Ad Personam: J.E. Sawyer, Black Isle Studios
Sia 'Garrett' Manzari, 2003-06-05

Ad Personam is dedicated to the people behind the games: programmers, artists, musicians, directors, producers and many other professions involved in creating the stuff that fills our harddisks, lets us sleep less and eat more junk food. In each Ad Personam, we want to introduce one of these fine folks to you - and this time it is J.E. Sawyer, Lead Designer at Black Isle Studios.

J.E. Sawyer: My name is J.E. Sawyer. I am a lead designer at Black Isle Studios, a division of Interplay. I am responsible for organizing and guiding designers in their tasks, writing main story elements (plot, characters, area overviews etc.), designing interfaces for the game and editors, and designing rule implementation.

I started at Interplay as a web designer on Planescape: Torment. I eventually moved over to development as a junior designer on Icewind Dale, an intermediate designer on Heart of Winter, and the lead designer for Icewind Dale 2. I also did minor design work for Torn, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, and Lionheart.

RPGDot: Your favourite game, both electronical and board?

J.E. Sawyer: My current favorite computer game is Battlefield: 1942. My favorite game of all time oscillates between Fallout, Darklands, and the original Pool of Radiance. My favorite board game is, without a doubt, Die Siedler von Catan.

RPGDot: Your favourite movie and favourite actor & actress?

J.E. Sawyer: My favorite films are Brazil and Miller's Crossing. It's hard to pick a favorite actor. Jude Law and Phillip Seymour Hoffman rank pretty highly, though. Julianne Moore is also a big winner in the game of life. And by "life" I mean "acting in films".

RPGDot: Your favourite singer/band and record?

J.E. Sawyer: Right now, it varies between Dawn Upshaw I Wish it So, Björk Homogenic, Andreas Scholl Wayfaring Stranger, P.J. Harvey 4-Track Demos, and Sparta Wiretap Scars. Alison Goldfrapp's Felt Mountain is also in constant rotation.

RPGDot: If you could do any game, regardless of money and developing time, what would it be?

J.E. Sawyer: An adventure game based off of Norton Juster's Phantom Tollbooth children's book. I'd also like to make a rules-light Delta Green RPG, a light-future Earth adventure/RPG with strong art deco and art nouveau visual themes, and a pre-Fallout "Resource Wars" game set in collapsing Europe (during the U.K.'s invasions of the Middle East).

RPGDot: If you'd be able to choose anyone from within the game industry to work on your dream project, who'd you put in your team?

J.E. Sawyer: Oh, I don't know anyone in the game industry, really. You can never really tell who's the "brains" behind the success of a game and who's just a mascot. I'd like to keep working with Chris Avellone and Dave Maldonado, though. I could tell you a bunch of people I don't want to work with, but that probably isn't a good idea.

RPGDot: What character from a game or role-playing setting best describes you?

J.E. Sawyer: Psyduck. I often try to control people with my mind. Also, I look like a duck.

RPGDot: Your non-gaming hobbies?

J.E. Sawyer: I fence off and on, drive/read about German cars, and read history books.

RPGDot: Your favourite author and favourite book?

J.E. Sawyer: It's hard to pick a favorite author, but my favorite books are The Phantom Tollbooth, The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, The Inferno and The Prince.

RPGDot: What historical person would you like to meet and why?

J.E. Sawyer: Baby Jesus, the Comte de Saint-Germain, and Tamerlane. Just cuz.

RPGDot: Thanks for your time!