Interview with Jason Holmgren of Sanguine Productions

Mr. Holmgren in contemplation

Jason Holmgren has a long history in gaming, starting with his creation of “Joe Genero”, a cartoon that took a humorous look at the ridiculous assumptions that many games made about what the “average” person was capable of.  He was one of the first contributors to Shadis Magazine, where he illustrated the comics Finieous Fingers and Knights of the Dinner Table.  He later was a founding member of Sanguine Productions, which produces role-playing games such as Ironclaw and Jadeclaw, as well  and their accessories.  Most recently, he has become a freelance writer for Escapist Magazine. 

Even though he’s frequently busy, both with his day job and with his rule as Imperator of the Sanguine Empire, Jason took some time to answer some questions.

We wanted to make the kinds of games no one else was making. In 1998, most role-playing games divided the experience into “role-playing” (crafting a story, immersing into a personality, campaigning, etc.) and “rule-playing” (balancing numbers, rolling dice, etc.)  If the rules didn’t match what your role was, you were encouraged to just ignore whatever didn’t work.  This didn’t make a lot of sense.  Wouldn’t folks be happier if the rules worked to help people play their roles?  Our goal was to make games where story and mechanics were in sync.

Our business model was built on the idea of responsibility. We didn’t want to rip off artists or burn our company resources on flash-in-the-pan decisions.  We stick to good solid product made to meet the market demand.

Meeting demand responsibly means quality product on a proper schedule.  A lot of game companies burned themselves out by creating lots of inventory that wouldn’t sell fast enough, and too much of it was rushed to the point where the quality suffered.  Also, all of our Sanguine staff are part-time, which means the full-time responsibilities come first.

You might as well be asking me which child is my favorite. I love Ironclaw for its heavy-metal approach to the late Middle Ages.  I love Jadeclaw for its commitment to a rich setting.  I love Albedo for its hard, uncompromising approach to military science fiction.  And I love Usagi because it’s fun to quote lines from the comic book as you get to play out key scenes yourself.

Rumors abound that Ironclaw is ripe for a second edition release, and you can be sure that we’ll have announcements soon.  The most recent project is Noggle Stones, a game developed in co-operation with Wil Radcliffe. 

What advice would you give someone looking to publish independent role-playing game material?

Don’t wait for someone else – print it yourself.  We live in a world of digital distribution, print-on-demand, and free software downloads.  Remember that you’re writing for other people. If you want to sell 10,000 copies of a game, it’s got to be something that 10,000 people will like. Take your personal vision, combine it with universal tropes of what other people like, and really sell it.

For more information on Sanguine Productions, go to their website or join the Ironclaw mailing list (scroll to the bottom of the contact page).