Over the Edge released June 1st. Today, we interview Jonathan Tweet, the game's creator, about creating a new edition. Find out about hit points, abandoning a system that works, and player improvisation below!
How did you know it was time for a reboot of Over the Edge?
How did you know it was time for a reboot of Over the Edge?
Jonathan: Several years ago, game designer Chris Lites
contacted me about the possibility of a reboot because he thought it was a
great idea and he wanted to work on it. I told him that I had I had no
intention of doing a reboot. The original Over the Edge developed
organically out of my personal need for a fast, simple, wild game like
none other. I didn’t see any way to take such an original game and
derive a new version from it.
After a couple years, however, I saw that I could approach the project again provided that I was not tied to the continuity laid down in the first edition. Once I saw the revision as an opportunity to do something new with the game, I was excited to do it. This approach allowed to do a new edition with the originality and creative freedom of the original. And Chris Lites’s persistence paid off. He did indeed work with me, creating content for the new Over the Edge.
After a couple years, however, I saw that I could approach the project again provided that I was not tied to the continuity laid down in the first edition. Once I saw the revision as an opportunity to do something new with the game, I was excited to do it. This approach allowed to do a new edition with the originality and creative freedom of the original. And Chris Lites’s persistence paid off. He did indeed work with me, creating content for the new Over the Edge.
What's something specific that you loved from a previous edition and brought forward?
Jonathan: The
city of the Edge has nine districts, each with its own distinctive
style and its own central plaza. Players know where their characters can
go to find entertainment, business opportunities, educated experts,
wealthy elites, and possibly a “safe” place to hang out. The contrast
from one district to another helps the players get a sense of each one.
Each district is exaggerated so that it really stands out, with trippy
art, twisted science, grinding poverty, over-the-top wealth, manic
commerce, enforced conformity, or marauding baboons. These districts
define life in the Edge more than anything else.
What's something from a previous edition you left behind?
Jonathan: Hit
points. In the home-brew game I created for my friends, no one had hit
points, and all damage was determined subjectively, as with all other
rolls. But for the published, 1992 version, I didn’t think I could
explain to people how to improvise battles without clear rules. I also
didn’t know how to communicate stats to the gamemaster, such as how
powerful an opponent is, without combat statistics in game terms. In my
home campaign where I felt in control, I could improvise battles and
weird weapons, but I had no way to communicate my way of doing that to
anyone else. So I created a simple system for hit points and damage.
Today, I know how to frame the game system so that the gamemaster
doesn’t need initiative checks, attack rolls, or hit points. The Over
the Edge setting finally has the game system it has always deserved.
Can you share a game development challenge? How did you overcome it?
Jonathan: It
surprised me that my first, new dice-rolling system, which made sense
on paper, fell flat when we used it n play. In the first new system we
tried, most rolls got you an average or predictable result. That
structure makes sense in an engineering sense if you’re simulating a
bell curve of outcomes, but it doesn’t make much game sense if you’re
trying to make each dice throw interesting. In the final system, rolls
are dichotomous, with no “average” outcome even really possible. Even
the successes and failures can have surprises, with good twists and bad
twists.
My
problem was being too sure of my system, and I overcame that problem by
listening to painful feedback from my friends who playtested it with
me. That oriented me away from the idea that a player usually gets a
“usual” result and toward the idea that the player always faces a
dichotomy of gain and loss, with little ability to predict the outcome.
Did you have a key learning, eureka moment, or takeaway you'll use on other projects?
Jonathan: Last
year at Gen Con, one of my favorite fans told me how excited she was
that I had created a generic rules system for any setting. Until then, I
really hadn’t thought of it that way. Almost thirty years ago, the
original Over the Edge game system developed from universal dice-pool
systems that Mark Rein-Hagen and I had been experimenting with. Now I
feel like I could take this new Over the Edge system and use it as a
universal system in just about any setting.
What's one thing someone who's never played Over the Edge should know?
Jonathan: That
our modern civilization’s unsustainable industrial system needs to be
reformed to address the global climate crisis. Also, that the rules in
Over the Edge are so light and so story-oriented that the rulebook is
worth a read even if you never play the game.
What are you working on next?
Jonathan: My
next big roleplaying game project is nearly finished. It’s a
weird-history version of Al Amarja, sort of like Over the Edge meets
Call of Cthulhu in the 17th century. That’s still a long way off,
though, so pretend I never said anything about it.
For
the last five years, I’ve put a lot of work into promoting evolution
science to children, especially with my children’s book Grandmother Fish. My artist and I have another children’s book in the works. This
one is about evolutionary groups of mammals, such as primates or
canines. Given the demented content that’s in Over the Edge, I sometimes
wonder what my children’s book fans would make of it if they found out
it was by the same author.
Thanks, Jonathan! To learn more about Jonathan's upcoming projects, visit him at GrandmotherFish.com. On Twitter, he's @JonathanMTweet. If you're interested in the game, Over the Edge 3rd edition is available in friendly local game stores now.
Thanks, Jonathan! To learn more about Jonathan's upcoming projects, visit him at GrandmotherFish.com. On Twitter, he's @JonathanMTweet. If you're interested in the game, Over the Edge 3rd edition is available in friendly local game stores now.
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