[Q&A] Miguel Ribeiro (Postmorten Giallo)

[30-Sep-21 07:39 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Thanks for having me. My name is Miguel Ribeiro, I’m from Portugal, and I have been role-playing since 1989. I’ve only published recently, though: I started earlier this year, through Postmortem Studios. I had translated one of my old Kult scenarios to English, and was planning on uploading it to Drivethru, as Pay What You Want, when I had a chat with James Desborough, and he showed some interest in it. The scenario was Orpheum Lofts and that’s how the Giallo trilogy started. After that came the other two gialli (The Memorial and Sisters of the Seven Sins), then Welcome to St. Cloud, a Twin Peaks-like setting for Actual F***ing Monsters (I’ll refer to it as AFM, from now on, for simplicity’s sake) and, finally, Postcards from Avalidad, for the *Punk RPG.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?keywords=miguel+ribeiro&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=

[30-Sep-21 07:39 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 07:40 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Thanks, @Miguel Ribeiro! The floor is open to questions!

[30-Sep-21 07:41 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
For those unaware, can you explain what giallo is?

[30-Sep-21 07:42 PM] Michael Harmon Art#5910
Ooh Kult, I have it, haven’t played it. Love the dark look of it.

[30-Sep-21 07:43 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Yes, of course, it’s an Italian word which means “Yellow”, first time it showed up connected to a collection of cheap paperbacks, mostly translations of American and British murder mysteries. In the 1960s, though, it acquired a different meaning, internationally, a designation for a movie genre: Italian thrillers

[30-Sep-21 07:44 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Kult is great game, very dark. Very inspiring for horror lovers.

[30-Sep-21 07:45 PM] Henry#3418
@Miguel Ribeiro Do you have a link to your current project?

[30-Sep-21 07:46 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Yes, I have. You can find all these at the Postmortem shop: https://post-mort.com/collections/roleplaying-games
Also at DTRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?keywords=miguel+ribeiro&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=
And Lulu.com: https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=miguel+ribeiro
For more info, you can visit my blog: https://moordereht.com/

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[30-Sep-21 07:47 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
So what are you giallo publications like?

[30-Sep-21 07:51 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
I’ll start by the first, Orpheum Lofts. It’s probably the closest to the movie genre. Orpheum Lofts is inspired by Dario Argento’s Three Mothers Trilogy – that’s Suspiria, Inferno and Mother of Tears- , and also Roman Polanski’s The Tenant and Rosemary’s Baby. It also owes something to ’80s and ’90s sitcoms, and romantic comedies (strange as it may seem). If Orpheum Lofts is played as Giallo or supernatural horror (gialli aren’t supposed to contain otherwordly elements) depends on the game master. It could be either or it could, as some of Argento’s movies are, a mix of both. The same holds true for the others two books in the trilogy. Keeping just in the thriller genre would probably be too restrictive for GMs

[30-Sep-21 07:52 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Then, there’s The Memorial. It takes place in an old hospital, the Ernest Spencer Memorial, especially in its psychiatric ward. It’s a strange place, it’s full of bizarre people (the doctors are the weirdest ones), it has a troubled past and strange things happen there frequently. The scenario mixes influences from Italian thriller, exploitation movies and Lars Von Triers Riget (which was remade in the US as Kingdom Hospital, I think).

[30-Sep-21 07:53 PM] Henry#3418
@Miguel Ribeiro I see a lot of projects here is there anything your currently working on? Or that you are currently promoting that we can focus in on?

[30-Sep-21 07:53 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Finally there’s the Sisters of the Seven Sins. It is set in a Portuguese convent with a dark history of demonic possession, black magic and Devil worship that, in the mid-1970s, is occupied by a recently founded religious congregation, made up by former disgraced women who wish to atone for their past, the Reprobate Sisters of the Seven Sins.

[30-Sep-21 07:54 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Well, all these are quite recent, but I am working on other stuff as well. There’s a scenario for Postcards from Avalidad about to be released. As we’re talking the layout is being finished. The name of that one is As Above, So Below

[30-Sep-21 07:56 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
As Above, so Below, takes place in an underground town inhabited by mutants and outcasts (Postcards from Avalidad is a near-future setting, inspired by William Burroughs and Cronenberg. The main book describes the city of Avalidad, a futuristic Interzone. This new scenario adds some elements to it

[30-Sep-21 07:58 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
I also have four horror, grindhouse-style scenarios that will be paired up and published as Double Features, but those will take a while.

[30-Sep-21 07:59 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
And I am working on a new setting for the Punk RPG retroclone (the first one published was Postcards from Avalidad, which was launched a couple of months ago).

[30-Sep-21 07:59 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 07:59 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
So in your settings, who are the PCs, and what do they do?

[30-Sep-21 08:00 PM] Henry#3418
@Miguel Ribeiro Can you tell us about the new setting for the ” Punk RPG retroclone ” and is that its name?

[30-Sep-21 08:01 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
About the PCs, It depends a lot. In Orpheum Lofts they are the residents of the building (Orpheum). They are regular people, from all walks of life. In The Memorial they are doctors, nurses, hospital stuff and patients. In the Sisters of the Seven Sins the players can take the roles of nuns, Vatican authorities, a group of reporters searching for a story or a gang of criminals, hired by the nuns to steal an old painting and return it the convent.

[30-Sep-21 08:03 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
The new Punk setting will be set in the Belle Époque, in Paris, its working title is Nouveaupunk: Chronicles of the Belle Époque

[30-Sep-21 08:04 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
It will be about secret societies, weird science, some pulp, but not much. If you know the Adele Blanc-Sec French comics (or the movie) you probably know what I mean

[30-Sep-21 08:04 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 08:04 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
(brb)

[30-Sep-21 08:04 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
*it was hospital staff not stuff

[30-Sep-21 08:04 PM] Henry#3418
So if I am to understand this correctly @Miguel Ribeiro this is historical? Not futuristic? Or at least historical fantasy?

[30-Sep-21 08:06 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
It is partly historical, but not necessarily accurate. Let’s say it’s alternate history. But not steampunk. That’s why we came up the Nouveaupunk label, it doesn’t exist (as far as I know) and it just links to the Art Nouveau of the time

[30-Sep-21 08:06 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
(back)

[30-Sep-21 08:08 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
I’ve been trying as much as I can to pick up references that aren’t too exhausted by former role-playing games and scenarios. In part it’s good, but it can be bad (I always have to explain what is giallo, for example…)

[30-Sep-21 08:08 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 08:09 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
What is the tech level of Nouveaupunk?

[30-Sep-21 08:09 PM] Henry#3418
@Miguel Ribeiro There aren’t a lot of people who play in this area ‘Nouveaupunk’ an alternate history what is your biggest challenge with it?

[30-Sep-21 08:11 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
The tech level will be more or less what would be expected of the age, with some exceptions that will not be common knowledge for regular folks. My biggest challenge right now – because it’s still in an early stage – is to come up with the “glue” that ties it together.

[30-Sep-21 08:11 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 08:13 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Are all of your game settings horror, and if so, does anything unify them in terms of the source of horror (like the Cthulhu Mythos, for example)?

[30-Sep-21 08:13 PM] Henry#3418
Time is the currency of life. @Miguel Ribeiro Why should people spend their time on your Nouveaupunk? In a flooded market of RPG’s what does your series provide more than any other, what makes your game unique and why should people play it more than any other?

[30-Sep-21 08:14 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
They all have some horror elements, yes. They are not Lovecraftian in nature, more of a Clive Barker feel.

[30-Sep-21 08:16 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
What is unique (perhaps not unique, but unusual) is the way I write the scenarios. There are no predetermined plots, there are descriptions of places and characters, lots of plot hooks, but what will happen in game will be determined by the games master and players. They are all a mix of settings and scenarios, presented like a sandbox, but a narrative sandbox

[30-Sep-21 08:17 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Also some of the references, they are more European than American, usually

[30-Sep-21 08:18 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 08:21 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Or maybe not done, actually. In fact Nouveaupunk is still a long way before it’s finished. My next release will be an alternative campaign setting for Postcards from Avalidad, set in Lisbon of the near-future. Which is kind of a Southern European Vegas… Now I’m done

[30-Sep-21 08:22 PM] Henry#3418
@Miguel Ribeiro Is your System unique to this setting?

[30-Sep-21 08:25 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Postcards from Avalidad and the future release Nouveaupunk are both “powered” by Punk. It’s not unique, it’s a generic rules system (retroclone) for several types of “Punk” games (cyberpunk, steampunk, raypunk, etc.) The game isn’t mine, the author is my editor and publisher, James Desborough. Right now, Postcards from Avalidad is the only setting for it. Here’s a link for it: https://post-mort.com/collections/frontpage/products/punk-a-retroclone-rpg-system-for-making-your-own-punk-games

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*Punk – A Retroclone RPG System for Making Your own *Punk Games
THIS IS THE PDF, HARDCOPY CAN BE PURCHASED AT LULU.COM Does exactly what it says on the tin.
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[30-Sep-21 08:26 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Punk is a an Action! retroclone. Similar to Interlock (Cyberpunk 2020)

[30-Sep-21 08:26 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 08:27 PM] Henry#3418
What mechanic do you think we can find in Nouveaupunk that we won’t find in another which is unique to Nouveaupunk? And wouldn’t be found elsewhere in *punk or other systems?

[30-Sep-21 08:28 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
For Nouveaupunk I added some Tarot related mechanics for randomized encounters. I also added sanity and fear rules, but those will appear before, in the next release (which will be for Postcards from Avalidad)

[30-Sep-21 08:29 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Is Nouveaupunk D&D-based?

[30-Sep-21 08:29 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
No, not at all, it’s quite similar to the Interlock system, the one used by Cyberpunk 2020

[30-Sep-21 08:30 PM] Henry#3418
@Miguel Ribeiro
The question must come, why not 5e and if not 5e why not one of its well-known competitors? Such as Power by the Apocalypse, Savage Worlds or Fate? Why put in the massive work that is making a unique system?

[30-Sep-21 08:30 PM] Henry#3418
Or at least a more well known one?

[30-Sep-21 08:31 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
brb

[30-Sep-21 08:34 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Well, I didn’t make the system, I used the one that was launched by the small publisher editing my books. In a way, I suppose it might help turn that system widely known. Also, both me and James Desborough have a very unpopular opinion: we don’t like PbtA games! Savage Worlds or FATE might have been more popular solutions, but I’m quite satisfied with I have got. Also, as I already mentioned, everything I write is geared towards a sandbox approach, so rules have played a minor role, basically as statistics. If people want to play any of the scenarios I’ve written (even the settings) in Savage Worlds or BRP or FATE or 5E they will have no difficulty at all making those minor adjustments

[30-Sep-21 08:34 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 08:35 PM] Henry#3418
What makes the system work for you @Miguel Ribeiro ?

[30-Sep-21 08:38 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Punk is very flexible and easy to tweak. The previous games (the Giallo and Welcome to St. Cloud – which is a Twin Peaks style setting) used another system, Actual F***ing Monsters, which is also flexible, though it was created to play monsters, instead of humans. But it fits alright, because the adversaries, even the ones which aren’t supernatural, all have some kind of abnormal abilities. The other reason why Actual F. Monsters was a perfect fit is that all the published scenarios are narratively inclined and those rules are geared towards that

[30-Sep-21 08:38 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 08:39 PM] Henry#3418
What is your least favourite aspect of Nouveaupunk ?

[30-Sep-21 08:39 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Lots of French words. It may become a problem later

[30-Sep-21 08:39 PM] Henry#3418
ha ha ha

[30-Sep-21 08:41 PM] Henry#3418
@Miguel Ribeiro Imagine…

Imagine Nouveaupunk has gone triple platinum, people no longer say I am going to play D&D they say Punk instead. People cosplay as characters from your game and people wear merch about Nouveaupunk like Nirvana T-Shirts. Saying oh yeah man I like Italian guy who makes the French game you know nova punk? Imaging that.

1. How does it make you feel?
2. What is the thing that gets you in trouble?
3. What is the one thing you loved from your game that now makes you cringe?

[30-Sep-21 08:43 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Before I answer, just a remark: I’m not Italian, though I wrote the giallo. I’m Portuguese, I’m just a fan of Italian movies

[30-Sep-21 08:44 PM] Henry#3418
Yes I understand I am talking about the ‘che guevara’ T-shirt wearer syndrome

[30-Sep-21 08:44 PM] Henry#3418
That level of success

[30-Sep-21 08:46 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Oh, ok! Well, the answers, then:

1. I’m pretty sure I am hallucinating. Those things never happen to me, they can’t be real!
2. Probably I get in trouble by vanishing at the height of my success. I wouldn’t handle that kind of pressure.
3. Man, just about everything! Stop wearing those t-shirts, this was supposed to be a serious role-playing experience. I loathe merchadise!

[30-Sep-21 08:47 PM] Henry#3418
Yeah I usually ask this question because people often think about what happens if its not a success but never the inverse what if you end up becoming the next undertale

[30-Sep-21 08:47 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
I think I’m safe from that, but it’s an interesting question

[30-Sep-21 08:47 PM] Henry#3418
What is the one thing you wished people asked about Nouveaupunk but haven’t yet?

[30-Sep-21 08:49 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Actually, no one has asked anything about it because this is the first time I’m talking about it outside my circle of friends/ acquaintances. I may have mentioned a project, but not in the same detail I have today

[30-Sep-21 08:49 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
So, right now, maybe: Can I help? would be a nice question…

[30-Sep-21 08:53 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Anyway, right now what’s really on my mind is the next Postcards from Avalidad release, which I finished writing today, the working title is Cards on the Table (probably will change meanwhile), and is a future-noir campaign setting in Lisbon. It is connected to Avalidad, but can be played on its own

[30-Sep-21 08:53 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 09:01 PM] Henry#3418
Sorry attack of the real life

[30-Sep-21 09:02 PM] Henry#3418
@Miguel Ribeiro I have asked you a few questions and I hope they have been helpful, so this is my…

Final Question. What are people not talking about in the Roleplaying community that should be and why?

[30-Sep-21 09:02 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
What has been your gaming history?

[30-Sep-21 09:04 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Quite a lot of things, in my opinion, namely games that aren’t fashionable. For example, I think people talk too much about a handful of games, and forget all the others. 5e being the main thing and then all the fashionable games of the moment, PbtA, at the moment

[30-Sep-21 09:04 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
About my gaming history….

[30-Sep-21 09:05 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
I started in 1989 after D&D’s red box was translated into Portuguese. I was already playing the Fighting Fantasy books, but didn’t know at the time role-playing games were a thing. There were some clubs in Lisbon, but they weren’t advertising

[30-Sep-21 09:09 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
But since fantasy was never quite my thing, I quickly moved on to other stuff: Call of Cthulhu was next, I was always a horror fan, and though at the time I had never read HPL, I quite liked it. Then, strangely enough, Mechwarrior (only because some people I knew were playng Battletech). Then we entered the 90s and I was fascinated by Vampire. Meanwhile I found Kult, which became my lifelong role-playing game passion. In the meantime I player WEG’s Star Wars, Underground, a/state, Traveller and many more. There were some periods I almost gave up role-playing (I was a journalist for 12 years, and didn’t have much free time on my hands), but I always came back. Last time was about 4 years ago, to play Mutant Chronicles 3rd edition. I always loved that universe, but never came around to play the earlier editions

[30-Sep-21 09:09 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
(done)

[30-Sep-21 09:11 PM] Henry#3418
I hope my questions were helpful 🙂 @Miguel Ribeiro

[30-Sep-21 09:12 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Yes, of course, thanks!

[30-Sep-21 09:15 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Well, since there are no questions at the moment, I’ll leave links for where you can find me, on Twitter and Facebook:
https://twitter.com/moordereht

https://www.facebook.com/gaming/moordereht

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[30-Sep-21 09:15 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
What appeals to you about the system that your settings use?

[30-Sep-21 09:17 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Both of them, Actual F. Monsters and Punk are very versatile and simple. I don’t like rules-heavy games. Actual F. Monsters in particular is very much rules-light and that is a great match for my scenarios. And for playing online, which is how I have been playing during the last year (and probably most other people too)

[30-Sep-21 09:21 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
In the time remaining, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to bring up?

[30-Sep-21 09:25 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
I will just stress that all that I’ve written up until now has been a little bit difficult to define, since even the giallo, which I usually label as scenarios, have something of settings in them. My “formula” is to create a space where the action will take place, populate it with a cast and deliver a ton of story seeds for the game master to be able to run either a one-shot or a campaign without much prep. So they all are narrative sandboxes that you can plug-into any game system you like (within reason, of course), and they can be used for quick sessions or to be continued

[30-Sep-21 09:26 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Usual reminder: If you’ve enjoyed this Q&A and would like to treat me to a coffee or two, you can do so at https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe. Anything’s appreciated! 🙂

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[30-Sep-21 09:26 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Thanks very much for joining us, @Miguel Ribeiro!

[30-Sep-21 09:26 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Thank you for having me Dan

[30-Sep-21 09:27 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
If you’ll give me just a couple of minutes, I’ll get the log posted and link you!

[30-Sep-21 09:27 PM] Miguel Ribeiro#8796
Sure!

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