Interview with René-Pier of Fari RPGs creator of Nomadic, Breathless, Dash, Charge and more!
In what could only be described as a coup for the blog, this week we are joined by René-Pier of Fari RPGs to talk about his love for RPGs, his solo RPG Nomadic, and his various activities in the RPG space. Grab a coffee and some snacks, because this is a great interview.
René-Pier's responses will be in italics.
Check out more interviews, reviews, and reflections here.
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Thank you René-Pier for agreeing to be interviewed by Croaker's RPG Corner. I know you are busy so I definitely appreciate your time here.
Alright, the first question I always ask. I’d love to hear how you got introduced to Table-Top RPGs, who introduced you, and what was your first RPG?
Like many, I was first introduced to the space by playing Dungeons & Dragons. I think it was the 3.5 edition, and it was in a club in high school. Sadly, I ended pretty badly as another player asked if he could kill my character and steal my stuff. The GM allowed it, I died, and left the hobby for like 16 years or so?
I then started coming back to space when some friends wanted to play DnD, and I said to them “Hey, there must be other things out there. Systems where we could play in any world or something?” I then discovered Fate Core, and thus began my real journey in this space. From there I worked on making my own virtual tabletop application (called Fari App), then started working on making a compendium of SRDs on a website (called Fari Games), and eventually started designing my own games!
It's so great you made your way back into the hobby after such a large break. What is it about TTRPGs that interests you and keeps you in this industry? Why have you devoted so much of your time to it?
I was never a person who was too much into online communities. I’ve always been more of a reader than a commenter, but at some point I created my own Discord server for the Fari Community. While the server was originally for people who liked my VTT, it grew a lot past that and I started really enjoying talking with all the kinds of people who joined the server. I then started interacting with some super cool folks on Twitter and really started connecting with this community. So yeah, the community is a big reason why I’m interested in this industry.
The other reason is that I really enjoy creating things, and seeing people engage with them in a positive way is one of the most wonderful feeling in the world.
Alright, so let’s start with Fari RPGs and the awesome website fari.games. I’ve browsed it several times and it has an amazing collection of tools and SRDs (System Reference Documents, basically the underlining mechanics and guts of an RPG). What was the motivation behind collecting so many SRDs and tools in one place?
I had already started collecting the different Fate SRDs for quick access on the Fari App VTT, and when I started designing my first game (Charge RPG) I thought I should host it somewhere on the web. From there came the thought of not just hosting Fate and Charge online, but also other SRDs from the community. So that’s when I started working on the Fari Games website more seriously.
I reached out to Evil Hat Productions (Fate, Blades in the Dark), Grant Howitt (The Resistance Toolbox) Spencer Campell (Lumen), Jason Tocci (24XX), W.H. Arthur (Guided by the Sun), Peach Garden Games (Carta), and more to bring their work to this platform. The whole idea behind this was to create a platform that designers could use to design their own games as easily as possible. I did that by collecting open licensed systems and organizing them in an accessible way.
How do you go about asking other RPG makers to list their SRDs on the website?
Initially, I asked people on Twitter about their favorite open licensed SRDs. From there, I DM’ed and sent dozens of emails to a bunch of awesome creators and worked with them to integrate their SRDs in the website. That was quite a lot of work, but I’m so happy the community has loved this tool so it was all worth it. Nowadays, with the site being more popular and all, usually, it’s the designers that reach out to me directly.
What would you say to RPG designers who are thinking about releasing their own SRD?
Oh, that’s a good one. One thing I’d say is that it is way easier to extract an SRD out of a game than it is to create a generic one. What I mean by that is that Charge is a generic RPG. Sure, it reinforces certain themes like action packed scenes, or player-driven initiative. But getting those mechanics properly tuned and easily hackable was way more work than making an SRD out of Breathless for example. The Breathless SRD is based on Breathless which is a zombie survival minimalist RPG. Not only was it easier to design the SRD based on a game with a very specific theme, but it also allowed the community to better understand what they could do with such a system.
A system that isn’t attached to any game can be daunting to design with. Where should you start? What can I hack? If it already is generic, what is there more to add?
I’ve heard and answered those questions very often. Which is why I’d recommend people to not look at making an SRD.
I’d recommend people to look at making a very cool game first. A game where every single mechanic exists to reinforce the themes. From there, it will be way easier to make an SRD version, and it will be clearer for people designing games with it to understand what can be accomplished with the system. It’s easier to change the theme of a game than it is to make something from scratch based on generic rules.
You’ve created a number of games including Breathless, Nomadic, and Hopes and Dreams. What do you like about designing games?
A thing I really like is designing mechanics that reinforce a specific genre or theme. It’s not easy, but such a great challenge. I also quite enjoy explaining them. It’s like writing good documentation, which is something I often do in my day job as a software engineer. Writing the game’s lore and setting is something I also enjoy, but it takes way more energy and time out of me, considering English is not my first language (I’m French Canadian!)
Another thing that I just completely love about designing games is hearing stories of people playing them. Knowing that thanks to you, a group of friends has had a wonderful time telling great stories together is an incredible feeling.
You’ve released SRDs of your games called, Charge, Dash, and Breathless, which other designers have used to release dozens of games. Do you often see people taking your tools and going in completely different directions?
I’ve seen people design spectacular games using my SRDs. Ones that really made me jump off my chairs. In terms of going completely in different directions, I haven’t seen many! For example, Breathless is focused on survival and losing resources until you catch your breath. One of my goal for the future is to make a slice-of-life game using this system, just because it seems totally possible and feels like a super fun challenge! That being said, it’s kind of a side effect of themed-based SRDs. When you say that an SRD is good at certain things, it’s normal that people will want to explore specific themes and its variations. And I think that’s the beauty of it all, to be honest.
What are some of the most creative games you’ve seen using your SRDs?
Oh well I will most certainly miss a lot of great games, but here are a couple that made me really go “wow”.
Substratum by Pandion Games: This twists on Breathless where you play as scientists delving deeper into the earth to learn more about interdimensional portals is just so well executed.
The Empire Wants You by LoreShaper Games: Each player has two characters, one at the war overseas, while the other stays on the home front and this juxtaposition and the way it's handled in the game is just brilliant.
The Breathing by Fistful of Crits: This game as such a creative setting, and contains some of the most beautiful layouts I’ve ever seen. I enjoyed reading this from beginning to end.
After the Great Beast by Harper Jay: This Monster Hunter inspired game is full of brilliant design ideas and fits the genre to perfection. A real gem of a game.
The Breach by Matteo Sciutteri: Biggest Breathless game to date, and such a beautiful book. The way it takes concepts from Breathless and mixes them with ideas from Mothership, Mausritter, Blades in the Dark, Nova and Cairn is incredibly well done.
You will see that I’m mostly talking about Breathless games above, and that’s because we are doing a #DashJam right now, and there are still a couple of weeks left before it ends.
Nomadic is a pretty amazing solo game you’ve created, and I loved reading and playing it (check out my review of Nomadic after you read the interview). How do you approach designing a solo RPG?
Like I said earlier, I like giving myself challenges, and I had never actually designed a solo game before so I thought it was about time. This was my first take on it, and I’m just so happy people have loved the game so much since its release.
In terms of designing solo games, I will say that my approach relies on a couple of core principles. First is the gameplay loop. When you play solo, you could just roam and explore and be responsible for just about everything. But having some sort of game structure not only helps the player, but it also help guide what the whole game is about. In the case of Nomadic, the game structure is about finding planets, scanning them, exploring them, and eventually leave with any resources extracted from them. The cycle then starts over.
The other thing I think is crucial for solo games is a good oracle and are rolling tables. When you play with a group, every player can help filling the gaps about the world. What is this person’s name? What do they where? Where do you think this is located? When you are playing alone, having a good oracle and rolling tables help remove some pressure from having to do everything in the game. Some decisions are taken for you, and you then decide how you character reacts. This acts as a GM assistant. I’m particularly proud of the oracles in Nomadic since one of them is designed to help answer random questions about the world, while the other helps guide you to know the risk (if any) of making a particular action.
What skills and techniques can traditional RPG designers learn from solo games?
I do think more games could benefit from a well established gameplay loop. You’ve seen this in games like Blades in the Dark, Monster of the Week and such. Loops like this help solo players guide their game, but it also helps an entire group focus on specific things instead of simply relying on free play to convey what you want the game to be about.
The other thing that’s incredible about solo game is how you easy it is to playtest them. Scheduling is a TTRPG’s biggest enemy, and that’s true for designers too. Finding enough time to schedule multiple sessions with the same, or different, groups of people is hard. Especially considering how after each session you twist and adapt mechanics which need to be playtested again.
For Nomadic, not only was I able to playtest it myself, I even wrote a program that I’ve used to run countless simulations which was a god sent to be able to get the numbers perfectly right.
Do you have any more solo projects in the pipeline?
I have indeed! So, in Nomadic, characters explore planets in the hope of finding a new home for humanity as Earth got destroyed by catastrophes, though I never explained what those catastrophes were.
I’m currently working on a game called Our Last Stand which is a “tragic tactical mech combat role-playing game” which acts as a prequel for Nomadic!
In this game, players will play as mech pilots trying to delay the apocalypse against skyscraper tall monsters to give enough time for humanity to flee to the stars.
My goal is for Our Last Stand to support both multiplayer and solo gameplay. It just makes sense considering that Nomadic is its sequel.
The project will be released with a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter sometime in 2023, so stay tuned!
How big are RPGs in your life? Fari RPGs is a side hustle for your right now but what are your plans and dreams to grow it into the future?
They have become a very big part of my life. I’ve truly discovered a passion, and take a huge part of my brain right now. When I’m not working at my day job, I think, read, write, design, layout, advertise TTRPGs. I now even consume media in the hope of triggering my creativity for writing better games. That’s not even considering the software development time I invest in the Fari App VTT. What I’m trying to say is that, I love all things TTRPGs and I can’t get enough. The fact that this community is so great also makes me want to engage with this hobby even more.
You are bi-lingual, speaking both French and English. Do you find being fluent in two languages helps with RPG design? Do you ever look for inspiration in non-English RPGs?
Hmm I’m not sure. Perhaps. Sometimes, it can be frustrating when you have an idea that you would like to express in a language and can’t find the right way to do it in another one. Also, I haven’t been looking for inspiration in non-English RPGs as much as I would like. While there is an indie design scene in the French Canadian and French communities, it is far from being as big and diverse as the ones in other places in the world. This is, at least, from my personal and limited experience. Though this might have been a “me” problem as I probably haven’t looked in the right places.
Thank you René-Pier for your time and I look forward to keeping in touch about all your projects and activities in the TTRPG space.
Readers if you want to check out all the Fari RPG games, head over to the itch page at https://fari-rpgs.itch.io.
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