My first article for EN World, a subsidiary of EN Publishing, went live on May 31, 2017, and I’ve been freelancing for Morrus since. When he announced that his next Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition Kickstarter would be based on one of Mike Myler’s EN World columns, I knew I wanted to talk to him about the project and his philosophy on RPG crowdfunding projects.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): Morrus, I think in all the years I’ve freelanced for you, I’ve never interviewed you, I’m glad to rectify that. What is your latest Kickstarter, Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters for D&D 5E, about?
RUSS MORRISSEY (MORRUS): I feel like you must have interviewed me at some point! But if you haven’t, we’re rectifying that right now, right here!
So… MF&MM is a D&D 5E ‘bestiary’ containing about 100 mythological or historical figures from our own world’s myths and legends. Each is between two and four pages, and some include additional information like magic items (hey Excalibur!). If you remember Deities & Demigods from earlier editions (and Jim Ward was kind enough to write a foreword in our book!) it’s inspired by that, although it’s less about gods and pantheons and more about heroes and villains.
EGG: Why is Mike Myler (Vast Kaviya and Mists of Akuma) the right individual to work with on this project as well as EN5ider?
MORRUS: Well that one’s easy! It’s all based on his popular column! He’s been writing that column – one mythological figure or epic monster each week – for about two years now. We’ve gone through all the articles, updated them, I’ve done a lot of new descriptions, and police them up for a gorgeous full-colour hardcover book.
EGG: You run a Patreon, EN5ider, which produced the content for A Touch of Class and A Touch More Class. In contrast, a version of Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters for D&D 5E’s content is available for free via Mike Myler’s Mythological Figures column and Epic Monsters column, both on EN World. Do you think this will limit your audience or increase it since so many fans are able to read the quality of Mike’s work?
MORRUS: I hope that a lot of fans of Mike’s column are looking forward to seeing it, all polished and shiny, in a lovely hardcover! There’s a bunch of extra material, too, including some figures that have not yet appeared in the column, magical artifacts, new descriptions, and loads of gorgeous artwork.
EGG: Let’s sample a few NPCs/entries. Captain Nemo. The neat thing about this character is that the character gets three pages of information and then his vessel, the Nautilus, gets another page. More info than appeared in Mike’s original article. For this NPC, what special features speak to you as a GM?
MORRUS: We have several members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in there — Allan Quatermain, the Invisible Man, etc. Nemo is a great example of an inventor, and the Nautilus is a really fun artifact. Nemo, as an Indian figure, is one of many entries which also got a go-over from one of our (several) cultural consultants, which ensures our book is as good as it can be.
EGG: Among the dozens of real world figures are two military and political leaders that history has storied opinions on, George Washington and Saladin. Why choose them over their counterparts, General Cornwallis or Richard the Lionheart, respectively?
MORRUS: The super-simple answer to that is that they were requested by readers of Mike’s column. He takes requests and adds them to the list, so if you want to see Richard the Lionheart, all you need to do is let him know, and at some point he’ll appear! And, who knows, maybe he’ll then be in a Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters II somewhere down the line.
EGG: Jekyll and Hyde get three pages plus a fourth for the Master Alchemist’s Treasures table. Do you feel the transformation between these two characters offers a path forward for a new type of PC group, something that evolves gameplay with each long rest?
MORRUS: Jekyll & Hyde is a fun entry. We present the two separate stat blocks, one for each. His transformation ability lets him switch between the two — either unwillingly by chance at night, or when he uses his special serum. It’s not far off from being a werewolf, or the Incredible Hulk, conceptually speaking. Whether an entire PC group would want to do that… man, that could be fun, if a a bit chaotic!
EGG: With crowdfunding projects, you have a different philosophy on stretch goals and fulfillment than many creators. Can you share some of your guiding principles on crowdfunding?
MORRUS: My approach is born out of a desire *not* to be trying to fulfill projects months or years later when I have new projects which deserve my full attention. Plus, I pride myself on our reputation for fast delivery — every Kickstarter we’ve done, for the last few years, has been fulfilled *immediately*. What that means is we have everything ready to go, so when the Kickstarter ends, we can pay our printers for the print run and get those books straight into peoples’ hands. And, of course, digital rewards go out literally seconds to minutes after the campaign ends, depending on how fast I can physically send the emails!
That does mean no stretch goals, as those would delay fulfillment. The book’s locked in, ready for the printer. We’ll do nothing that would add any extra time to fulfillment. Though we do have some pre-made PDF ‘rewards’ for achieving various funding levels (they’re not quite stretch goals, as they already exist).
EGG: I don’t think fans know how much you do in the gaming space. There’s EN Publishing (including publishing the Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD RPGs), EN World, RPGnews, Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk (podcast), EN5ider (D&D 5e Patreon), One-Page Adventures for D&D (Patreon), EONS (W.O.I.N. Patreon), for years you backed the ENnie Awards, and you barbeque. Can you talk about how you ended up with so many fun options to work on?
MORRUS: I guess I’m one of those people who has to keep busy. I’m also working on a novel and fun action-comedy RPG called Awfully Cheerful Engine right now, too. I did choose to step down from the ENnies, though; it was hard to do, but I created them nearly 20 years ago, and that’s a long, long time, and the ENnies are a big attention/emotional focus.
EGG: Beyond this project, what else are you working on?
MORRUS: My novel is called The Cauldron, and I like to think of it as Game of Thrones in space. It’s about two-thirds finished now, and features a feudal galaxy filled with rival houses. I’m having real fun with the worldbuilding side of that!
The Awfully Cheerful Engine started off as a love-letter to the 1980s Ghostbusters RPG from WEG, but it evolved into something different. It’s an action-comedy RPG, presented in comic-book sized ‘booklets’. The core rules are only about 30 pages or so, lots of colour and art, and each ‘adventure’ is a similar size and is a totally different genre — a Ghostbusters homage, one with talking animals (think Danger Mouse or Turtles), a Trek parody, and a Pratchett-esque D&D parody make up another two. It’s really fun, irreverent, and designed for one-shots and single adventures, so each time you play it you’re playing something completely different.
EGG: Thank you for talking with me and all of the support you’ve given me over the years. For fans interested in following this campaign and your other projects, where can they follow you?
MORRUS: You can find my website, EN World, or I’m on Twitter at @Morrus. Also be sure to check out our company site, EN Publishing!
Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters for D&D 5E from EN Publishing (available through DriveThruRPG as well)
End Date: Fri, July 31, 2020
“A beautiful D&D 5th Edition hardcover tome of legendary figures from Achilles to Robin Hood, Thor to Dracula, King Arthur to Baba Yaga!”
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