Call of Cthulhu creative director gives his tips for designing role-playing games

Mike Mason says if you want to make tabletop RPGs, you actually have to make them.

Recently, we got to sit down with tabletop role-playing mastermind Mike Mason. Mason, who has helped create Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy and currently works as creative director on Call of Cthulhu, was sharing some of his wisdom on why Cthulhu still feels so fun to play after so many years, how Lovecraftian stories can be adapted to RPGs, and how budding game designers can make their RPGs a reality.

When we asked what one tip or trick Mason could give to RPG designers, he had the following to say: "I think it's just to do something. I've seen a lot of people like to think about it for a long time, and maybe never actually end up writing or running the game. And to say, you have to just have a go and give it a go and try."

"The first time you do it won't be the best, but you will learn from the experience and you will get better," Mason continued. "The first things I wrote were terrible. But I've now spent quite a long time doing it. And I write better now than I did when I started."

So, essentially, you've just got to get out there and do it. Like any sort of writing or creative process, if you don't do it, the work won't get done. So get out there and start making your tabletop RPG. But, not before checking out the full interview with Mike Mason below: