Tell us about yourself.
I am 45 year old divorced dad of three. I am an attorney by trade but have a small practice in a small suburb outside of Detroit.
What was the inspiration behind Journey to the Overland?
Obviously my love of roleplaying games, miniatures and wargames. My first real inspiration came after I purchased this game called Barbarian Prince by Dwarfstar games. In Barbarian Prince you play a lone northern prince whose father has been usurped and killed and you must travel throughout the kingdom trying to earn 500 gold pieces to pay an army to win back the throne.
After that I simply expanded the concept and combined it with other RPG like games I enjoyed at the time like Lone Wolf by Gary Chalk and Joe Dever.
What is the aim of Journey to the Overland?
The principal aim of Journey To The Overland is to ascend to the throne of Overland. Basically the king is old and an evil wizard in the north is amassing an army to take the throne. Word of this has gone out to every town for someone to defend the throne. To do this they must seize one or all of the legendary Five Weapons of Power.
Describe the game system.
Journey To The Overland uses a d100 percentile system. Characters roll for attributes and acquire skills and magical abilities that allow them to roll for success or failure.
Would you recommend other solo RPGS?
I would always recommend Barbarian Prince if you can find it or more recently games like Legend of Endor or Myth.
What do you look for in a good solo RPG?
Replayability and atmosphere. I like a game that makes me feel like I have arrived in another place.
How have gamebooks contributed to your game?
What I loved most about game books was their ability to convey atmosphere. They describe a setting, what you see, what is taking place. A lot of games skip over this stuff. You pull a card it says Ogre and has stats on it. All of the Encounter cards in JTO have text that creates the scene and often leads to even more than the encounter itself.
Do you have any other projects in the pipeline? Will there be an expansion pack?
No. But I do have a set of miniature game rules called A Fatal Blow currently sold through Amazon.com. Also the Kickstarter has unlocked a number of expansions the most interesting being a new town/location called Misery which is essentially a ghost town which may have major consequences for the Overland.
Will people be able to add fan based content to the game? If so, where?
Hopefully. Right now the main hub of the game is the Facebook page but after it is funded I would like to see a Google circles page or Yahoo group set up where fans can add and share their own content.
Where can people buy Journey to the Overland? How much will it cost?
Right now it is only available through Kickstarter with a fulfillment date of August and October, with October being for stretch goals. But the retail release is expected by January 2015.
JTO looks fascinating. Pity I didn't hear of it during the KS; might have been tempted to back it. Any plans for where the retail release will be available?
ReplyDeleteParticularly like that you did not just take the Barbarian Prince idea and copy it (I'm looking at thee, "Road of Kings"), but have built on it to create something unique and (potentially looking) much more interesting.