Tales From the Tavern Q&A with John of Fox and Boar Games – and Druskara, and Public Access!

NOTE: the opinions expressed in interviews are those of the guests, not necessarily those of shadomain.com.

Today we talk with John from Fox and Boar games. You can check out their work here:

https://www.youtube.com/@foxandboargames

Bluesky @foxandboargames 

Instagram @foxandboargames

Facebook @foxandboargames 

Patreon.com/foxandboargames

HI John, thanks for talking with us. Your company, Fox and Boar Games, publishes a wide variety of fantasy games and products. How did you decide to become a game creator?

I spent most of my youth (in the 80’s) playing and running Dungeons and Dragons, Star Frontiers, Call of Cthulhu, etc… I almost exclusively wrote my own content. I even made a lot of my own custom systems for games like AD+D.

I kept this up really through out most of my life with some breaks for graduate school, starting an academic career, etc…  When I got my current teaching position one of my tasks was to work with the game dev program to create a “game art” degree. 

In doing that I spent a lot of time researching the contemporary game industry (both video and tabletop games.) That was about the time Critical Role, et all exploded. 

Interim I had begun working with Golden Dragon Studios – a former colleague and friend on a project that would become BlightRealms (which we currently have a quickstart booklet for). I took that momentum and began writing my own world and system (Tales of the Harrowed Land). Post Covid I decided to go all in. I took a sabbatical for game development research purposes, and then needed an identity to bring it to life. Thus Fox and Boar Games was born! It was my life long dream to write and publish my own RPG content. And I’m grateful and thrilled to do it every day even as a part time job.

Many of your games would be described as dark fantasy games in the sword and sorcery genre. Who are some of your influences in this genre?

I think we can point to the usual suspects. First and foremost Lovecraft, Frank Belknap Long, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber and of course the great fantasy films of the 80s like Conan the Barbarian, Hawk the Slayer, Beastmaster and Sword and the Sorcerer. I began reading Howard later but also drew from a lot of horror like Stephen King and Clive Barker’s early works. History, Greek mythology and Tolkien also equally factor into my influences. Plus I’ve long delved into the classic occultism like Arthur Waite, Crowley, Francis Barret and some of the medieval mysticism I’ve been able to dig up. This all influenced the early D+D writers and definitely fed into the darker, heavier tone I favor.

Your ShadowWest game uses the Shadowdark system. What drew you to Shadowdark? Could you describe ShadowWest for our readers?

After a game at Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo 2 (2025) – I said to the group – imagine a game like Boothill with these rules and weirdness. The idea was a hit with the table and when I mentioned it on ShadowDark venues people really liked the idea. So…  

I was previously running a long term old west Call of Cthulhu game; that was a major impetus. But I really got into the versatility and speed of play of ShadowDark.

ShadowWest has the tension and grit of ShadowDark. There is a supernatural darkness called The Bleak that occurs once a month or so (randomly) that plunges the land into an eldritch night. Strange creatures become more prominent. 

During the first Bleak people with magic powers appeared, from traditional “Mystics” (wizards) to those who can harness the Bleak (Skycallers – think of them as Warlocks whose patron is the Bleak). Additionally during the Bleak a magic ore – Oranyx hits the ground in meteor falls. It is very valuable, and very powerful. It enhances magic and can be sourced to power strange devices. But… it can drive those who use it insane. It is a major economic and industrial force in ShadowWest. And the quest for Oranyx – and unlocking its power – is an ongoing theme in the game world.

It has all the tropes of the wild west. Rules for gunfights, stagecoaches, etc… and it is a bit pulp and actiony. But it also has enough creep and darkness to be a ‘dark fantasy/horror’ game. There are the dangers of the dark of ShadowWest. 

The “monsters’ are incarnations of our own western folklore. Giant maniacal Jackalopes, dragons that grew out of natural reptiles, ghosts, undead riders and the like haunt the landscape. 

It features art by Lissanne Lake – an established fantasy and western artist. ShadowWest, like all of our products, is all human created. No AI.

How long have you been playing TTRPGs? What was the first one you played?

I believe it would be 1983 – at about 12 years old that I found my first game group. And I had been voraciously reading D+D for a couple of years before that. It was of course Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. But I discovered Call of Cthulhu, Gamma World and Top Secret not too long after that.

Your Journeys Deck is a card deck that helps GMs build settings and stories. It works in many fantasy TTRPGs, correct? Could you give us a few details?

It is a story path deck. It’s not only a bunch of inspiration draws but has an internal system that suggests additional card draws. For example a location may prompt you to draw a creature and an encounter. The encounter may prompt another location or an NPC. The creature may prompt a treasure or a new encounter. And the paths can keep spanning out and building on each other. We’ve seen people use it on the fly to create a sidequest, layout an adventure in advance, and even solo play!

One of the main features is more all-original art by Lissanne Lake – in the old school fantasy style. 

The deck is generic in the sense we don’t assign hard stats to anything. That is up to the GM and you can use it with any fantasy game. Eventually we’d like to have similar decks for additional environments (We have Ancient Woods (forest) and Underground (dungeon) for now. And perhaps even add things like cyberpunk decks and horror game decks.

Your TrashSexy game looks like a fun, different game. Could you describe a bit about it? Is it an all ages game?

A real departure for me. This is a quick play, rules light RPG where YOU play a ROWDY RACCOON!  It is our best seller. 

The character types are irreverent and you have your city raccoons, redneck raccoons, sewer dwellers, etc…  You are smarter than your average raccoon and can use items (often badly), wear bling and communicate with each other and other animals. But you need to keep your nature secret from the humans (which usually lasts about 3 minutes in any game session).

The original form is a hybrid between a standard RPG and a game like munchkin that has cards that create locations and prompt encounters.You don’t need a GM and it is collaborative. But it can also be played like a traditional RPG. The characters collect trash in their antics which are worth points. And they spend these for advancement. 

Despite the name I kept it PG-13 for family play. It can be as nasty or nice as the group wants it to be. Though I have – due to demand – been considering a supplement that makes it even raunchier.

You’ve taught game design, what’s that been like?

It is very interesting. Most of my students want to be video game designers. I teach conceptual art (as my academic background is in visual arts), world building and content design. It is great that students have the opportunity to study this in a formal environment whereas for most of us it was a hobby that we stumbled into. The challenge is keeping up with the changing landscape of game design field.  I find it really rewarding when a student wants to specialize in tabletop design. 

What other hobbies interest you?

My whole other life is playing historic instruments such as the medieval (German mostly) bagpipes and the hurdy gurdy. I’ve played in both traditional ensembles and with folk metal projects. I’m a live music junkie and get to as many concerts as I can.

Researching Forteana, strange mysteries and similar weirdness (which often bleeds into my game design). 

I also like homebrewing beer and mead and am a foodie and enjoy craft coffee and spirits. 

I’ve been get outside and away from these screens as much as possible.

Those things all consume the very little free time that I have. 

What else haven’t we asked you that you’d like our readers to know about?

One of the things I am often asked is how to get started doing this (game design and publication). My answer is to just begin producing material and playing it through as much as possible. And not just with your friends and regular gaming group. Get it out in front of people as much as possible and get as much feedback, especially from established designers, as you can.

I also want to genuinely thank you and everyone who has supported these efforts so far. 

Thanks, John! If you’d like to do a Q&A here, please send an email to shadomainrpg@gmail.com. We’d love to hear enyone’s opinion form new players to grizzled veterans.

Jason Cordova’s The Gauntlet game company has launched their Kickstarter campaign for Public Access, a really strange and fun TTRPG using the “Carved From Brindlewood” system.

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