The Evil Genius Store

This Geek & Sundry Veteran Lends His Twisted Brain to The Crow: A Writer's Q&A
over 1 year ago – Thu, Sep 01, 2022 at 10:33:47 AM

Hello Evil Backers,

When we first saw Rick's writing system, we said to ourselves "this guy is really sick and twisted.  And then we were faced with finding a writer with the Crow. We needed a writer obsessed with death and the afterlife. Immediately, we thought of Rick. When we presented his adventure ideas to the studio, they said "This story is crazy. We love it." That is when we knew that we had our person.

Let’s start with a simple question. Who are you? How did you get into gaming as a hobby and as a profession?

Does avoiding the day star and trying to incinerate every alien arachnid that enters within one-hundred feet of me count as an identity? If so hi! I’m Rick Heinz. An electrician by day, writer by night. I started gaming once I realized the activity also included air-conditioning (plus I was always grounded). I began storytelling for Wraith: The Oblivion, the very first game I ever played, which ultimately ended up with me running epic full immersion LARPs in short order (and just about every other system from Deadlands to Cyberpunk)

Switching over to a professional writer took until 2017. I’d written my first novel The Seventh Age: Dawn and won the Nerdist award for Best Sci-Fi Fantasy. I transitioned into a full freelance writer for Geek & Sundry and found myself writing the GM Tips series after Matt Mercer. During this time, I kept writing novels and did freelance game writing for smaller projects until I designed and wrote my first behemoth—The Red Opera: Last Days of the Warlock.

… And that brings me here! I’m the person who writes sarcastic stuff about the end of the world. Nice to digitally meet you. If you want to meet in person—I’m almost always running panels at conventions.

What drew you to Evil Genius Games, what about Everyday Heroes™ appeals to you and your writing style?

It was 100% the I.P. of the Crow. I had just finished work on a huge manuscript (Sirens: Battle of the Bards), and was plugging away on my novel listening to the Crow soundtrack. Apparently google spybots figured I clearly needed to see the Everyday Heroes Kickstarter and Crow RPG. Honestly, I’d never heard of Evil Genius Games, even in my time covering Kickstarters for Geek & Sundry—so I blindly clicked on everything I could find about the company.

Ultimately, I came across a post about them needing to hire writers… so, I submitted my stuff. I’m very glad that the mindset of only wanting Paizo or WoTC writers was lifted and the Evil Genius team gave my submission a chance. I feel my style is very narrative-driven, which I think is perfect for modern RPGs. I mean hell, I write urban fantasy novels as means to support my desire for quality caffeine.

What do you think of the concept of Cinematic Adventures? Why did you want to write one?

Tricky… and I like that. On one hand, you want to get the appropriate amount of fan service and a nod to the original content. On the other hand, adventures aren’t movies or novels—players have free reign. So, when I saw the titles within the season pass of Cinematic Adventures, my game designer brain went into overdrive. A veritable mental jigsaw puzzle of designing a campaign with full player agency in mind and not have it be a retelling of the original movie slowly unfolded. An added bonus for enticement was designing it so both players and storytellers would experience the same concepts that made the cinematic adventure epic originally is a nice bullseye to aim for.

Tell us about your thoughts on The Crow. When did you first encounter the property and what was your initial reaction?

For me, the original Crow comic by James O’Barr is a definitive work of art. I suppose I came into it like most kids in the nineties did—we picked up a copy at the same time the movie came out. Every now and then, we each encounter properties that check every box for us, and given my personal life, The Crow was it for me. I ate up the lore, fell further into urban legends, researched more into mythology, and became less afraid of death, which at the time surrounded me completely.

The fact I got to sign my novel one table over from James O’Barr signing his comics at a convention still completely floors me. That weekend, I was constantly having a low, internal fan scream, humming in my brain until I built up the courage to get my old comics autographed.

Of course, we all know not every Crow property resonated the same, but many of the comics and novels continued to deliver over the years. So, when I saw the RPG, I’ll be fully honest: I panicked! How do you tell a Crow RPG when it’s a definitive tale of love and tragedy? What about safety tools given how vicious the source material can be? How do you even have more than ONE Reborn in the adventure…

Then my brain got to working. Comics were referenced. Gears turned. Worlds died! (Okay, maybe not, but it felt epic when my ideas snapped into place).

What excites you the most about bringing this movie franchise to life through a tabletop roleplaying game?

The themes of love, revenge, and redemption. Every comic, and many of the novels for the Crow, are brutal with their tragedies. The Crow: Curare is a short comic series that is gut-wrenching for many in the events that transpire for Carrie. Yet finding a way to allow players to set their own tragedies in ways they are comfortable with, and then mete out delicious revenge is something I’m very excited about. The shock that evil people have when facing righteous revenge is an experience, I’ve delivered for players using Wraith: The Oblivion for years.

Of course… once someone shows they have power… that power can always be taken. With Dread and Ten Candles being two of my favorite storytelling systems, any story I craft will always increase in tension as the players covet their threads of hope.

What would you tell fans of The Crow to ensure them that the movie property is in good hands?

If the movies, novels, and comics are my references for tying a cinematic adventure that features player agency, consequence, and reason to return from the dead—then I am equipped for this campaign. My innocence has long been shed, and as a great villain once said: childhood is over the day you know that you’re going to die. From the Skull Cowboy to Club Trash, I aim to highlight areas that aren’t as well-known, restore some nostalgia from the ‘94 movie, and weave in an entirely unique tale with the blessing of the studio and writers who built the IP.

The Crow Cinematic Adventure will be available in January 2023. You can pick up this Cinematic Adventure and more on our Pre Order Store.

This Loremaster for "Legend of the Five Rings" time travels to pen Pacific Rim & Highlander
over 1 year ago – Wed, Aug 24, 2022 at 07:43:07 PM

Hello Evil Backers,

We hired Ree because she drafted really incredible adventure concepts, not fully understanding her deep legacy with some of the greatest games of our generation. She was the line producer and chief story writer for Magic: The Gathering, Legends of the Five Rings, Warlord, and Guild Wars 2. She is truly worthy of penning our two biggest franchises - Pacific Rim and Highlander.

Let’s start with a simple question. Who are you? How did you get into gaming as a hobby and as a profession?

Hi! I’m Ree Soesbee. I’ve been gaming since I was 11, and received a D&D boxed set for Christmas. I’m an author, Narrative Designer, world builder, storyteller, and novelist for countless worlds. I’ve authored eighteen novels in a variety of popular fantasy/sci-fi settings including Dragonlance, Guild Wars 2, Legend of the Five Rings, Star Trek, Deadlands, and Vampire: The Masquerade. My body of work includes AAA video games (Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2), hundreds of RPG texts, multiple CCGs, and inclusion in numerous short story anthologies and literary journals. I’m also a crazy avid gamer; I play all of the games I’ve written, and more.

As for personal info? I’m Ree (she/her). I’m from Seattle, I have a Master's degree in literature, and I currently live in Reykjavik, Iceland. I play Horde in WoW, I think the Sith Code is great but needs tweaking, I’ve been an Archon to the Nosferatu Justicar, I played in a Deadlands LARP with Bruce Campbell once, and I love Shakespearean literature. I love bad sci-fi and good anime, old-school punk rock and classical violin, I’m a big horror movie fan, and I know kenjutsu. I’m also a safe space for LGBTQ+, and an unsafe place if you hurt animals. All wergild may be paid in Diet Coke and chocolate.

What drew you to Evil Genius Games, what about Everyday Heroes™ appeals to you and your writing style?

Everyday Heroes takes the best of cinematic splash and heroic adventure and boils it down into a format that everyone can use. They stress the fun, the interactive experience, and the feel of being a big-screen hero – and that’s amazing! I’m a big fan of encouraging games to be as amazing as movies and inspiring the imagination of players and storytellers alike.

What do you think of the concept of Cinematic Adventures? Why did you want to write one?

I’ve written for a lot of genres and worlds, and I think that the ones we love most are the ones where our actions make an impact– worlds where we can be heroes, save the world, and shape adventures that are larger-than-life. Movies offer universal appeal, fast-paced action, and can serve as a gateway to broadly imaginative games. We all want to be heroes: and with these games, we can be.

Tell us about your thoughts on Highlander and Pacific Rim. When did you first encounter the property and what was your initial reaction?

I grew up on old-school Godzilla movies. A massive monster rising out of the ocean, bent on the destruction of humanity? SIGN ME UP! Despite the terrible effects and 1950’s monster-suits, those movies captured the imagination. When Pacific Rim first came out, I was transported back into that old-school Godzilla glee – but this time, with mind-blowing effects, epic cinematic battles, and massive Jaeger fighting one-on-one with the Kaiju. Pacific Rim offers a new twist on an old dream: to become a Jaeger pilot, standing unified with my partner, and battle hand-to-hand against mighty Kaiju in order to save the world from destruction. Since the first days of its release, I’ve followed the franchise with excitement, and I’m thrilled to slip into the writer’s “drivesuit” and provide storytellers a kick-off adventure to shape their own campaigns in this epic, cinematic world.

“In the end, there can be only one.” What gamer hasn’t felt an electric thrill at the sound of those words, at the thought of being a living immortal, cursed to fight for your existence for a thousand years in the hopes that you will survive – and in the end, claim the prize? Highlander stands alone, a pillar in the foundation of modern imagination. It’s a story where eternal lives entwine in friendship, love, rivalries, and in the end, elimination – looking forward with fear and resolution toward the Great Gathering. I’ve long been a fan of the various movies and TV shows, dreaming of different immortals that might live in this setting – just like everyone else that loves the franchise! I hope that this adventure will inspire others to dream of eternal lives, facing your enemies century after century as the world spins by. I’m super excited… but don’t worry, I won’t lose my head. 😊

What excites you the most about bringing this movie franchise to life through a tabletop roleplaying game?

For me, it’s less about adding to the lore, and more about exploring the ideas and unique facets that already exist within the franchise. These worlds are so incredible, with vast possibilities for storytelling epic, cinematic adventures within settings that we already love. I want to build on that, letting players feel as though their characters are a big part of these worlds and their actions truly influence the outcome of the adventure. I love these settings; and I want players who love them to feel like I’ve done a good job of putting them in the middle of the best parts of the movies we all love.

What would you tell fans of Pacific Rim & Highlander to ensure them that the movie property is in good hands?

That’s hard. I can tell you that I’m going to rewatch every movie and tv show (and I am), but honestly, writing them is a little bit of an excuse to do that anyway. (Seriously, I really love these two settings.) I’ll do everything I can to respect the lore, make the adventure feel true to the world, and let you be the heroes. I’m not trying to ‘add my own spin’ or create new lore that will come out of left field. I want to honor what’s already there, show off what made the movies amazing, and put the players and the story right in the middle of the action. It comes down to the fact that I genuinely love the worlds in which I’m writing – just as much as you do.

These Cinematic Adventures will be available in March 2023. You can pick up this Cinematic Adventure and more on our Pre Order Store.

The King Takes On Kong: A Writers Q&A
over 1 year ago – Tue, Aug 16, 2022 at 01:22:28 PM

Hello Evil Minions,

Evil Genius Games is exciting to bring on Owen KC Stephens as the Lead Writer for Kong: Skull Island. This “King of RPGs” is known for taking on big projects such as Pathfinder, Starfinder, and Saga Edition Star Wars. Oh, and he also worked on the original d20 Modern. Below please find a Q&A with the legend.

Let’s start with a simple question. Who are you? How did you get into gaming as a hobby and as a profession?

Hi, I’m Owen K.C. Stephens. Since being contracted to write the Kong: Skull Island adventure, I’ve joined Evil Genius as Editor-in-Chief. But I’m also a developer for Green Ronin’s Fantasy AGE game, the publisher for Rogue Genius Games (no relation), and a veteran ttRPG writer with credits including d20 and Saga Edition Star Wars, Pathfinder, Starfinder, EverQuest d20, Thieves’ World, Blackmoor, Gamma World, Song of Ice and Fire, and many more.

I was introduced to RPGs in 1982 when I saw the 1st edition Dungeon Master’s Guide at my uncle’s house. He told me if I could figure out how the game worked, we could play… but all we had was the DMG. So I read it, figured out what rules were missing by inference, and wrote rules to cover them. So, I was literally designing RPG material before I ever played (although I’m sure my rules were terrible at first).

That led to a lifelong love of roleplaying games, which eventually evolved to writing for game magazines (especially Dragon and Pyramid), then being a developer for Wizards of the Coast, a freelancer who wrote for Paizo and Steve Jackson Games and Sword and Sorcery Studios (among others) a developer for Green Ronin, a developer for Paizo, and now EGP’s EiC.

What drew you to Evil Genius Games, what about Everyday Heroes™ appeals to you and your writing style?

I worked on several official WotC books for d20 Modern (d20 Cyberscape, d20 Apocalypse, d20 Critical Locations), and a number of third-party products, and I have always been a big fan of modern and sci-fi adventure gaming. Long before I worked at WotC, I was into Twilight 2000, Morrow Project, Top Secret, Gamma World, and numerous superhero ttRPGs. So when I saw the pitch of a spiritual successor to d20 Modern, using the 5e game engine as its base, I was extremely excited. I commented on several announcements on social media, just as a fan looking forward to a new toolbox to play with. But I’m also a full-time ttRPG creator, it’s my day job and how I pay the rent and put food on the table. So, for many reasons, when the opportunity to write for it came along I jumped at it.

What do you think of the concept of Cinematic Adventures? Why did you want to write one?

When I first ran into ttRPGs in 1982, the big appeal for me was that they meant my favorite stories didn’t have to end. Whether it was swords and sorcery, pulp adventure, deep space exploration, or modern heroics, my favorite stories all eventually ended. I loved books, movies, and comics, and they were very quickly the templates I used as a youth to spark adventures I ran and characters I created.

Cinematic Adventures take that same idea but actually set it, officially, within the stories I love. That allows fans to explore those settings in new ways, but it also assures the game has the precise tools needed to let GMs and players create their own campaigns inspired by the ideas from our common “zeitgeek.” I’m thrilled to see how EGP fleshes out worlds we may have only seen briefly in 2-hour films, but also to see what new worlds fans create when these tools get into their hands.

Tell us about your thoughts on Kong: Skull Island. When did you first encounter the property and what was your initial reaction?

When I was a child, my local library had a free movie series during the summers. Old movies would be played in a big conference room, and children and teens would sit on the floor and watch classics while their parents went and quietly read periodicals and got some quiet time elsewhere in the building. And that’s where I first met Kong, in the classic 1933 film. And I immediately identified with the big ape. He was one of my first tragic hero obsessions, the beast who is physically powerful but ugly, who lacks the social graces to interact in society and ends up becoming the villain by grabbing the object of his own obsession and trying to fight all of civilization.

My love of pulp stories, classic black and white adventure films, and kaiju all date back to that afternoon watching a movie already 40 years old by the time I saw it. I quickly sought out all Kong material I could, from Son of Kong to Mighty Joe Young, to the 1960s Toho films King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes (which introduced Mechikong) and even the Rankin/Bass animated The King Kong Show (1966-1969). I managed to get my parents to take me to the Dino De Laurentiis King Kong movie, and years later rented King Kong Lives on video.

And yeah, I’ve had my seat on the opening night of all the modern Kong movies. The Monsterverse Kong is an evolution of the character and, uniquely for American Kong films, haven’t either focused on his unhealthy and dysfunctional obsession with blonds or killed him off at the end of his introduction. Tying him into larger mythology with the other titans is, for me, in many ways building off the promise of the original Toho films while trying to make Skull Island an important part of his history. I look forward to seeing where the story goes next!

What excites you the most about bringing this movie franchise to life through a tabletop roleplaying game?

The Titans are the gods of their worlds and have been worshiped as such, but to modern eyes, they’re more like biological superpowers, and ones we can’t really negotiate with. But that doesn’t mean we can’t work to build relationships, maybe even alliances, with them. I want to explore what it means to be agents of humanity in a world where we are very much not the apex predators. Can we learn to work with those Titans who aren’t seeking to destroy the world? Or do we need to adapt to living in their shadows, pushing to accomplish our own goals without drawing their baleful notice?

What would you tell fans of Kong: Skull Island to ensure them that the movie property is in good hands?

On a serious note, I have lots of experience working on ttRPGs based on existing properties. So I’m a fan of Kong as a character and the Monsterverse as a setting, but I’m also a professional who knows how to adapt ideas to work within an existing framework. I take my role as custodian of a nearly-century-old character like Kong seriously and hope to capture some of that spark of excitement I felt sitting on the floor of my local library, meeting Kong for the first time.

The Kong: Skull Island Cinematic Adventure will be available in March 2023. You can pick up this Cinematic Adventure and more on our Pre Order Store.

2023 Season Pass of Adventure Release Calendar
over 1 year ago – Mon, Aug 01, 2022 at 06:37:02 PM

Hello Evil Backers,

We’re happy to announce the release schedule for the 2023 Season Pass of Adventures. Each of these releases will come out in its digital format first, then followed by the physical version. So far, production is ahead of schedule, so if we can release any of these ahead of schedule, we will.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be announcing the writers for these adventures. I can tell you that these writers are powerhouses in the industry.  Stay tuned!

More FAQs on the Pledge Manager Survey
over 1 year ago – Fri, Jul 29, 2022 at 05:13:18 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.