Jeff Mejia, aka The Evil DM, is the author of Broadsword, a 1PG system swords and sorcery game due out next month (April) from Deep 7. Jeff, who hosts the blog Lair of The Evil DM and appears frequently on Pulp-related message boards, is currently working on another, more extensive, swords and sorcery RPG called Legends of Steel, which he intends to self-publish.
(1) What was the genesis of Legends of Steel?
Every gamer wants to create his own game. I was no different. My thing was: what can I do different? What genre hasn't been fully explored? I had the bones for a fantasy type game with Elves and Wizards and all that but then I realized I wasn't doing anything different than 90% of the other gamers out there.
On the other hand I have old fashioned tastes in gaming and fiction. The more I thought about it there had never been any real successful games that dealt with Sword & Sorcery as it has been portrayed in the popular media - not just the Conan paperbacks but also the 70s comics from DC and Marvel. Those wonderfully god-awful movies from the 80s such as Deathstalker and Beastmaster and more recently the over-the-top TV shows like Hercules, Conan the Adventurer and, of course, Xena. And so I trashed the Elves and the wizards in pointy hats and started working on Legends of Steel.
(2) Do you intend to self-publish LoS as an indie game or will you try and get a major publisher interested, as you did with Broadsword?
I'll self-publish most likely. I don't really have the time or desire to shop it around. Besides, it's like a part of me in a way. I don't mind having an editor look at it and correct my mistakes but once I sell it to a company it becomes theirs and I have no real say over what they do with it. I was never in this to make money.
LoS for me was a project that has grown into something I really care about. I've used the analogy before that some guys restore old cars, they sink five or six grand into a beat up 57 Chevy and come away with a beautiful piece of work. well LoS is my Chevy. I work on it during my breaks at work, late at night after everyones in bed, and on weekends. I tinker with the engine, I polish it up a bit and show it off to friends to see what they think, when it's all done I'll buy some nice art and publish a few copies for friends and family. Nowadays with the advent of digital publishing I may very well go the PDF route and sell copies online for a nominal price.
(3) What's the appeal of Swords & Sorcery as a genre?
The grittiness. I grew up in the 70s and my impressions of S&S will always be taken from the pages of Savage Tales, and the Warren magazines. A guy with a sword facing off against some gigantic slime covered demon from the elder night. to me that's cool.
(1) What was the genesis of Legends of Steel?
Every gamer wants to create his own game. I was no different. My thing was: what can I do different? What genre hasn't been fully explored? I had the bones for a fantasy type game with Elves and Wizards and all that but then I realized I wasn't doing anything different than 90% of the other gamers out there.
On the other hand I have old fashioned tastes in gaming and fiction. The more I thought about it there had never been any real successful games that dealt with Sword & Sorcery as it has been portrayed in the popular media - not just the Conan paperbacks but also the 70s comics from DC and Marvel. Those wonderfully god-awful movies from the 80s such as Deathstalker and Beastmaster and more recently the over-the-top TV shows like Hercules, Conan the Adventurer and, of course, Xena. And so I trashed the Elves and the wizards in pointy hats and started working on Legends of Steel.
(2) Do you intend to self-publish LoS as an indie game or will you try and get a major publisher interested, as you did with Broadsword?
I'll self-publish most likely. I don't really have the time or desire to shop it around. Besides, it's like a part of me in a way. I don't mind having an editor look at it and correct my mistakes but once I sell it to a company it becomes theirs and I have no real say over what they do with it. I was never in this to make money.
LoS for me was a project that has grown into something I really care about. I've used the analogy before that some guys restore old cars, they sink five or six grand into a beat up 57 Chevy and come away with a beautiful piece of work. well LoS is my Chevy. I work on it during my breaks at work, late at night after everyones in bed, and on weekends. I tinker with the engine, I polish it up a bit and show it off to friends to see what they think, when it's all done I'll buy some nice art and publish a few copies for friends and family. Nowadays with the advent of digital publishing I may very well go the PDF route and sell copies online for a nominal price.
(3) What's the appeal of Swords & Sorcery as a genre?
The grittiness. I grew up in the 70s and my impressions of S&S will always be taken from the pages of Savage Tales, and the Warren magazines. A guy with a sword facing off against some gigantic slime covered demon from the elder night. to me that's cool.
There was an Avengers comic many years ago where the Avengers faced off against Korvac. Now Korvac was this all powerful entity, when he fought the Avengers he went through them like butter. Thor, Iron man, the Vision, two rounds-killed em all. Then he powers down and prepares to leave - which is when Captain America clocks him! No god-like powers, no powered armor, no laser beam eyes. just the ultimate human fighting machine using his guts and his fists. Korvac defeats him of course but that scene where Cap takes it to him was defining for me, and Sword and Sorcery depicts that sort of struggle.
(4) What Swords & Sorcery books and films have been a major influence on the development of your games?
Like I stated earlier, the Marvel and DC comics of the 70s - Conan, Claw, the Warlord, Thongor. The stories in these books were so over the top at times, yet the writers never felt like they had to explain any of it, you just accepted it. Sure Conan is in the snowy mountains with no shirt on. Of course, Red Sonja goes into battle wearing a chainmail bikini. Claw just went into the desert with just one skin of water - yup sounds just like him.
For movies, I found inspiration in The Scorpion King, and the Xena series for over the top action - stuff that you see and then say NO WAY! But you go with 'cause it's fun. I also love team films - films where a bunch of guys get together to right a wrong or just kick butt: The Magnificent Seven, Three The Hard Way, the Thirteenth Warrior.
(5) What inspired you to start blogging on the topics you do?
I wanted a blog that that wasn't too heavy - that didn't require me to think I had to come up with a witty subject and write 500 words about it every day. I didn't want it to be personal, but I did want it to be fun. so I wrote down a list of my favorite things and went at it. every once in a while I rant or get up on a soapbox and vent but for the most part it's just about things that interest me.
(6) How did you go about advertising your site and attracting new readers?
I joined a lot of message boards and posted things on my blog of interest to those particular groups. then whenever I referred to something I always said "Over at my blog I posted..." which made people visit.
That and the Wednesday girl. No shit, it really works. You should see the spike of visitors on a Wednesday, and quite a few stay and look at other parts of the blog. I can tell because my tracking stat thingy tells me how long someone stays around. The Wednesday girl thing may not be for everybody; but for my blog it works. I don't get preachy or heavy into religion, politics and social issues. My blog's more of a boys' playroom.
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