Steven D. Russell
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself
Well I have lived in the Dayton, Ohio area all my life. I started gaming with Marvel Super Heroes at the Chicago Comicon, which my father took me too; Stephen Schend was the Games Master as he was demoing the game there. After that I was hooked and started playing D&D with folks from my local comic shop, I played a ranger who died in his first encounter to a power word: kill but they brought me back and I had a blast. Eventually I was GMing Marvel Superheroes with an amalgam of DC, Marvel, and Image in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future setting. This evolved to a point where I was at the comic/game shop one day when all the GMs were complaining about crappy players, so I offered to run a character driven campaign with just the GMs and have never looked back. I have played with this evolving group for almost 10 years now; they are currently playing a 19th level Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved/Pathfinder Roleplaying Game/Book of Experimental Might hybrid.
I got deeply involved in the Wheel of Time Rpg community, and then moved on to doing freelance work, but I eventually grew frustrated with people doing it wrong and decided I could do it better or you could say the Rite way.
I currently run Rite Publishing serving as publisher for patronage projects like Lords of Gossamer and Shadow (Diceless) Coliseum Morpheuon (PFRPG) and Breaking of Fostor Nagar (PFRPG/Maptool), and Heroes of the Jade Oath (MCAE) I am also the designer and developer on the 101 Subscription Series (PFRPG)and the Rituals of Choice adventure path (MCAE). Along with my current, project the Book of Monster Templates. There really is not enough time in the day for half of what I want to do. My biggest moment so far has been securing a print/distribution partnership with Cubicle 7 in June 2010
2. What attracted you as a designer to the Book of Monster Tempaltes?
The Advanced Bestiary and The Deluxe Book of Templates, I use them in my homebrew game so much, simply to keep my veteran players on their toes. I root through monster books for new templates all the time, and make a great deal of use out of the Monster’s Handbook and the Beast Builder. I wanted to do something similar for the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game. I don’t’ want to revise existing templates I want things that are new and fresh. I really have a total vision for the layout, the art, and I even envisioned designing this book for print, hence the PREORDER.
3. Why a direct-only preorder?
Because I wanted to take, 100% of the money earned and put it toward the print run. I did not want to give any of this money to other vendors (40%-50% when you use other vendors). It’s also a test bed to see if we have enough market penetration to be able to do a large print run. To see if we can get away from print on demand companies and do a traditional print run. In addition, with a direct-only preorder I could give my customers a lower price point. Also flat rate shipping for the USPS made it very easy for me to do everything out of my home office and cost effective for my customers.
4. Could you please sum up "Book of Monster Templates" in a sentence or three?
Heheh, it’s Exactly What It Says On The Tin, it’s a book of monster templates for the Pathfinder Roleplaying game. There will be about 30+ templates in there with about 60+ feats specific for use with the given templates. There is also Lore DCs and ready-made ecological encounters.
5. What can you tell us ab0ut the templates you are putting in there?
A lot actually, we have put out a free preview The Bloody Maw creature so folks can see the format we are using; you can down it HERE. I also released an exclusive preview to the fine folks who preorder the book; I will be doing that each week, while we will release another to the public each month during the three-month preorder process. Folks who really want to know more can visit our Development Thread on Paizo messageboard.
6. How did you feel, when you discovered someone has preordered a copy?
I loved it! Every time I get a preorder, I respond to it personally via emal, I love talking to folks who buy our products. A person puts a lot of trust in you that you’re going to deliver them a quality product and that they are not going to end up with vapor ware, which is why I waited till the project was 50% done and ahead of schedule before I even set up the preorder. I plan to release the pdf to the patrons probably on the same day we send them to the printer.
7. Could you list some of your major influences in your initial thoughts on Book of Monster Templates?
Besides the aforementioned books: Folklore, mythology, taboos, and tough moral choices are real influence on my monster designs for example. I released the Boundfury to our preorder customers it’s based on the hard choices of crime and punishment in a magical fantasy world and the taboo of creating penal colonies, backed up with the uncaring mythology of the Greek furies. The other influence I have when writing is something I learned from Robin Laws. You have to create an immersive emotional response to your monsters. When you hear about a dragon when playing the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game you have a response based on all your previous experience and nostalgia of previous dragon fights you have been involved in, this is why even the Owlbear has “traction” it’s been around a long time and many people have fought them. Templates allow you to use that same Owlbear and make it new again. But what I also did was add a bit to the sample monsters using our default setting and using the monsters point of view for the description I wrote the monsters Appearance, Attitude, Aspiration and an Account of Deeds this is an influence that goes back to books like Planescape, Forgotten Realms and Monsternomicon.
8. What are the strengths of BOMT being compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game?
It's a great system, built on the 3.0 and 3.5 foundation and allows me to take great advantage of the Open Gaming License, now it this cases I am not using monster templates form other 3rd Party Publishers but what I can do is take sample monsters from other books. For example, I applied the Boundfury template to the Gilded Sea Serpent that originally appeared in ToH II.
9. Can you tell me about your experience so far of working with Robert N. Emerson Vs. Other editors you have worked with?
Robert and I have a great relationship we chat nearly every day about some piece or the other, he knows my pacing, style and weaknesses as a designer. Also one my rules is just because I am the publisher does not mean I have Protection from Editors; Robert sends me a document with all chances applied since all questions have been answered by our daily chats and that’s what gets laid out He was my first choice as editor for this project.
10. Can you tell me how you felt when you first saw the final cover image for Book of Monster Templates?
Glorious! That is really all I have to say, but I am sure you want more. It’s a rune-carved template applied to the Dungeon Dragon. I liked how the runes really stand out and make me think of something being applied to the creature while the background really shows the ecology of the Dungeon Dragon (from ToH II). Unlike most dragons he does not hoard treasure, he hordes dungeons and traps the treasure is just there to lure adventurers so that he can put his collection to use. Hugo Solis has always been the best B&W artist I know hands down, and this proves that Hugo can handle color artwork as well. To quote the editor Robert N. Emerson “That’s Awesomesauce!"
