Bryan: No worries, I was honoured that you asked me. Sometimes I forget that there are people out there that read my stuff, and that they *might* care what I think in the slightest! :)

Thor: I very much enjoyed reviewing Conan: Trial of Blood. It is a truly epic campaign, bolder than anything that has been attempted thus far with the Conan RPG. What inspired you to produce this great work?

Bryan: Firstly, thank you. It was a blast to put together. As for inspiration...I'm a much bigger fan of the King Conan and Prince Conn era than his early barbarian work; it seems so much more tragic that the eternal adventurer ends up tethered to the throne of the most powerful civilised kingdom in the Hyborian Age. I wanted to have an epic adventure set up for the Player Characters to help him feel adventurous again. As a husband and recent father myself, I have learned what it is like to want to devote EVERYTHING to my son, and I wanted to show what Conan would be willing to arrange for in order to save his family from his enemies.
 
Thor: I'm looking forward to running it. You have a new Conan book coming out soon, Warrior's Companion. What can you tell us about it? How will it enhance a player's experience of running a fighting character during the Age of Conan?

Bryan: Well, it is primarily a "crunch" book with several new feats, skill uses and prestige classes based around the idea of a Hyborian "Warrior" that is devoted to the art of combat rather than just the thrill of the kill, so to speak. It covers how each of the various classes can be a "Warrior", and some minor class feature changes to help make that work better for the character. My favourite section however, is a handful of new rules to represent things like two combat titans meeting in the middle of a war scene, permanent damage inflicted upon the body and combat characters carving their way through dozens of mooks without taking a whole gaming session. For the Conan gamers out there that enjoy our spin on d20, they will love this book. I am hoping the rest of the Conan fans enjoy it, too. 
 
Thor: During the past few months you've also published Bestiary of the Hyborian Age and Cities of Hyboria. How many hours a day do you devote to writing and game design?

Bryan: Before the arrival of my newborn son? Seven to eight hours normally, then maybe twelve if I'm running behind on deadlines. Now that Conor (nicknamed Conn in the house, by the way) is here with Sarah (my wife) and I, I get maybe five to six hours if I'm lucky. It is pretty rough sometimes, but Matthew Sprange...the Boss Goose...has been very accommodating and frankly *forgiving* with me in these first few months. Conor is sleeping more at night now, so things should return to normal soon...very soon.
 
Thor: Wow! When I was researching you I was amazed at how dedicated and prolific a writer you actually are. In addition to your work on Conan you've produced a phenomenal amount of quality gaming material for Mongoose Publishing over the past few years. Many a Traveller, Babylon 5, RuneQuest and Wraith Recon gaming resource bears your name.

Bryan: Yeah, I've been a gamer's gamer for over twenty years at this point (started in my cousin's basement when I was seven...I remember that I was a dwarf), and would love nothing more than to write and design games until my teeth are long and hair is silver. I want to go into novels at some point when I have time, but game books will always be the offspring of my keyboard. :)
 
Thor: Alas, two of your earlier Hyborian works, Conan: Heroes and Archvillains and Conan and the Waking Dream, were released during my hiatus from The Barbarian Chronicles and are currently out of print. I've been questing for them but they have thus far eluded me. Do you know if Mongoose plans on reprinting them or including them in a future compilation?

Bryan: That's funny. They have eluded you because they are *not* out of print...they have never been printed! Heroes and Archvillains was actually written, but it ended up getting sidelined for a possible future release (no word on that for you, though). Conan and the Waking Dream was an idea I had for a scenario based on an Oneiromantic infernalist, but it fell off the docket and never got written. That, my good man, is why you have not been able to find them.

Continued...