Through the reach of the Open Gaming License and the proliferation of self-published novels, we live in a golden age of gaming in which any worthwhile fantasy series may be licensed and converted into a campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, or many OSRs. Latest to that list of licensed settings is Terry Mancour’s Spellmonger series coming from Battlefield Press. Jonathan Thompson of Battlefield spoke to me about the series and what inspired him to make this world his first foray into publishing a fantasy setting.
For those unfamiliar with The Spellmonger series, it’s the tale of Minalan, a human mage descended from space colonists, set amid a fantasy world’s war.
“Minalan gave up a promising career as a professional warmage to live the quiet life of a village spellmonger in the remote mountain valley of Boval. It was a peaceful, beautiful little fief, far from the dangerous feudal petty squabbles of the Five Duchies, on the world of Callidore. For six months things went well. . . Then one night, Minalan is forced to pick up his mageblade again to defend his adopted home from the vanguard of an army of goblins – gurvani, they call themselves – bent on a genocidal crusade against all mankind. All that stands between the gurvani horde and the people of the Five Duchies is one tired, overwhelmed baker’s son who wanted nothing more than to be a simple village spellmonger!”
EGG EMBRY (EGG): Thanks for talking with me about your Kickstarter, Jonathan. What inspired you to adapt The Spellmonger series into a tabletop RPG?
JONATHAN THOMPSON (JT): That’s a good question. I was looking for something to read on Audible and this book was suggested to me by that. I had not heard of Mancour before this, and I listened to the book as straight through as I could get. (If memory serves it’s about an 18-hour run time). Right away, I was hearing his descriptions and I could see the action in my head in mechanics. I was guessing at the time that he had a gaming background, which turned out to be correct. It’s a neat world, I really like it, and I had been thinking about it as a game long before we made contact to do just that with it.
EGG: From the series, what will this game cover?
JT: This book will cover material prior to book one, stuff that most people have never seen before. This is the material from his “world bible,” and he’s really excited about people knowing this material. So, not only will we cover the history of Callidore, but we will run it through at least the end of the first book, maybe through the second book… depending on exactly what we want to focus on.
EGG: This is for Dungeons & Dragons 5e and Pathfinder 1e. What makes those systems the right ones for this story?
JT: Terry is an old D&D 2e gamer, and so, when writing, those mechanics were at least subconsciously influencing him. At least, that’s my opinion. The fact that when reading the series, it’s definitely a pseudo typical fantasy world, and mechanically these games really fit the bill. There will be some minor changes in a few things, but nothing that will upset the balance of the game. Plus, there is a ton of other material in these settings that could be adapted by the enterprising GM, and we will try to help guide that process in the core book.
EGG: Who is Terry Mancour?
JT: [From his bio:]
“Terry Mancour is a science fiction and fantasy writer, author of more than 32 books and innumerable articles under various pseudonyms, including the New York Times Best Selling Star Trek novel, Spartacus, the sequels to H. Beam Piper’s Space Viking, and his original epic fantasy series, The Spellmonger series. He lives in Durham, North Carolina with his beautiful wife and three children and he does have a background in gaming.”
EGG: The $21,000 stretch goal is “a brand-new novella containing a story set during the Farisian Campaign.” Will this story be by Terry Mancour?
JT: Yes, the events of this will happen prior to the first novel. It’s a military campaign that several of the main characters from the series were involved in. It’s been talked about in flashbacks and bits and pieces; this gives Terry the opportunity to show what younger versions of his characters were up to before the start of the novels. At the beginning of the series, the main character is a retired warmage, and wanted desperately just to be the village wizard. So, this is set before that.
EGG: Beyond the novella, how will Terry be involved?
JT: He is providing tons of background material he has written and mostly will go into the game book as is. So, he is providing a good bit of the written material.
EGG: For those that are not familiar with your work, what other projects have you been involved in?
JT: To name a few, I have done Agents of GAIA, Sherwood: The Legend of Robin Hood, and Gaslight Victorian Fantasy… I also have upcoming for April releases, The Dinosaur Protocol and Robotech Macross, both for Savage Worlds.
EGG: How did this project come about?
JT: I was reading (listening) to the books and thought, hey this would make a decent campaign setting. So, I sat down to outline it. As a publisher, it‘s not like I can leave anything just as a personal project, I want to share it with everyone. So, Terry and I got to exchanging emails and worked out a deal. If you take a look at my back catalog, there is not a single traditional fantasy setting in the bunch, so this must have sparked something in me for this project to have been something for me to do.
EGG: Where can fans learn more about you and this Kickstarter?
JT: The Kickstarter can be found here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/battlefieldpress/terry-mancours-spellmonger
At the time of this question we are at 58% of our goal with two weeks left to go.
***
Terry Mancour’s Spellmonger by Battlefield Press
For Dungeons & Dragons 5e and Pathfinder 1e
This project ends on Wed, March 20 2019 9:06 PM EDT.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/battlefieldpress/terry-mancours-spellmonger
***
Interested in more interviews with Jonathan Thompson? Here are some I conducted about his prior Kickstarters:
- Robert Asprin’s The Cold Cash War RPG
- Sherwood: The Legend of Robin Hood 2e for Savage Worlds
- The Dinosaur Protocol for Savage Worlds
- Stewart Cowley’s Spacecraft 2000 to 2100 AD (40th Anniversary Reprint)
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