Exclusive Interview: D&D, Skyrim, Author: Bruce Nesmith

In partnership with OasisArcade, Nerdgasm Toy News is proud to present this exclusive interview with legend Bruce Nesmith.

---

---

Bruce, thank you so much for taking the time to nerd out with us! It's an honor, sir. You've had a long and distinguished career being involved in creating some of the most prevalent pop culture and gaming icons today. You worked on Dungeons & Dragons in the '80s with TSR, ending up as their Creative Director in the '90s. During that time, you created a plethora of modules for not just D&D but also Ravenloft, Dragonlance, and even Marvel! You moved to gaming and joined Bethesda, starting with Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall and Terminator. You later had a significant contribution to one of my personal all-time favorite games, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. We also have to thank you for your work with the Fallout games and Starfield! Lastly, a successful author with a new book out in your LitRPG series Glory Seeker. Quite the pedigree! Thank you so much for joining us.

OasisAvatar: Before your ascension to nerd royalty, you grew up a mortal like the rest of us. As a kid, what were some of your favorite Saturday morning cartoons and shows that made an impression on you?

Bruce: Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, Bozo the clown was a staple. A local program that gained national notoriety. I also loved all the classic cartoons, Bugs, Roadrunner, etc. With only one TV in the house, I had limited screen time, so it’s not an extensive list.

Oasis: Probably the bigger question is, what video or board games did you play as a kid that you loved and that would later influence you?

Bruce: When I was 8 or 9, my father splurged and got us an Odyssey game system. I played Pong and Mine Breaker on it. He never upgraded it to a Sega or Atari in later years, but I still remember playing those games. As for board games, we had some of the staples, like Monopoly and Sorry, which I played, but not more than other children my age. Chess was big for me when I got older.

Oasis: During the '80s, conservative soccer moms got into a sort of Satanic panic, up in arms that you all were teaching their kids sorcery and to commune with the devil. What do you remember thinking during that time as you experienced it?

Bruce: I was working at TSR in the ‘80s, so that whole thing was a hot topic. We kind of shrugged them off as fringe opinions on the outside. However, internally it had a chilling effect. We didn’t reveal our jobs to strangers and avoiding conversations about D&D in public. Fortunately, TSR was a major business in the small tourist town of Lake Geneva, so the people that lived there by and large supported us.

Oasis: What were some of your all-time favorite modules you worked on at TSR? Which do you think is your most famous?

Bruce: I loved working on the Ravenloft line. I would probably say Hour of the Knife and The Created were my favorite modules that I wrote. Strangely, I get the most questions about Sabre River, probably because it wasn’t a well written and confused people. I’m best known for game supplements that are not modules, like Lankhmar, Ravenloft, Gamma World, and the Dragonstrike board game. 

Oasis: You left working on D&D for Bethesda, moving from paper RPGs to digital. Was it difficult to make that transition, both creatively and technically?

Bruce: It was not as difficult as I’d feared. I was an avid player of computer games at that time, as they were called then. I also had a background as a programmer, which helped me understand video games at a deeper level. However, I did have to make some adjustments creatively. I was used to a high degree of creative autonomy at TSR. Writing adventures and game supplements is a solo endeavour, whereas video games are a team effort, although back then the teams were quite small.

Oasis: You worked on Oblivion as a Senior Game Designer. How do you feel about the remaster, seeing your work released with current-gen graphics but with some changes as well? There is a lot to be said about the staying power of you and your team's art, that it's updated and released again.

Bruce: The remaster is amazing. I’m stunned at how much effort they put into it, and the overall quality. It’s great to see something I worked on so long ago brought back to life like that. 

Oasis: I was playing Skyrim and got an incredible mod working called CHIM. Basically, it uses an AI like ChatGPT to inject new life into all the NPCs. I tested it by going up to a guard that had some passive dialogue and a set patrol route and cussed him out. Turns out he didn't like that much. I cussed him out so badly that he got really angry, broke his patrol routine, and came after and killed me. This blew my mind that static elements became dynamic. It was even more fun holding real-time conversations with my followers. It's a whole new level of immersion in new games and enhancing old ones. In-game AI systems might track our progress and change game elements to fit our pace and style in the future. What are your thoughts on AI in games vs. AI making games?

Bruce: This is a huge topic that could occupy an entire interview all by itself. I’ll hit some highlights. AI is inevitable. Rather than fight it, game companies should embrace it. The CHIM mod you referenced is a great example of how it might be employed. AI is already being employed by programmers to enhance and accelerate their code writing. I can see it assisting in dialogue writing and quest scripts as well. However, I think there is a point at which AI could cause game breaking chaos in an open world setting. In your example, imagine a quest giver instead of a guard. Angering them could break the quest. So I think some guard rails would be necessary. I’m most excited to see how strategy games use AI. For story driven games, I think it has less use. The writers have created a story for the players to experience, and major deviations would ruin that. 

Oasis: I know you were a fan of the Fallout TV show, and you even have said you went back and played Fallout 4 start to finish again afterward. How does it feel seeing a franchise you put so much work into come to life on TV? And any chance of a live-action Elder Scrolls show?

Bruce: Since I retired from Bethesda, I have no idea if a TES show is in the works. But seeing Fallout on the small screen was amazing. They got so much right.

Oasis: What non-Bruce Nesmith games do you enjoy playing? And do you ever get to a point in a game with off-putting design or story elements and just think... really? Since you've worked behind the curtain, so to speak.

Bruce: I’m a huge Civilization fan. I’ve also played an obscene amount of Minecraft. I’ve put hundreds of hours into the Elder Scrolls Online. It’s impossible to turn off my designer brain. I frequently think about how I might do things differently if I had worked on a particular title. However, along with the judgement comes forgiveness. I know how hard it is to make a video game. I know the tough decisions developers need to make. I understand why things that irk me are the way they are.

Oasis: You left Bethesda and became a published writer! Though I suspect you've always been a writer. First the Loki Redeemed trilogy and then into one of my personal favorite genres, LitRPGs with Glory Seeker. It's now on its 4th book, Will of Wight. Was this the natural progression of your career, returning to your roots telling stories like in D&D modules, or something you just always wanted to do?

Bruce: Both! There probably isn’t a game designer out there that hasn’t dreamed of writing a novel. Same with TTRPG writers. We’re all storytellers, and in many ways, a novel is the ultimate form of storytelling. It’s also something I can do on my own. It’s a return to the more complete creative freedom I had when writing TTRPG products. I loved making video games. And now I love writing novels.

Oasis: I really enjoyed Glory Seeker: Feast of Ghouls. In the beginning of the book, he's in the back of a wagon with his hands tied, and someone says, "Oh good, you're awake." Later, he has to fight some crabs, no one likes the Imperials, and so much more I won't spoil. You obviously took heavy inspiration from Skyrim in crafting your LitRPG. What do you think in your life or work most influenced your books and how you write?

Bruce: That opening was meant to be a nod to and a send up of Skyrim. However, the story quickly diverges and becomes its own thing. I don’t want anyone to think it’s fan fiction. It isn’t. Obviously my entire career, first with D&D then with The Elder Scrolls were big influences. How could they not be? But I’ve also read a few thousand fantasy and science fiction novels, which were also inspirations. I’ve always loved mythology, which led to the Loki Redeemed books. As an author, you try not to lean too heavily on one thing. Take all of your influences, stir them together, let them simmer, and try to create something new.

Oasis: How was the transition from often working visually with a team to sitting and staring at a blank page?

Bruce: Fortunately, my long career taught me the discipline to not end up staring at a blank page. I’ve been lucky enough to not suffer from writer’s block. What’s in my head moves faster than my fingers can on the keyboard, so there is always something to write.

Oasis: What's on the horizon for game dev icon Bruce Nesmith? Glory Seeker Book 5? Book signings or any special projects?

Bruce: Books 5 and 6 of the Glory Seeker series are already written and edited. Book 5, Blood Ties, will be released in August, and book 6, Lair of the Lich, will come out in September. That will complete that series. I’m currently about half way done writing a new book unrelated to either Loki Redeemed or Glory Seeker.

Oasis: Okay, last question from me, who do you think would win in a fight, Skyrim's Dragonborn, or Fallout 4's Sole Survivor"?

Bruce: LOL. Depends a lot on the equipment and level. If the Sole Survivor spots the Dragonborn at a distance, he’ll take him out sniper style. Once the distance closes, my money is on the Dragonborn.

Oasis: Awesome. If you don't mind, we asked our Discord community if they had any burning questions for you, and we have a few real quick:

Community 1: What was the transition period like from the '80s and '90s to today, where most art for books, games, etc., is done digitally? - Sci-fi

Bruce: You can see a wider variety of art styles today than you did back then. The digital world also allowed the artist to more easily make changes where necessary. Most importantly, art can be made anywhere in the world and electronically to the publisher. In the old days, you’d have to mail the original artwork to the publisher. 

Community 2: Was 76 always planned to be a Fallout multiplayer game? And what was the design to have so few interactable NPCs on 76's launch? - Eugene

Bruce: Todd Howard has talked about this before. Fallout 76 was always a multiplayer game. The original concept was just a play environment for players that would allow them a high degree of interactivity. Player vs. player or teams against the environment. However, it turned out the players wanted more NPCs. They wanted something more like the standalone game, but one they could play with friends. So Bethesda gave them that with the major update to the game.

Community 3: What was your favorite game to work on and why? - Aech

Bruce: Skyrim, hands down. A huge, sprawling game world that I got to have a significant say in how it turned out. Todd gave me permission to rework the magic system from the ground up, which I loved doing. 

OasisAvatar: Thank you again for spending your time with us. It was truly an honor. From myself, our community, and I'm sure every gamer out there, thank you for everything you've done and for your life's work sir.

The Glory Seeker and Michief Maker series can be found on Amazon and Audible!

---

---

Please consider joining our awesome community of retro enthusiasts on the OasisArcade Discord. We chat about all thing '80s, '90s, and today, including movies, gaming, and pop culture. We have community game events, private game servers, giveaways, and trivia! Follow all our accounts at https://linktr.ee/OasisArcade!

*All rights reserved by Nerdgasm Toy News and OasisAvatar - contact@theoasisarcade.com

This article uses affiliate links.