Despite being in one of the busiest points of a Kickstarter -- the final stretch -- we here at Dorkland managed to get an interview with Brandon Blackmoor about Bulletproof Blues and its Kickstarter.
Dorkland!: How has the Kickstarter experience been for you so far? Is there anything that you have learned since launching the campaign that you wish you knew prior?
Brandon Blackmoor: I should have looked at the ratio of PDF vs. print backers of other RPG projects. I underestimated how many backers would elect for a print reward level, and the net revenue from print reward levels is (for us) about 50 cents on the dollar vs 85 cents on the dollar for PDF reward levels. As a result, I needed to adjust the price points of our stretch goals about mid-way through the first week.
DL: Why set your Kickstarter campaign in a more incremental fashion? Why the sample character artwork first?
BB: Originally, all of the art came first and all of the supplemental written material came after. This was based on the assumption that people would prefer to improve the core book before wanting add-ons. After the first week, I polled the backers (approx 60 at that time) to see how they would prefer the stretch goals were structured. This indicated that they were much more interested in the supplemental material than I thought, so we re-arranged the stretch goals accordingly (at that time, none of the stretch goals had been met).
DL: One of the features of the Kickstarter (and Bulletproof Blues, in general) is a creative commons license -- why have it?
BB: Because one of the primary purposes of Bulletproof Blues is to provide an open game system that anyone can use to build their own game. In my opinion, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike is superior to the OGL for this purpose.
DL: What sets Bulletproof Blues apart from other supers RPGs?
BB: Task resolution is simple, combat is fast, powers are flexible and diverse, and the available range of power levels is deliberately broad. It follows a middle path between the complexity of games like Mutants and Masterminds and the simplicity of games like Bash (which are both fine games).
DL: What does the Kalos Universe have to offer people who are not familiar with it, but are familiar with DC or Marvel? Or people who are not very familiar with any supers setting?
BB: Kalos Universe is our own superhero setting. It allows the players to have a relatively minimal pre-made setting without the baggage that comes with DC or Marvel. That being said, most of the tropes you would want in DC or Marvel are there, or could easily be added. For that matter, if you want to play a DC or Marvel game with Bulletproof Blues, feel free.
DL: On the Kickstarter page Bulletproof Blues is described as a 'setting-dark' superhero RPG -- what exactly is meant by that?
BB: It's really only “dark” in comparison most mainstream superhero games. The authorities don't turn a blind eye to posthuman activities, and relatively few posthumans put on spandex and try to save or rule the world. Most posthumans have the same goals everyone else does: money, power, and fame. Of the themes of the setting is that most people are not “heroes” or “villains”. There is a great deal of grey in the world (but we assume that the PCs will be a lighter shade of grey than most of their antagonists). Also, posthumans are dangerous: even a relatively low-powered posthuman could kill a normal person pretty easily. That's a bit different from most superhero games.
DL: What are some of the bigger changes to the rules of Bulletproof Blues with this second edition?
BB: The rules really aren't changing. We are adding a few small additions (such as “Skill Mastery”, an advantage which confers a +3 task bonus to task rolls when not in combat). For the most part, the changes are cosmetic: new art, new layout, larger format, new character sheet design. We are also replacing the How To Play and How to GM sections with a “GM Resources” section that will provide some additional setting material and (hopefully) some good advice on running Bulletproof Blues, specifically.
DL: How compatible will content created for the first edition of the rules be with the second edition?
BB: Completely.
DL: Supers settings can get crazy (in a good way) -- what is a moment of Bulletproof Blues gaming that you have experienced and felt really exemplified the game?
BB: One of my favorites was when a character snuck into a mental hospital to examine the personal effects of a dangerous sociopath who had died under mysterious circumstances. You probably had to be there.
DL: Lastly, what was the most interesting Bulletproof Blues character you have seen, created or played?
BB: Probably the strangest was Frogger, who was played the nine-year-old son of a friend of mine. Frogger was a swamp monster who'd been living in the bayous near New Orleans since the 1800s.
We here at Dorkland! would like to thank Brandon for his time and wish him the best with the Kickstarter, which has long since met its funding goal and is nearly past its third stretch goal! If you would like more information on Bulletproof Blues Second Edition be sure to check out its Kickstarter page and Kalos Comics' website.
