Meet the Publisher: Daniel Kwan

Daniel Kwan is one of the most accomplished people in the rpg field I've had the pleasure of interviewing. They've won a number of ENnies for their work, and have written or contributed to works such as Candlekeep Mysteries, Avatar Legends, Haunted West, and Candela Obscura. They've graciously offered to answer some of my questions.

1. First, can you tell us about Wandering Blades, your upcoming project? Specifically, I think for my audience, what influences it draws from the OSR/NSR fields of games. I see you've mentioned both Errant and Runecairn as influences.

Wandering Blades is a game of violent martial arts melodrama inspired by Chinese wuxia media and Hong Kong action cinema. Players take on the roles of highly skilled martial artists, outlaws, and scholars who wander the lands seeking to redress wrongs, help the downtrodden, and free the innocent from oppressive forces.

Wuxia takes on many forms, and I feel like the OSR/NSR emphasis on player freedom, deadly consequences, out-of-the-box thinking, and “rulings over rules” design is well suited to the types of wuxia stories that inspired me to start writing this game. The worlds seen in wuxia fiction are dangerous, and you need to pick your battles carefully!

At the same time, I wanted to combine these OSR influences with fast-paced and dynamic, yet tactical, combat inspired both by classic films like Come Drink With Me and modern video games like Ghost of Tsushima. For this game, combat is designed to feel like a deadly back and forth exchange with the tempo of an encounter shifting based on player decisions. I want to encourage players to engage with the themes of the wuxia genre in their own ways while providing the mechanical structure for deadly combat!

2. You've got such a varied portfolio of work; from the real-life horrors of the trenches in World War I to Resident Evil-inspired solo journaling to the amazing and multicultural Haunted West to more mainstream games like Pathfinder and Avatar. What's your approach when it comes to writing and designing games? Is there a genre or a style you feel most comfortable in? Wandering Blades is a wuxia-inspired setting/game; is there a theme or genre you'd like to tackle next.

Before I began diving into the game, I sat down and outlined the core design principles I shared in my previous answer. Continuous improvement is very important to me, so I wanted to have a set of principles that I could use to guide the design process and act as a framework I could use for self-reflection during playtesting.

These were the design principles I settled on:

• Danger is Everywhere: The world is full of danger and the smallest mistake can be deadly. The procedures of the game should reflect this. 

• Old-School Principles: The system is designed to create a gameplay experience that is open-ended, challenging, and supportive of emergent narratives. 

• Skillful and Dynamic Combat: Fights are designed to feel stylish, fast, and compelling. Success in combat relies heavily on skill instead of luck. The system should have a short “time to violence,” enabling players to dive into the action and hone their skills. 

• Toolbox Experience: The rules are written as guidelines for GMs (game masters). They are open to player interpretation, ingenuity, and expansion. 

“Time to violence” was one of the central components of the design process. I wanted to empower tables of all experience levels to engage in thrilling, beautiful violence as soon as possible. In this game, action is fast and furious, with characters parrying blows, counter-attacking enemies, and synergizing their martial arts abilities.

When it came to designing the combat system for Wandering Blades, I spent a lot of time watching fight scenes (i.e. “studying tape”) from wuxia movies and my favourite video games that embodied the experience I was trying to replicate on tabletops. After I had a working structure for the system, I would watch videos frame by frame to see if my system could emulate the flow of the fights! I shared some of this early design process on my Itch page (here’s an example). I found this to be a very productive and engaging way of designing my combat system!

With every playtest and solo combat encounter run-through, I reflected on my design principles and course-corrected when required. When I forgot rules during a session, I reflected on their value to the experience. Why did I forget them? I mean, I shouldn’t if I’m the designer Did forgetting them interfere with the player experience? Were they critical to play in the first place?

I feel comfortable in all genres but have a soft spot for horror and action cinema. I enjoy rulesets of all levels of complexity. As a designer, I really love the process of learning a new game almost as much as playing it!

You can probably tell that I really like the combat system I designed for Wandering Blades! I’m really keen on applying it to other genres. Recently, I was really inspired by the recent Ninja Gaiden 4 announcement and would love to try making a dark and gritty cyberpunk-inspired game about assassins!

3. You've worked as a cultural and sensitivity consultant on a number of projects. Can you talk about that; how you approach it from an editorial perspective, and what you think it can bring to a project?

I want to start with defining what a cultural consultant even does since there are a lot of misconceptions. In gaming, a “cultural consultant” is an umbrella term for professionals who are hired to help verify that a product does not contain offensive representations of cultures before it goes to market. The goal of a cultural consultant is to minimize harm.

Cultural consulting can be both a proactive and reactive practice. When I work on a game, I conduct an in-depth review of the contents of a product to identify and triage issues. For tabletop games, I not only review the themes and narrative, but also how they connect to the mechanics. A good cultural consultant will always provide context behind their feedback. I divide mine into categories based on critical issues—things that can cause harm to consumers—and those that can cause harm if developed further. The consultation process is a dialogue, so I like to maintain open lines of communication with my clients to ensure that I can get context from them if needed.

One of my biggest pieces of advice is to involve a cultural consultant as early as possible in the development process. Involving a consultant early can minimize costly revisions! I recommend listening to episode #53 of the Asians Represent! podcast if you’re curious about learning more.

4. As a prominent Asian game designer, and someone with experience working in the field of cultural sensitivity, what advice do you have for people trying to write about or incorporate cultures they are not members of in their games? Is there a way for, say, a middle-aged white guy like me to write an asian-influenced setting?

I love sharing my culture with others and think it’s wonderful when folks find inspiration from it. If you’re incorporating cultures that are not your own in your home game, I encourage you to avoid stereotypes. There is so much joy to be had in diving deep into a culture that you’re interested in! For example, are you interested in incorporating interesting weapons, check out a museum for inspiration and information! If one isn’t accessible, institutions like the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds have fantastic online collections that you can view for free.

If you’re looking to publish a game, I recommend first thinking about why you want to put an Asian-influenced setting into the market (i.e. reflect on your intent). What are your goals behind the project? What are you hoping to achieve with it?

5. Talk about your experience working with Plus One Exp. Wandering Blades is your second project with them, I believe. I've been really impressed both with their growth as a company/facilitator but also with their attempts to highlight and promote the work of marginalized authors.

Correct! Plus One Exp helped me bring my first solo RPG, Wicked Congregation, to print! It had previously been a digital release with Will Parks during the pandemic. Working with the Plus One team has been great! The team has been a fantastic partner in the production of Wandering Blades. Their expertise in production and crowdfunding logistics is really impressive! I’ve been working on tabletop games since 2017 and with this project, I feel like I’ve not only improved as a designer, but have also learned a lot about the business of TTRPGs.

6. Finally, is there anything else you'd like to share with us that hasn't been addressed? A favorite designer or illustrator of yours you'd like to draw attention to? Anything else?

I have absolutely loved working with the primary artist of the project, Lim Li Wei (@karagna on Blue Sky)! They are extremely talented and have done a fantastic job bringing the characters of Wandering Blades to life!