It was just another day in the dank depths of the SHADIS, holding block -- or was it? Gameweaver looked up from his desk overflowing with parchment scrolls and Publishers, Clearing House entries to see a familiar gnomish face come beaming into the room. "Hey Boss, oh Great One, ol' buddy, ol pal... Look what I picked up today in the bargain bin at Floor-Mart," spake the ebullient gnome. "Shad, you didn't blow your allowance on something stupid again like that 'Wonder Slime' you bought last month?!" queried the mage, looking up and raising one bushy white brow. "No, look, this is really cool," pleaded Shad. "The clerk said it's guaranteed to help us find that Davies character who's gone missing from our dungeons. " "That's splendid," the Gameweaver exclaimed with more than a hint of skepticism. "How does it work?" "Well, it's like one of those Rubric's Cube puzzles - you twist this bit here, shift this piece like so, and - whoa -" "It's starting to twist itself." The Gameweaver was now genuinely interested, and concerned. "Is it supposed to do that? Now it's changing shape - are you sure this is a good idea?..." Suddenly our intrepid interrogators found that the ground beneath their feet had vanished; they plummeted downwards into an abyss of inky blackness. Before they had time to scream, however, their journey came to an abrupt end, as they crash-landed on the unsuspecting bodies of two beings inhabiting what they discovered to be a strange new world. Shad: Gee Boss, that was a long fall. It's a good thing we happened to land on something soft. Do you think they're anyone important? Kevin: Who? What? Did anyone get the license number of that truck?... GW: Oh my, I'm terribly sorry [getting off the stunned victim and straightening his robe]. It was kind of you to have tried to catch us however - wait a minute you're just the man we're looking for Kevin: [Staggering to his feet] Whatever it is, I didn't do it, and if I did, it was by mistake. Shad: Well, you certainly look like the kind of guy who's made a lot of mistakes in life - like coming to this place for a start - where in the universe is this anyway? Kevin: This is the Land of Myth, the Realm of Faerie, the Underworld of popular folklore and dreams, combined and comically twisted; it's Murphy's World. GW: Where "If something can go wrong, it will?" Shad: I knew that. GW: Quiet, Shad. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Davies. May I take this opportunity to set the record straight regarding yourself and your new game company, Peregrine? For example... Shad: Isn't it true that Murphy's World was conceived during a week long drug and drink binge in a hot tub with Pia Zadora in Vegas? GW: [With a stern glance toward the gnome] Shut up, Shad. Kevin: [To the Gameweaver.] You can call me Kevin. Back in the early 1980's I began work on a comic series published by Warp/Apple called A Hero Named Harold; I illustrated it and co-wrote it with author Steve Stirling. It was created in response to the number of comics and books that contained beautiful Oves and took these and other fantasy elements very seriously. So, I created a tale about a bunch of misfit Dwarves who, when sent on a mission to find a prophesied champion, happen to select the wrong guy: Harry. The place that these Dwarves are from, and which Harry is ultimately destined to save, was developed into Murphy's World. GW: But how was that setting developed into a game? Kevin: I was introduced to roleplaying games back in 1981, after I innocently inquired at a party what people meant by 'Level 3'. From the first roleplaying session I played I began redesigning the rules - it's a quirk of my personality. By 1983 1 had produced a new RPG system (with writing assistance from Steve Stirling). For a couple of years I tried to sell it to various publishers. Some were not interested in looking at a design not created in- house, some went bankrupt, and some (like Marvel Comics), while liking the project, discovered they couldn't consider it for legal reasons. Thus I decided that the only way that I could get this game into the marketplace was to publish it myself. Shad: So you robbed a bank and Kevin: Actually, I sought a partner willing to invest some time and money. It is much harder to find someone with these qualities and a willingness to take entrepreneurial risks once people have established careers and married. I went through several partner candidates and wasted precious time before I met my current partner, David Brown. Shad: Where did you find him, unconscious in a bar? Kevin: Actually we did meet in a bar, in a hotel during a science fiction convention. GW: And where is Mr. Brown at this time? Kevin: Unconscious, beneath the Gnome - he landed on my partner's head. David: Uggggghhhhh... GW: Er, well then, I suppose we'll have to press on without him. Please continue. Kevin: By the time we established our partnership the market had changed. You can no longer sell an RPG system of rules. Today you sell a setting, and if you include rules, it's more a bonus than anything else. This is because most people use either their own rules, or a mish-mash of the best they've discovered so far. However, people are always looking for new and interesting places to adventure. I considered the many RPG settings I had designed over the years, and - with some feedback from playtesters - decided that Murphy's World, the most generic and free- form of the settings, would be the best product to launch a new game company. Dave and I have spent the last year going over my original manuscript, adding more funny bits, polishing the language, and editing the final document. GW: But there is more to publishing a game than that. Someone still has to illustrate the text, design the look of the book, and prepare it for printing. Shad: Rumor has it that you honed your illustration skills as one of the perpetrators behind the Care Bear Movie... Kevin: Er, well... They forced me to do it - with money. Lets not dwell on the less savory aspects of my past... GW: But what about Ewoks, and Droids, the Saturday morning animated cartoons? Kevin: O.K., fine. Guilty as charged. But I have done other things: hardbound and paperback book covers, published a SF magazine, Miriad, art direction and graphic design for advertising... Shad: So you were converted to the Dark Side? Kevin: No, I was converted to the fact that I need to pay the rent. Anyway, while we finished the text I began the illustrations for the book. The acrylic cover painting was done fairly early so it could be used for our ads. Most of the interior illustrations are produced in a realistic pencil style - though many display a sense of whimsy. Finally, I assembled the book and saw it through the printing process. Shad: Do you paint houses? My bungalow has a bad case of the peels. GW: A job well suited for a certain gnome I know. What are your thoughts having done it all yourselves? Kevin: It's been an ordeal. I'm proud of the product - the consistency of art and the language. We have other products in production now. I would like to begin making use of freelance help; we've already begun talking to people. However, we must weigh our expenses against cash flow. If things go well over the next few months, hopefully I'll be able to delegate some of the tasks and maybe take in a movie. Or perhaps even... a holiday. Shad: One last question. We have signed affidavits from people suggesting that you work all night and sleep during the day - are you a vampire? GW: I think we'll save that question for another day Shad. Thank you Kevin. Please apologize to David on behalf of Shad and me. Now Shad, how do we get back to the holding block? Shad: Click our heels together three times and chant "There's no place like home"? Back to Shadis #17 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com