Interview: Joshua Stevens of Open Design

Open Design is the Wolfgang Baur-led studio effort for designing roleplaying game adventures, primarily for D&D. Open Design uses a unique model to make the adventures: instead of the traditional single designer or corporate team effort, Open Design uses a patronage model where anyone can contribute to a project by paying in and then weighing in to shape the design.

Recently, Open Design launched three new projects: one for 4e, one for Pathfinder, and one called “The Red Eye of Azathoth” that is currently undergoing discussions over whether it will be in a modified form of Pathfinder or the Basic Roleplaying System (the game engine that powers the original Call of Cthulhu RPG). Being currently in something of a Cthulhu phase myself and always having been interested in Open Design projects, I signed up to be a patron of the adventure (and immediately set about campaigning for it to be in BRP).

I sent over questions to Joshua Stevens, the lead designer of “The Red Eye of Azathoth”, to talk about the adventure itself and the Open Design process.

Critical-Hits: What’s the “elevator pitch” for Red Eye of Azathoth, to entice potential GMs to run the adventure?

Joshua Stevens: Basically, the Red Eye of Azathoth is “Cthulhu through the ages.” Call of Cthulhu games are almost always written in a 1920’s or 1930’s setting, whereas this anthology aims to take players to 5 very different time periods spanning 1,000 years (887 to 1887 AD), while combating Cthulhoid monstrosities and solving an overarching mystery. The five adventures can either be played as standalone pieces – allowing the players to play vikings, samurai, characters in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition, colonists from Roanoke, or even rough and tumble adventurers in the Old West, or the scenarios can be linked together into a greater story arc.

Against this backdrop, we have a semi-mythical red comet known as the Harbinger Star that passes by the earth every few centuries, leaving all manner of hell in its wake. The comet is spoken of in many strange texts, the most notable being the Codex of the Harbinger Star, which calls the star by another name – the Red Eye of Azathoth. The Codex itself was written by a crazed Chinese prophet whose mind touched Azathoth’s when the comet passed overhead some 4,000 years ago, causing the prophet to cut off his own eyelids and stare at the comet, while penning the Codex in the blood seeping from his lidless eyes.

The players will be given a chance to discover the secret of what the Red Eye of Azathoth really is, and they may even encounter the author of the Codex, whose madness has caused him to be reincarnated time and again through the ages to seek out and reclaim his book. Finally, the Denizens of Leng are the BBEG’s behind the scenes, and they have an overarching plot to cause the comet to collide with the earth, believing it will awaken Azathoth and shatter the barrier that separates Leng from Earth. The Codex itself provides clues to the 5 dark rites the Denizens will need to complete before the comet can be summoned to strike the earth, but it’s up to the PCs to decipher the Codex’s meaning.

So, throw some wayward heroes up against the Denizens and their 1,000 year plot, with dark adventures taking place beneath the wan light of a sinister red comet, and you have the makings of a fantastic, time-spanning series of adventures where the PCs are given the opportunity to prevent armageddon itself.

The project promises to be an incredibly fun one, which even only casual fans of CoC style gaming should really enjoy.

CH: How did the idea for Red Eye of Azathoth come about, especially given that it’s so ambitious in scope?

JS: The project came out of my interest in writing a Cthulhoid adventure in shogun-era japan, where the PCs were given a chance to play samurai. My thinking at the time was something akin to: “Katanas hacking off tentacles would be cool.”  Really, it’s as simple as that. I wanted something different from the regular 1920’s CoC setting, and then became intensely interested in putting together a CoC one-shot set in Japan for some of my friends.

At PaizoCon, I was blessed to find myself drinking a few beers with several brilliant folks – Wolfgang Baur, Brandon Hodge, Scott Gable, and Adam Daigle, when I casually mentioned my “Samurai vs. Cthulhu” idea. Fortunately, these other fine folks were all really interested in the idea, and the positive feedback I got gave me the sense that it might be a good idea to follow through with the project. What was initially just drinks among friends quickly turned into an impromptu brainstorm session. Vikings were mentioned, the possibility that something Mythos-related was really behind the Roanoke disappearance, etc. all came up.

The project then went into dormancy while I focused on some other projects. Flash forward to roughly a month ago, when I got an email from Wolfgang inviting me to pitch an adventure for the next Open Design project. I added the red comet’s appearance as the catalyzing event and link between the adventures in each of the time periods we brainstormed, decided to use the Denizens of Leng as the BBEGs of the piece, and voila! The Red Eye of Azathoth project was born.

. . . It’s amazing what a few beers amongst friends can do.

CH: What are the next steps in the Open Design process?

JS: First and foremost, we have to reach the project’s commission – meaning enough patrons have to sign up to fund the project. We’re at about 51% of the commission, so we still have a ways to go.

In the meantime, the short answer is: lots and lots of brainstorming. The Open Design process is incredibly interactive, and gives patrons a behind the scenes preview of how an adventure is created professionally. More so, it gives the patrons a chance to comment on, and add to, various aspects of an adventure as they are being created. Right now, we’re voting on the rules set to use for the projects, and the patrons votes are duking it out between using BRP (i.e. traditional Call of Cthulhu rules), or Pathfinder RPG rules, where the players would play NPCs to approximate the relative power level of traditional CoC style gaming. Once this basic decision has been made, we can really move forward with the design process.

In addition, the patrons have already brainstormed various occult tomes to use, and I brought a composite of their ideas together and created the Codex of the Harbinger Star (mentioned above), to be used in the final project. Other topics such as using the Codex’s reincarnated author as a foil in the adventures, brainstorming what the comet really is and what it does, brainstorming what dark rites might be necessary to summon the comet, etc. are being discussed right now.

Next up, the patrons will be deciding on whether the PCs will be reincarnated heroes (to account for the project’s time differential), or are something else entirely.

If the project is commissioned, guest authors and senior patrons will be invited to unanimously pitch adventure ideas for each of the 5 time periods. The patrons as a group will then vote on their favorites, which will then be included and tied together in the final project.

While this is going on, even more patron discussion and brainstorming will be solicited, allowing the patrons to control the direction of the project throughout.

CH: How will the process differ since it’s potentially going to be BRP or a modified version of Pathfinder to accommodate a Cthulhu-style adventure?

JS: It really won’t. The decision over the rules set really drives the design though, and so we have to decide this before we really get into the nitty gritty of pitching and writing the adventures. Every other aspect of the process, as discussed above, remains the same.

CH: What do you hope to get out of the patronage process? What advantages do you see about working with patrons as opposed to designing the adventure on your own?

JS: The Open Design process has proven time and again that more eyes on a project simply leads to better adventures. We have an incredibly talented pool of creative individuals who are patrons of the Red Eye project. Each of them is a Lovecraft/CoC fan, and each of them loves gaming. So, instead of just one guy coming up with ideas for an adventure, you have many people discussing the finer points of an adventure, brainstorming ideas, etc. It never ceases to amaze me how one great idea sparks other great ideas, and how patrons are able to build off of one another.  The end result is a win for everyone involved. Further, the patrons are given a chance to playtest the project before it ever sees print. That many people playtesting an adventure ultimately leads to a far better designed adventure overall.

The Open Design process really works, and its track record speaks for itself.

CH: Any last words to convince would-be patrons to come on-board?

JS: If you’re a fan of Lovecraft, CoC style gaming, or have ever been interested in Open Design, sign up now! The Red Eye project needs you, and you’ll never have another chance like this to influence the design of this project, which promises to be incredible. Get in early and participate, and you won’t regret it.

Maybe you might even want to consider becoming a senior patron and pitching an adventure for the anthology? Who knows, you might just see your name in print if the other patrons select your pitch.

Thanks to Joshua for speaking with us. If you’re sold on The Red Eye of Azathoth, there’s still time to sign up as a patron and make your voice heard: you could be the one dictating just how many tentacles are cut by katanas.