Interviewing Rob

By Alex White

- 5 minutes read - 924 words
Meet Rob, whose work encompasses everything from childlike explorers of vast ruins to cursed gothic monster hunters!

Please tell me a bit about yourself

I’m Rob, and I’m an indie RPG designer from the south of England. I started playing TTRPGs as a teen in the 90s, and I quickly discovered I enjoyed not only playing and GMing games, but also creating my own settings and rules. Nine years ago, I decided to try my hand at publishing my work professionally, and since then I’ve published three of my own TTRPGs and worked as a freelance writer on several others.

What do you like best about designing games?

I enjoy creating worlds and rule systems to support them, but what I love most is seeing players interact with something I’ve created and make it their own. Hearing from players how they have created characters and told stories in worlds that began in my imagination makes me incredibly happy.

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

I recently co-wrote The Eternal Ruins RPG with Felix Issacs, and that will be released digitally at the end of August and then in print format soon afterwards. The Eternal Ruins began as a multi-platform worldbuilding project by artist Sam Carr, and working with Felix and Sam to turn that world into a fully-fledged TTRPG has been an incredible journey. I’m really excited to see what kinds of characters fans of the world create, and the kinds of stories they tell.

I’m also currently working on the second edition of my dieselpunk adventure RPG, Age of Steel. Age of Steel was my first published RPG, and it will be ten years old next year, so I’d love to have the second edition ready by then. It’s interesting to see where I began and how much my writing, design, and layout skills have improved since I began. I’m keen to bring those improvements, from both a game mechanics and a content point of view, to Age of Steel.

Can you tell me more about The Eternal Ruins RPG?

This is the first project I’ve co-written with another designer, and it’s been a really interesting and creative experience. Felix and I have been friends for many years, and I’ve previously contributed to his TTRPGs The Wildsea and PICO, but this time we were both in the driving seat, which is an entirely different experience.

A small figure sits in a cave mouth cooking over a warm fire. beyond there is grass and great stone ruins

The Eternal Ruins has been around for several years as a worldbuilding project, so it has a wealth of lore and amazing artwork to draw on. It’s set in the titular ruins: an endless megastructure that is home to strange animals, aloof spirits, and predatory demons. Exploring this world are wanderers: childlike beings who must make sense of the curious world around them and navigate its hazards.

It’s been a really fun challenge to turn Sam’s world into a TTRPG. When you’re given such a detailed world to work with, remaining true to the existing lore while also expanding it is a delicate balancing act. Luckily, Sam has been fantastic to work with, giving Felix and me excellent guidance every step of the way.

You are doing a second edition of Age of Steel - what kind of mechanics changes do you anticipate making there and why?

The main changes I am making are to bring in the updates I added to the system when I created When the Moon Hangs Low. All three of my games use the same basic dice engine, which I designed for Age of Steel and then iterated on with each subsequent game. The version in WTMHL is the most streamlined (in my opinion), and I’m keen to bring those changes back to AoS.

A big change is adding edges, which also appear in When the Moon Hangs Low, and I think will fit well with the pulp adventure aesthetic. Edges are unique abilities, powered by a metacurrency called Moxie, that allow a character to do something superhuman or unexpected. They already existed in AoS in a looser format, but I’m looking forward to clarifying them and adding a whole load more.

I’m also looking at overhauling the character backgrounds, which were loosely inspired by the old Word of Darkness system but feel quite archaic in terms of game design now. However, some of my players have told me they’re very fond of them, so it’s definitely a change I will consider carefully before making!

What experience(s) are you trying to give to players?

I’m a huge fan of horror, so a lot of my games tend to focus on giving players a good chill. That said, I think the most fun comes from being a bit scared while also having a chance to feel like a badass, so a lot of my games try to make the characters feel like the heroes in a classic action movie.

At the end of the day, though, the main thing I try to give players is a good story to tell.

Is there anything you would like to promote right now?

I’ll always promote my gothic action TTRPG, When the Moon Hangs Low. Players take on the role of monster hunters cursed with strange powers who are all that stand between the citizens of a gothic city and the nightmarish creatures that threaten to overrun it. I’ve just released the sixth supplement, and it’s my homage to a lot of my favourite media.

A greyscale of male and female characters armed with cutlass and flintlock in a city with a huge moon behind them

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