Interview: C.J. Carella Date: October 10th 2002 by: Michael Burnaugh (Realmprotector)

C.J. Carella is the Creative Director and Principal Writer for the WitchCraft and Armageddon RPG lines, as well as the creator of the Unisystem. He has been a writer and game designer for over twelve years now. His credits include some 20 books for such companies as Steve Jackson Games, Palladium Books, and Myrmidon Press. C.J. current projects include Armageddon Second Edition and several books for WitchCraft and Armageddon, as well as a new series Unisystem game sourcebooks.

GamingReport:
First Mr. Carella I'd like to thank you for taking the time to do this interview.

C.J. Carella:
My pleasure-it’s Saturday morning, so it’s either do the interview or begin that rigorous exercise regime I’ve been meaning to initiate (thank god for this interview) ;)

GamingReport:
Tell us of beginnings and writing . . . What were your first writings, when did you start writing and how did you get involved in writing RPG's?

C.J. Carella:
I wrote a bunch of short stories (mostly horror and SF&F;) and submitted it to assorted publications. Somewhere between my eight and ninth rejection letter, I thought about writing a gaming article for SJG’s now defunct Roleplayer Magazine; it had some optional martial arts rules. Editor and line developer Lloyd Blankenship liked the rules well enough to include them in GURPS Supers, and to offer me a contract to write GURPS Martial Arts. The rest, as they say, is history.

GamingReport:
What was you experience with writing that first RPG book and are you a martial artist yourself?

C.J. Carella:
It was a learning experience. There were a lot of surprises, not all of them pleasant ones (I discovered that dealing with playtesters requires a surprising amount of patience, for example). But when the dust settled, I knew I wanted to do it again. I’ve studied Karate for a few years, but I wouldn’t call myself a martial artist, just a dilettante.

GamingReport:
Have you ever considered writing novels-say maybe a Buffy novel?

C.J. Carella:
I have three incomplete novels in some backup disk or another. One of these days I’m going to finish them. No current plans about doing a Buffy novel, but who knows?

GamingReport:
Tell us about your experiences working with the RPG companies you've been associated with.

C.J. Carella:
Overall it’s been great. Steve Jackson Games got me in the business, and I’ve been a GURPS gearhead for a decade (a lapsed gearhead now, alas). I learned a great deal about the craft of gaming from editors like Lloyd Blankenship, Susan Pinsonneault and Steve himself. SJG is one of the most professional outfits in the industry. Myrmidon Press, my first attempt at controlling the publishing as well as the writing part, was not as successful (a polite way of saying it was a total mess). Oh, I also did some freelance writing for Palladium Books and worked there briefly as a staff writer.

GamingReport:
Do you have regrets not working for SJG anymore?

C.J. Carella:
Oh, I didn’t say I’m no longer doing any work for SJG. In fact, next year my name might be popping out in a couple new GURPS book, assuming time permits it.

GamingReport:
Would you ever consider your own company again?

C.J. Carella:
Probably not. I have only so much time available to do this, and I’d rather spend most of it on the creative side of the biz.

GamingReport:
What happened with you and Palladium?

C.J. Carella:
I left the company and no longer do any work for it. That’s about all I can say.

GamingReport:
The here and the now . . . Unisystem which includes WitchCraft, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the upcoming Terra Primate, and the long awaited Armageddon. Not to mention writing for the d20 system . . . you and Eden make a great team. How do you balance it all?

C.J. Carella:
A: I was lucky enough to meet George Vasilakos at one of the GenCon shows. I really liked his business sense and vision of the gaming industry. At some point I talked to him about doing a WitchCraft/Conspiracy X crossover book. When Myrmidon imploded, I talked to him and Alex Jurkat, Eden’s co-owner and main editor, about bringing my properties to their company. It’s been pure synergy; George and Alex have helped me devote my efforts to writing. Alex is a tremendous editor who keeps me honest and is always looking for holes in my rules systems (who better to be a rules lawyer than, well, a lawyer?). George is a master at making the games I work on look as good as any in the industry. They both have been upfront and honest from a business standpoint. I even get paid on a regular basis. We all work very hard, and get paid less than we could in another industry, but we do what we love.

GamingReport:
I hear from many in the industry that RPG’s are a labor of love. Do you feel that is truly the situation?

C.J. Carella:
Essentially, yes. It’s part art and part craft, and it’s not something you do purely for the money -- given the realities of the market, doing it for the money is just idiotic. Most RPG creators love gaming; if they weren’t getting paid to write games, they’d still be out there playing them. I’ve been running weekly games for most of my adult life, and I don’t aim to stop any time soon.

GamingReport:
What were you looking to do when you created the Unisystem and how did you go about developing it?

C.J. Carella:
My intention was to create a system that did a good job simulating a variety of situations and did an even better job of being transparent and getting the hell out of the way. I tried to make the game simple, written in plain English, something that runs fast and doesn’t stretch suspension of disbelief too much. I also wanted to have a system that could scale up or down to allow play at all kinds of power levels, from gritty and realistic to cosmic and super-heroic.

GamingReport:
Do you feel the system is solid as it stands or are there changes you’d make?

C.J. Carella:
Nothing’s perfect, and I sometimes look back and wish I could tinker here and there to improve it -- the changes would not be huge improvements, though, and they wouldn’t be worth overhauling the whole system.

GamingReport:
Do you have a favorite setting you write for and if so why?

C.J. Carella:
Hard to answer that one—most of my original creations have been urban dark fantasy, but I also love writing science fiction settings, both hard SF and space opera (although only the latter has seen the light of day so far). It depends on my mood. Right now I’m working on a supers setting, and loving it.

GamingReport:
Supers setting?

C.J. Carella:
To be more accurate, four settings featuring supers or non-humans. This will be a major Unisystem release, presenting a toolkit for designing both super-powered characters and non-human races. Following the AFMBE model, there will also be mini-settings in the book. One of them features a supers world where metahumans completely alter the results of WWII and the Cold War.

GamingReport:
What research did you do . . . say when you were writing WitchCraft?

C.J. Carella:
Typically, I’ll read at least a dozen books when researching a book, as well as relevant sections of a few dozen more publications. This involves both fiction and non-fiction-novels, old grimoires, history books, and so on. Plus all kinds of movies, documentaries and TV shows.

GamingReport:
For those not familiar with the setting how different is magic in WitchCraft compared to Buffy?

C.J. Carella:
Very different. WitchCraft magic uses invocations with flexible but discrete effects; characters need to study and master those invocations to use magic. Buffy magic is meant to represent the "reality" of the show, where anybody with access to the right books can cast powerful spells (although almost always with unintended consequences). You could use both magic systems side by side with some tinkering, but their flavor and effects are quite difference.

GamingReport:
I did not see any upcoming books by you on the products page of the Eden website. Will we see more from you in the WitchCraft setting?

C.J. Carella:
Right now, Eden’s playing it close to the vest when it comes to future releases. We’ve gotten ourselves in trouble by announcing a book and then looking bad when something delays it. I have at least two WC books planned for the next year (one about the Fey Folk, another about the Combine, the uber-conspiracy in the WC setting), but we won’t announce them until they are ready for playtest.

GamingReport:
How did you like writing for Terra Primate and are there any secrets about the upcoming book and the future of Terra Primate you can share?

C.J. Carella:
Well, I actually contributed very little to Terra Primate outside the rules. The book is the brainchild of Patrick Sweeny, David F. Chapman and Al Bruno III. It’s a great book, and full of good monkey fun. The future of the line, like AFMBE, will depend on sales. If the book does really well, like AFMBE did, it will likely spawn a line of sourcebooks.

GamingReport:
Let's talk about Buffy. The book is fantastic, the rules are easy to learn, I absolutely love the Drama point system—it works perfect for a setting like Buffy. I read the designers notes in issue 18 of the Games Unplugged magazine but tell me aside from drooling what was your reaction to being asked to write the game?

C.J. Carella:
It was a mixture of elation and terror. I really wanted to do the game, and I really wanted to do it right. A licensed property can be easily screwed up; I think that only a handful of RPG licenses, out of dozens, have done justice to the setting while remaining playable games. My fears were that we’d go d20, or Eden would bring a dozen people in to write the book and it would end up reading like most things written by committee, or that the license holders would hamstring us. Fortunately, none of my fears came true. I was given the privilege of doing almost all the design work (with solid input from Alex and our excellent team of playtesters), Fox was extremely helpful and willing to let us run with the ball, and I think we did the best possible job we could do. That’s saying a lot, but I’m really proud of the book and that was far from a given when we started the whole Buffy project.

GamingReport:
I agree Buffy and d20 do not go together, but you did have to re-write some of the UniSystem rules to fit Buffy what was changed with the rules?

C.J. Carella:
I mostly tried to streamline the system to make it more accessible to newbies and to reflect the "reality" of the show. Character creation is faster (less skills to choose from, for example), and combat is meant to be resolved with fewer rolls (typically one roll determines both attack, defense and damage results).

GamingReport:
Aside from the shows, what research did you do? Did you read any of the novels?

C.J. Carella:
I read a couple of the novels, but I stuck mainly to the shows, scripts and other "primary source" materials. For one, the spin-offs are not "canon." More importantly, we don’t have the license to cover materials in books, comix and other areas. And I wanted to stick to the basics.

GamingReport:
The way you wrote the book it felt very fresh and I must say this was the first time I've read an RPG book that made me laugh. Did you plan to write it this way or is this just how it turned out and how challenging was it for you to write?

C.J. Carella:
It was tough. We had a lot of discussions about the tone of the writing, ranging from doing it "in character" to presenting it like any other RPG. We settled on giving it a conversational, humorous slant aimed to simulating the feel of the show. I was worried about getting too cute, and trying too hard to be funny. I think we managed to strike the right balance for the most part. The show’s writing is one of its main selling points; it’s one of the few TV shows that consistently crack me up. I did my best to emulate that feel. Alex helped a lot with the polish and tone too. It’s hard to walk the line between too dry and just plain lame. I was happy to get all the input I could on that front.

GamingReport:
Did you ever get to meet the cast?

C.J. Carella:
Nah, we’re too far down the totem pole. And they’re all on the left coast. Oh . . and there’s those restraining orders . . . ;)

GamingReport:
How did you come up with the Drama point system?

C.J. Carella:
I wanted a way to recreate the feel of the show (and a lot of other action movies and shows), where people survive massive amounts of damage without permanent injury, where even a normal person can do amazing things at a dramatically appropriate time or place. The idea of giving players some means to affect the outcome of their actions directly isn’t brand new; it’s shown up in games as far back as TORG (and probably even older stuff). I gave it the spin of playing up to movie and TV conventions, especially where it applied to BtVS. It got to the point where, as I was watching a show, I was tallying up the Drama Points the characters "spent."

GamingReport:
How was the BtVS RPG and the Drama point system received at the Gen-Con sessions?

C.J. Carella:
Most of the responses have been positive. People familiar with the show quickly picked up on what the Drama Points represent, and most of them used them much as I envisioned even in the quickie demos I ran.

GamingReport:
The addition of the quotes was an ingenious idea did you get to pick them out?

C.J. Carella:
I selected key ones that I wanted to see in certain places. The bulk of the quote legwork was done by our team of quotemeisters. They scoured the scripts looking for appropriate quotes and sent a number of options to Alex. He made the final call on the ones I didn’t pick out.

GamingReport:
OK I've seen some unofficial titles posted on the message boards, The Sunnydale sourcebook, The Magic Box sourcebook, and the Initiative sourcebook. Are you involved with any of these titles and if not what will we see from you in the world of Buffy?

C.J. Carella:
I recently finished the Slayer’s Handbook, which will be coming out later this year. I’m not directly involved in the first batch of Buffy sourcebooks (other than as rules guru and consultant), but I’ll probably take another swing at the Buffyverse when more books are assigned.

GamingReport:
We've all heard the there will be a separate Angel book. Will it be its own line or an addition to the Buffy line?

C.J. Carella:
The Angel RPG is going to be a separate line. The decision was a combination of licensing issues (the two properties are separate, even if they share a setting), and design issues. The tone of Angel is not the same, and it deserves its own treatment. The book will not be a copy of BtVS RPG, either; it will have rules for playing demonic characters, as well as for creating your own organization (anything from Wolfram and Hart equivalents to Gunn’s gang of monster hunters). GamingRepot: Are there any future Angel titles you can let slip out and will you be writing any?

C.J. Carella:
We still haven’t drawn up a schedule, but I’m sure I’ll be writing at least one other book in addition to the corebook.

GamingReport:
Are there any secrets you can tell us about any of the "unofficial" books?

C.J. Carella:
I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.

GamingReport:
Well then is there anything you can tell me that I won’t print in this interview? What about a bribe say a nice new Rolex?

C.J. Carella:
Well, I can conclusively deny the baseless rumors that I will be playing the part of the Big Bad in Buffy’s Seventh.

GamingReport:
Eden announced a limited edition Slayers Handbook. Will there be a limited edition for all the Buffy books?

C.J. Carella:
There limited editions planned for the Slayers Handbook and Monster Smackdown, the "core" books of the line. I’ve even heard talk that there will be a "sleeve" produced to hold all three books in one neat block on your shelf. That’s not definite tho. The production specs on the books further down the line will depend wholly on sales of the prior books and what Eden can afford.

GamingReport:
What did you think of the Buffy season premier?

C.J. Carella:
It was very interesting. I think this season is going to rock.

GamingReport:
Any thoughts on Eden releasing a cast signed RPG book? (Hint, Hint just a little suggestion from me if you could pass it along)

C.J. Carella:
That’d be a cool idea.

GamingReport:
OK big question-what's up with Armageddon are we any closer to it's release and what hint's can you give us?

C.J. Carella:
The book is back on the production line. It’s been written, edited and playtested, layout is underway, and art is being assigned. It looks like we’ll finally get to see it. Armageddon Second Edition is a thorough rewrite of the setting. It fixes all the problems that plagued the first edition (hopefully without creating new problems) and it greatly expands the choices available to players and Chroniclers. For those who don’t know, Armageddon is my big apocalyptic setting, a possible future of WitchCraft. It’s the near future, and the Reckoning’s here; an evil from beyond reality has taken over most of the world, and angels, demons, and the Old Gods fight side by side with humanity in the ultimate war. End of commercial.

GamingReport:
Did you literally toss the first edition out and start over and what were some of the major changes?

C.J. Carella:
Well, it’s still the same storyline, and some things are the same, but I’d say that close to half of the material was rewritten or at least expanded in some way. For example, Primal Powers (the abilities of pagan gods and those touched by the gods) got a complete overhaul; we added a lot more flexibility and variety to the available powers.

GamingReport:
What kind of research did you do for the setting?

C.J. Carella:
Same as with WitchCraft, except more of it. Lots of mythology, theology, military hardware; the books on my desk included the specs of the M-1 Abrams tank next to an encyclopedia of angels . . .

GamingReport:
What would you say is you most challenging work to date and which do you consider to be you greatest accomplishment?

C.J. Carella:
I’m going to be lazy and say it was Buffy. Holding that book in my hands gave me a sense of accomplishment I haven’t felt since GURPS Martial Arts (the first book with my name on the cover) came out over a dozen years ago.

GamingReport:
If you had a dream project (licensed or not) you could work on (aside from Buffy) what would that be?

C.J. Carella:
I’m a big fan of the TV show Andromeda (I think it’s better than Farscape, so sue me). I’d love to do a licensed game for that show.

GamingReport:
Are there any talks on Eden licensing the rights?

C.J. Carella:
Not that I know of.

GamingReport:
What advice would you give to folks who are looking to writing as a career?

C.J. Carella:
Three things. Do your research, be patient and understanding, and be more stubborn than a Missouri mule. Before you submit anything, make sure the company in question is likely to be interested. Also, find out what their guidelines are. Even if it’s your first submission ever, you need to come off as professional, or you’ll have two strikes against you from the get-go. Patience: publishers are going to take their time responding to you. Getting in their face about it is not going to endear you to them. And be stubborn; if you discourage easily, writing ain’t for you. Don’t let rejection letters or well-meaning advice from friends and relatives get to you. If you feel you must write, keep writing, keep submitting.

GamingReport:
On behalf of GamingReport and gamers everywhere I thank you for your time.

C.J. Carella:
Thank you.