Sorcerous Scrutinites: A Cavernous Conversation with Thorin Thompson
A Cavernous Conversation with Thorin Thompson
Today I want to share a conversation I had with Thorin Thompson, a self described 'whiskey-fueled bibliophile' and author of Sky ov Crimson Flame, Blights ov the Eastern Forest, and now Seekers ov the Other Worlds. I had so much fun running his previous modules for my tables, I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this one. Enjoy our conversation about his influences, the nature of the boxed set, and how music weaves through his work.
Tyler Broor: Thanks for fielding these questions Thorin, and congratulations on the launch! Seekers is a massive piece of work, when you’re building a large adventure like this, where does your creative spark come from; is it a setting detail, a villain, a mechanical conceit?
Thorin Thompson: Seekers was planned almost from the start after I finished writing my 0-level funnel adventure Sky ov Crimson Flame though at first it was never intended to be the "beast" it's become. There were two initial sparks though: the dagger of flesh and bone, Atma-khanjr, and that I wrote the Necromancer split his soul and travelled to five Other Worlds. When I first wrote this down in Sky I had no real idea what those Other Worlds would be and so I just began writing. What was only supposed to be another 20k word adventure soon grew and grew and grew some more until it became this sweeping adventure of about 120k words!
I like to take inspiration from just about everything and there's no denying some Twin Peaks influence in this adventure when it comes to the Lodge Between and its red curtains. At first I didn't know how to get the PCs to the Other Worlds and I started rewatching the show and it hit me! I could add something like the Black Lodge and make it weird and cool and all the things I want to see in an adventure!
TB: In running your two modules that precede Seekers, Sky ov Crimson Flame and Blights ov the Eastern Forest, I felt a huge horror influence. Your Shambling Flesh Mass in Sky felt so John Carpenter to me, or the Hand of Kylintan brought me right back to Evil Dead, can you talk about your horror influences and how they’ve carried through into Seekers?
TT: I can't help but creep the horror I love into my writings! I initially began writing screenplays in my youth and that led to pursuing a career in the film industry. And though I never got to sell a screenplay I did work on some cool pictures! As far as Seekers goes I try to make each world different and some of the horror elements creep in with some subtlety while others, like the Other World: Omega Terra are just outright body horror! There's a chance Atma-khanjr itself (the dagger) can eventually become sentient, forming into a living abomination of Chaos!
TB: Looking back at those first two modules, what did you learn that directly shaped how you approached this boxed set?
TT: I have a background in logistics work and I'm pretty type-A when it comes to things, so I had to learn how to do it all myself (Owl Knight Publishing is a one-man show!). So besides art, which I'm terrible at, I had to learn photoshop and indesign and terminology, etc, etc. Having completed the other crowdfunders and producing books, dice, and even dungeon synth cassettes, making this next one in the trilogy a boxset just seemed like a no-brainer. Plus I'm an old-school RPG guy at heart and I love a good box set!
TB: DCC’s boxed sets are iconic, I treasure my Lankhmar set, my Thracia set, and now I eagerly await yours! The boxed set represents a significant leap in scope; what does this format let you do that a single module couldn’t?
TT: I can pack more into it! Haha! With the last project (Sky & Blights) you got everything separate and now you'll get it all in one and if we hit enough backers the box will be big enough to stick the rest in there too!
TB: Your material stands on its own and feels distinct among the titans of DCC. Is there a design principle, something like a rule you follow, that runs through all three of your adventures and helps set your work apart?
TT: It basically boils down to this: I write for one person, me! I stick true to my guns and my own tastes and I write things that I want to run or that I would want to play in. It's really as simple as that.
TB: As evidenced by the awesome DUNJON MAGIK soundtracks to the first two modules, music seems to be an important facet of the tabletop experience for you. Do you use music as creative fuel as you write, or do you have plans to incorporate music into the Seekers play experience?
TT: Music is everything! I'm not a podcast guy. I have to listen to music whenever I write or workout or drive. I discovered dungeon synth while writing Sky ov Crimson Flame many moons ago and fell in love with the genre. So as is my want, I naturally needed to produce some soundtracks for my own adventures! Like the last two adventures, Seekers will have its own soundtrack and you can check out three tracks on the Backerkit profile or Owl Knight Publishing's YouTube channel right now! This new soundtrack might even be making a new sub-genre of "dungeon jazz" for the sophisticated dungeon delver haha!
TB: For a judge picking Seekers up as the first of your modules — what do they need to know, and what can they trust the book to give them?
TT: I'm calling Seekers a stand-alone sequel, meaning they don't need to worry about the other two adventures to enjoy playing this one (though it would make for a grand story!) Everything the judge and players need will be packed in the boxset ready to go upon opening!
TB: My table still talks about the climactic ritual encounter of Sky, the wild encounters from Blights like Old Applehead, the siege of Dead Tree Tower, the horrors of Hellspring Hollow; what’s the thing you most hope a table remembers about this new adventure after they’ve finished it?
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