East Sussex roleplaying book series battles Dungeons and Dragons for Amazon top spot

The Storymaster’s Tales is the invention of Oliver McNeil, the owner of the World of Legend theatre in Rye.

The book allows players to role-play as a variety of characters and participate in quests set in a Brothers Grimm folklore fantasy world.

Mr McNeil believes the success of the series is due to the ‘pick-up and play’ nature of the book, which scraps many of the complicated rules that other role-playing tabletop series adopt.

He said: “The first game in the series The Storymaster’s Tales “Weirding Woods”, was a Kickstarter success, and really struck a chord with families around the world, even being used in schools.

“Then I created several follow-ups that expanded the world but also entered new genres such as horror. These were also popular, but our reach was still limited to our existing audience.

“Last year, with shipping prices rising, Brexit, and Covid, I realised that I needed to find a better way to get my games to a larger audience and make it even more accessible.

“That’s when I redesigned it into book form and had Amazon print and fulfill them worldwide. Since they are printed near to the customer, this cut down the price and moved them into a much larger market.

“From the feedback I get from my customers, they love the fact that you can pick up one of my games, and be playing it with friends and family almost straight away. They have interesting, funny, and magical moments, but also have a real emphasis on cooperation.

“Also, they are written for the whole family to enjoy, which for a role-playing game is rare. I have teachers tell me that the games encourage their students to be creative, and give them the confidence to read to others.”

The theatre in Rye was hugely popular before it was forced to close in March 2020 due to the pandemic.

Former Doctor Who star Tom Baker stepped in to help move the theatre online last year, and set the foundation for the book series.

The success of the Storymaster’s Tales series is set to continue with Mr McNeil having big plans to build the universe in which it is set.

He added: “I’m currently working on two more this year, one based on 17th Century Port Town, loosely based on Rye, where my theatre is.

“The other is a Pirate-themed game called Mysterious Islands. As all my fantasy books are linked, it allows players to create an endless quest if they wish to link the maps together.

“I’m very honored that people are playing the games around the world, and that families are having so much fun together without turning on a television or holding a controller. There is still so much I wish to do and feel that I’m only at the beginning of my gaming journey.”

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