Wet Hot American Summer: Fantasy Camp Writers Talk Turning a Cult Comedy Classic Into a Role-Playing Game

Today, Devastator launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund a new role-playing game set in the world of the quirky cult-hit comedy Wet Hot American Summer.

Titled Wet Hot American Summer: Fantasy Camp, the game has the approval of Wet Hot creator David Wain, and allows players to live through the experience of Camp Firewood from the perspective of campers, counselors, or other staff.

If funded through Kickstarter, Wet Hot American Summer: Fantasy Camp will be available to backers in November 2017. Talent from the Wet Hot American Summer film are already backing the RPG, with a book forward from David Wain and “game tip” interviews with actors Michael Ian Black, Joe Lo Truglio, and Marguerite Moreau on how to kickass playing as their characters McKinley, Neil, and Katie.

As campaign perks, backers can get the book as a digital download, or as a physical copy (some of which are autographed by the game’s creators). Or, if the esoteric perks are more your speed, you can get postcards from Camp Firewood or an actual bottle of dick cream. Backers will also have the chance to play the game early with the creators.

This summer, Netflix will follow up on its Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp miniseries with a Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later series, set in 1991 at Camp Firewood as the cast members from the original film reunite a decade later to evaluate their lives, as agreed at the end of the movie.

The Wet Hot American Summer: Fantasy Camp Kickstarter campaign is live as of April 18 and runs through May 17.

Game creators Geoffrey Golden and Lee Keeler joined ComicBook.com to discuss the project.

How did this idea come to pass?

Lee Keeler: I was at Disneyland with Devastator publishers Amanda Meadows and Geoffrey Golden…

Geoffrey Golden: Who?!

Lee: …and our pal Yehudi Mercado. We were having some beers at this weird hotel, I was kinda stoned and it dawned on me: The Devastator had already worked with Joe Lo Truglio (Neil in Wet Hot American Summer) and had already created an RPG – we should create a game for Wet Hot American Summer! And now, you can back it on Kickstarter.

Geoffrey: My idea at that bar was to see if we could steal a Goofy walkaround costume. Lee’s idea was better. The next day, I shaped the overall concept of the game – a classic tabletop roleplaying adventure in Camp Firewood with camp inspired mini-games – and we sent a pitch packet to the licensor and David Wain for their approval. Amazingly, they said yes.

Do you think Wet Hot American Summer might be a better candidate for this than most people would think, since so many of the characters are familiar archetypes and the film’s story plays into that as well?

Lee: You nailed it right there! These characters are larger than life, their personalities are all fairly ridiculous and their actions even moreso. When you’ve got characters like Coop, who is the weird everyman, you’re grounded. When the character spectrum extends from that to a Can of Vegetables who can suck his own dick, you’ve got something.

Geoffrey: The best roleplaying games feature a character class who can suck their own dicks.

For non-gamers, or casual gamers, who think of RPGs as primarily a lot of combat and waiting, what do your characters actually DO in Wet Hot American Summer?

Lee: First off, Geoffrey and I designed this so the mechanics move a lot faster between turns than your usual D&D game. Well, Geoffrey did the heavy lifting on that!

Geoffrey: Do I even lift, bro? Yeah, every character has a Big Camp Dream – a lofty goal you’re trying to accomplish over one insane day at Camp Firewood. So, if your BCD is to win the tug-of-war against Camp Tigerclaw…

Lee: BOO!

Geoffrey: You might tie a rope to the fattest kids in camp and pull them for practice. Or sneak over to Camp Tigerclaw and unleash a shit-ton of bees. The possibilities are endless.

Lee: Interspersed with classic RPG storytelling are activities. They’re like mini party games inspired by the movie like arts & crafts, learning to play guitar poorly, and stealing the motorboat.

The rulebook for this game sounds amazing. Was it a challenge getting the VOICE of the Indoor Kids down, since they’re, relatively speaking, not onscreen a lot in the film?

Lee: From the first meeting, Geoffrey came in with the idea of the Indoor Kids authoring the book and it made so much sense.

Geoffrey: It makes you feel like the game manual is part of the world of the movie, which makes it more fun to read.

Lee: But yeah, we had to go in and mine what we could from their names, fashion, outtakes and screen time and extrapolate their personalities from there.

Geoffrey: That was actually one of the most fun parts of the project, because we got to explore these hilarious characters and the Wet Hot mythology.

Lee: Second only to Norse Mythology.

Geoffrey: Ya can’t beat Frigg and Heimdall, man.

How involved is the game itself? Are we talking about a board or stat sheets or what? I notice that so far what I’ve seen just talks about the book.

Lee: There’s no board! Everything you need to play – besides dice, friends, and maybe a pizza – is in the manual, including the character sheets and a map of the camp. We really tried to include friends as rewards in the Kickstarter, though.

Geoffrey: The USPS won’t let you ship certain items, especially living people.

Given that it’s Wet Hot American Summer, what would you say is the strangest/most awesome action someone might have to roll to accomplish?

Geoffrey: Roll to successfully hump a fridge.

Lee: If you roll a 1, the fridge falls on top of you and crushes your pelvis.

Are there any other movies you want to try next if this is successful? The Breakfast Club?

Lee: I actually know the producer of that film, he taught at the film school I went to!

Geoffrey: Next, we’re acquiring the game rights to Sideways. “Explore wine country, cheat on your fiance and destroy all the merlot you can!”