Heaven’s Open Door: Diamond Class is a sci-fi RPG recently finished on Kickstarter from Monkeyfun Studios using a new RPG system, soon on BackerKit. Dave Kizzia was kind enough to talk to me again, this time about this new RPG. PCs focus on completing missions, mostly interstellar commerce, from mega-corporations. When things go wrong, the Countdown ticks ever downward to a confrontation with potential cosmic nightmares that make little sense but cause psychological trauma to its victims.
Charles Dunwoody (CD): Dave, thanks for talking with EN World and me again. It’s been nearly six years since we last talked and Monkeyfun Studios continues to put out great RPGs. What sparked the idea to grow the Lazarus system agnostic adventure from a one shot to a full setting and unique ruleset?
Dave Kizzia (DK): Always a pleasure, sir! I credit it mostly to Alan Bahr, prime force behind Gallant Knight Games and the guy I listen to when I’m working things out. I had told him that I wanted to continue the universe that sparked the original Lazarus, because it was an exploration of a layer of sci-fi that I didn’t feel was fully represented. Alan of course presented the solution simply and elegantly, “Dave, ya gotta make it its own entity.” And he was right of course. Luckily, Alan had a system he was toying with, the 3DS system, which elegantly filled the gap and allowed me to focus on the other portions of what I wanted to explore.
CD: I know further exploration of this universe will cover lawmen, space grunts, and criminals in their own books with truckers getting covered in this offering. What does Heaven’s Open Door: Diamond Class expand on from Lazarus and what is new?
DK: Lazarus itself initially stemmed from a type of 70’s, early 80’s drama that I wanted to build upon, the working class of space. Not to ruin too much of the intrigue of the adventure, but a strong influence was William Friedkin’s little seen movie, Sorcerer, which is a travesty because it’s just incredible. The first Alien is of course the go-to for that setting, but I’m also a big fan of movies like Outland, Silent Running, the type that go into how the infrastructure itself works. I also really have a passion for world-building, to be honest. I once ran a campaign that took place in modern-day Las Vegas, and I took it upon myself to “rebuild” the Strip – with unique casino hotels each with their own back stories and themes.
CD: “One of the things that has driven the Heaven’s Open Door aesthetic has been an exploration of lunarcore. Also known as techwear or NASApunk, it’s an exploration of futuristic brutalism emphasizing a sci-fi design that highlights a collage of images and lines to create a patternistic application.” Could you elaborate on this concept a bit more?
DK: Sure, I’ve always been a fan of “retro-futurism”: the concept of looking into the future from the limited perspective of the past. When we were doing Spirit of 77 for example, the futuristic technology or amazing gadgets couldn’t be based on knowing what the 21st century would hold, it would be a cheat to the setting and its overall presentation. That’s why Spirit has massive “thinking robots” powered by 8-track cassettes and things like that. This may sound a little strange, but I really do see the beauty of design when it comes to industrial objects – how form and function merge for everyday objects. Not to go too off-topic here, but there’s a fascinating podcast called 99% Invisible that delves into the backstories of everyday objects, why certain things look or are presented the way they are. Coupling that with the clean lines of modern Japanese culture and aesthetic, it’s a look that I wanted to compliment what was I wanting to project with the Heaven’s Open Door universe.
CD: What kind of characters might players create and what kinds of things can those PCs do?
DK: Contractors (laughs). I wanted a game that simulated a more realistic working experience. The whole premise of some sci-fi settings such as Firefly or The Expanse is they’re based on the concept of the “work-family”. A lot of TV shows are based on that kind of arrangement actually – where the main characters spend their off-hours with the same people they spend their work days for social activity. I wanted a scenario where people who don’t know each other very well, quickly thrown together for a common goal: risking themselves to transport dangerous items through dangerous territories, fixing critical infrastructure or troubleshooting problems that exist beyond normal reach. And just like in real life, you have to rely on people you may not really know, or even like, but you have to respect enough to get the job done.
CD: What kind of cosmic horrors might PCs face out in the darkness of space?
DK: I find cosmic dread an interesting concept, not in a Lovecraftian aspect but the idea that we may be walking toward things, stirring things awake that we do not fully understand. I also find human nature interesting how we will take things for granted that should be considered and wary of screwing with. SF writer Liu Cixin (creator of the Three Body Problem series), named it “The Dark Forest hypothesis” – the reason we haven’t seen alien activity is that there are indeed things out there, but they remain silent for a reason. There are worse things out there, things we don’t want to awaken. Diamond Class sets the stage for this, but the hope is to continue its development as the series progresses.
CD: What was your greatest design challenge in creating Heaven’s Open Door?
DK: Keeping a lean combat system. It’s very easy to get slightly Buck Rogers, where laser gun fights can overtake an entire scene or even a campaign. I wanted a scenario not unlike the combat of Shogun, where one strike is all that matters. And more importantly, all you want to strike in such a dangerous environment you ever think about that? With as much shooting that happened inside the Death Star, nothing caused any serious damage to the surroundings (except for the controls to a door). You would think that somebody might hit a window or something I mean come on, the whole thing blew up with an exhaust port, why would the glass windows be more resilient? (laughs)
CD: What part of Heaven’s Open Door are you most proud of (could be rules, setting, or anything else)?
DK: The ship manufacturers. That’s probably strange, but I like that although ships have standard classes, the different manufacturers have different approaches to how they build vehicles. I also find great delight that ships are assigned to players with “known issues”, like getting a rental car.
CD: Anything else you’d like to share with EN World?
DK: The Kickstarter has concluded, but we’re going to have the BackerKit available for additional pre-order. We wanted to move quickly with this, because it’s really one piece to the story. The goal, ahem, goal….is to get at least one more of the series out by end of this year (if not two, depending if I eat my Wheaties.) And as always, you can see what we’re up to on our website, Monkey Fun Studios.
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