{"id":3225,"date":"2016-11-12T13:49:55","date_gmt":"2016-11-12T13:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/?p=3225"},"modified":"2016-11-28T21:52:03","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T21:52:03","slug":"games-portents-paranormal-worlds-bob-freeman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/games-portents-paranormal-worlds-bob-freeman\/","title":{"rendered":"Games & Portents: The Paranormal Worlds of Bob Freeman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we harness strange forces \u2013 occult studies, fiction, art and even role-playing \u2013 to bring you an exclusive and extended feature on paranormal adventurer Bob Freeman<\/span><\/strong>. From folklore and fiction to Tarot and character generation, we dance the Weird Fantastic. And we also get to ask ‘Who is the real Bob Freeman?’<\/p>\n

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We would give you a more detailed introduction, except that we pretty much talk about everything during the interview, so why waste words? On with the shadows\u2026 <\/p>\n

The Paranormal Worlds of Bob Freeman<\/h1>\n

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greydog:<\/strong><\/em> Welcome to greydogtales<\/em>, Bob. Our meat and drink today is really your work-in-progress, Occult Detective: The Role-playing Game<\/em>, but you’re a bit of a Renaissance Man when it comes to the weird, so we’re going to try and tease out some of your many other activities as well. Let’s get real life over with first. You describe yourself as a paranormal adventurer on your website, and you lecture on paranormal phenomena. How did you start down that avenue?<\/p>\n

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bob: <\/span><\/strong>I was raised in rural Indiana on a steady diet of urban legend and folklore. In 1974, at the age of eight, I stumbled upon <\/span><\/em>Manly Palmer Hall’s<\/span> Unseen Forces, a slim tract that introduced me to the concept of elementals, nature spirits, thought-forms, ghosts and spectres as something more than campfire stories. I immediately began slipping out of the house and staking out the local boneyard and I became a regular participant at s\u00e9ances and Ouija Board sessions.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>That’s a pretty early start. Do you subscribe to any particular model of paranormal studies or parapsychology?<\/p>\n

bob: <\/span><\/strong>At university I sought a degree in Anthropology with a focus on Witchcraft, Magic, and Religion. There was a time when the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the so-called paranormal captured my attention, but I have always been more shaman than scientist.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I do not think current scientific methodology can adequately explain something so ultimately spiritual. We are awash in a vast sea of multiverses, the majority of us clinging to our fragile sanities by denying their very existence.<\/em><\/p>\n

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greydog:<\/strong><\/em> We know you also have a strong interest in folklore and myth, as do we. Much of our own US-based folklore reading and knowledge is centred around the Appalachians. You live in Indiana. Is that a rich area for lore?<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> Most certainly. The area I hail from is sacred land to the Miami Nation. The Mississinewa Forest and River is a magical place filled with ancient spiritual energies and preternatural beings. There are hundreds of ‘haunted sites’ scattered throughout my neck of the woods. This region has also had its fair share of UFO phenomena. I live in the midst of a paranormal investigator’s dream.<\/em><\/p>\n

greydog: <\/span><\/strong><\/em>We’re sneaking in a serious question. We’ve recently been chatting to people elsewhere about the intertwining of folklore, folk practices and religion. Do you see organised religion as a dampener on older beliefs and practices, or can they co-exist?<\/span><\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> Folklore and practices are alive and well the further one gets from urban centers. The only dampening that takes place is when rural culture is stripped away and replaced by so-called progress.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Country folk, regardless of their religious faith, have never lost sight of the old ways, the old ‘superstitions’, because they are grounded in the truth of the soil and the trees, the sky and the streams, and the creatures that call those places home.<\/em><\/p>\n

The danger to the folkways comes not from religion but from the erosion of their way of life. As farming becomes more industrialized, the cunning lore is swept away.<\/em><\/p>\n

Freeman the Writer<\/h2>\n

greydog:<\/strong><\/em> Does having such an involvement in the paranormal affect how you view the fiction you read? For example, when you see supernatural and paranormal elements in a story that just don’t make sense, given your experiences. Or do you just laugh and enjoy?<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> All I ask for from fiction is to have internal logic. An author can play fast and loose with the rules so long as they remain consistent and perspicuous.<\/em><\/p>\n

greydog:<\/strong><\/em> You’re both a writer and an artist. You even designed the cool logo for the forthcoming Occult Detective Quarterly<\/em>, and have art in there. Are these activities complementary, or would you prefer to be known for one above the other?<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> I consider myself a storyteller. Sometimes I use words. Sometimes I use pictures. And another time it might be both. I think everything I do is complementary. Whether the stories I tell are real or imagined, verbal or visual, the intent is always the same.<\/em><\/p>\n

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greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>For those who haven’t read much of your fiction, maybe you could give us the gist of your Cairnwood Manor<\/em> series, for example, which includes strong paranormal elements. Are these typical of the writing you pursue?<\/p>\n

bob: <\/span><\/strong>The Cairnwood Manor series, consisting of the novels Shadows Over Somerset and Keepers of the Dead, is a gothic adventure set in a small town not far from my own, about a hereditary clan of werewolves who live in an imposing mansion in the heart of the Mississinewa Forest.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to werewolves, the novels are populated by vampires, witches, gargoyles, sorcerers, immortal warriors, zombies, and more.<\/em><\/p>\n

Critics described the two novels as a cross between Dark Shadows, Highlander, and a classic Hammer Horror film which is a fair assessment.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Shortly after finishing Keepers of the Dead I began focusing my fiction on my first love, the occult detective genre. There are elements of the occult detective story in Cairnwood Manor, but I wanted to explore those themes more closely.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I have been writing stories focused on Occult Detective Landon Connors and his compatriots almost exclusively for the past decade.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Games Paranormalists Play<\/h2>\n

greydog:<\/strong><\/em> Now we must bite down. Old greydog<\/em> was a Dungeonmaster and RPG fanatic many, many years ago. His campaigns were either legendary or very confusing, or both, and pretty much made up on the spot. One or two were even precursors to his writing, although RPG campaigns rarely write up as well as they run. You started with RPGs way back as well, didn’t you?<\/p>\n

bob: <\/span><\/strong>I did indeed. I received the infamous Dungeons & Dragons box set for Christmas in 1978 at the tender age of 12 and I’ve been playing regularly, with the exception of a string of years when my son was born, ever since.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Receiving D&D that Christmas was fortuitous. That was the winter of The Great Blizzard of ’78 which meant no school and everyone being stranded for weeks. Which led to a lot of dice rolling…<\/em><\/p>\n

I had quickly formed a D&D group that eventually merged with another local group, calling ourselves the Oak Hill Dungeons & Dragons Club. I still game with many of those original players on a monthly basis. Of course now, our children and some of their friends have joined us and that has helped to breathe new life into our game.<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t see our RPG adventures ending anytime soon.<\/em><\/p>\n

greydog:<\/strong><\/em> Were you a systems man, or one of those who meddled with the rules from the start?<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> Oh, I was a meddler. I’ve never met a rule I wasn’t willing to tweak. I mean I started playing Basic and evolved through every iteration of the game thereafter, though I admit I spent very little time with D&D’s 4th Edition. The thing is, there’s always something that doesn’t quite work right or something you or your players want to do that’s just not covered or covered poorly.<\/em><\/p>\n

A good DM sees the ‘rules’ not as holy writ, but as mutable guidelines.<\/em><\/p>\n

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greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>Although we began with the usual D&D, we quickly migrated to odd systems like Dragonquest<\/em> and Powers & Perils<\/em> (which our main group really liked, despite its negligible impact). Call of Cthulhu<\/em> already caters to paranormal and occult detection in some senses. What made you want to come up with a new system \u2013 subject matter and themes, or mechanics?<\/p>\n

bob: <\/span><\/strong>We tried out a lot of games over the almost 40 years of roleplaying too, always came back to D&D though. We played Boot Hill, Top Secret, Gamma World, Traveller, Twilight 2000, Middle-Earth, both Marvel and DC RPGs, Star Wars, and yes, Call of Cthulhu.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It’s a fair question, with games like Call of Cthulhu, Dresden Files, and Gumshoe already out there, why did my son Connor and I feel the need to create a new game system rather than just adapt one of them to our needs?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

You mention subject matter, themes, and mechanics and I think it’s a combination of all those things. I wanted something different. Something a little more streamlined. And something that played more from a storyteller’s perspective.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I wanted more options than I felt those games gave me, more freedom of expression. And as we played around with OCCULT DETECTIVE: The Roleplaying Game, mainly for ourselves mind you, we began to realize that we had something unique to offer and we just kept rolling with it.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>Are we talking a strongly dice-based system, or one of the looser ones where role-playing and on-the-spot invention are more important?<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> <\/span>Oh, it’s all that, but story and character narrative is first and foremost.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>You have a lively set of characteristics for Occult Detective:TRG<\/em>, with wonderful names like Boon, Bustle and Brass. Let’s bore the non-gamers and hear a bit about those.<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> These are the stats that add raw ability to your character build, but there are also plenty of subtleties too. Brains measure a characters intellect and acumen, Brawn is brute strength and physicality, Brass is your health and stamina, Bustle deals with a characters hand-eye coordination and mobility, Boon is all about luck and the influence of unseen forces, and then there\u2019s Bravado which is all about your characters cult of personality and swagger.<\/em><\/p>\n

I should add that we\u2019ve also developed mechanics for characters with physical and mental disabilities, giving players the ability to play heroes in wheel chairs, with prosthetics, that are deaf, or blind, or what have you.<\/em><\/p>\n

While these stats make up an important part of a character\u2019s persona, it is the player\u2019s choice of Kith and Archetype, combined with their Esoterica that really define them.<\/em><\/p>\n

I wanted to make a character’s astrological chart matter, to be an important influence on who the characters are and to see that tweaked even more by Tarot and Rune divination. They are all parts of a metaphysical puzzle that once assembled makes for a more realized individual.<\/em><\/p>\n

greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>This seems a good point to ask more about the Esoterica, then \u2014 Paths, Major Arcana, Sun Sign and Moon Sign. Are these chosen by players, or assigned to them?<\/p>\n

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bob:<\/strong> That’s player’s choice. There is a mechanic involved for these to be chosen by the random roll of the die, to let fate decide, but players are encouraged to forego the dice and to craft the character they want to play.<\/em><\/p>\n

Paths determine a character’s background, while the Sun and Moon Signs they are born under make subtle personality changes to that background. Drawing from the Tarot and Casting Runes further enhance the character’s abilities, adding strengths and weaknesses accordingly.<\/em><\/p>\n

Also, an important factor is a character’s Kith which determines whether that character is a Natural (normal human), Preternatural (a human who is trained in the magical arts), or a Supernatural (vampires, werewolves, ghosts, golems, angels, or demons) being.<\/em><\/p>\n

Add in the ten Archetypes a player has to choose from \u2014 Archaeologist, Artist, Criminal, Doctor, Exorcist, Martial Artist, Paranormal Investigator, Private Investigator, Investigative Reporter, and Scholar \u2014 and I think you can see that the character creation process is a huge component of the game.<\/em><\/p>\n

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bob freeman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

greydog:<\/strong><\/em> Sounds fantastic. We’ll admit that there have been times when we’ve enjoyed character creation more than some of the games we’ve been in. It’s one delightfully nerdy aspect of RPGing, creating complex alternate characters just to see what comes out of it. How has the play-testing gone so far? Have you hit any major upsets which needed a serious reworking?<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> We haven’t had any major game flaws that have crept up so far. Some minor tweaks here and there, and we’ve jettisoned some mechanics altogether and created new attributes to add flavour to the game. But all very minor things in the grand scheme.<\/em><\/p>\n

All in all, we’ve been very pleased and we look forward to expanding our playtest audience to get more feedback.<\/em><\/p>\n

greydog:<\/strong><\/em> We understand, going back to an earlier question, that Occult Detective: TRG<\/em> also reflects and relates to your fiction. Does that mean that scenarios would be the same, or do you envisage people taking the basic game and flying with it into any time or place?<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> <\/span>The initial launch of the game will be directly tied to the stories I’ve written featuring Landon Connors in the Liber Monstrorum series, and the Cairnwood Manor series.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I mentioned earlier that stories should have an internal logic and consistency. This game will be totally compatible with my fictional universe. These are my vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and the like. This is my system of magic. Will it be familiar if you’ve never read my works? Yes, it will be familiar, but there’s a twist here and there that’s all my own.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

That being said, I fully expect people to do what I have always done, tweak this and that to make the campaign they’re running personal and unique to their table.<\/em><\/p>\n

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greydog:<\/strong><\/em> How far along are you commercially? Do you see this as a marketable product to launch in the next year or so?<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> I would love to have this ready by Hallowe’en 2017. I think a more reasonable projection will be that I will be running games at Gen Con next year and we’ll have a release in 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m not a man of means, as they say, so I’ve been doing this on a shoestring. I would love to get a publisher on board, but am resolved to take this to crowdfunding if need be.<\/em><\/p>\n

The ‘Other’ Bob<\/h2>\n

greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>We can’t close down without asking about the two Bob Freemans, the real one and the recent media character. For those who don’t know, share a little about this bizarre coincidence before you go.<\/p>\n

bob:<\/strong> <\/span>Yeah, that\u2019s an unexpected and crazy turn of events. It seems there is an independent film now making the rounds called <\/span><\/em>Bob Freeman: Exterminator for Hire<\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The movie is a horror\/comedy that follows paranormal investigator and monster hunter Bob Freeman and a documentary crew as they confront vampires, gnomes, gremlins, zombies, and more as they attempt to save the world, and Bob’s kidnapped father, from a maniacal evil cult.<\/em><\/p>\n

Strikes a little close to home, don’t you think?<\/em><\/p>\n

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