Eloso önskar god jul

Intervju om min lååånga karriär som spelmakare

Uppdatering Runequest Sverige

Summary: Some news about the production of the Swedish edition of Runequest.

Jag är inne på upploppet med Chock-boken Basker Blå. Därefter kör vi på Eloso igång skrivarbetet med Runequest Sverige (RQSE). Vi håller redan på att lägga fast ramarna, bestämma hur vi ska skriva (koncist och redigt på klassiskt svenskt maner), plocka in inspiration till Talastar från nordisk och centraleuropeisk bronsålder, och så vidare. Jag har ju jobbat med rollspel med samma tänk tidigare, främst då Viking på 1990-talet, så jag har inga problem med att visualisera “vårt” RQSE.

January 2021 Update

• Mio, min Mio: In late spring, Eloso will launch a cooperative family boardgame based on Astrid Lindgren’s classic fantasy tale Mio, min Mio (Mio, my Son). I fell in love with that book when I was seven or eight. The game is produced in four Scandinavian languages. However, I am involved merely as an occasional play-tester; my Eloso efforts are dedicated to our role-playing games. 
• Call of Cthulhu Sweden (CoCS): I have completed Vårvindar friska (Cool Springs Winds), the third episode of my trio of mini-adventures (pamflettäventyr) dedicated to the seasons autumn, winter, and spring. They take place in the Gothenburg area in 1926-27 and relate to Hultsby village where I grew up in the 1960s. 
• Basker Blå: An African campaign setting for the Swedish horror RPG Chock: Åter från graven. In January, I was busy making background research and setting “the stage”, that is, jotting down notes on what I am going to write about and why. I use a mix of tropes from American horror movies and weird/semi-horror Swedish television series. The player adventurers are supposed to be UN peacekeepers, journalists, relief workers, or scholars that work in the fictitious African country Atlântida in the aftermath of civil strife and economic collapse. My intention is to finish writing this setting during Q1.
• Runequest Sweden (RQSE*): Jeff at Chaosium and I have agreed that RQSE will be a different product from the English-language game. The region of Talastar is assigned to us and we will create a setting that resonates with Nordic gamers: deep forests with ruins and dangers, chaos monsters from Dorastor, tricky relations between the barbarian Orlanthi and the overbearing Lunar Empire (inspired by the interaction between the Germanic tribes and the Roman empire in the I-III centuries AD). RQSE is a uniquely Swedish adaptation of the game, that is, I will rewrite its rules according to Swedish traditions and compile Talastar-specific material from many sourcebooks while adding new stuff. The setting’s focal point is the town of Oxhuve (Oxhead). My intention is to write RQSE during 2021 and Eloso will do an RQSE Kickstarter in the autumn.   
• Outreach: On hold because of my many other commitments.
• The Expert Series – a teaser: Yes, I am doing some preparatory work for another game in my Expert series. I will publish pertinent details later in 2021. Stay tuned.

* SE is the internationally recognized country code for Sweden (SverigE).

Looking forward to 2021

In early January, we in the Eloso team coordinated with Chaosium and set our 2021 production schedule. I have two major tasks on my hand:

• In January and February, I’ll write the Basker Blå (Blue Beret) campaign module for our Swedish horror RPG Chock. It’s late 1980s. Swedish and Finnish UN peacekeepers are stationed in the fictitious West African country Atlantida, monitoring the truce between the parties of a recent civil war. In the shadows, cruel creatures are feeding on the misery caused by the fighting. 
• I’ll spend the rest of 2021 developing Swedish Runequest. We’ll make a unique version, putting our piece of the action in a Gloranthan region eminently suited for Swedish RPG traditions at some distance from Dragon Pass and Prax. Therefore, I’ll select, translate, revise and create backstory, cults, cultures, and new character backgrounds to fit our needs. I’d guess that Swedish RQ will comprise two books, 250-300 pages together, that is, sleeker than the Chaosium edition.
• Eloso’s revised priorities made me put Outreach in the backburner for Q1 and Q2. But rest assured: we have brainstormed how we will develop that game. 
• Also, I’m busy preparing a new Swedish title in my Expert RPG series for production in 2022.  

Kicking off for the Autumn

My career as an RPG writer has taken a wonderful turn. In August, Eloso’s owners held a kick-off weekend during which we made plans for the near future (that is, for 2020/21). We also agreed on how we are to pursue our many projects. 

In short: 

We have currently three major RPG lines to which we all contribute: Chock: Åter från graven; Swedish Call of Cthulhu; and Swedish Runequest. As you can see, Eloso is the Swedish partner of the legendary American RPG company Chaosium. I will be the spider at the center of the  Runequest web — l’araignée universelle — when we re-start translating it in 2021; we had to put the project in the backburner six months ago when covid-19 started wrecking our plans for 2020. 

In addition, I will produce indie-style games under the Eloso by Blixt moniker, some in Swedish, some in English, some in both. I handle most of their production by myself, while Eloso takes care of printing and distribution. The Expert series, powered by the Expert Nova rules, belong here. Currently, I am writing Expert Outreach, a post-apocalyptic space opera game (in English only) and I strive for a 2021 release, though reliable forecasts are currently impossible. There are more titles in the pipeline, but it’s too early to divulge any details about them.

I’ll develop Swedish Runequest

The Swedish RPG publisher Eloso has contracted me to translate the core parts of the new edition of Runequest and then adapt and develop the game and its Glorantha setting for the Swedish market, a task that will include a lot of creative writing. Glorantha is a fascinating world that has been developed by fans for 40 years. I have played a lot of Runequest over the years, written some small cults as fan material, and I’m now looking forward to return to that world with full force. May Lhankor Mhy teach me well.

This will be a multi-year venture. Here is a link to Eloso’s Swedish press release — link >>>

Stenåldersminnen

Mina barn, samtliga födda runt millennieskiftet, brukar kommentera mina berättelser från min ungdom med “jaja, det var stenåldern”. Min karriär som spelförfattare har en anspråkslös början. Det första rollspelspartiet deltog jag i april 1977 på det första Gothcon. Mitt första steg som seriös skribent tog jag 1979, när jag sålde en Traveller-artikel till en amerikansk tidskrift.

På den tiden hade pappersfanzin (enkla tidskrifter ihoppulade av amatörer) samma betydelse som bloggar och sajter har idag, ett sätt för amatörer att sprida sina alster. Fanzinen uppstod bland SF-fans i USA före andra världskriget och sedan spred sig företeelsen till andra subkulturer. (Fotokopiatorns ankomst på 1960-talet underlättade produktionsarbetet rejält.)

Jag var i slutet av 1970-talet aktiv i två spelföreningar i Göteborg och där kom några på idén att göra Sveriges första rollspelsfanzin: Mjölnir. När det var dags att göra nr 2 blev jag inbjuden att vara med. Jag var aktiv skribent i fyra nummer, varefter jag flyttade till Lund för akademiska studier och därmed tappade den dagliga kontakten med det där göteborgsgänget. Vi var fyra grabbar och en skrivmaskin i mitt studentrum på ca 20 kvm. Kreativitet och pizza. Kul var det och jag fick mersmak.

Nu har en av redaktörerna scannat in det mesta av Mjölner och lagt upp det på en webbplats (länk >>>).

Mina Mjölner-artiklar handlar främst om Traveller och Runequest, två rollspel som var stora i Sverige dåförtiden, före Drakar och Demoner och Mutant. Jag drev en ambitiös Traveller-kampanj 1978-82 och hade därför mycket att berätta där. När det gäller Runequest var jag fascinerad av den rika fantasyvärld som Greg Stafford & Co målade upp.

Hursomhelst, med dagens mått är inte materialet imponerade. Men vi var svenska pionjärer, ungefär som de renjägare som vandrade in i Götaland söderifrån när inlandsisen smälte undan. Vi hade primitiva redskap och var tvungna att uppfinna hjulet. (Därav bloggpostens rubrik.) Och det var bara fyra-fem år mellan denna stenålder och inledningen på den svenska rollspelens guldålder.

Författarintervju

Patrik Centerwall intervjuar mig på sin blogg Skymningssång angående mitt författarskap av böcker och rollspel — länk >>>

OpenQuest — a neat rules engine

I have always been fan of the old Basic Roleplaying rules engine (BRP) used in Runequest and Drakar och Demoner. Some time ago, someone told me that there is a streamlined OGL version of it, called OpenQuest, available here >>>

I have taken a look at it. Verdict: quite nice though of course old-school. Adaptable to most fantasy contexts.