Interview with Bill Collins (part II, Tell It To My Axe)

This concludes the long interview with Bill Collins, as we talk about Tell It To My Axe (his choice). You can find Part I HERE


13. What do you feel was the most ingenious part of Tell It To My Axe that you devised?
Ingenious? Boy, that implies almost diabolical intelligence. I think the riding tricks are the best. They are simple, and fit into the combat system easily. They also let those who buy Ride skill do more with it. That and the Headband of Right Thinking. However, I can't claim credit for the name, just the idea.

14. What specific design choice are you most happy with, and why?
The two mounts that we put in the mounted combat chapter. We gave you a battlecat, the balam, and a winged electric horse. What's not to like? (I got independent confirmation of this from fans when I would run a game and hand over their mount sheet only to hear "Oh wow! Cool.")

15. Which design element was the hardest to figure out, and why?
Mounted combat. Mostly, how to bring it into the game. D&D has dungeons and flying wizards and other dimensions. It's hard to be a knight on horseback in all of that. So I tried to find ways to make that fun, cool and available to players.

16. What did you learn about supplement design and especially setting specific supplements?
Let's see, that they don't sell well unless you get extraordinary marketing power. Wait, um, design. The most important thing I learned is that in a supplement, a good theme gets the creativity going fast. It makes it easier to write material. If it's setting specific, you have to know the setting well to get it right. Fortunately, I think TTMA showed that we did. The fans who have it really like it.

17. What did you learn about Tell It To My Axe during play-testing? (prototype, beta, or both) What did you change as a result?
We ran several playtests at different levels. I figured out that we couldn't have mounted combat combat rites. They just weren't usable more than a time or two in a scenario. Those became riding tricks late in the process and worked better. Riding tricks got specific discussion, not just mention in a review, as a fresh idea.

18. Did you make any other mistakes or miscalculations in the design process? How did you fix them?
Nope. Lots of typos. That's about it.

19. Most Dnd has been dungeon oriented or urban oriented (climbing on rooftops), do you have any recommendations to encourage mounted combat in this situations?
Sure. They are all in Chapter 3, especially pages 41-44. I think that the biggest challenge is actually the tabletop size. On a one inch scale, it's tough to run a mounted combat with mounts flying, charging and rampaging across hundreds of feet. In addition to the suggestions I make in the book, I've had more time to try it out. The best way to encourage it is just to try it as an option. Maybe create a combat zone a la Iron Heroes and give players bonuses for charging on horseback. Or try something outside the norm. In my home game, I came up with a scenario that was a race through a canyon instead of a dungeon. That was a blast.

20. Are you happy with where Tell It To My Axe is today?
Yes, in that I'm happy it came out and folks have it. No in that I wish more AE fans saw it. We couldn't get it into stores, so I think a lot of gamers missed out.

21. What makes a good AE product?
In a word: flavor. You have to capture the flavor in the books. It doesn't have to be Diamond Throne (although that helps), but you do want something that evokes wonder, ceremony, ritual and myth the way AE does.

22. What is your favorite AE product (besides yours and the core book)?
I'm going to make an odd choice here. The Gen Con tournament adventure Runes of Revival. That's for several reasons. First, it was a collaboration between Thrommel, Siobharek and myself, with some input even from Monte. We had a blast writing those adventures. Second, because it was so well received. We filled a room for that tournament, and everyone talked about it for a long time afterward. The most important thing is that we entertained a lot of fans.

23. What is your favorite Non-Monte AE product and why?
Actually I have two. Circle of Rites by Soren Keis-Thustrup, aka Siobharek, because it's an AE mystery. (It's very ironic that you interviewed him about that.) And Mystic Secrets by Mike Mearls. It caught a great deal of the ideas behind Arcana Evolved, and expanded them wonderfully.

24. What is your favorite Non-Malhavoc press AE product and why?
That would be the AE Battlebox. I have used that so many times, and the counters in it are Claudio Pozas art. The folded maps are very handy. Plus it comes in a tin!

Continue to Part III HERE