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Profile: Wandering Monsters High School creator Kynn Bartlett
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The multi-talented Kynn Barlett originally hails from California, but has called Tucson home for the past couple of years. Creator of Wandering Monsters High School, the game where classic D&D monsters meet high school comedy, Kynn's gaming and other projects can be found online at Kynn.com.
Berin Kinsman: How did you get into roleplaying games, and what game did you start off with?
Kynn Bartlett: When I was in 6th grade, one of the other kids had a copy of the Dungeon Master's Guide -- for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, what's now known as "first edition." I borrowed it, and read it, and started drawing out an epic dungeon on a sheet of graph paper. I'd never played before, had no idea what the game was about or how you play it, and didn't have a copy of the Monster Manual or the Player's Handbook. But I loved mapping stuff out on that graph paper!
Then I got to play, and my first character was a magic-user named Gandalf, who was most famous for dying a lot and coming back. We all took turns being the DM, and we all loaded up each other with Holy Avengers, Vorpal Swords, Staves of the Magi, and so on. "My" module to run was Q1, "Queen of the Demonweb Pits."
I ended up creating my own AD&D campaign world that I ran all through junior high and high school, after school at my friends' house on Fridays and on most weekends. I became the "permanent DM" not only because I liked it and was good at it, but also because nobody else wanted to do it.
Berin: How did you come up with Wandering Monsters High School?
Kynn: I wrote up Wandering Monsters High School as a 24-hour RPG (http://www.24hourrpg.com/). I had been turning over ideas in my head, and decided to try a "high concept" game as they apparently say in Hollywood. "Dungeons and Dragons meets High School Comedy!
I wrote it up in 24 hours or so -- I actually did sleep! -- including the formatting and layout. Since then, I've revised it a little, and commissioned some artwork from several artists including Lea Hernandez and Louis LeClerc. I'm currently working on the new edition, with updated rules, fixed game mechanics, and a bunch of bad puns for a commercial release later this summer.
Berin: What future plans do you have for Wandering Monsters High School?
Kynn: Step one is for me to take what I've learned from playtesting and finish up with the rules revision. Fortunately the game was pretty good to begin with, although it needed some tweaks to be fully playable. I plan on getting that done in the next few months and making the game available for purchase in print and PDF versions.
Once I see how the response is to that first version -- and if everyone likes it as much as you have! -- I'll probably put out some additional materials for it. Not so much "splatbooks" as, perhaps, a WMHS "yearbook".
I'm also looking into the possibility of a WMHS webcomic, and player-contributed content, if I find an audience! Beyond that, it's still kind of up in the air.
I've designed two other complete games, "Bone White, Blood Red" and "Awesome Women Kicking Ass." I've decided to retire BWBR from development right now out of respect for the Pueblo people whose 1680 revolt the game depicts; I may bring back the beads-and-cords game mechanic for another roleplaying game in the future. AWKA was done at the last minute for Game Chef 2008, and is more like a 24-hour RPG than WMHS is! I may revise it in the future, but for now it's just a free PDF game.
Berin: What do you do when you're not playing games?
Kynn: When I'm not playing games, I'm a writer. Sometimes I write games, but usually I'm writing blog posts, books on web design, or tweets on Twitter. From 2007 to 2008, I was the editor of southern Arizona's short-lived LGBT newsmagazine, Colorez!, and I do some freelance reporting on the side. I'm currently one of the featured bloggers on the new version of TucsonCitizen.com.
Other hobbies range from bike riding and photography to comic books and World of Warcraft.
Berin: Tell us about your favorite roleplaying character.
Kynn: Hmmm, that's a hard one; usually I'm the gamemaster, and you can't get too attached to any one non-player character because you might need to do horrible things with them or to them in order to move the plot forward.
Most of the time when I'm not running the game, I tend to play characters who are witty, clever, agile, and slinky -- I favor rogues and bards in D&D, for example. My second most common character type is usually some sort of devoutly religious jerk with an inflexible view on morality and badass skills in a fight. Currently I'm playing an Avenger in a 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons game; unfortunately, it's a combat-heavy Dungeon Delve campaign with no roleplay opportunity. Alas!
Read a playtest review of Wandering Monsters High School
Download the 24 RPG Version of Wandering Monster High School from 1KM1KT
Download Wandering Monsters High School from Kynn.com
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