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We're here with Steve Savage, the guru behind Seventh Sanctum, or more specifically the Page of Generators, which is our Fan Site of the Week. It's really more of a resource page than a fan site, but then, who's counting?
Steve Savage: I'm extremely flattered to see that my page
has been worth your attention! In fact, it's just getting another update:
the Tavern Namer! I liked your site of the week page - very intelligent, not fluffy. I'm
glad to be on it!
RPGNet: Flattery will get you everywhere. First off: Do you play RPGs? I mean, several of your generators are useful for RPGs -- I was pointed to your site from a Big Eyes, Small Mouth site -- but that doesn't mean you play them yourself.
Steve Savage: I actually tend to play a lot of Computer/Console RPG's. I've also gamed online in free-form story RPGs. Ironically, I haven't sat down to a good old-fashioned tabletop pencil-and-paper RPG in several years. I have hoped to play some Big Eyes, Small Mouth recently but never got to it. I kind of miss it, actually.
RPGNet: What RPGs do you play, then?
Steve Savage: Computer RPG's: Diablo II, Daggerfall. Console RPG's: Phantasy Star Online, Final Fantasy X. Pen and Paper: Champions, D&D (any edition), hopefully Big Eyes, Small Mouth. I also wrote A.C.E. Agents and A.C.E. Supers for Stellar Games many years ago.
RPGNet: I didn't know that! Ever use your own generators in a game?
Steve Savage: I've used my superhero ones in their earlier incarnations in RPGs. I also have used some in games, but ironically not RPGs - instead I've used them in writing games, such as "OK, try and use this" or "figure out what this would be about."
RPGNet: Why did you decide to start your website?
Steve Savage: Well, I'd made a few generators before, but at a get-together of friends, I joked about making an "Anime Attack Namer" as, of course, we were watching
anime and noting how various special powers get named with strings of words. It stuck in my head so I jotted down some notes, and later I built it.
I'd also had a generator for superhero names that I'd translated into JavaScript, so I decided to make a subsection on the page for them. Well, after building the Anime Attack Namer, I'd begun wondering what other tools I could build - and since my project at work involved heavy web development, it was great practice and a lot of fun to make new generators. Ironically, I actually showed a client some of them to show what you could
do on the web.
Now I do my code in PHP, which I absolutely love. It's let the generators run on more browsers and allowed me to do a lot more things.
RPGNet: RPGNews.com uses PHP, so I know what you mean. When did you first develop your fascination with generators?
Steve Savage: It's an interesting story, actually. Ages ago, I was a fan of, believe it or not, ElfQuest. This was the early days, before the original series was
finished, and there were people who did fanfic newsletters, role-playing, and so forth. Since the elves had names following simple patterns like "Bloodblade" or "Greenleaf" I whipped up a name generator for it on, I think, an Apple II.
Well, a few years later a friend who remembered it suggested I make a superhero/villain one for our superhero RPGS. That generator got recycled over the years as I tweaked it and played with it. It got used in a writers/artists group doing a shared superhero universe. It even became a web version, a copy of it is still at the site.
However, it was the Anime Attack Namer that really got me into writing them as a full hobby. With the web, I could deliver them to people so they could be used, not just a curiosity created for a few friends. I also could get feedback and new ideas and make them really useful.
Right now I'm fascinated about why they work. The generators themselves are just technology that, let's be honest, slam words and phrases together in ways that our minds interpret and make sense of. What I do is abstract the data so it appears coherent. The words "Backflip Buster" don't mean anything to the program, but a person is going to concieve of some Martial Arts or Wrestling Move for a character seeing those two words.
In short, when someone uses a generator, their imagination does all the work. I've had people tell me their generators "gave" them ideas, but really it was their own imagination - the generators just triggered it. Imagination's an amazing, awesome thing, but sometimes we try so hard to use it, it doesn't work - yet the oddest thing can set off a wave of
creativity. With the generators, I try to create "that oddest thing" or randomly create that "just right" set of words that makes everything come together for someone. The people using them do all the real work.
RPGNet: If I were to decide to create a web site, what advice would you give me?
Steve Savage: First, do it for something you really like and enjoy. Otherwise it'll stress you. Second, keep it in perspective. Otherwise, you'll lose focus and not have
fun. Third, keep your integrety about what you do. Do what you meant to do. Fourth, do it your way. Others may do the same thing, but stick to your vision. Fifth, don't get full of yourself. Have fun instead. Sixth, enjoy it!
RPGNet: What uses have your generators been put to, to your knowledge?
Steve Savage: Lots of writing and RPGs, and of course, for amusement. Some people seem to be willing to click through or generate hundreds of entries, others are
looking for a quick idea, and others enjoy a good imaginative stretch or a
laugh when something strange is generated. I still recall when the Anime
Attack Namer created the "Golden Yellow Stream" attack for a friend in an
IRC chat hall - while I was there. There's something you won't see on
Dragonball Z or Saint Seiya.
One person even took some of my code and created his own generator to make
Jedi Knight missions for Star Wars.
I hope to inspire other people to create tools like these as well, which is
why I started the listserv. Everyone out there whos been a gamer or a
writer has had that moment of "I need a magic item" or "I need to name this
planet" or "I wish I had even the vaguest plot idea" or even a "wouldn't it
be cool if . . ." I hope folks that see the page want to make their own
generators for niches and ideas no one's thought of yet.
RPGNet: What do you think of the overlap between writer and roleplayer, particularly in the area of worldbuilding?
Steve Savage: Actually, I've come to think that roleplaying and writing are two sides of the same coin. They're really about creativity and imagination - just
manifest in different ways. Worldbuilding is thus utterly vital to both.
In a game, in a story the most important character is not your protagonist
or your antagonist - it is your setting. The setting is there before and
after the characters exist, the setting defines everything that happens.
Your world comes first.
In my own gaming and my own writing, I make the settings first. Then the
games and stories write themselves.
RPGNet: Final thoughts?
Steve Savage: I'm honored I was worth being the fan page of the week for your site. It lets me know my work is worth it to people - and that's one of the things
that makes this fun!
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