Golden Dragon Interview: Wyrin D'njargo

[BenWH]

Wyrin won the NWN2 Golden Dragon award for Best Roleplaying Module with the highly engaging Dark Avenger. Today we find out about how Dark Avenger came to fruition from a piece of music, as well as what he thinks about the Golden Dragon Awards.

What made you start building modules for NWN2?

I've always been interested in writing from as early as I can remember, and always been a fan of the fantasy genre - since I got my first Fighting Fantasy choose-your-own-adventure book, and from there got into roleplaying and D&D. Back in the glory days of the BBC Micro, I taught myself rudimentary BASIC and would code up simple games in that. So there's always been an interest in creativity and gaming.  For 4 years I ran a play-by-forum games, which gave me some of the best, truest roleplaying experiences I'd had - tabletop is one thing, but seeing players given the time and freedom to explore characters is something tabletop doesn't always cater to. I never really delved into the modding scene with NWN1 - mainly as that kicked off with some busy periods for me at university - and had only used the toolset to sketch out areas for my play-by-forum game. I had some time off work in the first few months of 2007, and started playing with the NWN2 toolset to see what it was like - and haven't looked back! Most other modders will tell you of the strange addicitive nature of the toolset

Can you tell us a little more about the inspiration for your module?

I get a lot of time commuting to work, with only an mp3 player for company. I listen to a lot of 'battle' metal and songs with lots of imagery - and I found myself sketching out videos to accompany some songs. Whilst I was working on my first module, Palace of the Silver Princess, I was listening to a track, and found myself devising a cutscene in the toolset to accompany the song. That song was Dark Avenger, by Manowar. it contains a narration by the actor Orson Welles (Citizen Kane), telling of a tortured soul's rise from the dead, and quest for revenge. So from a segment of music, I now had an introductory cutscene. And the story pretty much wrote itself from there.  So that was the initial inspiration. But other inspiation comes from many years of playing/DMing D&D, reading, gaming, TV, film etc. When i play D&D I'm strongly of the opinion it's about the players' characters and how they effect the world/story (rather than a strictly narrativist game), so that was also my inspiration for how the player would grow to choose their own role in Dark Avenger. Another thing I felt important was to let the player explore being evil - but not the cartoon 'drowning kittens evil' that is handled badly in so many games, but an evil that is relevant and they can feel is justified by the context. And I didn't like the approach taken all too often that Diplomacy is a 'good' response and Intimidate an 'evil' one - evil diplomats are much more interesting to write! So I guess, my beliefs about and attitude towards roleplaying were an inspiration too.

What was the 'best bit' for you?

The best bit was a chance to be creative again - something I hadn't realised I'd missed quite so much. It's allowed me to write and create characters, and is giving me more incentive to try and write that novel that so many of us have lurking in the back of our heads. Also, not meaning to be sappy, but getting a feel for the community and its characters has been fun/interesting

What would you go back and change if you could?

Everything and nothing. Everything - there's a lot I'd like to tighten up, in terms of dialogue, areas etc, and a lot of general polish. Also, new ideas come all the time, and in a 'linear' story, it's tempting to revamp past works.... But then Nothing - I find it very hard to go back over old existing work and redo it - it's generally time I'd rather be spending on new content, and can feel just as daunting.. I'd perhaps go back and change some of the mechanics of the party interactions, if I did one thing

What did you think when you first heard about the Golden Dragon Awards?

I'll admit I was a little sceptical - it seemed such an immense amount of work, I wasn't sure it could be pulled off and still be fair to the whole community. But credit to you, it seems to have worked. Of course, when I first heard of them, I wanted one! And I was very proud to be nominated in 3 of the categories.

Have you ever tried the other finalists in your category?

Yes - I spend a fair amount of time playing as well as building - I think it's important, for if builders don't get to see what other people are producing, you get a blinkered view of the community. And it's great to see other people's ideas and approaches.  The roleplaying award meant the most to me, as it's what I really wanted to acheive with Dark Avenger. But then I was up against my two favorite modules at the time - Subtlety of Thay and Harp and Crysanthemum - so I knew it was a tough call. Kudos to Dirtywick and Maerduin for their work on those, and I was proud to be listed alongside them.

What are you up to currently?

I'm currently recovering from the release of Dark Avenger Chapter 2 and slowly building up steam for chapter 3. The development time for the modules is sadly quite long, but it's a project I'm committed to and still entusiastic about. To stave off the dreaded 'burnout', I'm also playing a few of the recent releases, and very much looking forward  to some of the big projects in the community coming to fruition.

Thanks Wyrin, and good luck beating that burnout!

[Wyrin]

Thanks Bena dn the AME crew!