I was interviewed by Emerald Press for their latest issue of “Combat Advantage”. Here is that interview…
To start things off, we spoke to Mike (AKA Weem) from LastLands.com on his site and various contributions throughout the D&D inter-world.
Combat Advantage: How did you first encounter the worlds of D&D?
Mike (“Weem”): I was introduced to D&D when I was about 12 years old by my best friend. He told me he was playing this cool new game that his brother was running for him. D&D was not new then, of course (this was around 1988), but it was new to him. So I played my first game that day using the Basic Rules set (Red Box) and I was instantly hooked. I have always had a very vivid imagination, and I still remember visualizing my character and all the cool things he could do even while making him – we hadn’t even played yet!
I left his house that weekend enthralled with the game. I was so hooked in fact that my friend’s brother gave me those books and I still have them today.
CA: Where does your nickname come from?
Weem: Weem is a nickname given to me by friends of mine based on the mispronouncing of my last name!
CA: What are the various projects/websites you’re working on at the moment and how did they come about?
Weem: Right now LastLands.com is my biggest project, as far as time consumption is concerned.
It was originally the home of my campaign setting and nothing more. It had the map, game summaries, etc. However, I have recently changed the layout/design of the site to allow for the merging in of content from two other projects.
The first of those two is DnDCraft.com. Here, I basically post various types of media that inspire me and my games (usually images). I filtered these posts into tags such as “Airships” and “NPC Portraits” so you could click on one and see inspirational images for that specific subject. It’s a great way to get inspiration for a Monster, or a Villain, etc. In many of those posts, I give a quick idea or two of ways to incorporate them into a game. As I mentioned, this site is now merged into LastLands.com but will remain up as is for a little while. Visitors can access all of the posts and the RSS feed from DnD Craft over at LastLands.com now, and all new posts will be made at Last Lands from now on.
The second project is DnDFile.com which actually went up recently (in the last month or so). It was basically meant to house the various cards, sheets and maps I make for D&D and share with others. This site is now merged with LastLands.com as well.
All three sites were about me sharing various D&D topics and creations with whoever was interested – only now it can all be found at one location!
As a full-time web designer and developer with a love for D&D/RPG’s, I tend to get involved in other peoples game-related websites as well.
For example, I created a ton (hundreds) of avatar icons for IGN.com (VN Boards) a long while back, and as such ended up being a moderator there for a while (forum moderation being something I have done a lot of over many years in the RPG world as well). I also created the current EN World logo (10th Anniversary), as well as other graphics there related to the subscription service. And as a fan of Mystara you can see some of my (very old now) work at the Official Mystara site, Vaults of Pandius – particularly the logo and the ship navigation menu (I really should offer something new to them now).
That’s some of what I am or have been involved with. Much of my free time is spent in this world but it helps to have a very understanding wife who is very busy herself working on her Masters degree, hehe.
CA: What is the Last Lands?
Weem: The Last Lands is my home-brew campaign setting. I am currently running my second 4th Edition campaign called “Dark Water” which takes place in the Last Lands – the first to do so.
The basic premise is that a being called The One God approached mankind (humans), at a time when their world was crumbling around them, and offered them a new life and a new home. They accepted and were taken to the “Last Lands” – a place, as it turned out, already inhabited by 2 native races who had never seen humans before. However, instead of the entire race of man being brought, only 347 arrived. The setting takes place over 1,000 years since their arrival and explores clashing religions and cultures among other things. I’ll leave it at that, otherwise we will be here all day.
The idea for the Last Lands is something that has been in my mind for years (over 10 now). It has changed a lot over the years, but last year I decided, ‘This will never get done unless I start playing there, at which point I will be forced to make it happen”.
As such, I have been using a bottom-up approach to building it “as we go” which has been amazing, and something I did not expect to enjoy as much as I have been. While there is information about it on the Last Lands site (in fact that was the initial and only purpose of the site), it’s not something I am pushing or promoting necessarily. I don’t think most people look through other people’s home-brews and decide to play in one as is – but I do understand and embrace the idea of mining home-brew settings for ideas and inspiration, so it’s there primarily for my players to look over (especially for the game summaries) but of course anyone else is welcome to browse it as well.
In the future, as it grows, there will be more blog posts and other things that relate specifically to the setting and what is happening there. For now, my campaign information is hiding at the bottom right-hand section of the site for those interested!
CA: What inspirations do you draw from for the Last Lands?
Weem: Everything inspires me when it comes to gaming. Whether it’s books or movies, video games, or a trailing voice in my head as I wake up in the morning, almost anything can spur an idea. The two things that really got me going (initially) with the Last Lands were actually questions I asked myself and thought would be interesting to answer inside of a campaign setting. These questions were basically…
1) What would happen if the most prominent religion in a world were proven, beyond doubt, to be false. How do followers of that religion react? How do those who doubted all along react?
2) What would happen in a city if it was located at the end of all gateways, and from these unseen/undetectable portals emerged various beings, entities and creatures at random intervals, in random quantities, from many other worlds, and without any memories of how they came to be there. How would so many beings, from so many different cultures and religious beliefs interact with each other.
You could develop answers for these in so many different ways, with many different outcomes… The Last Lands is essentially my version of what might transpire.
CA: You’ve been posting quite a few quotes from other gamers on their inspirations for creating monsters/villains for D&D. Any overall theme you’ve noticed so far as to what inspires us?
Weem: Books and Movies are at the top, as I’m sure most would guess. What I do find interesting is how infrequently those movies would be considered Fantasy, despite that being the prominent genre (as far as where I am asking these things) and the focus of the D&D Craft site (D&D obviously) etc. Our games are often inspired by things that have nothing to do with D&D or even Fantasy at all, which I think is pretty cool.
CA: Are the condition cards/maps provided on LastLands.com specifically designed for use in your campaign? Will you be working on designing special cards or other goodies tailored for Last Lands now that you have the sites merged together?
Weem: So far, none of my creations are specific to any setting. I do have FATE point cards, which is not standard to 4th Edition (or any D&D Edition), but I use them in my campaign and others were interested in them, so I put them up.
I will, in time, add cards and sheets that are specific to unique aspects of the Last Lands, but they will represent only a small percentage of the total number of files available in all likelihood (if they exist at all). The Last Lands is not a drastic departure from standard 4e assumptions, so there is not a lot of potential for setting-specific card/sheet material there.
As far as files go, what you see me create and provide is usually only done so after seeing evidence that many others would find use in them as well (or if I assume that to be the case).
CA: As someone who designs a fair number of player tools/handouts, how far do you see this trend for these tools going?
Weem: I don’t really know as far as tools go provided from the industry (Mapping tools, Character builders, etc). I’m not in the industry, and for as long as I have been playing and creating within its walls, I haven’t ever really paid attention to the business side, trends or consumer behaviors, etc. With that said, I would guess it continues to grow, particularly as there are more and more of us online and especially as more and more games take place there, spurred by new technologies and ideas.
As a web designer/developer, I have a set of skills that get me paid during the day. The cool thing is, they come in very handy for creating these lower-end tools – sheets and cards (and websites) that other people can enjoy (at no cost), and to me that is the coolest thing ever. Many times, I create things I want for my game that I also assume others would enjoy – so the trend, or demand for these, is frequently my own and generally occurs when I recognize something I want that I would otherwise not pay for. I don’t see this changing any time soon, and I think the same goes for others – whether they are creating things themselves, or looking for something they can grab at no cost to them (beyond downloading and printing a file).
CA: Are there any other projects/goodies you’re working on at the moment?
Weem: Not particularly – I’m always thinking of things to get off the ground, but the problem is choosing one and following through. For now I am keeping it (kind of) simple and sticking with the Last Lands Campaign Setting work, putting out D&D Files for people to use and pushing bursts of content out through the site that I think others might enjoy.
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