Please welcome Jay Stratton, lead designer for Pantheon Press!
Welcome to
Farsight Blogger. Perhaps you'd like to tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Jay
Stratton and I am Lead Designer for Pantheon Press – a small RPG publisher in
New York City.
Our main product
line is the Fortune’s Fool RPG. Fortune’s Fool is an innovative fantasy RPG
that uses the Tarot deck as a resolution mechanic. The system has been praised
by critics and players alike and even won an ENnie award in 2011!
I count myself a very lucky man. In addition to writing for RPGs, I am a
professional actor – traveling the country performing everything from
Shakespeare to the most cutting edge modern theatre. When I am at home in New
York, I also work as an adjunct theatre professor at a local college.
Tell us
about your RPG history - what got you into the wonderful world of tabletop
roleplaying?
I have been
playing some version of RPGs for as long as I can remember. A child of the 70s,
I grew up in a wooded suburb of Seattle. While other kids were going to soccer
practice, my friends and I were crashing through the woods killing orcs and goblins.
My closest friend (Tom) was a huge consumer of fantasy and sci fi literature.
His ever growing lexicon was the source material for all our early adventures.
In the two acre woodland beside my house, whole kingdoms were invented. We
assaulted castles, stole magic relics, and slew every mythical beast
imaginable! I still can’t play soccer worth a damn, but I wouldn’t trade those
experiences for anything.
What is it
about the tabletop RPG hobby that attracts you? What do you enjoy most when
playing a game?
Where do I
start? I guess for me, three things come to mind: Storytelling, Friendship, and
Laughter. Tabletop RPGs give me and my friends a chance to create amazing
stories! They are active and social; and they are just great fun. I like
movies, books, and plays; I enjoy a good restaurant, and I love a good bar; but
give me a chance to sit at a table with five of my friends to play an RPG and
there’s nothing I’d rather do.
What's your
favourite game? What games that are out there at the moment float your
boat?
Not surprisingly, my favorite game is Fortune’s Fool, but since I wrote it,
that’s a little like saying I think my baby is the cutest!
Beyond that, I really liked the d20 version of Star Wars that was around a few
years ago. I am not a fan of d20, but that one was mega fun – and a rare
example of a genre that really worked with those mechanics.
Also, while it
can’t really support a campaign, the Dread mechanics are awesome!
Do you still
get time to play? What are you playing at the moment?
Boy, I don’t get
as much gaming as I want! I am away from town for the next six weeks working,
but when I left, I was running a campaign of Fortune’s Fool. Our last adventure
ended on a pretty dark note (one of those demoralizing bloodbaths, though mercifully
not a TPK), so I am looking forward to getting back to NYC to drive the story to
a more positive resolution.
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 RPG market
is a niche, make no mistake. And people in niche markets tend to cry 'Doomsday'
whenever a newer different niche comes around, but they are almost never right.
Finding a genre escape through card games or computer games or even Peter
Jackson’s last Tolkien offering is great, but none of these things provide what
Roleplaying games do! Only through an RPG do you get the sweet mix of an
active, collaborative, social experience. You get to be present with your
friends, and create a story together has never been told before! There’s
nothing like it.
Beyond this, the RPG community is filled with forward thinkers and early adopters. We've embraced digital sales, for example. It's easier than ever to get a PDF of both new and old games. I think we'll continue in this vein in the future, as a lot of different people are looking to make virtual gaming spaces a reality. But the heart of the community will always be sitting around a table with friends.
Beyond this, the RPG community is filled with forward thinkers and early adopters. We've embraced digital sales, for example. It's easier than ever to get a PDF of both new and old games. I think we'll continue in this vein in the future, as a lot of different people are looking to make virtual gaming spaces a reality. But the heart of the community will always be sitting around a table with friends.
Out of all
your projects, what are you most proud of?
I am very proud
of Fortune’s Fool and its supplements. I love the game because it has really
innovative mechanics that truly enhance the gameplay. It’s actually a pretty
traditional tabletop game – fantasy, largely European setting, dwarves and
goblins – but the mechanics are so new and fun that it plays like honey!
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?
I have had the
opportunity to rub shoulders with some big industry gamers, but I think I am
going to invoke Thumper’s Rule on this one… No hard feelings, certainly.
What are you
working on at the moment?
I am typing my
fingers off writing Tales From the Ganges, the next supplement for Fortune’s
Fool! Tales from the Ganges will be an Indian themed supplement with lots
of fun new character options like Brahmin wizards, Sikh warriors, and Rakshasas
as a playable race. It will also serve as a sourcebook for GMs who want to lift
their campaigns out of Europe and journey to exotic Hindustan.
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