AMA with Shanna Germain (author, editor, co-owner of Monte Cook Games, lead designer of No Thank You, Evil!)

[Desh-Rae-Halra]

If Monte Cook Games was a rock/heavy metal band:
1. What band would you be
2. Who is on which instruments?
3. Who are you touring with?

 

[Shanna Germain]

Shanna,

What would you say the upsides and downsides are of being a "gaming celebrity"?
How do you (including what you see from Monte + Bruce) balance many fans wanting to be your friend/get to know you further or spend time with you with needs for privacy?

Any good/awkward/enough-time-has-passed-that-now-its-funny stories about being recognized somewhere you didnt expect it?

~Desh

That’s a hard one, because I don’t really feel like a gaming celebrity! Working in a company next to Monte and Bruce, who are very recognizable and have a much longer gaming history, means that I can kind of stay under the radar. The truth is that I’m actually very shy and introverted, and I need a lot of quiet time in order to work. So I feel like I’m always balancing my desire to spend time with cool people with my need to have lots of quiet time. The Internet and conventions help with that—I feel like I can come up from my creative cocoon and interact for a little bit and get inspired by fans and players, and then go back to my quiet space and work.

I have a funny story about NOT being recognized: I was sitting in a coffee shop last year working on a Numenera adventure for Weird Discoveries, and there was a group of guys sitting at the table next to me. They were talking about playing Numenera, and how excited they were about their campaign. At one point, one of them said, “I hear the people who make Numenera live in Seattle.” I didn’t know whether introducing myself would make them excited or freak them out, so I didn’t say anything.

 

[Shanna Germain]

Another question:
If we could say that No Thank You, Evil! embraces the Light side of your personality: (light-hearted, family friendly, embracing the joys of youth, etc,)..if you embraced your Dark/Shadow side to come out and write a game, what would that look like, and what might it be called?

I don't know, but now I want to find out!

I really love dark, weird, horrific fantasy and macabre fairy tales, so I can see myself doing something along those lines.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Hi Shanna,

I remember in the time before Ptolus was published, Monte wrote up his Ptolus campaigns online which I really enjoyed reading and which, I think, really highlighted his skill as a DM. While I am not in that league, I'm around Monte's age and have been DMing for 30+ years and have players from way back then and those players could never imagine running a game for me.

Do you run Numenera for Monte?

Do you run your own Numenera campaign and, if so, are you able to give your "elevator pitch" for it?

Looking forward to more Numenera products coming down the pole. It's a great game and one I would love to cram into my schedule at some point. BTW, my interest in Numenera actually came about because I started reading about No Thank You, Evil. My son is 3yo and I suspect he's only a year or two way from being able to participate in a game like that.