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I interviewed Ray Winninger, creator of the Underground RPG and author of Mayfair Games' Chill Companion back in the day. He was gracious enough to answer my questions.
1. You've worked on a number of popular game lines, most notably Torg, DC Heroes, and Star Wars. Which of the older lines (before 2005) was your favorite when it came to writing for them?
There are a few that standout. I really enjoyed working on D&D, STAR WARS, and TOP SECRET, for instance. All considered, though, I probably had the most fun with DC HEROES. I love the basic game system that Greg Gorden designed (I still tinker with it to this day!), I got a chance to greatly expand the DCH rules to turn into exactly the kind of game I wanted to play, and I really enjoyed diving into the comics and working with so many of DC’s talented writers and artists. Alan Moore once spent a couple of hours walking me through the WATCHMEN story before the second issue was on the stands!
2. Your credits extend to products from a number of game companies, including Mayfair Games, West End Games, FASA, and TSR. For which book and RPG company do you have the fondest of memories?
I really enjoyed working with all those companies and had many good friends at each of them, but again, Mayfair is the real stand out. I lived nearby so I regularly visited the offices, and I went on to run the R&D department there for a few years. Good times.
3. Underground is a wild game. My impression of it is cyber-supers in a gonzo America. From where did the inspiration for the setting come, what made you actually put it on paper, and was there any resistance to getting it published by Mayfair Games?
The original idea behind UNDERGROUND was to create my own “grim and gritty” superhero world in the mold of DARK KNIGHT, WATCHMEN and some of the titles that were pretty popular in those days. As I started to work on it, though, I gradually realized just how goofy the idea of treating superheroes “realistically” really was—that’s where the humor came in. Eventually, it became an examination of America’s peculiar notion of heroism.
4. One of my old RPG favorites is Chill. And one of the best parts was the monster descriptions. What part of the writing you did for the line was your favorite and what other material would you have loved to have created for it?
I wrote all of the flavor quotes for the line and the CHILL COMPANION, the book that presented rules and advice for expanding the system to cover various types of horror stories and sub-genres. I really enjoyed working on that book. I was proud to contribute a forward to the CHILL’s recent third edition.
5. What sort of games do you consider the ideal when it comes to writing? In other words, is it the gonzo fun of Underground, operatic quality of Star Wars, or some other style (like dark or mysterious)?
I’m of multiple minds on this one. First, when it comes to RPG work, I see myself as more of a game designer than a writer—I love to tinker with rules and systems, and construct my adventures around puzzles and such. That said, like everyone else in my generation, STAR WARS was a big part of my childhood, so that was particularly fun to write. My personality shines through most in UNDERGROUND.
6. Are there any games or game lines that you regret not being a part of the design or supplemental team?
I would have jumped at the chance to work on one of the new editions of D&D.
7. Role Aids was sort of a controversial product, because TSR didn't take kindly to non-licensed, third-party AD&D support. Was this an active product line during your stint at Mayfair Games? If so, how big of a headache was this for the Mayfair staff?
I reactivated the ROLE AIDS line when I joined Mayfair, and wrote most of DEMONS, the first product in the new line. Most people don’t know that the ROLE AIDS products were actually officially licensed by TSR. Mayfair’s original owner, Darwin Bromley, was a lawyer, and he knew there was really nothing that TSR could do to prevent 3rd parties from producing products that were compatible with D&D, so long as they followed a few simple rules. TSR sued after the first couple of products appeared, but their lawyers soon realized they were likely to lose the case. Rather than risk a judge openly declaring that compatible products were legal, TSR gave Mayfair a perpetual, royalty-free license to produce the ROLE AIDS products, and the two companies agreed on some ground rules for how the products would be presented. While I was at Mayfair, TSR sued again, claiming we weren’t following those ground rules correctly. That lawsuit led to TSR buying out the ROLE AIDS line and releasing a few of the products we commissioned. The litigation certainly caused some headaches, but nothing that really affected us on the R&D side.
8. Is there one roleplaying game (any game from any publisher) that you'd like to go back and rewrite?
I’m currently in the process of redesigning and rewriting UNDERGROUND, and I’m enjoying it immensely. As I mentioned earlier, I always wanted to take a crack at tinkering with D&D, my favorite RPG.
Brett's followup: Looking forward to this!
9. Do you have a favorite Mayfair Games RPG? Other type of game?
My favorite Mayfair RPG is DC HEROES, hands down. The game system is so clever and elegant, and it recreates the flavor of the DC Comics so well. I still tinker with that game, thirty years later.
10. This may be the most important question of all. Do you know what ever happened to Cyber Chill? I still remember the advertisement in the back of the Chill Companion.
I’m honestly not sure. I think it was a casualty of CHILL’s cancellation. I’m pretty sure there was a completed manuscript and everything. If I recall, Matt Forbeck worked on that. You might ask him.
Brett's followup: Cyber Chill was never completed (about half done). It seems that personnel reassignments at Mayfair doomed the project. | | 2 Comments | Add Comment | Permanent Link | See All Posts Tagged as "QandA" | | Return to Overview | | kent_allard Commented: | Mar 03, 2016 | 12:09 pm | |
| Brett Commented: | Mar 03, 2016 | 2:06 pm | |
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