Who doesn’t enjoy the magic of a great novel, a captivating movie, or an engrossing TV series? What fascinates me most are the characters—their motivations, their growth, and the ways they change over time. Of course, the plot plays an important role, but beyond history and literature, what has always truly interested me are people: how they live, what they believe, and how they interact with one another. And that is why I fell in love with roleplaying, especially in realistic historical settings.
If you don’t know what roleplaying games are, please scroll down to the bottom of this page.
My focus as a creator and storyteller is on:
• Shaping a rich background based on a specific historical period and cultural setting. My specialties are the Renaissance, the 19th century and pre-christian oriental cultures.
• Developing realistic protagonists that come to life through genuine motivations and fears. I am inspired by literature, movies and history.
• Infusing stories with supernatural components drawn from religion and mythology. As a staunch atheist, I am particularly interested in the parallelisms between Christian, Hebrew, Sumerian and Egyptian legends.
• Creating moral dilemmas for the player characters by confronting their needs and wants with fundamental questions about life and humanity. My games are meant for grown-ups who find pleasure in exploring real character development.
• Triggering enthusiastic engagement through convincing descriptions and exciting plots.
Professional Creations
In 2020, I was hired by Vortex Verlag as an author, artistic director and crowdfunding manager. Since then, I have written and co-produced two inspiring roleplaying books:
The Straight Way Lost and Serenissima Obscura are set in the Magical Renaissance, a fantasied version of Renaissance Italy that blends real history with mystical forces.
The Straight Way Lost is a massive sourcebook and epic adventure for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, inspired by a voyage between Heaven and Hell amid intrigues in Renaissance Italy.
Serenissima Obscura, set in 1507 Venice, expands the Magical Renaissance further: it is a richly detailed setting guide and modular horror-mystery adventure that can be played with 5e, Ars Magica, or other systems, and includes an optional Ars Magica companion guide to fully integrate Venice into Mythic Europe.
Past Projects
Early work as a translator and author
In 1997, I was hired by Mario Truant to translate the 3rd edition of „Ars Magica – The art of magic“ and the sourcebook „Hedge Magic“ from English into German. I also co-published the „Castel di Romena“ background in the quarterly magazine „Fantastic Adventure“.
The Venice Campaign
The first roleplay in which I acted as a storyteller developed into one of the longest running Vampire campaigns ever. Set in 19th century Venice, a group of newly made vampires got involved in politics and drawn into a mythological fight against their loss of humanity. We started the journey in 1830, with Venice being part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and stopped playing in 1914 just after the start of the first world war. In real-life our game lasted from 1994 to 2013 and I am now integrating some of its background into Serenissima Obscura.
Castel di Romena
A historical castle in 15th century Tuscany, Lorenzo de Medici as a boy, the exciting discoveries and politics of the renaissance, spiced with a world of magic and faeries, the godly and infernal powers and hundreds of interesting characters, from the wisest wizard to the lowliest servant, each equipped with a rich background story. This was the setting in which Andreas Wichter and I situated our Ars Magica campaign that was played for more than 15 years. I have incorporated some of its content into The Straight Way Lost.
What are Roleplays?
Tabletop roleplays are interactive games that are played by a group of individuals, each of them impersonating a fictional character in an imaginary setting. These characters interact, experience adventures or just live their lives, falling in love and building a career. Imagine telling a story together with friends and playing the protagonists. It all happens in a shared fantasy: A process of creation that is comparable to improvisational theatre – but with rules and without costumes.
One person, the storyteller or game-master/mistress, is leading the group by describing the setting, playing other personages that the player-characters interact with and supervising the process. This job can also involve inventing the background and plot, much like the work of a novelist.
Although role-plays developed in the 70s inspired by „The Lord of the Rings“, there are now plenty of interesting settings either fictional or more realistic: high fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, horror, detective, historical… whatever you fancy! Most roleplays involve some sort of magical background that allows for supernatural powers of the protagonists.
Although this sounds like something children would do, a well-developed roleplay can be the most challenging and creative past-time for grown-ups, not only allowing them to live-out exciting adventures, but also inspiring them to discovers arts, history, science and whatever you need to build a world.
By the way: Computer role-plays function quite differently than a group of friends sitting around a table or meeting via Zoom. Whilst the focus of computer-gaming is mostly on action, tabletop roleplays encourage interaction between the characters. At least, this is how we play them.
Here is the link to an interesting podcast from the British economist and journalist Tim Harford. It basically explains how roleplays were vastly demonised in the early years and therefore what roleplays are not.