Just last week I caught up with German RPG creator, Heiner de Wendt, to talk about his RPG game entitled ‘Braythe.’ During the interview Heiner was kind enough to take us through his process on creating RPG rules, storylines and his inspirations.
Below you’ll find my interview with Heiner in its entirety.
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Interview with Heiner de Wendt – ‘Braythe’ RPG Creator
: Where in the world are you from?
Heiner de Wendt: I live in Germany, at the outskirts of Cologne. I love that the people here are very open-minded. I grew up in a relatively small, conservative town. I feel more at home here than I ever felt back then.
: What projects are you currently working on?
Heiner de Wendt: I have published my own roleplaying setting in February 2022! Braythe: Shattered Realities is a high fantasy setting for D&D 5E. While it’s brimming with magic and lore, it’s really a setting about hope, healing and finding your place in life.
The core concept of Braythe is that there’s an alternate reality that’s populated by post-apocalyptic worlds. Sometimes when a world ends, the mysterious powers of Braythe choose a Champion of that world, and grant them the power to save parts of it. With almost divine magic, they merge those fragments into a new world-island, which then gets transported into the dimension of Braythe.
The setting describes one such world, Ashandri, in detail. The old world was destroyed about four years ago by a dragon god gone mad. So even to the people living in Ashandri, the world is still new. Players can experience this new world along with their characters.
There is a lot to explore there: Eleven different regions, biomes merged together that wouldn’t be close to each other in a natural world, tons of new races and cultures, locations, creatures, magic – you name it. And there are things like the World-Chains, massive structures that tie all world-islands together. Not to forget the Purple Void itself, within which the worlds of Braythe exist.
Right now I’m working on converting it to Roll20 – I’m already in the testing stage, fixing technical problems and making sure everything will run smoothly for game masters and players. My goal is to release the Roll20 version within 2022.
: How did you first get started?
Heiner de Wendt: I’ve been thinking about creating my own setting for years. But inspiration really hit me when I was experimenting with Inkarnate, the map-making software. I was figuring out how to create interesting world maps.
I worked on this map where I just put wildly different biomes together to see how things work. While I did that, I started thinking: What if this was an actual world? How could this be explained? Once I opened that door, the ideas just didn’t stop anymore.
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: Are you more of a horror or sci-fi nerd? What are your go to films to check out?
Heiner de Wendt: I love fantasy, horror and science fiction – but not all of it. What draws me in is anything about exploring new ideas, journeying to the outer edges of space, strange worlds and the human mind. If a story inspires me or gives me an impulse to reflect on myself or my view of the world, I’m in.
: Who are your main creative influences and what aspects of your creative work can we find them in?
Heiner de Wendt: I’m a huge fan of the Planescape setting from 2nd edition. I loved that, at its very core, it was about philosophy. That definitely had a part in my choice of theme: “From surviving to thriving”, which comes straight from trauma therapy.
I think Planescape showed me how to take such a complex theme and make it light and fun, something you want to explore and experience.
Both Braythe and Planescape can be used without ever touching the theme, just incorporating amazing locations and creatures and things like that in your campaign. Or you can dive in completely, go really deep. Some of my best sessions in my home group were all about planar philosophies. But it’s also great to just go adventuring for a bit and enjoy the sense of wonder and amazement.
: Who are your go to musical jams to put on while you’re working?
Heiner de Wendt: That changes from day to day. I often write in total silence to not have any distractions. But sometimes I put on whatever fits the mood of my current project. Occasionally, there’s a single song that just captures what I want to put into words, and I keep it on repeat until I’m done.
: What strengths in previous jobs have helped strengthen your creativity?
Heiner de Wendt: I think one thing that overlaps between all jobs I’ve had is understanding other people. I’ve started out as a web developer, and when designing a website, you have to understand how people will use it. It’s not so much about what you think is cool, but what works for those who’ll use your website.
I later switched to online marketing, which is still my main job. You can’t do that without understanding what moves people, what makes people decide for or against something.
Last but not least, I also have a little side project where I work as a coach. My focus is helping people figure out relationship dynamics. So, once again, it’s all about understanding people. You could almost assume it’s something I care about.
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: What weaknesses have you identified in your current project that you’re going to work on in the future?
Heiner de Wendt: I care a lot about making Braythe a positive experience, and that includes not hurting anyone with my writing. Even when being careful, it happens that you include things that might be interpreted negatively. When you come up with a fantasy culture that’s related to a real-world one, and you don’t know enough about the history of that culture, it’s easy to make mistakes. Fortunately, I’ve published my setting only in a digital format so far. I found a few aspects that needed fixing, so I fixed them.
My goal is to expand the setting of Braythe more and more. Right now, I’m working on a land called the Ember Wastelands, which is inspired by Arabian Nights. I’m currently learning about Orientalism, which is a – usually patronizing – Western attitude towards Arabian cultures. What I hope to achieve is to create the same sense of wonder and magic that many of these stories have, without the hurtful tropes found in many Western interpretations.
As I always try to write in a way that goes beyond tropes and one-dimensional characters, it’s not as hard as it sounds. But it still needs a certain amount of self-education, care and awareness, which has to be trained.
: Let’s talk about some memories that you had when you first started getting creative? How has this changed from childhood to adolescence to creating as an adult?
Heiner de Wendt: I have always been a writer – I’ve written my first stories in elementary school, as soon as I could write. There are two main things that have changed. The first is that I learned a lot about writing as a craft. The rules of writing, and when to break them. I’ve been studying these things since decades, and I feel like there’s always more to learn.
The second thing is that I learned my own limits, and how to handle them. My big dream was always to write a novel. I’ve made several attempts, but never finished one. I love to just sit down and let the ideas pour out, which works great for a short story that you finish in a day or two. When attempting to write novels, I always failed at the same point: When things got too complex and I lost orientation.
I still plan to write a novel one day, but I know now that I need a strong foundation. I might even use the setting of Braythe for that – the worldbuilding is done already, after all.
: What’s the worst nightmare you’ve ever had?
Heiner de Wendt: I rarely remember my dreams. Whether that’s good or bad, I can’t tell!
: Do you have a favourite soft drink?
Heiner de Wendt: Yes, but sadly I realized I’m allergic to it! It’s a brand called Sünner, originally a brewery from Cologne. They have been selling these lemonade drinks since 2013. I love them – but I can’t drink them anymore.
: Who’s your favourite telepath or gifted character in pop culture?
Heiner de Wendt: That’s a tough one. There are many aspects from many different characters that I love. Charles Xavier comes to mind, of course, but I don’t like all interpretations of that character. On the other end of the spectrum, Kelly Bailey from Misfits – where her ability feels more like a curse than a gift.
For me, the most fascinating aspects of telepathy are to see beyond the masks, beyond the protective walls. Get a glance at the real person behind all that. In the end, fictional stories are all about people, and telepathy offers a way to go really, really deep.
: Which creative work would you most like to be remembered for?
Heiner de Wendt: Probably something I haven’t even written yet! I’m only starting out as a professional writer and game designer. Even the setting of Braythe: Shattered Realities is going to be expanded a lot, I have plans for the next couple of years.
I’m excited for everything that’s still ahead of me, so it’s far too early to answer that question.
: Where can my readers find you online?
Heiner de Wendt: The free core setting of Braythe: Shattered Realities can be found at braythe-rpg.com. Additional content can be found at Roll20, DriveThruRPG and Patreon. On the social media platforms, I’m most active on Twitter, but plan to do more on TikTok, as well.
Check our Heiner de Wendt’s work online
Braythe RPG Website
Braythe on Patreon
Braythe on Twitter
