Interview #1: Hawklorddragon @cimerians

 

On Halloween 2022, we open this new section with an interview that we hope you like a lot. We are going to be talking to a friend, nothing more and nothing less than: Hawklorddragon @cimerians. 

As far as we know, a fan of sword and sorcery art, role-playing games, Iron Maiden, probably among many other things...So, as we said, with great emotion and very happy we start by presenting: @cimerians

Games of Turtle: How are you Hawklorddragon @cimerians? What´s up? From Argentina, Games of Turtle greets you. Do you prefer that we refer to you as Hawklorddragon or under the name of the twitter account @cimerians?

Hawklorddragon: Doing ok, thank you! Working, gaming and trying to keep up with posting some nice art. Hawklorddragon is fine, it's a nickname that we all have in a long running video game croup called the “Ultima Dragons”

Games of Turtle: Ok, Hawklorddragon thank you very much for your time, your good will and disposition! Now, we know the origin of your nickname! That was a very good game!!!. So, now we are diving into this world of sword, sorcery and dragons! Tell us a little about how you started this path, this adventure? Do you remember the first time you approached this world of rpg / tabletop games? How was it?

Hawklorddragon: I alone discovered it in a local toy store at around 10 years old, 1980. I used to visit a section in that store that had fantasy books and a game called “Dungeons & Dragons” but I thought it was for older kids and so I asked my mom to get me this board game called “Dungeon” by TSR. Among all the board games at the time this one stood out, it also looked like that Dungeons & Dragons game. Inside the board game was a TSR catalog and there it was again: the “Dungeons & Dragons” game. I ended up liking the board game so much that I asked them to buy me the Dungeons and Dragons game and the rest is history. I was young but it was life changing in terms of opening up my imagination, creativity… and vocabulary! Four years later I discovered a game called Ultima…and game books called Fighting Fantasy. It was an amazing period of discovery.

Games of Turtle: What kind of character do you like the most? Class, alignment? Favorite spell? Favorite martial weapon?

Hawklorddragon: Fighter! Lawful or Neutral Good with a greatsword, my first character was called “Hawklord”, hence the nickname. For magic I always thought Fireball or Web was really cool.

Games of Turtle: And what is, for you, the best monster and why?

Hawklorddragon: Dragons of course, they're just so powerful and you could do so much with them, they're smart, very intelligent, they cast spells, maybe take the form of humans. You can do so much with them. I used to draw them a lot all over my school books as a kid haha. 

Games of Turtle: Do you have a preference between a particular setting, like Eberron, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Ravenloft ect…?

Hawklorddragon: Probably Greyhawk and the ‘known world’ Mystara followed by Dragonlance. I grew up with those so I'm probably biased.

Games of Turtle: Dungeon Master or Player Character?

Hawklorddragon: DM with old D&D and with new D&D PC for sure.

Games of Turtle: How many adventures do you have going on? How many members does each group have?

Hawklorddragon: Just two, I don't have the time for more and I can barely manage these, one with two players one with three.

Games of Turtle: The adventures respond to armed settings or are they homemade? 

Hawklorddragon: One is armed (two player game) and the other is a mix of both.

Games of Turtle: Any house rules you can share?

Hawklorddragon: Sure, for OSE and current D&D games:

• Max hp for lvl 1 characters.  Each level after roll as normal  - rerolling any 1's.

• Any kind of search attempt can be repeated, it just takes more time.  The same with lockpicking.

• Magic-users can spend a turn to detect magic, 2 in 6 chance of success.  May also be retried, spending the time. 

• Magic users can learn spells from scrolls and captured spell books.

• Turn undead can be attempted once per cleric per encounter (clarification, not necessarily a rule)

• Clerics can swap any prayed for spell for a heal of the appropriate level.  This works with hp heals as well as statuses and raises.

• Objective based xp bonuses and penalties exist (penalties are usually uncommon)

• DYING: Upon reaching 0 hit points, your character is unconscious and bleeding out. Roll on the following chart each round until an ally heals you (either with magic, herbs, or binding wounds) or you die. If you are healed, you come around with 1 hit point (or more, if magic was used) and suffer a -3 penalty to attacks until you get a day’s rest.  If a character reaches -10 hp, they are dead.

1 - You die.

2 - A random ability score is permanently reduced by 1.

3 - Maximum hit points permanently reduced by 1.

4 - If healed, you require 1d6+1 days of rest to recover.

5 - Even if healed, you remain unconscious for 1d6 hours.

6 - You come around with 1 hit point

We also do not use optional rules like Feats etc that are in modern games.

Games of Turtle: Very good house rules!!! It's always good to be able to share them!

Games of Turtle: I do not want to leave the opportunity to ask you, taking advantage of the fact that we are with Halloween on top, do you make Halloween specials (one shot style) or do you add any Halloween seasoning to the current game? Or...?

Hawklorddragon: Seasoning usually with something strange like talking Wolves, Ogres wearing masks or Characters being cursed (with something minor) and needing a rare candy to lift the curse.  

Games of Turtle: In your twitter account you upload many images, from what I could see and as a humble observation, the images respond in general terms not only to the sword and sorcery genre, but also to a certain type of art. Where there are more pastel colors, dry, where the author accentuates an instant. I could define the images as more classic, in the Frazzetta and Vallejos style. Is there a pattern in the selection of images or are they random picks? Do you have a favorite artist?

Hawklorddragon: No pattern and not really random either. I only post what I like, I don't post random fantasy pics or art, it's got to be something that I actually think looks good and passes my eye test. Lol. If it doesn't look quite good for me I won't post it but sometimes I settle on stuff. Lol. I try to vary it up but I just post what I think is cool. Frazetta is my all time favorite artist 😊 For comics probably John Buscema. Him and Alfredo Alcala are supreme 😊.

Games of Turtle: Do you use images to run the adventures or not? And in the same order of ideas do you use minis a lot or not? Why?

Hawklorddragon: No, don't use any art for gaming only for inspiration, believe it or not we try to stay away from mini’s as much as possible, they can get expensive! We try to work that imagination, that's where good DM descriptions and player input is important, we still have to use them sometimes just to help in complex situations or areas.

Games of Turtle: Yes, I understand, like to define the marching order for example.

Games of Turtle: Why do you start tweeting about rpg / fantasy art? How do you feel about being a mainstream account? Is this important for you?

Hawklorddragon: I hope I’m not mainstream lol, totally not important. I got on Twitter just to follow some celebrities, bands and football players but then I got sucked into the gaming/comic community and I thought to myself how can I contribute something that's inspiring? I can't draw on my own anymore after injuring my hand so how about post art that I like? If people enjoy it that's great, if it inspires someone or makes someone smile somewhere it's worth it.

Games of Turtle: uhhh!. You know I think that this kind of conversation / interview is very interesting because we get to know a little about our stories, in this case, your story. I think it breaks the virtual circle and humanizes us. So, Would you mind a question about what has happened to your hand?

Hawklorddragon: I agree, it's nice that your doing this and hopefully with other people out there too. Sure no problem, I had an accident on a trampoline, messed up my spine and my hands were basically in bad shape for a while because of my back. Exercise thank God has helped but I really can't draw anymore or play video games (for long periods). I'm a big big proponent for accessibility in AAA video games…. So yeah it's not a secret or anything and if somebody asks I tell them I don't mind. The most important thing is to never forget to exercise your body as you get older. Simply walking is also good enough. Your welcome and thanks again my friend.

Games of Turtle: So, the advice to play sports and take care of your health is very good. And the message that you are giving is a message of overcoming, it is very important, I think that the community could promote greater accessibility so that everyone can enjoy the games!

Games of Turtle: We know you like Iron Maiden. What is your favorite band and album? What is your favorite cover art?

Hawklorddragon: Live after Death! For cover art probably Somewhere in Time! It's very hard to choose, Number of the Beast is a great album with great cover art too.

Games of Turtle: Who is Hawklorddragon? How would you define yourself? What do you do in your free time? Do you have a pet?

Hawklorddragon: I'm just a gamer at heart who likes to game, listen to music, read comics and loves artwork. That hasn’t changed since the 80’s. lol. We have two cats and one dog. 

Games of Turtle: Do you have a pending or postponed project? Like to publish a book, an adventure, plant a tree?

Hawklorddragon: One day I want to try and draw again and finish it even with the bad hand. 

Games of Turtle: Do you want to add something?

Hawklorddragon: Turtles rule! 

Games of Turtle: Hahaha! THX! 

Games of Turtle: Some classic questions:
1. A book? The Hobbit

2. A movie? Star Wars 1977

  3. A place? Greece

4. A meal? Sushi!

5. A game? Dragon Age series

Games of Turtle: We have reached the end of the interview. 

Last question from an old and wise turtle: Does the afterlife exist or not?

Hawklorddragon: I think so! 

Games of Turtle: We hope you felt comfortable in the interview! And of course there is another opportunity to repeat the meeting because there are many things to discover and ask! We are in contact! Thank you very much!

Hawklorddragon: Sure no problem, I appreciate it and it was fun, you're totally welcome!