[19:02] <+DonEarly> Ok, I'm Don Early, co-founder of Dead Gentlemen Productions
[19:02] <+DonEarly> We are behind the movies The Gamers, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, and most recently, The Gamers: Hands of Fate
[19:02] <+DonEarly> We've also been involved with Journeyquest
[19:03] <+DonEarly> But our first movies came out of just being a college group
[19:03] <+DonEarly> and that was Demon Hunters
[19:03] <+DonEarly> and Demon Hunters: Dead Camper Lake
[19:03] <+DonEarly> Around the time that Dorkness Rising was released in 2008
[19:04] <+DonEarly> I was having a conversation with Jamie Chambers, who was with Margaret Weis Productions at that time
[19:04] <+DonEarly> They had a huge success with Serenity RPG and had just come out with Battlestar Galactica RPG
[19:04] <+DonEarly> and he said he really wanted to do a Dead Gentlemen RPG
[19:04] <+DonEarly> but thought doing The Gamers: RPG was a bit meta
[19:04] <+DonEarly> and he really loved our Demon Hunters world and movies
[19:05] <+DonEarly> so we discussed it further and got excited about it
[19:05] <+DonEarly> we were thrilled because we'd basically made our college movies and then developed the world and the characters the following several years
[19:06] <+DonEarly> so this was a chance to reboot the property
[19:06] <+DonEarly> really go for what was in our head all these years
[19:07] <+xyphoid_> hah man, we still use 'I notice your group has no wizard / street samurai / Twilight Caste / brainer' 'You seem trustworthy! Would you like to join us?' every single campaign
[19:07] <+DonEarly> and to really make a long story short, that all happened, we made the game
[19:07] <+DonEarly> and then it kind of never got the attention we'd hoped for
[19:07] <+DonEarly> for several reasons
[19:07] <+DonEarly> and recently I got the inspiration to do some support material for it
[19:07] <+DonEarly> and that's why I'm here today
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[19:08] <+DonEarly> I'm excited to tell you about it and talk Demon Hunters
[19:08] <+DonEarly> Ok, (done)
[19:08] <~Dan> (Howdy, Ancient History! Q&A with Don Early in progress!)
[19:08] <~Dan> Thanks, Don! I guess I'll go ahead and get things started with a question of my own...
[19:08] <~Dan> ...Could you give us an overview of the Demon Hunters setting?
[19:09] <+DonEarly> You bet
[19:09] <+DonEarly> Every ghost story, every urban legend, every story that keeps you awake at night as a kid
[19:09] <+DonEarly> it's all true
[19:10] <+DonEarly> The darkness is a dangerous place
[19:10] <+DonEarly> But there is a force for good that keeps the things that go bump in the night at bay
[19:10] <+DonEarly> The Brotherhood of the Celestial Torch, aka, Demon Hunters
[19:11] <+DonEarly> They became known as Demon Hunters back when essentially everything that was scary was called a demon
[19:11] <+DonEarly> turns out not everything is a demon
[19:11] <+DonEarly> The setting relies heavily on actual lore and history though
[19:11] <+BlasterKyubey210> But it does give a feel of "Save ourselves the trouble later on"?
[19:12] <+DonEarly> We found it's far more interesting to use truth and history, and put our spin on it, than just make stuff up.
[19:12] <+DonEarly> Can you clarify "Save ourselves from the trouble later on"? I'm not understanding it
[19:13] <+BlasterKyubey210> Sorry, IC-wise, the Brotherhood only did the labling of all that is scary Demonic just to make it easy does it?
[19:13] <+BlasterKyubey210> Sorry if it's not clear
[19:13] <~Dan> I think he's trying to ask if the evil stuff really is evil.
[19:13] <+DonEarly> I don't have a canon answer for that, but in the middle ages
[19:13] <+DonEarly> everything was called demons
[19:14] <+DonEarly> oh yeah, the evil is evil for sure
[19:14] <+DonEarly> but we find the line greys sometimes
[19:14] <+DonEarly> for instance, a big controversy in the Brotherhood is the recruitment of the supernatural into the ranks
[19:15] <+DonEarly> so we have redeemed vampires
[19:15] <+DonEarly> werewolves
[19:15] <+DonEarly> etc, trying to be "good"
[19:16] <+DonEarly> So it's a bit like... the TV Show Supernatural, the A-Team, James Bond, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc
[19:16] <+DonEarly> Of course the tone we inject into it of course is humor
[19:16] <+DonEarly> so the ridiculous applies
[19:16] <+DonEarly> but it's not required
[19:17] <+DonEarly> for instance, the first mission I ran involved animated garden gnomes
[19:17] <~Dan> Nice. :)
[19:17] <+DonEarly> I just created one with possessed/intelligent squirrels hunting mountain bikers and campers in the woods
[19:18] <+DonEarly> Does that answer your question about the setting?
[19:18] <+DonEarly> if so, (done)
[19:18] <~Dan> I think so, yup!
[19:19] <~Dan> So you've actually seen Demon Hunters played "straight"?
[19:19] <+DonEarly> Well, no. In my mind, the story is very "straight"
[19:19] <+Abstruse> I haven't watched GAMERS yet (It's on my list, I swear!). Will I be able to play the game without having seen the show/films?
[19:19] <+DonEarly> there's a lot of drama in the actual characters
[19:20] <+DonEarly> but the RPG, no I haven't seen a game played serious. It could certainly be done if you want an urban horror type setting
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[19:20] <+DonEarly> YES! Absolutely
[19:20] <+DonEarly> the core book reboots the films anyway
[19:20] <+DonEarly> so it lays out the setting, and the hardcopy of the book comes with an Orientation Video to get you into the world
[19:21] <+DonEarly> we produced basically a 30minute short film to throw you into the world
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[19:21] <+DonEarly> We're working on getting it up in its entirety on YouTube in HD soon
[19:21] <+DonEarly> But the corebook does contain history, setting, sample characters, etc.
[19:22] <+DonEarly> (done)
[19:22] <~Dan> Not a question, but I'd just like to mention that the intro video is some of the Dead Gentlemen's finest work, IMO.
[19:23] <+DonEarly> Ah thanks. Ben Dobyns and I co-directed that
[19:23] <~Dan> And co-starred, I believe...? :)
[19:23] <+DonEarly> Well I play Silent Jim of course. Ben wasn't in the film
[19:24] <~Dan> Oh, that's right, re: Ben
[19:24] <~Dan> Now, when I reviewed the Demon Hunters movies, I mentioned that they seemed like a serious RPG session that turned "wacky". Was there any gaming inspiration behind the setting?
[19:25] <+DonEarly> Not the setting, no. The original movies were more inspired by campy horror movies of the 80's, and Army of Darkness/Evil Dead of course
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[19:25] <+DonEarly> the first one was more satirical (sp?)
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[19:26] <~Dan> I can see that. :)
[19:26] <+DonEarly> Dead Camper Lake was my directorial debut, and we followed the story more and made the wackiness just in the characters
[19:27] <+DonEarly> It's always been a tough seasaw, because the story in our minds over the years has a real drama theme, with awesome character progressions,
[19:27] <+DonEarly> but when we make the films, we can't help make it funny
[19:28] <+DonEarly> I'm sure we'll strike a balance some time in the future. :)
[19:28] <+DonEarly> (done)
[19:28] <~Dan> That's interesting... Do you not think that you hit the right balance in Dead Camper Lake?
[19:29] <+DonEarly> I think of Dead Camper Lake as a college film
[19:29] <+DonEarly> so no, I think we were having fun, doing something together, telling a story
[19:30] <+DonEarly> but now, Gabe and Chris have a whole story that's all but written
[19:30] <+DonEarly> Actually Gabriel is getting some new attention in the upcoming Demon Hunters WebComic
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[19:30] <~Dan> Oh, it's certainly that (re: a college film). But let's assume that the new version had all the acting and SFX firepower that you could ever want -- would you change the amount of wacky humor?
[19:30] <+DonEarly> Essentially we're in the process of retelling these stories
[19:31] <~Dan> (Or, I guess, are you changing that?)
[19:31] <+DonEarly> Yeah, I think we might
[19:31] <+DonEarly> I think the humor needs to be there
[19:31] <+DonEarly> and it needs to hit hard
[19:31] <+DonEarly> so I don't know about amount ratios of humor
[19:32] <~Dan> Well, let me just say this much:
[19:32] <+DonEarly> but there will always be humor when we do it
[19:32] <~Dan> I would be heartbroken if Tree isn't in the remake.
[19:32] <+DonEarly> I can't imagine when we'd ever go full drama
[19:32] <+DonEarly> Tree is a central character
[19:32] <+DonEarly> He's already in "the remake" as you call it
[19:32] <~Dan> Oh thank God. :)
[19:32] <+DonEarly> in the Orientation video
[19:32] <+DonEarly> No, Tree is fully established
[19:33] <+DonEarly> For those who don't know, Tree is an intelligent animated Christmas Tree
[19:33] <+DonEarly> and he's a badass
[19:33] <~Dan> Oh, no -- maybe I misunderstood, but were you saying that the next Demon Hunters movie would be a reboot?
[19:34] <~Dan> Or did you mean that it would take off from the Orientation video?
[19:34] <+DonEarly> I see the confusion. To be honest we dont' really know yet
[19:34] <+DonEarly> as far as, will there be another movie, etc
[19:34] <~Dan> Ah. No problem. Gotcha.
[19:34] <+DonEarly> part of the reason we're doing all this, with the RPG, the web comic, etc
[19:34] <+DonEarly> is to generate a full blown audience for it
[19:35] * ~Dan nods
[19:35] <+DonEarly> because to do Demon Hunters the way we want to, would be expensive
[19:35] <+DonEarly> makeup effects primarily with the creatures, etc
[19:35] <~Dan> Right.
[19:35] <+DonEarly> We handle a lot off camera
[19:36] <+DonEarly> And again, we think we have our casting down for the most part, but none of the actors have a long term deal signed with us
[19:36] <+DonEarly> so nothing's in stone
[19:37] <~Dan> My wife will be heartbroken if there's another movie and you aren't Silent Jim.
[19:37] <+DonEarly> Eventually, we want to tell this story to the masses, but the roleplaying game is designed to really get the audience to help us build the world
[19:37] <~Dan> (So would I, of course, but she has a big crush on Jim. :) )
[19:37] <+DonEarly> Well, I would be heartbroken if I wasn't Silent Jim too!!!
[19:38] <~Dan> :D
[19:38] <+DonEarly> He's one of the few characters I've ever played, maybe the only character I've ever played, where I don't see myself in it
[19:38] <~Dan> I want to turn back to the RPG, but first, perhaps you should explain Silent Jim? :)
[19:38] <+DonEarly> Silent Jim is a demon hunter
[19:38] <+DonEarly> he is wrapped in mystery
[19:39] <+DonEarly> wears a trenchcoat, a fedora, and always wrapround sunglasses
[19:39] <+DonEarly> he rarely speaks
[19:39] <+DonEarly> his coat is equipped with Portal Pockets
[19:39] <+DonEarly> extradimensional spaces to carry a bunch of stuff
[19:39] <+DonEarly> his coat is the clown car gag
[19:40] <+DonEarly> I don't know that I can get into full detail about Silent Jim, but the big thing about him is that he exists outside of time
[19:40] <+DonEarly> that means... well in the RPG we've described it as Chronomancy
[19:40] <~Dan> Yeah, I wouldn't expect you to give away anything. :)
[19:40] <+DonEarly> kind of a time wizard
[19:40] <+DonEarly> he's no Dr. Who
[19:41] <~Dan> Then again, Doctor Who isn't a guns-blazing badass.
[19:41] <+DonEarly> but he does have the ability to die and come back because he doesn't really originate from our time stream
[19:41] <+DonEarly> so he's outside of time, and has the freedom to move around it
[19:41] <+DonEarly> kind of gets a do-over when he dies
[19:42] <+DonEarly> but yeah, lets go back to the RPG
[19:42] <~Dan> Okay! So how would you describe the system?
[19:43] <+DonEarly> Well it's Cortex, so it's the same system as Serentiy, Battlestar, Supernatural, Smallville, etc
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[19:43] <+Abstruse> Note: The show is Doctor Who. The character is The Doctor. Saying "Dr. Who" is a good way to attract canon trolls :p
[19:43] <~Dan> (Howdy, JoeGenero! Q&A in progress with Don Early of the Dead Gentlemen! :) )
[19:43] <+DonEarly> Oh god, I had this argument with Nathan Rice about Dr. Who
[19:44] <+DonEarly> Let's not go down that road.
[19:44] <+DonEarly> :)
[19:44] <+JoeGenero> (Hello world.)
[19:44] <+DonEarly> Ok, back to Cortex
[19:44] <+Abstruse> The Doctor, please.
[19:44] <+DonEarly> So I'm no Cortex RPG system expert, but the system plays well with our setting
[19:45] <+DonEarly> if something doesn't work, you change it, you make it up
[19:45] <+DonEarly> the best part about the system I think are the plot points
[19:45] <+DonEarly> you can really tell some awesome, hilarious stories if you use those right
[19:45] <+DonEarly> plot points get spent to upgrade your rolls, change reality a little bit, bribe the GM to get what you need, et
[19:45] <+DonEarly> c
[19:46] <+DonEarly> Has your assets and complications, your abilities correspond with dice
[19:46] <+DonEarly> so for instance your Strength might be a d8
[19:46] <+DonEarly> doing a strength roll, you'd roll a d8
[19:47] <+DonEarly> The classic cortex system has static difficulty settings
[19:47] <+DonEarly> this has been a bit of contention with players, because it kind of rams everything into one box
[19:48] <+DonEarly> but the rule is, if you don't like it, change it. And they have with other iterations of Cortex, starting in Leverage, and then in their new Marvel system
[19:48] <+DonEarly> along with the new Firefly RPG
[19:48] <+DonEarly> The gameplay is pretty basic. Roll a stat die, roll a skill die, add them together
[19:48] <+DonEarly> boom
[19:49] <+DonEarly> sometimes your assets or complications can be added as well
[19:49] <+DonEarly> (or penalize as the case may be)
[19:49] <+DonEarly> The system is also pretty lethal, which fits with Demon Hunters perfectly
[19:49] <~Dan> Heh. No kidding. :)
[19:49] <+DonEarly> as a new recruit to the Brotherhood, your chances for long term survival are pretty slim
[19:50] <+DonEarly> so the game ends up being "what can I get away with before I die?"
[19:50] <+DonEarly> and "When I die, how big of a bang can I make it?"
[19:50] <+DonEarly> In Demon Hunters, death isn't always final, as you can imagine
[19:50] <~Dan> Sort of a Paranoia mindset, then?
[19:50] <+DonEarly> we've definitely been compared to that
[19:51] <+DonEarly> Love Paranoia
[19:51] <~Dan> I thought you might. :)
[19:51] <+DonEarly> But again, just because you die, doesn't mean your character stops
[19:51] * ~Dan nods
[19:51] <+DonEarly> you can spend plot points to cheat death
[19:51] <+DonEarly> you can get raised with mad science
[19:51] <+DonEarly> or by one of the Brotherhood's nephilims
[19:52] <+DonEarly> you might come back with "otherworldly" knowledge
[19:52] <+DonEarly> you might come back wrong
[19:52] <+DonEarly> Or in case of Ned, the accountant in the Orientation video
[19:52] <~Dan> Heck, a guy who dies in the orientation video is one of the pregen PCs for the... yeah, him. :)
[19:52] <+DonEarly> you just come back as a frankenstein's monster type
[19:52] <+DonEarly> He's now known as "UnNed"
[19:53] * ~Dan chuckles
[19:53] <+DonEarly> and he's a damage soak
[19:53] <+DonEarly> really made "cannon fodder" be an asset
[19:53] <+DonEarly> (done)
[19:54] <~Dan> What's the general power level of the game? Like, if you had to compare a really tricked-out PC to a Marvel superhero, who'd it be, power-wise?
[19:54] <~Dan> (Starting PC, that is.)
[19:55] <+DonEarly> Depends on if you're a supernat or not
[19:55] <~Dan> Let's assume supernat.
[19:55] <+DonEarly> but in general, starting out as a new recruit, you're pretty squishy
[19:55] <+DonEarly> Being some kind of supernat, like a Vampire, makes you a lot less squishy
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[19:56] <+DonEarly> but you have to remember that Supernats in the Brotherhood are fairly rare, and very controversial
[19:56] <+DonEarly> but to compare, hm...
[19:56] * ~Dan nods
[19:56] <~Dan> Well, for a specific example, how powerful is... Oh, Hell, what's her name... Anti-Tank... Sally?
[19:56] <+DonEarly> Probably something like The Punisher, Batman in his year one, etc
[19:57] <+DonEarly> oh, well Sally's a different story
[19:57] <+DonEarly> she's no starting pC
[19:57] <+DonEarly> She's a godling
[19:57] <~Dan> Ah, true.
[19:57] <+DonEarly> She's tank girl on a demigod level
[19:58] <~Dan> How would you compare her in terms of power, then?
[19:58] <+DonEarly> so you could put her up easily with Wonder Woman
[19:58] <~Dan> Cool.
[19:58] <+DonEarly> or Captain Marvel
[19:58] <~Dan> (Was she created for the Orientation video, btw?)
[19:58] <+DonEarly> No, but when Jen Page was auditioning for it, her interpretation just blew us away
[19:59] <~Dan> Ah. She did do a great job, yes. :)
[19:59] <+DonEarly> You're fairly low powered, with the ability to be high powered in the moment
[20:00] <+DonEarly> if that makes sense
[20:00] <~Dan> I think so, yes.
[20:00] <~Dan> Temporary "burst" abilities.
[20:00] <+DonEarly> I mean, no one is Luke Cage unless you're a Godling or some other kind of supernat
[20:00] <+DonEarly> but you could be Batman
[20:00] <~Dan> Right.
[20:00] <+DonEarly> or Green Arrow
[20:00] <+DonEarly> or Hawkeye
[20:00] <+DonEarly> etc
[20:00] <+DonEarly> even Tony Stark
[20:01] <+DonEarly> but you could be on par with some of the X-Men
[20:01] <~Dan> Speaking of which, do I recall correctly that there's mad science as well as magic?
[20:01] <+DonEarly> yes
[20:01] <+DonEarly> we have both. First off, we have Science!
[20:01] <+DonEarly> and then we have the "Mad" descriptor
[20:02] <+DonEarly> that means if you take that, you can add "Mad" to ANY skill
[20:02] <+DonEarly> so you can have "Mad guns"
[20:02] <+DonEarly> "Mad Athletics"
[20:02] <+DonEarly> "Mad Insight"
[20:02] <+DonEarly> et
[20:02] <+DonEarly> The Mystic Arts are something else entirely
[20:03] <+DonEarly> this is where the cultists, the hoodoo, etc come into play
[20:03] <+DonEarly> essentially you're cheating reality
[20:03] <+DonEarly> most "magic" is just illusions, parlor tricks
[20:03] <+DonEarly> the real stuff,
[20:03] <+DonEarly> it's full of... consequences
[20:03] <+DonEarly> mechanically it's run like skills
[20:04] <+DonEarly> (done)
[20:06] <~Dan> Are there psychic powers as well?
[20:06] <+DonEarly> There's nothing spelled out, I don't think, but they certainly exist
[20:07] <+DonEarly> would follow similarly with Mystic Arts
[20:07] <+DonEarly> you just take a skill in "Psychic" or whatever
[20:07] <~Dan> As an aside, I thought it was too bad that "Lactomancy" as mentioned by Anti-Tank Sally in the video didn't make it into the game. :)
[20:08] <+DonEarly> Well the mechanics for it are there
[20:08] <+DonEarly> You take Mystic Arts up to a d6 as a skill
[20:08] <+DonEarly> and then you specialize in Lactomancy
[20:08] <+DonEarly> I've seen one player create a Caffeinomancer
[20:09] <+DonEarly> that's not in the book, but I say it's frickin' real!
[20:10] <~Dan> Heh. As well it should be. :)
[20:10] <+DonEarly> Part of what you are bringing up is a big motivator for making new material for the game
[20:10] <+DonEarly> clearly we couldn't get everything into the corebook
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[20:11] <+DonEarly> and even some of what made it wasn't incredibly thought out
[20:11] <+DonEarly> I would say Mystic Arts falls into that category
[20:11] <+DonEarly> the magic system is so open-ended, it's really hard to know where to begin
[20:11] <+DonEarly> and we didn't provide any guideline
[20:11] <+DonEarly> So that's on my to do list
[20:12] * ~Dan nods
[20:12] <+DonEarly> A big part of where we are going is to get the players to collaborate
[20:12] <+DonEarly> to encourage the fact that this world is too big to get all included in the book,
[20:13] <+DonEarly> so here's some guidelines on how to do what you want to
[20:13] <+DonEarly> So if you want Mad Skillz in TV/VCR repair, which is in the Orientation Video as a gag, but not mentioned in the book,
[20:13] <+DonEarly> you can specialize in that no problem
[20:13] <+locutus> there was a Caffeine themed superhero comic :)
[20:14] <+DonEarly> Nice!
[20:14] <+locutus> Too Much Coffee Man, it was hilarious
[20:14] <+DonEarly> That's what I love about this game,
[20:14] <~Dan> What does the "Mad" descriptor give you, by the way?
[20:15] <+DonEarly> playing Demon Hunters has created the hardest hitting laughs I've ever had gaming
[20:15] <+DonEarly> to the point of taking a knee and crying
[20:15] <+DonEarly> Looking up "Mad" descriptor now...
[20:16] <+DonEarly> It is an asset
[20:16] <+DonEarly> (page 59 for those playing at home)
[20:17] <+DonEarly> You gain a +2 bonus on your Mad Skill when spending plot points on an action you can use your Mad Skill to do
[20:17] <+DonEarly> so, 1 plot point counts as spending 3
[20:18] <+DonEarly> spending 2 plot points counts as spending 4, etc
[20:18] <+DonEarly> It's actually pretty powerful
[20:18] <~Dan> Ah. So "Mad Science!" doesn't mean that you can do anything differently than you can with "Science!" -- just potentially better?
[20:18] <+DonEarly> Better to the point of potentially going beyond normal
[20:19] <+DonEarly> for instance one of my players has Mad Mechanics
[20:19] <+DonEarly> he modified the furnace in a large building to blow winds at hurricane speeds
[20:20] <~Dan> That's awesome. :)
[20:21] <~Dan> Do you have to spent a plot point to invoke effects like that?
[20:21] <+DonEarly> definitely
[20:21] <+DonEarly> but you should be getting them and spending them like candy
[20:22] <+DonEarly> plot points should be handed out whenever you do something awesome
[20:22] <+DonEarly> or when you make a story decision that utilizes your complications
[20:22] <+DonEarly> the GM should be pretty liberal with handing out plot points
[20:22] <+DonEarly> each session resets
[20:23] <+DonEarly> I start my players with 4 every session
[20:23] <+DonEarly> you can't bank them
[20:23] <~Dan> I'm a big fan of games with plot/fate/hero/whatever point "economies".
[20:23] <+DonEarly> Yeah, it also steers the game appropriately
[20:24] <+DonEarly> "Are there any weapons in the room?"
[20:24] <+DonEarly> "no."
[20:24] <+DonEarly> "Here's 2 plot points"
[20:24] <+DonEarly> "You find a handgun in the desk drawer, it's loaded"
[20:24] <~Dan> Exactly. :)
[20:25] <+DonEarly> "You mean there's a flamethrower in the closet." Hands 4 more plot points
[20:25] * ~Dan chuckles
[20:25] <+DonEarly> that's the kind of exchange I like
[20:25] <+DonEarly> and I encourage
[20:25] <+DonEarly> But as a GM I always make sure it goes towards the story
[20:25] <+DonEarly> and keeping in mind consequences
[20:26] <+DonEarly> this game is all about consequences
[20:26] <+DonEarly> (done)
[20:27] <~Dan> Can you speak to some of the wackier abilities that players can have? (I'm thinking of the likes of "Explosive Plausibility", for example.)
[20:28] <+DonEarly> Sure, well there's Explosive Plausibility, as you mentioned
[20:28] <+DonEarly> basically, stuff blows up around you for no reason
[20:28] <+DonEarly> anytime you toss something, it could explode
[20:28] <+DonEarly> it's just what happens
[20:29] <+DonEarly> another one is Meta-Game Awareness
[20:29] <+DonEarly> the Demon Hunters RPG
[20:29] <+DonEarly> assumes that you actually are a new recruit to the Brotherhood
[20:29] <+DonEarly> and that this RPG is a tabletop simulation of field combat
[20:29] <+DonEarly> to help prepare you for the field
[20:29] <+DonEarly> Meta-Game Awareness allows your character to know she is in a game
[20:30] <+DonEarly> and you can use "out of character knowledge" in game
[20:30] <+DonEarly> Another one is "Fluid Character History"
[20:31] <+DonEarly> this is basically a cheat the game asset because you're too lazy to make up your backstory
[20:31] <+DonEarly> and you know what, why not?!
[20:32] <+DonEarly> Once per session if you can make up a convincing argument that something fits into your backstory, you get it. GM of course if final arbiter.
[20:33] <+DonEarly> One of the complications I like is "Mystic Vortex"
[20:33] <+DonEarly> weird stuff just happens around you
[20:33] <~Dan> Always a fun one for GMs. :)
[20:33] <+DonEarly> comes in two strengths
[20:33] <+DonEarly> d6 and d12
[20:33] <+DonEarly> yes, gives a lot of ammo to GMs
[20:33] <+DonEarly> d6, things happen but not specifically dangerous
[20:34] <+DonEarly> like maybe there's always something in the corner of your vision
[20:34] <+DonEarly> but it's always gone when you turn and look
[20:35] <+DonEarly> or you might always without error, once per session, run into a telephone poll
[20:35] <+DonEarly> d12 is the scary stuff
[20:36] <+DonEarly> poltergeists try to hurt you
[20:36] <+DonEarly> someone's gun jams and almost shoots you
[20:36] <+DonEarly> because you're here, basically something bad is probably gonna happen
[20:36] <+DonEarly> (done)
[20:37] <~Dan> Are you familiar with Tales from the Floating Vagabond, and if so, did it have any influence on your game design?
[20:38] <+DonEarly> Extremely familiar. Tales from the Floating Vagabond was heavily influential to Matt Vancil's writing
[20:38] <+DonEarly> and Matt Vancil is the creator of the Demon Hunters world
[20:38] <+DonEarly> you nailed it there
[20:38] <~Dan> That's why they pay me the big bucks.
[20:39] <~Dan> Actually... Matt's up for writing a TF2V adventure, isn't he?
[20:39] <+DonEarly> That's what I understand
[20:39] <~Dan> For the 2nd edition Kickstarter?
[20:39] <+DonEarly> I know he's pretty excited
[20:39] <+DonEarly> this is huge for him
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[20:40] <~Dan> I can see Matt having loads of fun with that game.
[20:40] <~Dan> And Explosive Plausibility just screamed "TF2V Shtick" to me. :)
[20:40] <+DonEarly> Yep
[20:41] <~Dan> So what do you have planned for the game?
[20:41] <+DonEarly> Right now we're working on a supplement specifically for GMs
[20:41] <+DonEarly> with hopeful expansions for players
[20:42] <+DonEarly> it's called "5 Minutes to Mayhem"
[20:42] <+DonEarly> about a year ago, I was asked to run a Demon Hunters RPG session at the first ZOECon in Seattle
[20:42] <+DonEarly> and oddly enough, I had a really hard time coming up with an adventure
[20:42] <+DonEarly> here I was, one of the original contributors and spearheaders for the RPG
[20:43] <+DonEarly> and I couldn't figure out what to do
[20:43] <+DonEarly> so I turned to Jimmy McMichael, who's the resident Demon Hunters writer (Matt's focusing on other stuff)
[20:43] <+DonEarly> and i asked him to write me a short story
[20:43] <+DonEarly> I broke his short story down into encounters and playable elements
[20:44] <+DonEarly> and I noticed a formula or pattern that was really familiar to me
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[20:44] <+DonEarly> it had all the elements of a James Bond adventure
[20:44] <+DonEarly> You got your MI6 equivalent debriefing
[20:44] <+DonEarly> stuff going down
[20:45] <+DonEarly> even got your own Q-branch essentially
[20:45] <+DonEarly> all of this completely unintentional, but there it was
[20:45] <+DonEarly> I ran the old James Bond RPG by Victory Games for about 6 years in and out of college
[20:45] <+DonEarly> and they had a supplement I found amazingly useful in creating missions on the fly
[20:46] <+DonEarly> 5 Minutes to Mayhem is designed to create the outline/the skeleton of a Demon Hunters adventure
[20:46] <+DonEarly> and give you ideas and guidelines on how to flesh it out
[20:46] <+DonEarly> but you can have the makings of an adventure in less than 5 minutes
[20:47] <+DonEarly> and have a really good story throw at your players
[20:47] <+DonEarly> We are likely going to do a kickstarter or something similar
[20:48] <+DonEarly> The main supplement will include adventure generation tools,
[20:48] <+DonEarly> a section on fleshing out NPCs and monsters
[20:48] <+DonEarly> to make them memorable
[20:48] <+DonEarly> and a section on how to use the info you gathered in the adventure generation, do some web searches and really plug in some detail
[20:49] <+DonEarly> other sections we're hoping to get to are a fleshed out Mystic Arts/Magic system
[20:49] <+DonEarly> more stuff on The Warehouse
[20:49] <+DonEarly> or rather, stuff to get From the Warehouse
[20:50] <~Dan> That's the Q Branch equivalent?
[20:50] <+DonEarly> more NPCs, villains, etc
[20:50] <+DonEarly> yeah, The Warehouse is a transdimensional warehouse
[20:50] <+DonEarly> full of demon hunting supplies
[20:50] <+DonEarly> at the moment there is no Q, as a person per se
[20:50] <+DonEarly> it's just a place you go to get stuff
[20:51] <+DonEarly> so you need to know what kind of stuff you can get
[20:51] <+DonEarly> we have some examples in the core book
[20:51] <+DonEarly> But more is helpful
[20:51] <+DonEarly> and I've really been pining for a 5 minute player character generation system
[20:51] <~Dan> How big of a supplement are we talking about here?
[20:51] <+DonEarly> so we're working on that too
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[20:52] <+DonEarly> about 28 pages to start
[20:52] <+DonEarly> then add on the other stuff
[20:52] <+DonEarly> depending on the demand
[20:52] <~Dan> (Welcome, mib_bi9u35! You can set your name with the /nick command.)
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[20:53] <+DonEarly> We also have an agreement with Cam Banks to write a section on playing Demon Hunters with Cortex Plus
[20:53] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, FoxWinter!)
[20:53] <+FoxWinter> Thanks, Dan.
[20:53] <+DonEarly> Ah! Fox is one of the playtesters actually
[20:53] <~Dan> Cool. :)
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[20:53] <~Dan> In the time we have left, is there anything we haven't covered that you'd like to mention, Don?
[20:54] <+DonEarly> We're really excited about the webcomic that will be coming out soon
[20:55] <+DonEarly> demon-hunters.com
[20:55] <+DonEarly> this will give you lots of setting context
[20:55] <~Dan> Oh! And before I forget, the PDF is free at the moment, isn't it?
[20:56] <+DonEarly> Yes! There's a link on the Dead Gentlemen Facebook page for a free PDF of the Demon Hunters RPG, offer expires September 15th.
[20:56] <+DonEarly> Hoping to announce 5 Minutes to Mayhem in the next few weeks
[20:56] <+DonEarly> Or I should say whatever fundraising vehicle we choose for that
[20:57] <~Dan> (Link: https://www.facebook.com/deadgentlemen)https://www.facebook.com/deadgentlemen
[20:57] <+FoxWinter> Which ones are you looking into, other than Kickstarter?
[20:57] <~Dan> Is that banner art from the webcomic?
[20:57] <+DonEarly> Dan, yes
[20:58] <+DonEarly> Fox, if not Kickstarter, probably something at Zombie Orpheus
[20:58] <+DonEarly> right now looking like Kickstarter
[20:59] <+DonEarly> I guess that's it!
[21:00] <~Dan> Excellent. Don, you're free to hang out longer if you like, although I do need to wrap up the official Q&A.
[21:00] <~Dan> Thanks so much for coming by today!
[21:00] <+DonEarly> You bet. I can hang for a bit if there are other questions
[21:00] <~Dan> I'll have the log posted shortly and will send you the link via FB.
[21:00] <~Dan> Have a great evening, folks!
[21:00] <+DonEarly> very good
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