Still on my solo TTRPG journey over at my Twitch channel, and I was privileged to get a moment of time from the creator of the game I’m playing this week. Basil Wright is a prolific writer and creator, of both mainstream D&D material and intriguingly crafted indie TTRPGs. We caught up to talk about games, social media, and getting chased naked in your dreams.
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Brent: Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, Basil. For our readers not yet familiar with your work, please tell me a bit about yourself.
Baz: Hi everyone! My name is Basil (he/they/xe) and I am a game designer, sensitivity consultant, and occasional Actual Play…person? I show up in a few APs every so often, let’s go with that, haha. I’m Black and Seminole, queer as hell, disabled AF, and neurodivergent in a few directions.
B: What drew you into tabletop roleplaying games? What was your “hero (or villain, we don’t judge) origin story” in the hobby?
Baz: I’ve always been into D&D, but I got started back in 2020 or so with Storytelling Collective’s Write Your First Adventure. I wrote my first 5e adventure, “Riches of the Earth”, and then from there was asked to write for other folx’s modules, and then somewhere around in there people liked my writing and wanted me on other projects. 😀
B: How and when did you shift from player/GM to working on your first game content? Was the shift gradual, or did it happen pretty quickly?
Baz: So the funny thing about that is that I had been in a few games, but we never really got past the first session. After that, I kinda gave up on being a player and switched over to making games. Since then though, I’ve been a player in a few one/multi shots, and it’s been a lot of fun.
B: A number of your games, such as You’re Naked! Run!, Mouseia, and Dreaming, Dreaming are solo and duet games. What attracts you to this style of game over designing something for a group?
Baz: Honestly it depends on whether I think it makes sense for the game to be multiplayer or not. Specifically for You’re Naked, that game is based on the reoccuring dreams I had about being buck naked and chased by the cops throughout this giant conglomeration of all the schools I went to. Those dreams did finally stop, but I had no clue what they were about! So freaking weird! Otherwise, if a game is a solo or duet game, it’s usually because I wanted to enter a game jam and made a game for it, haha.
B: Are there themes or ideas shared between your games? Are there elements you purposely explore when you create?
Baz: Mmm, one recurring theme is the idea of community and that we’re stronger together. I’m not a huge fan of punishing players for not following the narrative in my games, but I will make negative consequences if you do something pointlessly cruel like set fire to an endangered magical forest. My games are not for the kind of players that just want to pillage and loot.
One thing I really want to try and carry through all of my games is the dream-like quality to them. They should feel like this is a game you’d play while you were sleeping (or maybe after staying up too late reading fanfics haha)
B: A number of your games use a tarot deck to prompt the player and inspire the narrative. What makes tarot attractive to you as a designer?
Baz: This one is entirely my sibling’s fault, which I say in a very caring way. Ever since I got my own tarot deck, I really like exploring using it in game design. I really enjoy the way that you can tell stories with tarot, whether that’s just using the images, following the numbers, or digging very deeply into the stories behind each card. (Fun fact: my favorite card is The Sun, followed by the 6 of Wands)
B: Along with a number of other creators you use Itch as a platform to sell your game. For someone maybe looking to produce their first game, what are some of the things you like about the site? What are some of the challenges?
Baz: I really enjoy how it easy it is to set up a game on itch, and that you can easily go back in and make edits if something doesn’t look right. There’s a few extra steps involved to get like, CSS enabled, which I haven’t done yet. Right now, I’d say the challenge is the same as ever: itch takes a long ass time to pay people! (Although I did recently get a payout sooner than I projected, so maybe they finally unclogged the money pipe or something)
B: In addition to your game creations you also contribute to a number of DMs Guild supplements for 5e. What are some of the different aspects or challenges of writing for an existing system as opposed to writing your own games? What does each contribute to the other?
Baz: Statblocks. On my life and upon my word, the utter loathing I have for statblocks cannot be encompassed in this interview. Please do not hire me to make statblocks I will cry. Can I do them? Yes. Do I enjoy them? No.
At the same time though, it’s nice to just write something that already has the foundational blocks. I can just tell someone they need to use Persuasion and boom, they get what I’m putting down. At the same time though, writing within an existing system can be a bit restrictive. (Not to mention getting the skills of various systems jumbled in the brain at times!)
B: The fragmenting of social media seems to have made finding an audience for creators increasingly difficult. Do you have any thoughts on what designers can do to compensate? Do you see a change coming around how you find an audience for your work?
Baz: Honestly, it’s hard out here for creators! There are like 50 social media sites it feels like. I will say that Cara seems to be a good spot for artists. For us designers and writers, I have no idea. I’m still on Twitter (and on BlueSky), but I joined back when it was easier to promote yourself. A website would probably help, if only to collate all your work. At the end of the day though, I make my games for myself, so even if I don’t have an audience, it doesn’t bother me much (which I know is not reflective of the field as a whole)
B: While it’s quite common to see Actual Plays for group TTRPGs, there seem to be relatively few solo and duet APs being produced. Do you think that’s something AP producers are missing out on? Could AP have as big an impact for solo TTRPGs as it sometimes does for other games?
Baz: Like you said, there are a few solo and duet APs out there. I think there’s definitely space to grow in that area, and I feel like with a duet at least, you have someone to play off of; with a solo game, it’s kinda just you and the camera. I think AP could have a big impact in that area, but I’d think you’d have to get creative with how you produce it.
B: What other games out there right now excite you? What are you drawn to as a designer and as a player/GM?
Baz: The Beast Within (AWOOOO), Triangle Agency, Eat the Reich, Not Yet! are the big ones that come to mind right now. I’m drawn to games that are fucking weird, tbh. Eat the Reich is about vampires eating Nazis. Like hell yeah, sign me the FUCK up. I want to play games that are as weird as me. As a designer, I like games that have this presence on your soul. Like a light fog that kinda settles around your shoulders and makes you feel something. Closest description I can think of is like, when you get to the end of a Ghibli movie and things have changed, and you, the viewer, have changed, in ways that are different but no less good. Yanno?
B: Are there other projects on the horizon you can discuss?
Baz: The game design gremlin won’t leave me be. I’m Ebenezer Scrooge up in here, begging and pleading for more time. But seriously, I have a little Lazy Susan of various games in the works. The big is Pelogos, my underwater paranormal horror game about death, grief, and the afterlife, but I’m also working on BEDAMNED, which draws from some paranormal (parareligious?) experiences I had while traveling overseas, Rancher’s Respite, the expansion to Rancher’s Romance, which is a giant love letter to the many, many werewolf cowboy romance novels my mom owned (it was more than three Sterelite tubs!), and then various odds and ends featuring more Greek myths, a hack of Bluebeard’s Bride, etc etc.
B: Thank you again for talking with me, Basil! Where can folks find you if they want to follow what you’re up to?
Baz: I’m Kobanya_kana on Twitter and Kobanya pretty much everywhere else (Tumblr, BlueSky, Pillowfort). My website is: https://towerofbasil.wordpress.com/ . Thanks for having me!
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Thanks again to Basil for sitting down with me. If you would like to see You’re Naked! Run! in action, stop by my Twitch channel this Friday at 6:30pm MST for Solo Fridays!
