Conan:
Warrior's Companion
by Bryan Steele
Thor: You definitely
have a talent for creating exciting adventures. Is this your calling?
Bryan: Again, thank you.
I have always had an overactive imagination growing up, and I watch a TON of movies (sometimes on my second monitor while
I'm writing), but first and foremost I am an active gamer. Anytime I write anything for a game I always ask myself, "Would
I enjoy playing this?" or "Would I complain about someone being power-gamey if they used these rules?" I have found that it
works out pretty well. My calling? I'm not sure...but I'd like to think I've done okay so far.
Thor:
When did you start writing and what were your early writings about?
Bryan: High school is when
I really started putting pen to paper about things, most often to write detailed backgrounds and such for my own roleplaying
characters. My friends still give me hell over them, too. Whenever I had a character idea that was a little off-the-mark from
the norm, the Games Master would always say "give me one good reason I should allow that character" and two days later I'd
hand over a few pages of fiction about the character and soon I'd be rolling dice or throwing chops (a LARPer term) with the
rare character in hand. :) My early stuff was alot of gothic horror; vampires, zombies and werewolves. Then I moved
up into sci-fi ideals, but I will always be a horror story fiend...no pun intended. My very first published work was in a
high school writing compilation; I remember that it was a first-person short about a vampire narrating how he stalked his
prey. That was fourteen years ago.
Thor: How did you get involved with gaming? What
were some of your favorite games?
Bryan: My first gaming
experience was with my cousin Tobin, when I was seven. I played a dwarf in his D&D game, and I tricked some orcs into
opening a door by saying "there is no password". That's all I really remember, but I know it was the first time I played D&D.
Later on, my stepbrother Michael had a painting table for old Ral Partha miniatures in his room, and he gave me a bunch of
them when he went into the Navy...getting me interested in miniatures and miniature painting. Now I'd say that I'm 65% miniature
gamer and only 35% roleplayer...my real love is designing miniature games and rules. Don't get me wrong, I love RPGS...a lot...but
the miniature hobby means a great deal to me.
Favourites, huh? Well, I have always loved D&D...especially
d20 3.5. It might not have been perfect, but it was a hell of a lot closer than some other systems, you know? I spent several
years playing anything from White Wolf's World of Darkness, especially Werewolf: The Apocalypse. As far as miniature games
go, I'm a Warhammer 40k addict. I would love to design an army codex or two, but not until Mongoose buys the 40k license...heh,
heh.
Thor: Who, or what, were your greatest formative influences?
Bryan: My uncle Patrick,
who passed away in 2007, was as close to me as a father growing up. He fed my love for movies, action figures and cartoons
and always told me his stories from the army and such. Also, my wife Sarah. Without her trusting that I could do this "writing
thing" and her backing my plays throughout the past ten years, I would never have been able to get where I am today. She's
a gamer too, so she understands what I'm about...if not always what I'm babbling on about.
Thor:
What can you tell us about Bryan Steele, the person beyond his published work?
Bryan: Wow. Uhm...I'm a
Leo and I was born the exact same day Elvis Presley died? *laugh* Seriously though, I'm not sure what to say. I was born August
16th, 1977 in a Chicagoland area town called Michigan City, Indiana where I was raised by my mother, father and later, stepfather.
I went to college at Purdue University when I was 18, tried to get an English Teaching degree, and then got caught in the
endless churn of small-time jobs. I used to be big into skateboarding and ice hockey, but have put on a few too many pounds
over the years to be tricking half-pipes anymore. I love movies, probably more than most people should. I can watch them all,
from the worst C-movie (worse than B-movies) to blockbuster greats...and I can generally find some redeeming quality in all
of them. My friends are like family to me and my wife; we would do anything we can to get them out of a bind if possible.
Okay, okay...enough about my personal ad. :)
Thor: What type of work did you do before
you connected with Mongoose Publishing?
Bryan: Well, I was in retail
hell for several years in the late 90s. It was then that I landed in an unemployment situation in 2000, during which I swore
I did not want to go back to retail. My wife and I decided we would look into buying in the local comic book shop, which was
owned and managed by friends of ours. While we were figuring out the details, the manager chose to take me to a retailer's
only convention to "show me what it's like". It was at that convention that I met up randomly with Brian Snoddy and Matt Wilson,
who were shopping a new proto-game idea they were going to release in the following year, a little miniatures game called
Warmachine. I told Brian that I wanted to be involved as a demo-guy (I really just wanted the free minis), and he gave me
Matt's card. A week or so later I found the card in my pocket and e-mailed him about getting some work. I sent him my "gamer
resume", and he saw that I had done some fiction work for an online fanzine. I apparently lucked out, as they needed someone
to do about 70,000 words on an upcoming project...Warmachine:Prime. I took the job and that's how I got started in the gaming
industry; working on the award-winning Warmachine and Iron Kingdoms games. I don't do any work with Privateer Press anymore
(just don't have the time for much freelance any longer), but I do owe them the start of my career. Essentially, I got on
the right steam-powered train at the right time and landed my dream job. I'd like to think that I have been able to keep it
up on talent and proficiency, but I recognise how lucky I got to start with Privateer.
