# AMA with Shanna Germain (author, editor, co-owner of Monte Cook Games, lead designer of No Thank You, Evil!)



## Shanna Germain (May 29, 2015)

Starting *June 1st, 2015*, Shanna Germain will be holding an AMA right here on EN World! A writer, editor, and instructor for more than 20 years, Shanna's award-winning short fiction, essays, novellas, articles, poems, and books have been widely published. She is the co-owner of Monte Cook Games, LLC and the creative director for Numenera, The Strange, and the Cypher System Rulebook. Currently, she is the lead designer for No Thank You, Evil!, an upcoming RPG for creative families. Before she became a full-time writer, she worked as a bartender, plant wrangler, ice cream topper, firefighter, paramedic, house sitter, and groundskeeper. She owns a rescue dog named Ampersand and an invisible dragon named Interobang.​

I'm going to be popping in and out to answer questions as I have time, so feel free to start throwing stuff at me! I'm happy to talk about anything (except for my superhero alter ego. We don't talk about that). See you then! ​


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## Dahak (May 29, 2015)

Hi Shanna! In recent years, gaming has become fragmented between those who might be called advocates for free expression and those who favor diversity at all costs. MCG has seemingly tried to encourage both free expression and diversity, and has taken flak from both sides. Do you see any way to resolve this schism in gaming?


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## Xantherion (May 29, 2015)

Hello.  I love both Numenera and The Strange, I also helped kickstart The Strange. I am also looking forward to the new Cypher system rulebook. I would love to hear about any future products, I have heard that there are some secret ones.  Can you give some information on how much product support these products will receive in the future.  Thank you for your part in these products, give my best to Monte and Bruce as well.  I am greatly looking forward to what you all have coming in the future.


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## Eminence_Grise (May 30, 2015)

What RPG have you played recently beside Monte Cook Games? If none, anything out there that's tempting you?


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## Morrus (May 30, 2015)

What have you found to be the primary challenges in engaging kids to play RPGs?  Have any expressed surprise at a non-video game RPG, or are they all on board with the concept?

From a design perspective are there any elements, other than simplicity, that you try to include when writing for kids?

Do you plan to write an RPG for dogs? My dog is feeling left out!


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## Dark Kain (May 30, 2015)

Can you reveal something about MCG scheduling for this year?
When are we going to see the "Worlds Numberless and Strange" supplement? Also is the strange compendium supplement going to be published this year?


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## Desh-Rae-Halra (May 30, 2015)

Hi Shanna,
I am also wondering about the focus for MCG. Each year you have had a product, starting with Numenera, then The Strange, and this year the Cypher System Rulebook and No Thank You, Evil!
I know there is ongoing product development for the current lines (I was a KS Strange Superfan Backer, so there is still a ton of books in the pipeline just on that project alone).

The Strange gave up about any setting a player can imagine, and the Cypher System Corebook is giving foci and descriptors to all sorts of Genres, again, either complementing The Strange or holding their own as homebrew settings.

Are we likely to see another Corebook+ Setting like Numenera from MCG in 2016? Any hints?
i LOVE that you MCG gives the fans all the tools, and at the same time, I say to myself "Oh crap, they gave us all the tools, what could be left?"

OR another way to tackle the same type of question: What genre has MCG not tried yet?


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## Waller (Jun 1, 2015)

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions Shanna.

Do you guys see the Cypher system as a universal system (a la GURPS, Fate, Savage Worlds)?  If so was that the initial idea, or is it something that developed naturally?

I've seen you tweet about negativity on the internet.  Is that something you struggle with?  Either individually or as a team?

Cypher is fairly light on the mechanics to start with.  What got trimmed out for kids in NTYE?

Do you guys have roles at MCG?  Like I see Bruce Cordell as more science fictiony, Monte as more weird stuff (meant in a good way), you as championing inclusivity.  Or is that just a weird filtered perception of my own?


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## marroon69 (Jun 1, 2015)

Hey Shanna,
I am looking for a little inspiration and a good book always helps. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing your favorite books and authors. Maybe a list by genre (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Science, Fantasy, fiction) and why you like them?


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## Morrus (Jun 1, 2015)

When you have three designers (plus other members of MCG) like you, Bruce, and Monte, are there ever areas of contention, design-wise?  For example, is there ever a tendency for one of you to want to go a certain way and the others have to pull it back a bit?  Is that a way a team dynamic can complement each other?

I'm trying to think of examples.  OK, bearing in mind I'm just making this up, so it's not an example based on reality.  Say Monte had a tendency to want tons of random tables, and you guys are like "random tables are cool, but let's keep the number down"; or Bruce wants to put mathematical equations in his work, and you guys are all "Bruce, it's a game, not a textbook". Those are really silly examples, I know.  I just took two things I tend to do and attached Monte and Bruce's names to them.  But the short version of the questions is: are there any individual tendencies that teamwork tends to help smooth out?


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## ddvmor (Jun 1, 2015)

Who's faster? You or Monte?


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## Guang (Jun 1, 2015)

When and how is the Native American world rewrite for the Strange coming out?


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## tgmoore (Jun 1, 2015)

No Thank you, Evil seems to be firmly aimed at younger kids but scale-able for all ages of play. Will there be more complex rules aimed at older teens and adults to expand the No Thank you, Evil system?


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## Hangfire (Jun 1, 2015)

Hello Shanna, thanks for doing this AMA. I was curious about something you mentioned in your call out for kids to come and play-test No Thank You Evil - you made a point to include kids that might have special needs, including color-blindness, autism, and dyslexia. Had you given children with special needs some thought before you started writing the game? My daughter has down's syndrome, and I fully intend to get her into geeky things when she's older (including No Thank You Evil!), and it was nice to see a game designer being so inclusive. Keep up the great work.


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## GrissTheGnome (Jun 1, 2015)

As a retail store owner I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Kickstarter.  You guys are much more supportive of retail locations than a lot of other kickstarter companies, so thank you very much for that.


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## Klaus (Jun 1, 2015)

Why is your editor so awesome?

A "No, Thank You, Evil!" game is about to start: what character do you make up?


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 1, 2015)

Dahak said:


> Hi Shanna! In recent years, gaming has become fragmented between those who might be called advocates for free expression and those who favor diversity at all costs. MCG has seemingly tried to encourage both free expression and diversity, and has taken flak from both sides. Do you see any way to resolve this schism in gaming?




I don't think that it's a schism so much as a bell curve, with the majority of gamers (and game designers) between those two extremes. 

As a creator, I don't accept the dichotomy that you can either have inclusivity or free expression. Inclusivity doesn't hamper anyone's ability to create whatever you want. It gives you the ability to create whatever you want and make it available and interesting to everyone.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 1, 2015)

Xantherion said:


> Hello.  I love both Numenera and The Strange, I also helped kickstart The Strange. I am also looking forward to the new Cypher system rulebook. I would love to hear about any future products, I have heard that there are some secret ones.  Can you give some information on how much product support these products will receive in the future.  Thank you for your part in these products, give my best to Monte and Bruce as well.  I am greatly looking forward to what you all have coming in the future.




Thanks so much, Xantherion! 

There are some secret projects in the works--a whole bunch of them, in fact. Unfortunately, they have to stay secret for a while longer. 

I can say that we have some products we'll be announcing soon for both the Strange and Numenera, including some new PDF-only books for both (one of those will be a glimmer that ties into Strand, the upcoming short film). We also have three Strange books to finish for the Kickstarter, and some exciting Numenera developments in the near future.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 1, 2015)

Eminence_Grise said:


> What RPG have you played recently beside Monte Cook Games? If none, anything out there that's tempting you?




We play OD&D about once a month or so, which is really fun because it's a great group (mostly of other game designers) and I feel like I'm back in high school again. The only problem is that I keep trying to make my own defense rolls. 

I've been intrigued by both Mind Jammer and Eclipse Phase, and I'm really looking forward to the new Star Wars game.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 1, 2015)

Morrus said:


> What have you found to be the primary challenges in engaging kids to play RPGs?  Have any expressed surprise at a non-video game RPG, or are they all on board with the concept?
> 
> From a design perspective are there any elements, other than simplicity, that you try to include when writing for kids?
> 
> Do you plan to write an RPG for dogs? My dog is feeling left out!







So far, the kids have been totally on board with gathering around a table to play. It seems like maybe they don't see the two kinds of gaming as being all that different--they just want to do something fun, and it doesn't matter as much what form that fun thing takes.

The hardest part is that kids are just so smart and so creative. They blow me away with their solutions to problems and the kinds of characters and world they want to create. So I never want the game to talk down to them or say no to that brilliant creativity. So we built the rules to give them parameters inside which their creativity can really shine. 

We tried to get Ampersand, our dog, to play one of those iPad games designed for pets. She was supposed to push on a creature with her nose or her foot, and it would squeak. She was totally not interested. She IS really interested in the bird sounds at the start of the Borderlands game, though. Every time that game starts and the logo comes up, she knows the bird sound is coming and she gets ready. I think if we did an RPG for dogs, it would have to be heavily sound--and food--oriented, if she's any indication.


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## ZombieRoboNinja (Jun 1, 2015)

Hi Shanna. Numenera is a very cool setting, and presumably like many people, I first heard of it because of the upcoming Torment: Tides of Numenera game. Has the development of that game impacted the PnP RPG much or at all? Since the game apparently takes place a bit off the map of the campaign setting book (if I recall correctly) and inevitably brings new elements to the setting, do you expect to tie a lot of that new material they develop back in to the PnP game at some point after Torment comes out? (Or are there IP restrictions or other hurdles in place there?)

It seems like a fun situation, like a novelist having their book picked up to be turned into a film before it's even published.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 1, 2015)

Dark Kain said:


> Can you reveal something about MCG scheduling for this year?
> When are we going to see the "Worlds Numberless and Strange" supplement? Also is the strange compendium supplement going to be published this year?




We have a couple of secret projects in the works this coming year (that we’ll be announcing soon), as well as some that I can actually talk about! 

“The Cypher System Rulebook” and “Worlds Numberless and Strange” are both scheduled to be out in time for Gen Con this year (fingers crossed!), and we’re currently working on some new glimmers and fractals, including one that ties into Strand, the Numenera short film.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 1, 2015)

Desh-Rae-Halra said:


> Hi Shanna,
> I am also wondering about the focus for MCG. Each year you have had a product, starting with Numenera, then The Strange, and this year the Cypher System Rulebook and No Thank You, Evil!
> I know there is ongoing product development for the current lines (I was a KS Strange Superfan Backer, so there is still a ton of books in the pipeline just on that project alone).
> 
> ...




Thank you so much for the nice words!

I can’t reveal too much yet, unfortunately. All I can say at the moment is that we are a creative team who loves to push the boundaries and come up with new things, and that we’re always planning at least a year out, so right now we’re thinking a lot about 2016 and beyond. I’ll let you jump to conclusions from there!


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## lindevi (Jun 1, 2015)

Hi Shanna,

Lots of questions, but feel free to answer as many as you can/like:

How did you get into RPGs? Writing? Game design? What were the major breakthroughs you had into the industry? How did you come to be a part of MCG?

And what social media marketing advice do you have for indie game developers?

You're one of the more visible woman game developers in the industry right now, so thank you for being a role model for more of us to make our own games and be active in the games community!


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## TarionzCousin (Jun 2, 2015)

Shanna Germain said:


> We have a couple of secret projects in the works this coming year (that we’ll be announcing soon), as well as some that I can actually talk about!



Go ahead and tell us; we can keep secrets!  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Does Monte Cook Games have any plans to get any of their games involved in something like the D&D Adventurers League? Maybe you could do that with your new kids game....

Thank you for being part of a great, creative force in our community. Best wishes for continued success.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 2, 2015)

Corrosive said:


> Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions Shanna.
> 
> Do you guys see the Cypher system as a universal system (a la GURPS, Fate, Savage Worlds)?  If so was that the initial idea, or is it something that developed naturally?
> 
> ...





My pleasure! I’m going to tackle these questions in order:

-That’s probably more a question for Monte than myself, since he is the really the mind behind the Cypher System. I think that we do consider it to be setting agnostic, but in an adaptive way. What I mean is that each game we’ve put out uses the Cypher System but the rules are tweaked slightly to integrate more closely with the game’s setting. You can see a lot of this at work in the upcoming Cypher System Rulebook, where there are sections on how to shift the rules to fit better within each genre. They’ve really easy adjustments, but they really make a big difference in the gameplay.

When we first started Numenera, we didn’t expect it to take off, and we weren’t even planning to do more games (there was no such thing as Monte Cook Games at that point), so at first the rules were designed solely with Numenera in mind. 

-I think that there are many different kids of negativity, some good and some bad. Constructive criticism, deconstruction of art, and other types of negativity that are actually designed to be useful and conversation-creating can be a great asset. But to me, negativity with the sole purpose of making someone else feel bad (or making yourself feel good) is mean and useless. I have pretty thick skin—I don’t know that you can make a living as a creative person without out—but it still gets to me. And when I watch young or new artists get completely devastated by something that someone says just to be mean, it makes my heart hurt. Being a creative person is really hard, putting yourself out there is so hard… why make it worse for someone else? Why not support each other? (And I do think that support includes the positive negativity that I mentioned).  

-For No Thank You, Evil! it was a bit of trimming, but it was also more of breaking the rules apart and then putting them back together in a slightly different way. The rules needed to have levels for different age and developmental levels in a way that the other games didn’t, and we needed to be able to give kids lots of room to be creative without making it so free-form that parents or GMs felt like they were herding dragons! 

-We work closely as a team, and I think more than roles, we each try to play to our strengths. Monte is brilliant at game design and development, as well as coming up with wild and imaginative ideas. He really has a good sense for how the game will play at the table, and what players and GMs want. Bruce, too, is so imaginative and creative, particular with scientific topics and ideas. He builds incredible worlds—some of the stuff he came up with for "Worlds Numberless and Strange" just blew me away. I am kind of a jack of all trades, who steps in where I’m needed. I really love world- and character-building, creating those little details that get people really excited. And, definitely, inclusion is important to me—I think it’s really important to all of us, I’m probably just the loudest about it!


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 2, 2015)

marroon69 said:


> Hey Shanna,
> I am looking for a little inspiration and a good book always helps. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing your favorite books and authors. Maybe a list by genre (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Science, Fantasy, fiction) and why you like them?




Okay, you’ve opened the floodgate now! I have way too many favorites to list, so I’ll just tell you some of what I’ve loved in the last year or so:

*Comics:*
-The Wicked + The Divine
-Sweet Tooth
-Locke and Key
-Y the Last Man
-We3
-Sex Criminals
-Ms. Marvel
-Rat Queens
-Saga

*Books *(A lot of the work I like is very cross-genre so I didn’t divide it into genres. For ideas, I especially like short story collections; often reading a bunch of stories back-to-back from different authors jumpstarts really interesting new ideas for me.)

Blindsight, by Peter Watts
(A short story collection that is sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and more all rolled into one. Full of fantastic ideas).

The Water Knife, by Paolo Bacigalupi
(You can’t go wrong with any of his work, but his newest book made me feel a little out of breath when I read it. It’s that good.)

Zoo City, by Lauren Burkes
Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
(Both of these books have original voices and kick-ass characters set in weird, wonderful worlds)

House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski
(This novel is like a cypher in and of itself, with the complex story and the wonderful graphic elements that are incorporated into the story)

Pretty Monsters: Stories, by Kelly Link
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, by Karen Russell
Salsa Nocturna, by Daniel José Older
(All three of these single-author collections are full of weird and wonderful ideas.)

Other authors I love are for ideas are: Elizabeth Bear, Joe Hill, Cat Rambo, Nic Pizzolatto, Tim Pratt, Eugie Foster, China Mieville … Okay, I’m going to stop there so I don’t go on and on!


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 2, 2015)

Morrus said:


> When you have three designers (plus other members of MCG) like you, Bruce, and Monte, are there ever areas of contention, design-wise?  For example, is there ever a tendency for one of you to want to go a certain way and the others have to pull it back a bit?  Is that a way a team dynamic can complement each other?
> 
> I'm trying to think of examples.  OK, bearing in mind I'm just making this up, so it's not an example based on reality.  Say Monte had a tendency to want tons of random tables, and you guys are like "random tables are cool, but let's keep the number down"; or Bruce wants to put mathematical equations in his work, and you guys are all "Bruce, it's a game, not a textbook". Those are really silly examples, I know.  I just took two things I tend to do and attached Monte and Bruce's names to them.  But the short version of the questions is: are there any individual tendencies that teamwork tends to help smooth out?




Well, Bruce and Monte never want to have ice cream sundaes for lunch, which is clearly ridiculous, so we fight about that all the time ☺ 

Honestly, I can’t think of any real sticking points, but we do talk a lot about projects as a team and figure out where we want them to go. Each of us have our darlings—the things that we really love that we have a hard time letting go of—so sometimes we put up a fight for something we really want to keep. But that’s just part of open conversation and growth. The goals are always to serve the product first, to make it the best that it can be, and to give the designer as much creative freedom as possible. The place where those two goals intersect is the sweet spot.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 2, 2015)

ddvmor said:


> Who's faster? You or Monte?




Hm, that depends. When it comes to writing, Monte is way faster. When it comes to shooting bad guys in Borderlands, though, I am the speed queen!

I am also better at Words With Friends. Just sayin.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 2, 2015)

Guang said:


> When and how is the Native American world rewrite for the Strange coming out?




Very soon! The authors – Alina Pete and Anthony Pastores finished writing it last month, and they did an absolutely wonderful job. Artist Winona Nelson has been working on an art piece to accompany it; we just saw her early sketch and are very excited about it. If all goes well, we're hoping to release it sometime this month.


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## Guang (Jun 2, 2015)

Shanna Germain said:


> Very soon! The authors – Alina Pete and Anthony Pastores finished writing it last month, and they did an absolutely wonderful job. Artist Winona Nelson has been working on an art piece to accompany it; we just saw her early sketch and are very excited about it. If all goes well, we're hoping to release it sometime this month.



oh, very cool! How can I find it? Is it a pdf, a book, or what? Does it have a name yet?


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## Xantherion (Jun 2, 2015)

I was wondering if there were any thoughts or the potential of getting a licence for a setting from a 3rd party, say a book series, or movie etc...


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 3, 2015)

tgmoore said:


> No Thank you, Evil seems to be firmly aimed at younger kids but scale-able for all ages of play. Will there be more complex rules aimed at older teens and adults to expand the No Thank you, Evil system?




Yes! It’s called Numenera, the Strange, and The Cypher System Rulebook ☺


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 3, 2015)

Hangfire said:


> Hello Shanna, thanks for doing this AMA. I was curious about something you mentioned in your call out for kids to come and play-test No Thank You Evil - you made a point to include kids that might have special needs, including color-blindness, autism, and dyslexia. Had you given children with special needs some thought before you started writing the game? My daughter has down's syndrome, and I fully intend to get her into geeky things when she's older (including No Thank You Evil!), and it was nice to see a game designer being so inclusive. Keep up the great work.





Thank you so much for such a nice comment – I hope your daughter loves No Thank You, Evil! (and all things geeky!). I definitely knew it was something I wanted to incorporate into the game before I began working on it. Both my mom and sister are teachers—my mom mostly works with children with special needs—so it’s something that’s always been important to me.  

I wrote a little bit about our process of learning how to design a game that’s inclusive, if you’re interested in learning more about what we’re doing:  

http://www.montecookgames.com/competing-with-puppies-designing-games-for-kids-part-3-of-3/


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 3, 2015)

GrissTheGnome said:


> As a retail store owner I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Kickstarter.  You guys are much more supportive of retail locations than a lot of other kickstarter companies, so thank you very much for that.




Thank you for saying that! We really want to make sure that players can get the game wherever and however they want, and of course, we're huge fans of brick-and-mortar stores. We started our Asset Team last year too, where players run games in-store, to further support local stores, and the response has been great.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 3, 2015)

Klaus said:


> Why is your editor so awesome?
> 
> A "No, Thank You, Evil!" game is about to start: what character do you make up?




He isn't. (* waves * Hi, Ray!). Actually, I have no idea why or how he's so awesome, I'm just glad that he is. For those who don't know, Ray Vallese does the majority of our editing for MCG, and he's really fantastic. (He's also a great writer--his novella for the Torment: Tides of Numenera is fantastic!)

I'm a Cool Robot who Eats Ice Cream. My companion is an Awesome Alien!


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## thom_likes_gaming (Jun 3, 2015)

Hi Shanna,

thank you for doing this AMA, cool stuff.

I've always felt that "the RP crowd" in general is not overly sexist / chauvinist. Most of the time, the people I play or work with don't care about the gender of the rest of the group. Is that something you can confirm, both as a player and a creator of games?


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## Desh-Rae-Halra (Jun 4, 2015)

Hi Shanna,

What are some things that fans probably dont know in terms of working in the rpg/gaming industry?
What would be one of the hardest/most difficult aspects of being a game designer?
What kinds of things bring you joy that might not be obvious?
Can we count on more MCG Kickstarters down the road?

Matching:
Monte   ____
Shanna ____ 
Bruce   ____ 

A. Rock
B. Paper
C. Scissors

Thanks!

~Desh  (Hint: Owner of a Numenera Shelf-Talker!)


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## Jacen_Omas (Jun 4, 2015)

Hello Shanna,

Congratulations to you and all at MCG on the fantastic games you have been putting out, we are on session 15 of our Numenera campaign and everyone at the table loves it!

You mentioned playing borderlands before, are you a big video gamer? What is your gaming platform of choice and some of your favourite titles? Have any particular games inspired you?


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 4, 2015)

ZombieRoboNinja said:


> Hi Shanna. Numenera is a very cool setting, and presumably like many people, I first heard of it because of the upcoming Torment: Tides of Numenera game. Has the development of that game impacted the PnP RPG much or at all? Since the game apparently takes place a bit off the map of the campaign setting book (if I recall correctly) and inevitably brings new elements to the setting, do you expect to tie a lot of that new material they develop back in to the PnP game at some point after Torment comes out? (Or are there IP restrictions or other hurdles in place there?)
> 
> It seems like a fun situation, like a novelist having their book picked up to be turned into a film before it's even published.




We’ve been working closely with the designers at inXile as they’ve been creating Torment, mostly in terms of world building and the game mechanics. 

You’re right that the computer game is alos informing the PnP game as well. We added the location of Torment to the Map of the Ninth World that’s in the Ninth World Guidebook, so you can see where it is in the world. And they’ve designed really creative and wonderful new creatures, places, and people, so you’ll see those appear in future products as well. You'll also see some of the art from the game in the tabletop products as well, to really integrate everything. 

It’s been a very collaborative effort—and the chance to work with the brilliant designers over at inXile has been fantastic.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 4, 2015)

lindevi said:


> Hi Shanna,
> 
> Lots of questions, but feel free to answer as many as you can/like:
> 
> ...




-I got into playing RPGs when my babysitter introduced me to Bunnies & Burrows (I was about 6, I think?). I didn’t grasp the rules so much, except that I got to be a bunny and thump my feet on the floor a lot. Which was pretty awesome for me at that age. I started playing D&D in high school, and it’s been a part of my life in some way ever sense. 

My first foray into game writing was actually articles. I started writing about computer games for the World of Warcraft Official Magazine, Curve magazine and some other places. When Monte first started talking about making this new game called Numenera, I started getting really excited because it sounded amazing. I came on as the editor pretty early on. Once we did the Kickstarter, we realized that we needed more than just the two of us, so we started Monte Cook Games.   

-My brand of social media is mostly just to be myself—talk about the things that I love, support other writers and creative people as much as I can, and try not to be boring. The more that people see you as a real person, the more likely they are to engage with you and be excited about what you’re working on. 

-Thank you so much for saying that! I feel so lucky to work in an industry that I love making games that I’m passionate about. I hope that everyone who wants to be part of the gaming community in any way feels like it’s a good place for them.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 4, 2015)

TarionzCousin said:


> Go ahead and tell us; we can keep secrets!
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I wish I could! Keeping secrets about stuff that I'm excited about is actually really hard for me!

We've definitely talked about doing organized play. It's so much fun, and a great way to get players involved. We don't have the resources for it quite yet, because we're such a small company, but it's on our list of things we'd like to jump into as we move forward.

Thank you so much


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 4, 2015)

Guang said:


> oh, very cool! How can I find it? Is it a pdf, a book, or what? Does it have a name yet?




We'll be updating The Strange corebook PDF with a short version of the recursion, including the art.

And a longer version of it will also be available to everyone as a free PDF. 

The writers named it "Ohunkakan," which they derived from Ohúŋkakaŋ, a Lakota word meaning “myth” or “story of the remote past.”


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 4, 2015)

Xantherion said:


> I was wondering if there were any thoughts or the potential of getting a licence for a setting from a 3rd party, say a book series, or movie etc...




I'm not sure if you're asking about someone else getting a license from us for those things (if so, the answer is yes, as we've licensed a computer game, two board games, and a short film so far). 

If you're asking whether MCG will license someone else's property to make a game out of the answer to that is probably not. The members of the creative team (Monte, Bruce, and me) really love creating worlds and settings, and I think it's one of our passions and strengths. So unless there was a really unusual and amazing reason to use someone else's setting, I think we're a company that will probably continue to create our own IPs instead.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 4, 2015)

thom_enworld said:


> Hi Shanna,
> 
> thank you for doing this AMA, cool stuff.
> 
> I've always felt that "the RP crowd" in general is not overly sexist / chauvinist. Most of the time, the people I play or work with don't care about the gender of the rest of the group. Is that something you can confirm, both as a player and a creator of games?




Thank you!

That has been my experience as well. I feel very lucky to be surrounded by players and industry professionals who treat each other as individuals, and not as their gender (or race or sexual orientation, etc.). The other part of that experience for me is that in the event that someone does or says something uncool, someone else will step up and mention why it’s uncool and try to educate that person. Which, to me, is part two of really creating an inclusive and safe culture. 

That being said, I know that other players and industry professionals have had really different experiences than I have, and I don’t want to discount those in any way. If I had to guess, I’d say there are pockets where you’re more likely to encounter sexism and other negative elements within the game culture. Hopefully those will continue to dissipate as our industry moves forward.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 4, 2015)

Desh-Rae-Halra said:


> Hi Shanna,
> 
> What are some things that fans probably dont know in terms of working in the rpg/gaming industry?
> What would be one of the hardest/most difficult aspects of being a game designer?
> ...





-That’s a really interesting question. I would say that they might not know how far ahead companies are thinking and working. For example, we were researching kids’ games and working on the concepts for No Thank You, Evil! for about a year before we announced it. We’re currently working on ideas for 2016 and 2017. So by the time fans see the very first mention of a game, we’ve already put a lot of thought into everything about it.

-I think the hardest part for me is really wanting to create things that honor our players’ time. Everyone’s so busy, and there are so many great games out there, so if someone sits down to play one of our games, I want them to leave the table feeling like they just spent their time in a really worthy, fun way.

-Joy for me comes in the form of fantastic writing, unexpected laughter, leveling up in games, baking fantastic cupcakes, going on unplanned road trips, and spending time with the people and animals that I love. I guess those are pretty obvious, huh? I love things that make me laugh, think, or see the world in a new way. 

-Kickstarters have been great to us—they’re such a good way to see what fans are interested in, and to give the players that support us all kinds of extra goodies. So I think, yes, you can expect more crowfunding from us!

-This one is funny and hard. (I bet the others will have different answers!)
Monte: Paper (He’s so creative that he can start with empty space and build the most amazing, innovative things) 
Shanna: Scissors (I’ve got a sarcastic, sharp edge to me, and I like to cut things apart and put them back together in new ways)
Bruce: Rock (He seems strong and unflappable, and if you crack him open, he’s hiding these amazing creative gems inside him)


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 4, 2015)

Jacen_Omas said:


> Hello Shanna,
> 
> Congratulations to you and all at MCG on the fantastic games you have been putting out, we are on session 15 of our Numenera campaign and everyone at the table loves it!
> 
> You mentioned playing borderlands before, are you a big video gamer? What is your gaming platform of choice and some of your favourite titles? Have any particular games inspired you?




Thank you so much!

I love video games so very much. ALMOST as much as tabletop games 

I play different games on different platforms. Right now, I'm playing Elder Scrolls Online on my PC (it's hooked to my treadmill desk, so I can play while I work out). I like Borderlands and Fallout on the XBox 360. And I like to play quick games of Words with Friends and various tower defense games on the iPad. Other games I love are Dragon Age, Skyrim, Bioshock, and Don't Starve.


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## Desh-Rae-Halra (Jun 6, 2015)

Shanna,

What would you say the upsides and downsides are of being a "gaming celebrity"?
How do you (including what you see from Monte + Bruce) balance many fans wanting to be your friend/get to know you further or spend time with you with needs for privacy?

Any good/awkward/enough-time-has-passed-that-now-its-funny stories about being recognized somewhere you didnt expect it?

~Desh


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## Desh-Rae-Halra (Jun 7, 2015)

Another question:
If we could say that No Thank You, Evil! embraces the Light side of your personality: (light-hearted, family friendly, embracing the joys of youth, etc,)..if you embraced your Dark/Shadow side to come out and write a game, what would that look like, and what might it be called?


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## Riley37 (Jun 7, 2015)

Shanna Germain said:


> -This one is funny and hard. (I bet the others will have different answers!)
> Monte: Paper (He’s so creative that he can start with empty space and build the most amazing, innovative things)
> Shanna: Scissors (I’ve got a sarcastic, sharp edge to me, and I like to cut things apart and put them back together in new ways)
> Bruce: Rock (He seems strong and unflappable, and if you crack him open, he’s hiding these amazing creative gems inside him)




You took a bare-bones prompt, as an opportunity to say personalized and positive things about individuals.
Well played! Perhaps that's an example of your writing/gaming style.

Also, thanks for your answer on sexism: holding up the positive and your own experience, without denying the negative and the experiences of others! Pockets, indeed. "What have I got in my pockets?", Bilbo asked...


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## Desh-Rae-Halra (Jun 7, 2015)

If Monte Cook Games was a rock/heavy metal band:
1. What band would you be
2. Who is on which instruments?
3. Who are you touring with?


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 8, 2015)

Desh-Rae-Halra said:


> Shanna,
> 
> What would you say the upsides and downsides are of being a "gaming celebrity"?
> How do you (including what you see from Monte + Bruce) balance many fans wanting to be your friend/get to know you further or spend time with you with needs for privacy?
> ...




That’s a hard one, because I don’t really feel like a gaming celebrity! Working in a company next to Monte and Bruce, who are very recognizable and have a much longer gaming history, means that I can kind of stay under the radar. The truth is that I’m actually very shy and introverted, and I need a lot of quiet time in order to work. So I feel like I’m always balancing my desire to spend time with cool people with my need to have lots of quiet time. The Internet and conventions help with that—I feel like I can come up from my creative cocoon and interact for a little bit and get inspired by fans and players, and then go back to my quiet space and work.  

I have a funny story about NOT being recognized: I was sitting in a coffee shop last year working on a Numenera adventure for Weird Discoveries, and there was a group of guys sitting at the table next to me. They were talking about playing Numenera, and how excited they were about their campaign. At one point, one of them said, “I hear the people who make Numenera live in Seattle.” I didn’t know whether introducing myself would make them excited or freak them out, so I didn’t say anything.


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## Shanna Germain (Jun 8, 2015)

Desh-Rae-Halra said:


> Another question:
> If we could say that No Thank You, Evil! embraces the Light side of your personality: (light-hearted, family friendly, embracing the joys of youth, etc,)..if you embraced your Dark/Shadow side to come out and write a game, what would that look like, and what might it be called?




I don't know, but now I want to find out! 

I really love dark, weird, horrific fantasy and macabre fairy tales, so I can see myself doing something along those lines.


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## Scrivener of Doom (Jun 8, 2015)

Hi Shanna,

I remember in the time before Ptolus was published, Monte wrote up his Ptolus campaigns online which I really enjoyed reading and which, I think, really highlighted his skill as a DM. While I am not in that league, I'm around Monte's age and have been DMing for 30+ years and have players from way back then and those players could *never* imagine running a game for me.

Do you run Numenera for Monte? 

Do you run your own Numenera campaign and, if so, are you able to give your "elevator pitch" for it?

Looking forward to more Numenera products coming down the pole. It's a great game and one I would love to cram into my schedule at some point. BTW, my interest in Numenera actually came about because I started reading about No Thank You, Evil. My son is 3yo and I suspect he's only a year or two way from being able to participate in a game like that.


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