Welcome to Spellfire.Net representative Marc Dalesandro's interview with Spellfire Oracle Jim Butler. If you'd like to be a Spellfire.Net reporter, just send us an e-mail.

Spellfire.Net: First of all, I'm sure that our readers on Spellfire.Net want to know foremost if there is any new info on the fate of Spellfire (or any new hope)!

I'm afraid not. The winds of change at Wizards still are not blowing in the direction of Spellfire. Most of our card resources are being spent in Magic, Pokemon, Harry Potter and the upcoming sports games.

Spellfire.Net: How did you get involved with Spellfire at the beginning?

When I first started working at TSR, I was pretty negative toward card games. Sure, I liked and played Uno like every other kid when I was younger, but the idea of a serious game of cards (that didn't involve placing dollar bets!) wasn't that intriguing to me.

Jim Ward dragged me to a game and started making it a daily ritual. We'd play at lunch and after work. In very short order, I really started getting into Spellfire.

Spellfire.Net: What was it like creating and modifying the game over the course of the expansion sets and editions? Any amusing anecdotes you can share with our readers?

Working on Spellfire was a mixture of love and hate. All of us on the project loved the game, and we'd devote countless hours of our own personal time playtesting the cards and making sure it all worked right. TSR's scheduling system was geared around RPGs, so there was never enough time granted to the game on the schedule. It made for a lot of very late (but fun) nights.

John Danovich (aka The Weasel) always makes the games he plays very interesting. He'd always have some new weasel manuever ready to surprise us with, and it normally revolved around him getting an extra turn. Everyone else in the group took it upon themselves to make sure he'd never get to play Caravan. We'd have Limited Wish, Caravan Raiders, or some other way to block his attempt to get an extra turn. It got to the point that when he played Caravan he just assumed he wouldn't be able to use it...

Spellfire.Net: Who were the other people most instrumental throughout the course of the game's history? What was it like to work with them?

Bruce Nesmith, Dori Hein, Kevin Melka, Jim Ward, Bill Olmesdahl, Dave Gross, and Tim Beach all made valuable contributions to the line when I was working on it. Whether they gave advice, created new sets, or just sat around gaming into the wee hours of the night, they poured their heart and soul into the game. Working with them, like everyone else at TSR, has been a joy!

Spellfire.Net: Do you have a favorite expansion set? Least favorite? Why?

My least favorite expansion set is probably Birthright or the Powers expansion. Adding in psionic powers and blood abilities was a mistake (since they just duplicated the effects of other cards in most instances).

My favorite expansion set was probably Night Stalkers. The undead are just soooo cool. ;-)

I think that the 3rd Edition decks were probably some of the most true to the game as well. 4th Edition, while it had some very cool cards, just never jelled with me.

Spellfire.Net: What is your favorite Spellfire card? King of the Elves? Gib Reltub? :-)

There are so many good cards, it's hard for me to pick just one. King of the Elves is certainly one of my favorites though!

Spellfire.Net: Can you tell us anything about Fiends? What was it going to contain, and what happened exactly at TSR/Wizards?

The idea for Fiends was to take some of the elements of the Blood Wars game (the edginess anyway) and bring it over to Spellfire. Demons, devils, and other sorts of planar nastiness were going to grace Spellfire games.

Ultimately, Fiends died because sales of the previous Spellfire expansion [Dungeons] didn't sell very well. It's no big secret that Wizards proper didn't care for Spellfire much, and the lackluster sales levels sealed Spellfire's fate.

Spellfire.Net: Do you still play Spellfire? Do you have a favorite deck(s) still together? If so, what kind of deck(s) is it?

I don't play Spellfire except when I visit a convention and happen to find some players there. My favorite deck is my Undead deck... ;-)

Spellfire.Net: What do you think of all the fan activity still swirling around Spellfire (web pages, fan-created booster sets, custom cards, etc.)? Has it surprised you?

I'm happily surprised that so many people still love the game. As I've said before, the fans kept Spellfire alive during the dark times at TSR, and they will be the ones to carry it through the current period of darkness. I'm not sure if we'll ever see a new Spellfire booster released, but in today's business climate I'd never give up hope.

Spellfire.Net: Recently, we at Spellfire.net had an opportunity to interview Tony Novello, 2000 Spellfire world champion. He told us about the time he actually ate a Menzoberranzan card. Can you top that story with something even wilder and crazier related to Spellfire?

Hmm. I don't think there's anything I could do to top the crazy antics of Tony Novello! LOL

On a more somber note, it appears that I'll be departing Wizards very soon. I was supposed to be one of the layoff victims in December, but they extended my time to try and work out a few issues with Hasbro that would have allowed me to stay. Alas, that won't be happening. I have my exit interview on Monday and my last day is scheduled to be 3/31.

That doesn't mean that I'm definitely leaving (someone else could swoop in and offer me a job at the last second), but things look pretty grim right now. I'm not sure what I'll be doing as of yet; I've just started looking at my options. I figured it was only right that the Spellfire community find out first, though... ;-)

Good Gaming!

Jim wants our readers to know he can be reached at:

Jim Butler, Director of RPG Licensing
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
(425) 254-2289
Personal Homepage: www.gamesterpro.com