Today Galileo Games is releasing Stormy Weather, by David Moore. The setting is the planet Yentsin, where the entire planet is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ion Mining company. Yentsin has a big problem. Some of the workers/inhabitants on the planet, don’t like how Ion runs things. They’ve started a revolution to try and get Ion to change the way it runs things on Yentsin.
Stormy Weather is a free Bulldogs! Adventure scenario about rebels, sabotage, firefights, corporations and what it’s like to be stuck in the middle. All Bulldogs! Adventure scenarios contain tips on running adventures for Bulldogs! and other FATE games, as well as full fleshed out NPCs for each level of character power, allowing GMs to use the adventure scenario for their group regardless of current power level. Today’s interview with David about Stormy Weather covers the setting, writing for Bulldogs! and what other projects he’s currently working on.
Interview with David Moore
When did you learn about Bulldogs?
I learned about Bulldogs! slightly before, or at, Gen Con 2011. I’m not quite sure when exactly it was. At the time I was planning something I called my Year of FATE. Playing and running FATE games of different sorts to get myself even more familiar with the nuances of the system. One of my friends in the podcasting community told me about Bulldogs!, and the pitch made me want to pick it up to learn more.
The pitch was “Firefly set in the Star Trek universe.” Being the Browncoat that I am, I just had to pick it up and read it. I mean, how could I not? Small time folks, trying to scratch a living in a galaxy of high tech wonders and politics. I was hooked.
What was the biggest challenge in creating a FATE system adventure?
Having too many ideas to write down. It’s supposed to be a short adventure, and I wanted it to be memorable and fit the style of game I like to run. Those things don’t always fit together. I like giving players a lot of choice, having the NPCs react and act to those choices. Writing an adventure that was both shorter, while giving the players choices in how the adventure plays out was difficult.
One of Stormy Weather’s main themes is rebellion. What inspired you to use that theme in a Bulldogs! setting?
To me, it fit. As I mentioned before, the pitch was Firefly set in Star Trek, and a big theme of Firefly was rebellion. The crew that plays the module is probably scraping by, and might decide to throw in with the underdog rebellion. They might also side with the government, deciding that the government is in the right, or just hoping for a bigger payday. I thought that choice was an interesting one I could give players, and could lead to an even more expansive campaign at home if the GM wanted to expand on it. I’d like to hear if people do.
I also wanted it to mean a little more than a delivery run gone wrong. I felt that the crew would have their fair share of those already, and I wanted to give players a chance to talk with the people they were delivering cargo to. I hope I gave the GM and players enough loose ends and hooks to get them interested in coming back to the planet.
Stormy Weather is a flexible adventure, one that lets characters make a variety of choices. Was it difficult to write out an adventure that let players go in so many different directions?
Writing it, yes. The style of game I run gives my players a lot of choice, and I wanted that for the people who will run and play Stormy Weather. Fitting that into a short adventure, and giving the GM enough information to run it without saying “wing it here,” was hard.
I did have help though. Sam Chupp wrote an adventure for us at The Game Master Show several years back called Pocket Full of Secrets, which had branching paths that let the players move in the adventure more organically. I used that as a template for Stormy Weather’s branching choices that the players have. I also encourage the GMs to let the players wander. My goal is to give the GM enough information about the situation, the NPC personalities, and the setting, so the characters can make the choices they want to and the GM can handle them. There is no need to strictly stick to the module if the players make choices that aren’t in it, in fact, I encourage it.
That’s a lot to put into a short module, so yes, writing it was difficult but extremely satisfying.
What projects are you currently working on?
The big gaming project I am working on right now is Vegas After Midnight, the brainchild of Mick Bradley. I am glad that he is letting me play in his brain. The setting is Las Vegas, sometime after a great calamity that leaves only Vegas and a small area around it as the only thing left. Vegas, itself already crazy in today’s age, has a life of it’s own and affects the people living in it. So at the Coliseum, the Romans hold sway, complete with their own Ceasar and daily chariot races. At Circus Circus, the Carnies rule and entertain with their own bizarre sense of humor. I’m not going to give a date for when it’s coming, since life has had a way of delaying this project enough already.
The other major project I am working on is a novel I co-wrote with Katherine Guevara. It’s a post apocalyptic fantasy that I hesitate to call steampunk for fear that steampunk zealots will stone me for it not being set in the Victorian age. It’s really a story about the main characters coming of age, discovering their true power, and the way they can affect the changes going on in the world they are in. I’m editing it now, and I’ll tell you, editing for me is the worst. It’s moving along at a steady pace, and this one I hope to get out in some form, by the end of the year.
I had a great time writing for the Bulldogs! universe, and I would love to write in it again. I’d like to thank Brennan for the opportunity to write in such a rich and yet open setting.
About David Moore
David Moore is the award-winning host of The Signal’s gaming segment, creator of the After Serenity podcast, and was the co-producer of The Game Master Show. He currently produces podcasts and articles for The Secret Lair, as well as managing their dirigible fleet as Commandant Vandermore. He is hard at work producing more role playing game content and works of fiction, and passing his lifetime love of gaming to his kids.
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