Talk:Chris Birch (game designer)

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Sources

Hi there @Cunard and @Guinness323, do you see anything more for this one? The source that I had talks mostly about "Starblazer" for Cubicle 7 and a bit of their "Legends of Anglerre", but his page on RPGgeek[1] also shows work for other games and companies mainly "Call of Cthulhu", "Mutant Chronicles", and the more recent "Dreams and Machines". BOZ (talk) 13:44, 7 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Found an interview. Guinness323 (talk) 23:51, 7 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi BOZ (talk · contribs). Here are some sources about the subject:

Appelcline, Shannon (2014). Adamus, John (ed.). Designers & Dragons: The '00s. Silver Spring, Maryland: Evil Hat Productions. pp. 344–345, 353. ISBN 978-1-61317-087-8.
The book notes on page 344: "A fan named Chris Birch suggested the first license. It was to Starblazer, or more completely, Starblazer: Science Adventure in Picture (1979-1991) — a British anthology of science-fiction comics that ran 281 issues, most of them published in the '80s. ... Birch knew Abranson slightly through a board game design discussed some years previous, and so approached him about the opportunity. Abranson was excited by the possibility and recruited Birch to write the new Starblazer game - to Birch's surprise."
The book notes on page 345: "Though he'd never designed a game before, Birch was eager to give it a shot and soon he and friend Stuart Newman were on board. They intelligently decided that they didn't want to create their own game system the first time out, so instead opted to use an existing one. After researching a number of available systems, Birch decided that Evil Hat's Fate was a perfect fit. It was relatively simple, had a burgeoning internet fandom, and was just revamped in Evil Hat's Spirit of the Century (2006). Not only had Spirit polished and integrated the Fate rules (as is better described in Evil Hat's history), but it was also a pulp game — just like the Starblazer comics were, when you really got down to it. Birch decided it was a perfect fit. Originally, Birch expected to produce a 200-page book by Winter 2007, but he soon discovered that a Starblazer game needed a lot more rules than that. ..."
The book notes on page 353: "Cubicle 7's eighth major line was a spin-off of Starblazer Adventures: a fantasy game called Legends of Anglerre (2010), by Sarah Newton and Chris Birch. This new RPG was based on fantasy stories from Starblazer, but just as Starblazer ..."
Armstrong, Stephen (2017-12-17). "Dungeons & Dragons makes a comeback". The Times. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
The article notes: "Dragonmeet's organiser, Chris Birch, the publishing director of Modiphius Games, was selling a similar game set in the Conan the Barbarian stories. He pointed to recent US research that suggests role-playing games are therapeutic for people on the autistic spectrum or dealing with schizophrenia. "The rules give structure and order, but the conversation is human and fluid ," he said. "In the end, your choices are infinite. You don't get that with Mono poly — people want to kill themselves halfway through because you know who's going to win and your granny is being irritating. And nobody writes blockbuster movies after a youth spent playing Trivial Pursuit.""
There are interviews here, here, and here.
There is additional coverage here and here.

Cunard (talk) 05:09, 10 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks @Cunard, these are definitely helpful. :) BOZ (talk) 05:18, 10 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]