Achtung! Cthulhu \u2013 <\/em>giving players the chance to battle monsters of H.P. Lovecraft\u2019s Mythos while simultaneously giving those evil Nazis a bloody nose. Or, perhaps more likely, dying while trying.<\/p>\nAs with so many of us 30 and 40-somethings, it was Dungeons and Dragons which first hooked Chris into gaming and he still has some love for the granddaddy of all RPGs.<\/strong><\/p>\nHe said: \u201cI think games designers and companies sometimes fall into the trap of making RPGs too complicated as they try to give players every possible option for their characters. D&D has a super simple system \u2013 or rather, the early version that I played did. It had very few rules and, despite the obvious flaws, it was a winning formula.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cTo this day I can still remember my first D&D character. His name was Brandon and he fell down a pit trap and got killed in the first chamber in the adventure In Search Of The Unknown<\/em> (Dungeon Module B1). I was distraught \u2013 so much so that every character I\u2019ve had in every game since then has been called Brandon.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nThat includes Sergeant Brandon Carter, no less, one of the heroes (and now miniatures) of the <\/strong>Achtung! Cthulhu <\/em>universe.<\/p>\nI asked Chris why he thought WWII was such a compelling backdrop for Cthulhu.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe Cthulhu Mythos is so deep and rich and sits well with that period in our history when there were some genuinely sinister and ghastly things going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talking to Chris is like chatting to someone who was sitting with you while you watched all the classic sci-fi shows and films and read your favourite works of fantasy fiction. His incredible enthusiasm for gaming is evident as he hints at some of Modiphi\u00fcs\u2019s future plans \u2013 which could include the company expanding into new areas, as well as events.<\/p>\n
What gamers can expect is at least three more big RPGs, a graphic novel, an Achtung! Cthulhu board game<\/em> as well as the eagerly-awaited Thunderbirds<\/em> board game \u2013 for which <\/strong>Modiphi\u00fcs has partnered with Matt Leacock, creator of the hugely successful Pandemic<\/em> and Forbidden Island<\/em> games.<\/p>\nModiphi\u00fcs\u2019s philosophy (or perhaps Chris\u2019s) when it comes to games, appears to be that simple playability is key. As the blurb for the company\u2019s in-development Expeditions<\/em> RPG states: \u2018We’ve not been playtesting for 27 years, developed the most unique rules known to man, created a world not already created a gazillion times by other companies – we’ve just put together some cute systems that, we think, will help you have an amazing time\u2019.<\/p>\nI asked Chris if he\u2019s still involved in the writing process, and he was brutally honest in reply.<\/p>\n
Chris said: \u201cI tend to leave it to the experts because they make me look terrible by comparison. We\u2019ve been very lucky in recruiting some terrific talent across our game systems \u2013 people who are extremely knowledgeable about their subject areas, such as World War II, and brilliant writers and designers. I leave it to them these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of Chris\u2019s (and Modiphi\u00fcs\u2019s) plans for global, or perhaps gaming, domination is the growth of the small, but perfectly-formed Dragonmeet convention which Chris \u2013 along with music business entrepreneur Jonathan Rowlands \u2013 has taken over the running of, from Cubicle 7.<\/p>\n
Chris explained: \u201cDragonmeet has been going now for 15 years and there\u2019s a lot of love for the event, but it has never really been grown.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of my background, planning events such as a convention don\u2019t hold any terrors for me. Delivering an event such as this is actually relatively straightforward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already introduced a few changes \u2013 such as the Early Bird ticket offer (expires at the end of June) and extended opening hours (10am to 11pm) and visitors to Dragonmeet this year can expect a lot more for their money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll get all the expected RPG opportunities, in fact there will be more. Along with more traders, guest speakers, industry panels, tournaments, demos, cosplay, an art show and a charity auction.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year Dragonmeet attracted around 800 people, which is pretty healthy, and that included 50 or so traders. I\u2019d like to think we can at least double that.\u201d<\/p>\n
*The Dragonmeet convention takes place at Kensington Town Hall, London, England, on Saturday, December 13. More details at: <\/strong>www.dragonmeet.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nAuthor: Martin Tideswell is a married, 42-year-old father of two who comes from Stoke-on-Trent, England. He\u2019s been a journalist since 1989 and a Dungeons and Dragons fanatic for more than 30 years after being hooked by the UK adventure The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. He has written extensively for the Pathfinder RPG system under the banner of Raging Swan Press. A winner of the D&D Red Steel tournament at Gen Con UK, he was also a finalist in the D&D UK Open Championships. Martin also won the Cthulhu Masters Tournament at Gen Con Indy in 2012 during his first visit to the States and was a finalist in the inaugural Cthulhu Masters UK tournament a year later. He is now wondering how he and his family are going to survive Gen Con Indy this August\u2026 now that he doesn\u2019t have his Yoda and room-mate from two years ago \u2013 Roleplayers Chronicle boss man Aaron Huss \u2013 to guide him.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"with Chris Birch of Modiphius Entertainment By Martin Tideswell Roleplayers\u2019 Chronicle catches up with Chris Birch, head honcho at British Games publisher Modiphius, to talk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1770,1935],"tags":[3521,1965],"class_list":["post-43749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-word-in-edgewise","category-headlines","tag-headline","tag-modiphius-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43749\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/RPC-Word-in-Edgewise.gif\")
<\/p>\n![\"6858221\"](\"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/6858221.jpg\")
<\/a>Whisper it quietly, but there\u2019s a new Sheriff in town looking after one of the UK\u2019s oldest and best-loved gaming conventions. London\u2019s Dragonmeet celebrates 15 years in December and the man who has taken over the reins has big plans to grow the brand.<\/strong><\/p>\n