{"id":24160,"date":"2021-05-20T07:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T12:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?p=24160"},"modified":"2021-05-20T08:54:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T13:54:59","slug":"the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russ Morrissey, the owner of EN Publishing and EN World (where I freelance<\/a>), has a new project on Kickstarter, the Awfully Cheerful Engine! <\/i><\/a>(ACE!). <\/i>Russ created a new gaming system and agreed to stop by and discuss the engine, the format, and more.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>EGG EMBRY (EGG): <\/b>Congratulations on all of the successful Kickstarters<\/a> you\u2019ve created in 2020 and this year. <\/b>Since you\u2019re launching an original system, let\u2019s talk about that. <\/b>What is the new project?<\/b><\/p>\n

RUSS MORRISSEY (RUSS)<\/b>: The Awfully Cheerful Engine!<\/i><\/a> is a tabletop RPG of action comedy coming to Kickstarter on May 18th. It’s fast, fun, and we guarantee you’ll have a laugh while playing it! It’s also a loving parody of many pop-culture tropes, from sci-fi franchises to fantasy epics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EGG: You\u2019re launching this RPG with a five-book set. <\/b>That number sounds daunting for a new or existing system. Why five? <\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

RUSS<\/b>: I hope it’s the opposite of daunting! The rulebook is just 30 pages, and those are comic-book sized pages at that. So it’s more like 20 full-sized pages. It takes 37.5 seconds to learn the rules (we know that because we conducted extensive studies, which mainly consisted of picking a number).<\/p>\n

Plus we’re supporting the game out of the gate with four wacky adventures \u2013 Sprits of Manhattan, Montana Drones and the Raiders of the Cutty Sark, Strange Science<\/i>, and Beam Me Up<\/i>. Each of those is about 30 pages, too, designed for one-shots or short campaigns. Great for pick-up games, conventions, online games, or even just when the regular GM can’t make it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EGG: <\/b>You\u2019ve had success with 5e products in Patreon<\/a> and your own system<\/b>s like<\/b> <\/b>WOIN<\/b><\/i><\/a> <\/b>and <\/b>Simply 6<\/b><\/i><\/a> that you\u2019ve used for the <\/b>Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD<\/b><\/i><\/a> RPG. <\/b>What inspired you to create a new system? <\/b><\/p>\n

RUSS<\/b>: WOIN<\/i> is a little more crunchy. I wanted to write a light game designed for people who want to pick up a game and play it without having to learn anything \u2013 you know, new-player friendly. And I wanted to write something with online gaming and streaming in mind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

EGG: <\/b>The copy <\/b>includes words like<\/b> \u201chomage\u201d and \u201clove-letter to 80s roleplaying games\u201d to describe the game. <\/b>What properties is <\/b>ACE!<\/b><\/i> an homage to? <\/b><\/p>\n

RUSS<\/b>: Ghostbusters, Danger Mouse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bill & Ted, Rick & Morty, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future<\/i>… so many things! It’s going to tickle a lot of peoples’ nostalgia genes! We’re talking action comedies, cartoon mayhem, kids on bikes, wacky scientists, aliens, crimefighters, starships, you name it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EGG: You have a foreword by Sandy Petersen<\/a>. Why was <\/b>Sandy <\/b>the right creator for the <\/b>ACE!<\/b><\/i> foreword?<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>RUSS<\/b>: Sandy Petersen was one of the creators of the original Ghostbusters RPG<\/i> in the 80s. That system has been a huge\u200b influence on my game design, from WOIN<\/i><\/a> to Simply 6<\/i><\/a>, to the Awfully Cheerful Engine!<\/i> It was the first ever dice-pool system, and I love dice-pool systems. Especially ones which only use d6s so I don’t have to count too high. Plus, even more importantly, there’s that irreverent, casual, vaguely absurdist tone which makes it so easy to read. I wrote to Sandy telling him about the game I was writing, and how influential his work was on it, and he was super supportive and said yes right away. I didn’t even have to talk him into it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EGG: <\/b>You\u2019re offering a compatibility license<\/a> so fans, correct?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

RUSS<\/b>: I believe that a supported game is a successful game. The license allows anybody to publish ACE! compatible material for free or for sale. The license is free to use, and you get a snazzy logo you can whack on your books! While we plan to support the game with a new adventure every couple of months (I’m already planning post-apocalyptic mayhem, accidental anthropomorphic animal heroes, and a Pratchett-esque D&D parody), we really hope that other creators will make adventures of their own.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

EGG: <\/b>How does the <\/b>ACE!<\/b><\/i><\/a> system work?<\/b><\/p>\n

RUSS<\/b>: It’s very easy. You can play anything from a talking animal to a monster to a grizzled detective or an astronaut. Your character sheet is an ‘ID Card’ and it’s about the size of a credit card. It’s not a real credit card though. You can’t spend it. I know, I tried. Doesn’t work. You have four stats – Smarts, Moves, Style, and Brawn \u2013 and when you want to do something you roll a number of dice equal to your stat. Also, one of those dice is the Calamity Die and if if you fail and that rolls a 1, your so-called ‘friends’ get to decide what hilarious thing befalls you. That’s pretty much it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EGG: <\/b>Let\u2019s switch gears from <\/b>ACE!<\/b><\/i> to your big 5e project, <\/b>Level Up: Advanced 5<\/b><\/i><\/a>th<\/b><\/i><\/sup><\/a> Edition<\/b><\/i><\/a>. For those that don\u2019t know, what is it about? <\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

RUSS<\/b>: That’s coming later this year. It’s a standalone version of 5E designed for folks who have played the original 5E (O5E) for a while and who would enjoy a little extra depth to the ruleset in terms of character customization, a full exploration pillar and journey rules, and some more fun options in combat and elsewhere. It’s fully compatible with O5E, so you can take the latest adventure and run it with the Level Up<\/i> rules.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EGG: <\/b>How is <\/b>Level Up: Advanced 5<\/b><\/i>th<\/b><\/i><\/sup> Edition<\/b><\/i> coming together?<\/b><\/p>\n

RUSS<\/b>: The core rulebook is about 80% written now, and the Monstrous Menagerie<\/i> about a third, and the art is flooding in at a rate of knots. Both books have begun layout now. We’re on track to have these ready later this year, and we’ve been running an extensive public playtest since mid-2020 (which you can still get in on!) We’re really excited about it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>EGG: <\/b>Beyond <\/b>ACE!<\/b><\/i> and <\/b>Level Up<\/b><\/i>, what else are you working on? <\/b><\/p>\n

RUSS<\/b>: My novel, The Siege of Concordant<\/i>, is coming out this year. We have more Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD<\/i> in the pipeline, and for WOIN<\/i> we have The Possessed<\/i>, which is a horror adventure\/sourcebook along the lines of The Exorcist<\/i>. I also have several mini-quickstarters planned for the rest of the year, although after the current one (Into the Feywild<\/i>) I’m taking a month-long break to squeeze Awfully Cheerful Engine!<\/i> in, before returning to them in June. We’re also working on the Adventures in ZEITGEIST<\/i> setting hardcover, which has been fully written, and is now in layout. Plus, of course, we have EN5ider \u2013 our 5E ‘magazine’ \u2013 producing mini-supplements and adventures weekly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EGG: <\/b>Thanks for taking the time to discuss this project. Where can fans follow your work and this campaign? <\/b><\/p>\n

RUSS<\/b>: My main TTRPG news website\/community and primary hangout is EN World<\/a>. You can also find my weekly TTRPG news podcast<\/a>, or track me down on the Twitter<\/a>. Alternatively, there’s the company website<\/a>, and you can follow on with the projects we’re talked about here at [the Awfully Cheerful Engine! website<\/a>] and [the Level Up 5e website<\/a>].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Awfully Cheerful Engine: An RPG of Action Comedy!<\/a> from EN Publishing<\/a><\/h2>\n

\u201cAn action comedy RPG inspired by cheerful tabletop games of the 80s! With a foreword by Sandy ‘Ghostbusters’ Petersen, and VTT support!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER: I freelance for Russ Morrissey, but not on the projects discussed here.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Amazon.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russ Morrissey, the owner of EN Publishing and EN World (where I freelance), has a new project on Kickstarter, the Awfully Cheerful Engine! (ACE!). Russ […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1602,"featured_media":24158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[172,292],"tags":[3239,2876,2877,3241,3240],"class_list":["post-24160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interrogation-droid","category-kickstarter-korner","tag-awfully-cheerful-engine","tag-en-publishing","tag-en-world","tag-level-up-5e","tag-russ-morrissey"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing) - d20 Radio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing) - d20 Radio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Russ Morrissey, the owner of EN Publishing and EN World (where I freelance), has a new project on Kickstarter, the Awfully Cheerful Engine! (ACE!). Russ [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"d20 Radio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/egg.embry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-20T12:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-20T13:54:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"362\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Egg Embry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EggEmbry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Egg Embry\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Egg Embry\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/997d12fce7f949b913ce2fa0e724169e\"},\"headline\":\"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing)\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-20T12:00:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-20T13:54:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1259,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Awfully Cheerful Engine!\",\"EN Publishing\",\"EN World\",\"Level Up 5e\",\"Russ Morrissey\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interrogation Droid\",\"Kickstarter Korner\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing) - d20 Radio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-20T12:00:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-20T13:54:59+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png\",\"width\":680,\"height\":362},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/\",\"name\":\"d20 Radio\",\"description\":\"Where Gamers Roll\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"d20 Radio\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"d20 Radio\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/997d12fce7f949b913ce2fa0e724169e\",\"name\":\"Egg Embry\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d9047522b61a359de45950d473bacf1905a19148017fa6fd024327bd44f94bd8?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d9047522b61a359de45950d473bacf1905a19148017fa6fd024327bd44f94bd8?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d9047522b61a359de45950d473bacf1905a19148017fa6fd024327bd44f94bd8?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Egg Embry\"},\"description\":\"In Our Dreams Awake #1: A Cyberpunk\\\/Fantasy Adventure By Egg Embry, John McGuire, Edgar Salazar, and Rolands Kalni\u0146\u0161 with a variant cover by Sean Hill \\\"Jason Byron can't wake up. Each moment feels real, yet each moment feels like a dream. Issue #1 of a dreampunk comic book series coming to Kickstarter.\\\" ------ I\u2019m a freelance RPG journalist that writes RPG crowdfunding news columns for EN World, the Open Gaming Network, and the Tessera Guild, as well as reviews for Knights of the Dinner Table and, now, d20 Radio. I've successfully crowdfunded the RPG zines POWERED by the DREAMR and Love\u2019s Labour\u2019s Liberated. NOTE: Articles may includes affiliate links. As a DriveThruRPG Affiliate\\\/Amazon Associate\\\/Humble Partner I earn from qualifying purchases.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.enworld.org\\\/ewr-porta\\\/authors\\\/egg-embry.6808965\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/egg.embry\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/EggEmbry\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/author\\\/eggembry\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing) - d20 Radio","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing) - d20 Radio","og_description":"Russ Morrissey, the owner of EN Publishing and EN World (where I freelance), has a new project on Kickstarter, the Awfully Cheerful Engine! (ACE!). Russ [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/","og_site_name":"d20 Radio","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/egg.embry","article_published_time":"2021-05-20T12:00:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-20T13:54:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":362,"url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Egg Embry","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EggEmbry","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Egg Embry","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/"},"author":{"name":"Egg Embry","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/997d12fce7f949b913ce2fa0e724169e"},"headline":"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing)","datePublished":"2021-05-20T12:00:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-20T13:54:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/"},"wordCount":1259,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png","keywords":["Awfully Cheerful Engine!","EN Publishing","EN World","Level Up 5e","Russ Morrissey"],"articleSection":["Interrogation Droid","Kickstarter Korner"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/","name":"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing) - d20 Radio","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png","datePublished":"2021-05-20T12:00:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-20T13:54:59+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/The-Awfully-Cheerful-Engine-An-RPG-of-Action-Comedy-02.png","width":680,"height":362},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-awfully-cheerful-engine-an-interview-with-russ-morrissey-en-publishing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Awfully Cheerful Engine!: An Interview With Russ Morrissey (EN Publishing)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/","name":"d20 Radio","description":"Where Gamers Roll","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#organization","name":"d20 Radio","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg","width":300,"height":100,"caption":"d20 Radio"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/997d12fce7f949b913ce2fa0e724169e","name":"Egg Embry","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d9047522b61a359de45950d473bacf1905a19148017fa6fd024327bd44f94bd8?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d9047522b61a359de45950d473bacf1905a19148017fa6fd024327bd44f94bd8?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d9047522b61a359de45950d473bacf1905a19148017fa6fd024327bd44f94bd8?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Egg Embry"},"description":"In Our Dreams Awake #1: A Cyberpunk\/Fantasy Adventure By Egg Embry, John McGuire, Edgar Salazar, and Rolands Kalni\u0146\u0161 with a variant cover by Sean Hill \"Jason Byron can't wake up. Each moment feels real, yet each moment feels like a dream. Issue #1 of a dreampunk comic book series coming to Kickstarter.\" ------ I\u2019m a freelance RPG journalist that writes RPG crowdfunding news columns for EN World, the Open Gaming Network, and the Tessera Guild, as well as reviews for Knights of the Dinner Table and, now, d20 Radio. I've successfully crowdfunded the RPG zines POWERED by the DREAMR and Love\u2019s Labour\u2019s Liberated. NOTE: Articles may includes affiliate links. As a DriveThruRPG Affiliate\/Amazon Associate\/Humble Partner I earn from qualifying purchases.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.enworld.org\/ewr-porta\/authors\/egg-embry.6808965\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/egg.embry","https:\/\/x.com\/EggEmbry"],"url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/author\/eggembry\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1602"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24160"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24383,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24160\/revisions\/24383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}