An interview with Gregor Hutton
Things have been a tad quiet around here with me moving into the house I’ve just bought and Nick running around sorting out his next big step, but I thought I’d kick things off again with an interview with Gregor Hutton.
I was very pleased to meet Gregor earlier this year at KapCon when he was in town for a friend’s wedding. A little while later I asked if he’d mind answering a few questions and here are his answers.
Can you introduce yourself for those who may not know you?
Oh, yes! I’m a games creator from Scotland. By day I work for a large Scientific Publisher and in my (any?) spare time I design, write and illustrate role-playing games. I got an honours degree in Astronomy but I’m mildly phobic of the night sky and large open spaces, which is a bit of a problem.
What got you into roleplaying games to begin with?
I liked listening to Lord of the Rings on the radio as a kid, and had loved reading my dad’s copy of the Hobbit (he had all the “usual suspects” including Eddison’s The Worm Ouroboros). Gaming kicked off for me when we moved to be nearer my father’s work. This gave me a school-friend neighbour who was a wargamer and role-player — so he got me into it.
What games are you playing at the moment?
I’ve been in a campaign set in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay world, but using Conspiracy of Shadows. We’re picking up for part two of the campaign soon. We’re all watchmen in Nuln.
I’ve also been playing (unsurprisingly) a lot of games of 3:16 at conventions too, and they’ve been good fun. I don’t think I will ever tire of that game.
And the latest is AD 316, which is set in late Roman times.
Can you tell us a little bit about your two most well known games; Best Friends and 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars?
Best Friends is a game where you play a group of tightly bound girlfriends with petty hatreds and nonsense between them. Character creation is unusual because you define everyone else’s character (relative to you) rather than your own character. In turn you get your “stats” from what everyone else thinks of you. It’s also a diceless game, without any random element at all.
In 3:16 you play futuristic Troopers sent from Terra to kill everything in the Cosmos. It’s that Starship Troopers, Aliens, Warhammer 40K and 2000AD vibe and taps into a war theme. You have two abilities (Fighting and Non-Fighting) and your weapons don’t have damage, they tell you how many things you kill. It has some very traditional stuff in it too: levelling up and a macho competitive edge. The game is more than just killing things, though, you end up creating characters in play with “Flashbacks” that let you win or lose in return for giving something to the fiction. It can be powerful stuff. It’s a campaign game that’s also very fun to play as a one-off.
They’re pretty different concepts, what inspired you to go down such different thematic paths?
They were written, in their 24-hour form, about a month apart in late-2005 (Best Friends was September and 3:16 in October). The inspirational kick was from the Ronnies competition that ran briefly, and very brightly, at The Forge (indie-rpgs.com) that year. Best Friends was about my sister and her friends – it came together very quickly out of looking at the words “girlfriend” and “hatred” in a positive way. 3:16 was about recreating a very fun period of my gaming life playing SF “marine” game with rules that actually supported it. Each one had its own flavour and the differences between them made it easier to write them.
I then developed Best Friends and released it at GenCon 2006. Unfortunately, I couldn’t work on both 3:16 and Best Friends at the same time – they’re just too different in tone and style. So 3:16 took much longer to develop into its final form. Also because 3:16 had won a High Ronny award there was more pressure and expectation for it to be very good. It took me almost 3 years before everything fell into place and I was convinced the final version was very good and worth releasing.
What plans (if any) do you have for expanding these games?
For Best Friends it’s not going to be developed any more. People really love it (and in some cases really hate it – I know who you are) as it is. It’s currently out of print and I’m putting together a final version of it which will just stay as it is forever.
There are plans afoot for 3:16. I am working on a Roman legion version which will be done soon, a fantasy version called Carnage Amongst The Tribes due in October, and there might possibly be a World War II version. Certainly people have been hacking it to do these things themselves.
What kind of stories do you want to tell?
Oh, all sorts. I never had a “signature” character when role-playing and I’ve come to realise I’m a restless soul who likes flitting from story to story. I like serious stuff but a lot of my gaming has a large part of humour to it. I sometimes get told off by other players not being serious enough. Le sigh.
You’re involved in the Collective Endeavour, how has being part of that group helped your writing and game design? [Sophie edit: Collective Endeavour is a group set up to help small press roleplaying publishers in the UK. Check them out.]
I’m not sure it has. Hmm, that’s a tough question. I hope I’ve helped other people with my time there, though.
What advice would you have for fledgling indie game designers?
Design games you want to play. Have fun. Don’t be too disheartened if you fail to wow anyone else. Be enthusiastic, but also be critical of yourself and take criticism in a positive spirit and with open eyes. Don’t hold things too tightly and don’t get too hung up on theory. What’s the “reward cycle” in a game of tag? Sure is fun, though.
What else is on the agenda for you?
Oh, I’ll be at GenCon Indy on the Design Matters booth again this year (Booth #1834).
Thanks for your time Gregor and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with next!
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