Designer Interview: Simon Washbourne

Simon Washbourne runs Beyond Belief Games, through which he’s released Its a Dog’s Life, among many other games.

What games have you designed?

Lashings of Ginger Beer, It’s a Dog’s Life, Barbarians of Lemuria, Babewatch and loads of others, some of which are on my website and others in files and on bits of paper around my house.

What’s your day job?

I work part-time in life assurance at the moment

Where do you live?

A place called Churchdown in Gloucestershire. It is supposedly the biggest village in England.

What are some of your favorite games and why?

  • D&D (any edition) because it introduced me to role-playing although, of course, there are games that knock the socks off it now.
  • Dragonquest (SPI) because we played our best ever campaign using that system.
  • Call of Cthulhu for the same reason as DQ.
  • Amber DRPG, because I had already started to develop into a virtually diceless GM and this game supported some of my thinking at that time.
  • My own game Barbarians of Lemuria, because it is one of the first rpg’s I wrote, even if it has changed hugely over time and because I think it captures the Sword & Sorcery genre pretty well.
  • Children of Fire because I love “The Prophecy” movies and this is an excellent free game to play in that genre/setting.

Is there some key element that you feel is necessary for an enjoyable session of role-playing?

I must admit that I prefer to play with friends rather than in gaming clubs or at conventions. Being relaxed and able to have a laugh amongst people I know well is key to my own enjoyment and, if I am GM’ing, knowing what the players want out of the game is everything.

What game has most profoundly impacted your development as a role-player or as a designer?

Possibly D&D because from the very first time I played it I wanted to tinker with the rules, create new character classes, monsters and so on. I remember writing for some of the UK’s fanzines back in the early 80’s and it was that which really started me off as a designer. Amber DRPG must come a close second.

Do the games you’ve designed share any common themes or features?

I like to design unusual games that other gamers probably won’t touch, especially those where violence is either non-existant or plays only a very small part of the whole package. Hence my “animal” games, Tales from The Wood and It’s a Dog’s Life, and Lashings of Ginger Beer in which you play kids. I also run an intermittent game with one of my gaming groups, referred to as “The Scottish Game,” with a present day setting on an island off the coast of Scotland, where the players play odd characters in normal everyday situations (or ordinary characters in odd situations)—inspired largely by Hamish MacBeth, Ballykissangel and Monarch of the Glen (these are some British TV series that may or may not have made it to the USA. The former stars a very young Robert Carlyle). [They have indeed made it to the states. -ed.]

What’s the most important thing a game needs to do in order to be successful?

If the group I GM one of my own games for wants to play that game again, I consider that a success. If other people enjoy them too, I’m over the moon.

How do you tackle game design? What’s the process like for you?

I’d like to say that I have a method I use every time I start to design a game but in fact I don’t. I usually just start to write—any part of the game—and in any order setting, characters, rules, scenarios—as it comes to me and in any order—often flipping between each element as I think of stuff. The key thing for me is just to keep going—it all falls into place eventually.

What advice would you give to aspiring game designers?

Write about what interests you. That’s most important. Then keep going. If you come grinding to a halt and run out of steam, take a break, maybe a week, maybe a month, but at some point go back to it and re-read it. You’ll get more ideas. Never be afraid to ask others want they think—either locally or online. There’s plenty of help out there. And read lots of other stuff: rpg’s, books, board games, wargames. They can all be mined for ideas.

Is there any major change that you see the hobby going through, either now or in the next few years?

We are already seeing it now: a move to pdf’s and the use of laptops in gaming. For about the first time this year at Ambercon UK there were more games that I played in where the GM used a laptop than didn’t. I’m sure that there will be more gaming aids that make better use of the computer—a dungeon adventure with sound effects, doors opening at appropriate points in the adventure, footsteps when wandering monsters approach, where instead of the GM speaking for the NPCs, the computer does it for you and so on.

Is there anything you’d like to see happen within the hobby?

Nothing springs immediately to mind.

As an aside, I would like to see my friend of many years and co-designer of Tales from The Wood (and contributer to many of my own games), Mark George, go online with some of his games that he has stashed away. I keep pestering him, but so far to no avail. His Gangs of New York-inspired game (unnamed as yet) would probably make the same sort of waves that DiTV is currently making—it is that good. But I don’t think we’ll ever see it.

Thanks, Simon!

Jul 27, 2005 | Filed in interviews | Tagged: