country
said that I should! It was about that point that I started thinking, “Hmmm,
maybe there is something to be shared here.”
o
Modern technology has made it easier to share,
but also to show things like concept artwork, a miniature sculpt, share a
little of a characters background, and receive immediate response from complete
strangers. Those responses have always been positive, sometimes very much so,
which was another catalyst for sharing on a broader and ‘more official’ scale.
·
I know you haven’t even launched the Torn Armor
Kickstarter yet, but what should people expect from the Torn World on
the RPG front? Pathfinder-based material, the setting presented through another
open-license rule set, or something of your own making?
o
This is a great question and I don’t mind
answering it at all. I’d say “Pathfinder,” but part of me wants to be able to
hit two systems if we can. There’s merit to focusing just on Pathfinder, but I
also feel that it then ignores the other gamers out there who would look at the
materials and adopt the world if it was made available to them. So I’m keeping
this open right now pending a few decisions and meetings with the team, but I
can say “at least Pathfinder will be
supported,”
o
I don’t know if the world really needs another
ruleset to play with, but I wouldn’t rule it out if something solid and
enjoyable was put in front of me.
Bonus Round
[These questions are driven by my own curiosity. The answers
are off the record unless you give your explicit permission to reference them.]
Alyssa: You can
reference any of these. J
·
Are you still doing cartography freelance or are
your efforts exclusively going towards the Torn World setting?
o
Both, lol. It’s quite the juggle and I am not
happy about my time being dragged away from the mapping work. I’m meeting all
mapping deadlines, endeavoring to juggle my responsibilities and commitments,
but I am not taking on new commissions – not until we get to the other side of
the kickstarter.
·
Do you guys have “day jobs” or are you pursuing
all of this full-time?
o
Day jobs at the moment. I am fortunate enough to
have a very good income and it has enabled me to pile a great deal of financial
clout into Torn Armor (it’s that or a bank loan, right?) It would have been
silly for me to quit the job to concentrate on Torn Armor while it provides
such a solid income method. Jack will quit his job post kickstarter to run Torn
Armor fulltime and keep everything on track as we go through production. Unless
we have an AMAZING result (hey guys and gals, I don’t mind, really!) I will
continue my day job probably through to the boxed sets being ready to ship out
to the backers.
·
Are you in any way affiliated with
TornWorld.net?
o
Funny you should mentioned that, because it was
pointed out to me only last night. I actually knew of them a couple of years
ago and it seems to be a consortium of talented writers and artists creating a
wonderful story in – ironically – a world of the same name. But there is no
affiliation between us.
·
George St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz at UFC 157, your
prediction?
o
Hey, you knew I loved UFC? =D
o
Pierre. I love the guy. I’m not saying
stylistically he is fun to watch, and I think that his current camp have made
him potentially boring to watch in many ways, but he delivers and he controls
the octagon. I respect that. He is also a gentleman, respectful, and a true
face for the UFC in general. He never acts out. Diaz? I don’t have anything
good to say about him. I’m not saying that the guy doesn’t have talent, but his
antics are just not what it’s about. It reminds me too much of guys mad-dogging
each other in a bar. I much prefer the silent guy that just knows his s**t and
gets it done with no bad mouthing.
o
Now, if Pierre and Silva ever meet … that one I
would have a hard time with.
·
Do you need writers? (Because I totally know a
guy…)
o
The answer is “yes,” but our ability to focus on
that will be somewhat after the kickstarter. I have a great writer on the team
– Ross Isaacs – and several freelancers. When we have our product release
schedule in place for Torn World RPG materials I will have a better
understanding of who and what else we need (and when we’ll need it!)
