Interviewing Emmet Byrne

Authentic Irish mythology with hexcrawl survival and secrets? Count me in!

Please tell me a bit about yourself

My name is Emmet Byrne, I’m the founder of Old Oak Games. I’ve worked in the tabletop industry for over 6 years as a designer, producer, and creative director. I designed Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, and worked on dozens of books for Warhammer, Lord of the Rings, and Doctor Who, as well as creating and designing brand new games and settings.

What do you like best about designing games?

My favourite thing about designing games is that it feels like trying to solve a puzzle. Trying to design rules and systems that evoke the right emotions in people for the game they are playing — if it's super-heroic over-powered heroes, you should feel like that when you play; if it's survival horror, you should feel pushed to the brink.

Beyond that, getting a chance to meet and talk with people who have played your games, and hear the stories that they created with something you designed. It doesn’t get much better than that!

What are you working on at the moment, and what excites you about it?

I just finished a Kickstarter for Beyond the Woods, an exploration and survival hexcrawl game for D&D 5e. It's set in a world inspired by Irish folklore and I can’t wait to share more of that with people. It offers a more authentic representation of Irish mythology than what you see out there — we’re far more than just leprechauns. There’s an entire pantheon of gods and monsters, an Otherworld filled with faeries, and tales of betrayal and horror that a lot of people never see.

Can you tell me more about Tír Nascath?

One of my favourite things about Beyond the Woods is that each group has a map of Tír Nascath — the land the game is set in. As they explore they can place stickers on key locations they discover, ancient ruins, dungeons, or even to mark sites where a character died. The GM has the freedom to place adventure sites wherever they want, which means everyone's map will be different.

What experience(s) are you trying to give to players? Where do they find the fun in your game?

There are endless D&D books out there, but few focus on the elements of survival, exploration, and mystery that you get from a hexcrawl style game. I want it to feel quite old school, and have players fear for their characters — I want there to be real peril. There’s no goodberry or raise dead in Beyond the Woods!

Is there anything you would like to promote right now?

• Late pledges for Beyond the Woods are still open here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oldoakgames/beyond-the-woods-old-school-exploration-and-survival-for-5e
• We have an active Discord

Where should people go to follow you, and to find your products?

Our linktree has everything you need! https://linktr.ee/oldoakgames