Ken St. Andre: Answers Questions on Creativity and RPGs and More

Things change in life, our path forward is often different than one we would have chosen. I invited Ken to be interviewed when changes regarding his creative works happened. He is a very talented man, and I am grateful to have had a chance to share his work and views with the readers here. I last interviewed Ken St. Andre back in 2015. I watch with some interest his posts regarding his daily life in Arizona. He walks the desert, eats good food, plays games and writes about life. And if we have never met, I do feel like I know him and like him. I enjoyed reading his fiction and wrote about it here.

Is it a creative talent's duty to give readers/viewers/players what they want, or is the duty to give them what you have created, regardless?

Critics and other authoritarians like to impose concepts like "duty" on artists and other free spirits. Duty is an artificial constraint created by those in power (or who would like to be in power) to control other people. Sometimes it's created by one's own superego, but even then that part of your mind was molded by parents, educators, peers and other would-be controllers. I don't believe in duty, although I often find myself doing mine. Duty and obligation are not exactly the same things. The world will oblige us to do many things in order to survive.  Duty will often end us in getting us killed. Both literally and metaphorically.

The short answer to your question is no.

The explanation comes from Aleister Crowley: "Do what thou wilt. That is the whole of the law." Artistically, if you want to create, do it.

How do you as a creative talent negotiate between your vision and the acceptance by readers/viewers/players?

I don't worry about it.  While it is very ego-satisfying to be accepted, emulated, praised, and paid for what you do in any field, including game design, none of those things really shape or control what I do as a creator in game design or fiction. (I wish I could say the same thing about life in general, but life is a much more difficult maze to navigate).

What role do you see community as being a greater part of a game system play than the system alone, or the intentions of the creator? I mention this because, I love the solitaire aspect of T&T, and I've played many RPGs and found the experience ruined by playing with people who seem to desire to kill and nothing more. But I hear from others, community makes each game better.

Wrong! Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and it is great to have a community to game with, but it isn't necessary. Every person is different. Some fit into groups well, and community is great for them. Some are loners, and solo adventures are fine for them. Much of computer gaming has no need of community. The computer and the npcs are all you need to thoroughly enjoy a game like Rogue or the T&T Adventures App we had a couple years ago. This is another aspect of gaming that has a personal answer for each gamer, and no one answer suits all.

What is the future of RPGing?

I may have fallen so far behind on the development of Role Playing Gaming that I can't answer. Back in the 20th Century, I thought  the future of RPG gaming was personal computers. But it seems to have moved beyond that onto cell phones and tables and even watches. I feel pretty certain that as technology changes, RPG activity will evolve to keep pace with it.

With all the new advancements, will the RPG experience graduate to full on role playing with one player and a computer, or, with all the advancements, will players desire to interact with humans even more?

Depends upon the individuals involved. No solution fits all. 

Why do you suggest so?

Why do I think that? Because I resist the whole idea of being part of the crowd that does everything the same way.

What do you read to fuel your imagination? I'm not suggesting you draw inspiration from the work of others, but what creative works makes you think and create your own worlds and stories?

I have always fueled my imagination on escape fiction. My favorite authors are Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, J. R. R. Tolkien, Tanith Lee, Leigh Brackett, and all those who let their imaginations rove to produce hero stories. I could go on to name a hundred or more authors of both genders that I emulate and love. I love the element of fantasy in folklore and religion. I'd love to live in a truly magical world instead of a truly scientific one. Luckily, I think both elements exist here on our earth.

While I only mentioned modern authors here, I want to make clear that I love the heroic legends and stories of all nations. The Epic of Gilgamesh may be the oldest. The Old Testament of the Bible is full of great stuff. The Iliad, the Odyssey, the Kalevala, the Arabian Nights, King Arthur, the Mabinogion, Charlemagne and the Paladins, The Shah Nameh, the Book of Mormon. Even Shakespeare. I could go on but you probably know what infests my imagination by now. Gods, Demons, Heroes, Monsters.

You are a walker in the desert of Arizona. What insights into life have your travels given you, and what insights to game playing might you have gained from the same?

I don't know if there's much connection there. Being out in nature anywhere gives one a feel for landscape and setting. Adventures don't take place in a vacuum, except for outer space. I know what castles are like because I've been inside some. I know the desert is like because I've climbed those hills, and walked those gullies. You won't find me writing about the Himalayas or Machu Picchu or adventures at sea. I haven't spent any time in those places. (Though I have been deep sea fishing a couple times.)

I admire your ever reaching mind, and realize much of that comes from your intellect, but even more so, your imagination is vast. Do you find times when you meet more than your share of people who just can't perceive the world as anything but a sphere with water and air?  

I try to stay away from such people.  Even they should be amazed at the wonder of the world -- just having water and air and life is a one in a million miracle.

Tell me about each of your game or fiction creations?

Sorry Alex, I can't. There are far too many of them. Tunnels & Trolls, Monsters! Monsters!, Wasteland, Stormbringer, Griffin Feathers, Rose of Stormgaard, Fungus and Fruitbat, Ogre Ochre, Dwarves and Dragons, Starfaring, and those are only the big ones. Many of any artist's work are smaller things that were just as important in the creating as the big ones.

What is going on with the Tunnels and Trolls game system?

The Tunnels and Trolls game is now owned by Webbed Sphere, a holding company. I am no longer connected to it, except through royalties on future sales, I hope. They could have retained me as a consultant but they chose not to. They're on their own, and I wish them well. I retained the rights to Monsters! Monsters!, a game that is cousin to T&T but not the same in so many ways. I am working on differentiating it even more.

Are you now focused mostly upon Monsters! Monsters! or have you moved towards writing fiction and creating for a less system based adventure mode?

Now and for the immediate future, my focus will be on Monsters! Monsters!.

As you know, I am moved greatly by myth, legend, history and heroic narrative, but have a dark aspect to my outlook. While I find you fascinating, absolutely see you as a renaissance man, you seem to be optimistic while simultaneously enjoying taking adventures from the P.o.v. of the monster.  Is it the role of underdog that moves you most? If so, why do you suppose so?

I love the idea of the hero. True heroes are almost always underdogs. People who use their power for selfish ends are IMHO bullies and tyrants. Being a star player and being a hero are two different things, in my opinion.

As for taking the monster's POV, perhaps it's because I've always felt like a monster. Wearing glasses from earliest childhood will do that to you. Perhaps its because I have some empathy. I've always wondered how monsters manage to actually live in the mundane world. Where do they get their food? How do they socialize? Who are we, or anyone, to call others monsters. It all a point of view, isn't it?

Should subjects of current world affairs ever bleed into RPGing? Why or why not?

Why not? That's probably the best question in the interview. Roleplaying does not exist in some pristine abstract world. Different people need different things from Roleplaying, and I think the world is big enough to encompass all points of view, but perhaps not without enmity. The one thing I mostly believe is that people should not try to enforce their own p.o.v. on others who may think differently. Rational discussion and argument are, IMNSHO, good ways to approach differences of opinion, but they aren't the only ways, and sometimes they're not the most effective ways.

Roleplaying could be, and probably is in some hands, an effective way to educate and inform people about social issues, such as being female, or being a homosexual, or being black, or being blue. (I once knew a blue person, and she was a great writer). There are billions of viewpoints and options for behavior in our world, and everyone has to find the way that works best for them.

Alex, Thanks for the chance to spout off. As you can see, I am a relativist in almost everything. I know what I like but that doesn't mean I think everyone has to like what I like, behave as I behave (or misbehave,) think as I think. For any roleplayers reading this interview, I hope I've encouraged you to do your own thing. And keep an open mind about what others do. Try to see the similarities and in the blood things in gaming, the world, and people in general.

People who'd like to know what I'm doing should follow me on Instagram and Facebook. Also Twitter, that's where all news bulletins appear. Zimrala updates are at the Kickstarter address.