Interview - Steve Turner

Please welcome to Farsight Blogger Steve Turner of Britannia Game Designs Ltd!

Welcome to Farsight Blogger. Perhaps you'd like to tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well I'm nearer 50 than I would like, as well as running Britannia Game Designs Ltd I have my own Business services company that helps to pay the bills of real life.

Tell us about your RPG history - what got you into the wonderful world of tabletop roleplaying?

I started out wargaming, moving from Napoleonics through WW2 to Ancients.  It was while creating a mythological world to run ancient style campaigns I was introduced to the newly released AD&D in 1979.  From there thr group I was with spread their wings to play Gamma World, Traveller, Boot Hill and then Space Opera and Chivalry & Sorcery (the game BGD now owns and designs).

What is it about the tabletop RPG hobby that attracts you? What do you enjoy most when playing a game?

Originally it was the joy of bringing life to your own imaginary worlds which is still true today, but nowadays I enjoy the social aspect as much, as with family life it is important to make time and it allows me to meet up regularly with friends.

What's your favourite game? What games that are out there at the moment float your boat?

There are many games I truly like, I have to say C&S obviously, I've always been a fan of any form of Cthulhu, at the moment I am getting a big kick out of running Leagues of Adventure and playing in Savage Worlds games.  I also enjoy Classic Traveller and Harnmaster.

Do you still get time to play? What are you playing at the moment?

I am running Leagues of Adventure for a small group, mainly teenagers, and play most Fridays.  I also play Warhammer 40k (miniatures) on a fortnightly basis, just cant escape that wargamers background. 

The tabletop roleplaying hobby has been through a lot changes over the years and it seems that its death-knell is always sounded when newer hobbies come along, such as collectible card games and online computer games. It still seems to be able to hold it’s own, though – what do you see happening to the hobby in the future? What changes, if any, do you think will have to be made to ensure its survival?

The hobby will continue to survive while the generation that kicked off the hobby (ie 40 to 50+ yr olds) are still getting together and gaming.  There will be more and more digital copies of games available, but at the end of the day holding a nice shiny hardback is still better than looking at a screen.  The future of the hobby (and to some extents all hobbies) always has been and always will be the gaining of new blood into the hobby.  Games Workshop is very good at this with nice shiny figures to buy.  TSR UK used to run a schools competition and promoted the hobby into schools, but there is nobody doing this now.  Without exposure to the 14 to 18 age group and including them in games where are we going to get the next generation?  The only  gamers I see today in this age bracket are offspring of gamers or their close friends.  This has to be a key factor in what happens to the hobby, without new gamers we don't expand the hobby, without the expansion of players we have a restrictive market place. As a business we need to see an expanding customer base but to promote in schools needs funding and no one company can do it alone.

Out of all your projects, what are you most proud of?

The project I am most proud of at the moment has got to be C&S The Rebirth although our latest C&S Essence comes a close second. 

We are currently working on the 5th edition of C&S as well as a whole raft of supplements that we have had on the back burner for a few years as well as expansions for C&S Essence.

You’ve no doubt mixed with other great names in the roleplaying community – do you have any stories or anecdotes to share? Any horror stories? Be as frank as you like!

None that I want to share at the moment - lol

What are you working on at the moment?

We are currently working on the 5th edition of C&S as well as a whole raft of supplements that we have had on the back burner for a few years as well as expansions for C&S Essence.