Before the launch of The Fantasy Trip Kickstarter, I had an email exchange with Steve Jackson (of Steve Jackson Games, not the other one ;) regarding The Fantasy Trip. Steve answered some questions and I suspect some of the answers may lead to questions from my readers. If you do have some questions, leave them in the comments section and I'll forward them to Steve Jackson Games.
Tenkar: Here is the initial round of The Fantasy Trip questions. I expect some answers to generate further questions. There is no specific reason for the order of the questions.
I must confess to not owning a copy of the original rules. Not for lack of interest, simply lack of desire to be shaken down on Ebay.
Steve: Yes, totally understandable.
Tenkar: 1 - Steve, what was your inspiration for The Fantasy Trip? What were you trying to accomplish with the rules when you wrote them?
Steve: For the original Melee, the inspiration was OD&D and I wanted to create a better combat system, for “suits me better” values of better. I like hexes. For the later material, the inspiration was all the fun we were having playing Melee, and the goal was to see if I could create a coherent but simpler rules system.
Tenkar: 2 - Are you surprised by the amount of nostalgia and love there is for The Fantasy Trip?
Steve: In a word, yes!
Tenkar: 3 - I believe GURPS is an evolution of The Fantasy Trip, much like AD&D was of OD&D, perhaps with more divergence in the case of TFT / GURPS. With the new printing of TFT, will we get to see a “what if" version of The Fantasy Trip if it had been allowed evolve on its own?
Steve: It won’t be the same as 40 years of natural evolution,, but yes, it will at least be a lot like it would have been if I’d had another few months and Metagaming’s print budget had been greater, back in the day.
Tenkar: 4 - Rob Conley raised a question in The Tavern’s weekly voice chat session - Will there be something similar to OneBookShelf's Community Content Program for The Fantasy Trip, so that third-party publishers could publish content for TFT and share the profits with SJg?
Steve: Maaaaaaaaaaybe?
Tenkar: 5 - What kind of initial support can be expected after the core rules are released? Adventures, campaign setting, etc?
Steve: Yes and yes. We’re working on a neat GM tool, and an introductory one-character solo.
Tenkar: 6 - I see $60 is going to be the "I want it all" cost for TFT on KS. What are the plans for distribution aside from KS?
Steve: Not fully formed. Melee and Wizard will be in stores. If the whole Legacy box is in stores, it will be considerably more than $60.
Tenkar: 7 - Related in part to Question 4, are there any third party publishers that have asked or have lined up to support TFT (understood if this is confidential - yes or no may suffice)?
Steve: Confidential and yes.
Tenkar: 8 - With Melee and Wizard being published at the same time this time around, has that enabled you to ensure both books work seamlessly with each other?
Steve: I have certainly given it the old college try.
Tenkar: 9 - Will Advanced Melee and Advanced Wizard be a part of the initial core books, are they something for later or is it something that hasn’t been considered yet.
Steve: They will be subsumed into ITL, which will go up to 160 pages. (Note: "ITL" is "In the Labyrinth" and will be inside The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition box.)
Tenkar: 10 - Which, if any, of the original supplements that you no have the rights to will be reissued?
Steve: All of them, eventually. Everything but the Death Tests is in the basic set, and the DTs are stretch goals that I really hope will be hit. If not, they will be part of the first supplement package.
Feel free to ask follow-ups.
