Aaron: Lore, Backstory, Spells etc.

How many years of DM (indie game and business dev) experience do you have? 

I’ve been working in BizDev for over ten years in multiple different fields beyond gaming and have learned business solutions that are applicable regardless of trade or discipline.  I’ve been working in indie game development for over fifteen years and the crossover of the two for the past seven.  

Why the D&D theme?

We love D&D!  I’ve been playing D&D and designing tabletop like games since I was 6.  Guiding people through dungeons and helping them level up has always been a passion of mine.  So why not bring it to the real world in my business.  We want to guide you through the dungeon of video game development and marketing to help you get the rewards at the end.  

What has made you so passionate about helping indie devs? 

If you care about games as a real gamer, then indie is where it is at.  Indies are not burdened by the overhead of AAA game studios and they can do things on the very cutting edge of technology.  Indies don’t have to play by the rules and I don’t like playing by the rules!

You are also making your own indie game, Death & Taxes. What was the inspiration behind this game? 

Those D&D games I was designing since I was 6…ya it was Death & Taxes.  No joke, I can probably still find the first design document I ever created on a yellow notepad.  The inspiration behind Death & Taxes MOG (Multiplayer Online Game.  Specifically not MMO!) was and has always been to bridge the gap between Table Top game and Video game.  I have always wanted to make a game where the players didn’t discover the lore, they became the lore.  It is the first players’ stories that other players down the line discover, only for them to join future pantheons themselves later on.  

Why is it so important for indie games to have a space in the gaming industry? 

Big studios have a lot of people working for them, they have shareholders and big buildings and inflated CEOs and shareholders.  All these things create a lot of overhead.  So AAA studios literally can’t afford to deviate from the formula and that is why you get CoD 36 and FIFA 2124.  Gamers who are tired of the formula need indie studios’ risk taking and innovation.  

What are some of your favorite indie games right now? 

I’m not sure if Valheim counts as indie and I guess Minecraft definitely doesn’t count anymore but I played that since like 1.06 when it was.  

​If you’re looking for games that most would not recognize, I have over 300 hours in Kenshi, over 200 in The Forest and Sons of the Forest.  Over 100 hours in The Long Dark and more than I care to admit spent on Life is Feudal: Your Own.  

A few cool ones I’ve been keeping my eyes on are Holomento, The Bloodline and Mortal Crux

What is your favorite race/class to be in D&D?

My absolute favorite character to play in a group was Inspector Tisdale an elf relentless inspector class which was an investigator archetype.  His schtick was that he would give allies bonuses to attacks with successful knowledge checks.  He was the most condescending jerk ever, but the party always listened because of the bonuses.  “No, no, no friend…you have to hit it..HARDER!” 

Tell me about a time a campaign went horribly wrong. What the heck happened? 

One time I had a campaign that was all based on gargoyles.  So there were a whole lot of statues, a number of which were gargoyles that would come alive if the party got close enough.  One party ran through with a life sense oracle.  Made the whole dungeon a piece of cake.  

In one campaign I stole from one of the players.  There is no real ruleset for thieving so I came up with one and was legitimately fair about it.  When the player could not catch me stealing he basically split the entire community over it. 

What is the first video game you ever played - or remember playing? 

Spy vs Spy on the Apple 2. Lunar Lander on the Atari.