Buccaneer Koen tried to pry open the vault of secrets also known as Brian Snoddy while Buccaneer Ralph went fishing in the pond at the Wilson-Yeary residence and met up with Sherry Yeary.
Introducing our victims:
- Brian Snoddy is one of the co-founders of Privateer Press and the co-creator of The Iron Kingdoms.
- Sherry Yeary is the President of Privateer Press and is happily married to Matt Wilson.
We’ll start with some basic questions about yourselves so everyone can get a good insight into the personalities at work at Privateer Press.
1) What did you want to be when you were a kid?
Brian: When I was a kid, I wanted to be Tarzan. Live in the jungle, hang out with monkeys. I would have just loved it!! Actually ... that sounds really good even now!!
Sherry: In my 6th grade year book, I wrote I would be a paediatrician. I always wanted to be a doctor and I loved kids … probably because I was one in 6th grade.
2) Is there a job you'd also be cut out for (if you couldn't have your current job, for whatever reason)?
Brian: I could do just about anything that was creative. A chef would be really cool. Most of my relatives are involved in construction, and I have always liked to build things. My dream job, however, would be a stand-up comedian. I love telling jokes and silly stories. I think all of Belgium knows this about me!
Sherry: Well I am almost finished with my PhD in psychology … so hopefully I would also be cut out as a psychologist; but not the clinical kind, you know the one who listens to your problems. I am more the educational type, like how to help people learn. I have been putting my schooling to work for me at Privateer – it has definitely helped in the establishment and growth of the company (as has my degree in Business).
3) Which other people's occupations do you envy (or the opposite: what would you try to avoid at all costs)?
Brian: I could never go to a job where I had to cut my hair, wear a suit and/or a tie, and work in an office. By the way, I actually DID do that when I was 21! Believe it or not!
Sherry: I don’t really envy other people’s jobs since I truly love what I am doing.
4) What do you do to relax?
Brian: I don't really have a normal hobby. I do go to martial arts lessons (JEN DO TAO). I have been going to these kinds of lessons for many years. I guess that’s my hobby. I also love to collect and read books about ancient people. Any place and any country is interesting to me. However, the more ancient, the better. I have so many books now, that I have to put them on the floor!
Sherry: I sit my butt on the couch and zone into the TV. If I am lucky I usually have a cat on my lap, one around my head and a dog next to my side, and then I am completely relaxed.
5) Is there a significant other? What does he/she think of your work? And your dedication to it?
Brian: Well here is the "woman situation". I do have a girlfriend now. She’s Japanese and we are planning on getting married sometime next year. My advice to creative guys: “Don't date a creative girl" Girls are crazy enough. The thing to keep in mind though, is to find a nice girl who likes you, not what you do. My girlfriend has nothing to do with gaming and I don't plan on teaching her anything about it.
Brian then suddenly starts rambling about gaming being for boys, girls being insane, etc.. We’ll spare you the nasty details. We think he’s lucky that these interviews weren’t done together as a distinct feeling tells us that Sherry might not agree. After which she would start rambling about how cool ‘chicks’ are, how lucky men are that we have them and before we know it, barricades would have been erected at the Privateer Press office and a struggle for power would have erupted.
So, Sherry, you were saying?
Sherry: Yes, definitely a significant other, Matt Wilson. Sometimes he loves my work and other times he hates it. Why you ask? Because I am the boss. (Oh yeah, you tell him girl) Same thing with dedication. Sometimes he loves how dedicated I am, other times he just wants his wife back
6) What's in your internet favourites? What sites do you visit?
Brian: I don't do a lot of internet surfing, but I do have a few favourite sites. Every day I go to The Drudge Report, Steve Quayle, DJI Report, Mt. St.-Helens Cam., and various sites about samurai armour.
Sherry: Privateerpress.com of course.
7) What books/papers do you read?
Brian: As far as books go, I collect a lot of books about Japanese armour, and just about anything by Osprey books, especially with illustrations by Angus McBride.
Sherry: If I listed what I am reading lately (remember I am finishing up my PhD), it would bore you all to death and if you haven’t already stopped reading this interview, you would now!
Oh no, we can’t afford to lose the crowd’s attention. Let’s quickly turn to some questions about your work.
8) What exactly is your job description?
Brian: My official description is "art director", but my REAL job is to paint and/or draw cool pictures to make Privateer Press fans happy! I also go to lots of conventions to meet the fans, and talk to them. I really love our fans. Without them, I would have no job.
Sherry: President, Privateer Press Inc. I do everything from Human resources, legal, production, accounting, to sales and management. Basically all I don’t do is anything creative. If I did, all your characters would be stick figures with too many toes and fingers.
9) What does a typical working day look like?
Brian: My day is usually the same. I wake up, check my e-mail, while eating
breakfast, then I go to work. Sometimes I go to the Privateer office for a short time, but mostly I go to my desk to draw. I go to my martial arts lessons five days a week, sometimes at noon, and sometimes at 7 PM. Then I just work until I am too tired to stay awake, and then I go to sleep. It is not a very exciting life.
I’m sure many of us nine-to-five desk jockeys would love to swap with you any time Brian. But over to you Sherry.
Sherry: There is no typical working day at Privateer Press. We move at a fast pace around here, so it really keeps things fresh … the only routine I have is Wednesday AM production meetings.
10) What makes Privateer Press different from the other RPG companies? Or what's in there that you didn't find with the competitors (besides Matt)?
Brian: Privateer Press is VERY different from many of the other companies, and I think that the main reason is our love for our fans. We all work very hard (and I mean everyone at the office/warehouse) because we love games, gaming art, miniatures, and we love YOU GUYS!!
Sherry: The thing that sets Privateer Press apart is the high level of professionalism and dedication that can be found in every single one of our employees. The creative staff are all award winning veterans in their fields. The production staff is always willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to surpass the expectations of our customers. In a word it’s our CREW.
11) What's your current project? What's your next? (Scoop fishin’ alert)
Brian: Keep fishing baby. My next project is really cool but … it’s TOP SECRET. You guys will just have to wait. But don't worry, when you see it, you’ll love it!!
Sherry: My current drive is to create as much exposure for the products of Privateer Press as possible. Unfortunately, I am not privy to the intriguing details of the games, so it is going to be a slow day fishing.
12) What part of your job do you like best? What part least?
Brian: This is a really difficult question. I like all kinds of art, but I am better at sketching and working under pressure than doing a big painting. I like all different kinds of art, but drawing with markers is my favourite style of art and my all time favourite thing to do is go to a museum and draw an old suit of armour.
Sherry: The best part is working with the CREW. As I already said they are a pretty amazing bunch of people. I also enjoying attending conventions and meeting the players. The part I like the least is that there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything Privateer wants to do.
13) Do you have rituals to induce a good working day?
Sherry: Whipping my husband.
14) Any Superstitions?
Sherry: Must whip at least 3 times on odd days and 4 times on even
During these questions, Brian is lost in thoughts. Probably vivid images of Sherry ‘inducing a good working day’ are consuming his mind.
15) How do you handle the angst when you stare at yet another blank sheet of paper?
Brian: I suffer a lot from artist block. It is actually very difficult for me to draw. I just have to sit down and draw things. I don't have any thing else to say about this subject. It is just very
difficult for me to be an artist ... that’s all.
Sherry: See question 13.
16) How important is fan-based input for the RPG/Miniatures source material you're putting out?
Brian: I know what it is like to be a fan. I AM A FAN!!
Sherry: We spend a lot of time listening to the feedback of players. We also have our own direction in mind for the development of the products. We take all this into account and that is why we are able to end up with some fantastic products.
17) Do you go out and read the forums to check on points of interest?
Brian: I went to the forums one time... but I forgot my password, so I can’t go again. But that’s OK. I should be working anyway.
Sherry: Yes, I really enjoying reading the forums, unfortunately I don’t get to spend as much time there as I would like.
18) Concerning releases: Is there a priority order dictated by commercial feeling? Or are you guys just putting out whatever you like best yourselves?
Brian: We at Privateer Press put out stuff that WE like ... and because we are all game dorks, we know that you will like it too!!!
Sherry: We definitely have a business strategy in mind, if we didn’t, we wouldn’t be around very long.
As we’re a fan site for the Iron Kingdoms RPG, let’s talk about that for a moment.
19) What's your influence on the IK? Where do we get to see your handiwork most noticeably?
Brian: As far as IK goes ... I am a big gun guy. I created the case less ammo and many of the building designs for the IK world. My influence is the old style real world. I think that should be the influence for everything.
Sherry: The only influence I have is financial. My input is ”Yes, we have the money to do this or that, or no we don’t.” Remember, if I had creative input stick figures would run amuck
20) If you were playing a character in the IK, what would you be? What stats would you have?
Brian: I would love to play a Trollkin with a Caspian Battleblade, a big keg of beer, cigar, and a gun in my kilt. He would be some kid of fighter. I just LOVE trollkin, and Gobbers too! They are just really cool.
Sherry: Are their fairy princesses in the IK, I would be one of those. Just joking, of course I would be Toruk but you know I can’t reveal his stats.
21) Any tips for players in the IK? Places to look out for? People to avoid?
Brian: The cool thing about playing in the IK is that there are no bad looking chicks. The bad thing is everyone hates each other. The Cygnarans hate the Khadorans, who hate the Cryxians (everyone hates the Cryx people), who hate the Protectorate, who hate ... yada, yada, yada.
Just avoid everyone ... chances are they hate you too. However this makes a very exciting world to play in. And that’s the fun of it.
Sherry: Remember they don’t tell me anything ... something about me being a blabber mouth.
Alright, now of course we’re all wondering if working for a gaming company kind of spoils the fun of playing games so …
22) What (types of) games do you play? At home? Amongst friends? At the office?
Brian: I haven’t played games in a long time. I love them but I have no time. When I did play, I played D&D, Runequest, Stormbringer, Magic, and the occasional Tyranid attack.
Sherry: I love video games, card games and definitely gambling (after all I do run a game company and that is quite a gamble).
23) What was your first RPG character ever? How did you play back then? How did he/she fare? Is he/she still alive? What would have become of him/her?
Brian: My first RPG character was a chaotic evil Dwarf fighter ... he died really fast..
Sherry: Does my Valkyrie in Gaunlet count? She was level 99.
24) What's your favourite RPG character? Or the longest living? Or in case you haven't roleplayed yet, what would your favourite RPG character be?
Brian: My favourite was a D&D character who was a Drow fighter/mage. He was the most fun, and lived the longest.
Sherry: Are there fairy princesses?
25) When playing games (RPG or conventional, or maybe even computer games): do you want to "win" at all costs? Are you more of a collaborative gamer? Do you power play? Max out? Or take the odd one out, creating midget trollkin and clumsy second-story men?
Brian: I always play a character that I want, no matter what everyone else likes or wants in their adventure. Most of the time, they work out just fine.
Sherry: Okay, so here is my opinion. I am totally collaborative. Matt and I play the RPG video games (Dark Alliance, Champions of Norath, Heroes of D&D) on X-box and PlayStation. Now Matt would say I am a treasure hog and I just want to win at the cost of killing his character. One time I saved up all my points just to be able to get some meteor shower power which basically killed any enemy around (luckily it was on friendly fire). It drove Matt crazy, he couldn’t kill a thing since I would wipe out everything on the screen.
26) Which celebrities would make out your ideal IK RPG group? Who would you like to DM, no holds barred? (say, the Dalai Lama as the cleric, Steve Buscemi as the Rogue, Bruce Lee as the Warrior-monk, and Terence Hill as the Gunmage.)
Brian: I think Armond Assante would be a cool character (just about anything ... he is cool). Also Michael Savage (an American radio talk show host) would be a cool character. Both would be fighters, or fighter/magic users. Andrew Dice Clay (American comedian) would be a cool rogue. Also Pamela Anderson would be a good rogue. Arnold Schwarzenegger ... great fighter. That’s all I can think of right now.
At this point Sherry is still enjoying the meteor shower thing a bit too much to answer this question. Wipe that smirk of yer face gal.
27) What WARMACHINE faction do you like best? For the models, game play, background, …?
Brian: I like to play Cryx or Menoth. Cryx is my favourite now.
Sherry: I like all the factions, but if I had to pick one, it would be Khador because size does matter!
Euhm … yeah. Well let’s not go into too much detail here Sherry. Time to cool down your enthousiasm a bit with some more general questions.
28) When did you have the most fun this year? What was the hardest laugh?
Brian: The most fun I had this year is drinking a wine with my cutie pie girl friend in Japan. My biggest laugh was watching my friend Satake sing heavy metal karaoke ... also in Japan. What can I say ... I love the Japanese.
Sherry: I started the year in Hawaii, so that was pretty cool. And everyday is a pretty hard laugh at Privateer thanks to working with folks like Fudgehuffer, Chucklebutt, Liver Disease Walking and Tether Ball.
At this point we would like to offer a sincere apology to the readers of this interview. We’ve tried everything (even a bribe) to get Sherry to put a name to those nicks but she wouldn’t budge. A sad day for journalism, I’ll tell ya.
29) Any spicy details, rumours, dirty laundry you'd like to share?
Brian: Nothing spicy. I’m an idiot, lead a boring life and know nothing.
Sherry: None that I can put in writing … without a bribe that is.
Yeah right, as if we’re going to buy that another bribe attempt might reveal something. No thank you. Not interested anymore.
And here’s the icing on the cake. Our shoot-out round. We get to ask even sillier questions and your explanation can be short or non-existent, or lead us into a five-page essay on Death and the Afterlife - as you wish.
• Cooking or Eating?
Brian: Both!
Sherry: I love to eat! No, you don’t understand … I LOVE to eat. Cooking I suck at (according to Matt), but eating now I am a champion at that.
• Good or Evil? (or true-neutral?)
Brian: I am evil ... but I try (and want) to be good.
Sherry: I would like to say 100% good, but working with over 30 gamer males, I have been known to be a little evil ... but just a little.
• Wizard or Warrior? (or Arcane Mechanic?)
Brian: Warrior
Sherry: Fairy princess of course.
• Fish or Meat? (or veggie)?
Brian: I like all 3. However, I love meat the best.
Sherry: Meat – and red only. I love Cows … or at least the way they taste, yummie.
• Country or Rock?
Brian: Definitely ROCK!!!!!!!!!
Sherry: Rock, duh?!?!
• US or Europe?
Brian: I LOVE the US ... I really do. America is a GREAT country!!!!! However, European girls are MUCH better.
We guess Brian didn’t figure out that the ‘essay’ part in the question was a joke as at this point he starts a lecture on ‘Continents and their chicks’. And he just keeps on going. Is he foaming at the … oh boy, someone get him a straight jacket…
Sherry: US because it is home, and no matter where you live, home is best.
• Truth or Dare? (Caution, we might take you up on this)
Brian: Always DARE ... bring it on ... you guys can’t scare me!!!!!
Sherry: Dare! Trust me you can’t handle the truth!
Alright, that concludes our interview. At this junction we would like to thanks Brian and Sherry for taking the time to answer our nonsense.
Ralph
