Macabre Daily Talks With Bruce Seddon, creator of “Never Sleep Again: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game!”

It’s not controversial to say that fans of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” films are starved of supplemental content.  Sure, we have some short films, Freddy merchandise, and a few documentaries, the latest of which (rightfully) extolls series star Robert Englund.  But do you know what most of those projects have in common?

They’re made by fans.

Fredheads all over have taken it upon themselves to show the world how much this series means to them, while we all turn to dust waiting for a semi-decent blu-ray set.  The latest project is a tabletop RPG based on “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors,” arguably the most popular sequel to Wes Craven’s classic.  The game, designed by New Jersey native Bruce Seddon, has you and your friends taking on the roles of the titular heroes who enter Freddy’s realm to rescue their friend and find their inner strength to vanquish Freddy once and for all.  Seddon took a break from playtesting the latest iteration to discuss “Nightmare on Elm Street,” his love of RPGS, and the powerful story of how consecutive tragedies in his life inspired him to create a game about fighting your demons.

First off, where did your love of horror begin?

My parents were older in life when they had me, so I grew up with a lot of older cousins who introduced me to movies they loved.  I saw many of them on Spike TV growing up and I became the “weird kid who loved horror films” in school.  I had already loved “Dream Warriors” when I was 12 and Dokken was my introduction to glam metal.  As I grew up, of course I found different interests in different genres, but horror was always there for me.

Creating a game of any kind from scratch, especially a tabletop RPG is a major project.  How’d you marry your two loves of gaming and horror?

While I grew up playing video games, it never really felt like my choices [in the games] mattered.  Like, my actions and consequences didn’t shape the experience.  I eventually got into tabletop RPGs around 2015 when a friend from martial arts class introduced me to Pathfinder, a “sister game” to Dungeons & Dragons. I played a few campaigns, then I pitched the idea of a new game to some close friends.  I ran my first homebrew game, using the D&D 5th edition engine.  We eventually created a community that started with around 6 people and blew up to over 30 that’s still going strong.  

By late 2021, I had over 20 different campaigns and one-shots under my belt and I wanted to try something different.  One night, my dad called me into his room to tell me my uncle, his best friend and basically my godfather, had passed away.  It still really guts me.  I just wanted to get out of my house and be distracted by work and college.  Then, not even 2 weeks later, my cousin passed away on my uncle’s birthday.

Oh my god.

So when I got home that day, I let it sink in and I turned my tv on for the first time since I got the news about my uncle.  I realized that just before I got the news, I had been watching “Dream Warriors” for the first time in years, and I actually paused it just as Nancy was about to enter the rec room where she would take the Dream Warriors into the third act.  So I watched the rest of the film and I was inspired.  I knew I needed a game to run because tabletop RPGs have always been my healthiest outlet.   

At first, it was just supposed to be a one-off game session.  My friend Avies, who’s always been a mentor and a big supporter, helped me come up with the mechanics and the rules based on a game called Unknown Armies, which I felt was digestible for newcomers and veteran gamers, alike.  My friends and I played the game over several sessions, and when we were done, everything I held in for months came out and I just cried.  It was a really powerful experience.  My friends said “look, we’re going to be mad at you if you don’t find a way to publish this.”  That’s when I created social media for it, and even more playable characters.  

Bruce (R), meeting Ken Sagoes (Kincaid) from “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and 4”

Most people immediately think of Freddy when they hear about “Nightmare on Elm Street,” making most of the other characters underserved.  To play as a Dream Warrior is, well, a dream for so many fans. Talk to me about your love for the teenagers who fight back.

The passion I have for writing and creating scenarios for the Dream Warriors is that they’re not  lucid-dreaming superheroes.  They felt like fleshed-out characters you cheered when they triumphed and felt bad for when they went down swinging.  They wear their insecurities until they’re able to shed them with their powers, which are reflections of their fears.  What’s beautiful about them is they don’t choose these powers, but their unconscious creates them.  To me, Joey has one of the most powerful moments in the movie, where he gets to use the weapon that Freddy robbed him of.  Kristen and Kincaid are always being constrained, so in their dreams, Kristen is agile and sleek, and Kincaid is super-strong and fearless.  Will is in a very sterile environment, but his creativity and his passion make him the wizard master.  I could go on about these characters and I feel that’s why they deserve more representation.

It’s always refreshing to hear about other Fredheads out in the world who respond to characters in the series beyond Freddy.

That’s the thing about the franchise.  Everyone talks about “Freddy Mania,” but the biggest thing that people miss is that besides “Dream Warriors, ““Aliens” and “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter,” not many horror films of that era had characters that weren’t livestock.  They’re presented as real kids with real problems.  They’re paying for the sins of their parents by being forced into the fight of their lives, standing in the night alone [like the song says].  I saw a great comment on Youtube where someone said the film is a metaphor for addiction.  That you can’t survive alone. 

Tell me about the game itself.

I want it to be as user-friendly as possible.  Like, if you went to a park and saw dogs playing, “Never Sleep Again” is a golden retriever in a Freddy sweater that wants to play with everyone.  Avies helped me create the system that relies mostly on 2 dice, a d10 and a d100.  You’ll always use those dice for combat, problem solving and almost everything else. There are 220 points in the system I created for each character, divided up in 4 stats; brawn, agility, wits, and soul. 

Different stats for different folks.

Take the boiler room fight in “Dream Warriors” for example: after Nancy initiates combat and jumps on the pipe, Kincaid has to roll a brawn check to use his super-strength to steady it for her.  Nancy then runs and slides over to Joey to try and save him, which would be an agility check.  It’s simple math, and you get rewarded depending on certain matching rolls. Rolling high numbers is also perilous instead of rolling low numbers like in D&D.  I’ve seen characters get killed from high rolling matches.  There’s a real danger factor because you’re in Freddy’s realm.  No 2 characters play the same.  Kristen has a low brawn score, but her gymnastics mean high agility.  She also has a “dream sense” where she knows where her friends are, as well as Freddy.

There’s also a “fear and composure” system that your dream powers are based on.  If you’re too overrun with fear, your powers start to flicker and fade, similarly to Green Lantern’s willpower..  Like, Joey would lose his voice or Will would lose his spellcasting, or even his ability to walk.

The conflict of the films has always felt asymmetrical since it’s always a group of teens fighting only Freddy.  Can we expect new enemies to fight?

The game starts at Westin Hills just like “Dream Warriors.” Once the threat of Freddy is established, the players charge into the dreamworld while NPCs like Donald Thompson, Neil, and possibly even Max try to find and destroy Freddy’s bones.  In the dream, you enter the Elm Street house and progress through the levels of the house to the boiler room.  But players stick together, unlike the film where Freddy splits the party and picks them off.  Still, he could be anywhere.  He also has constructs that attack you, and even the souls of his victims.  My research says he has roughly 30-40 kills under his belt by part 3, but you don’t have to know the films to understand what’s going on in the game.

Different players have different stats and skills, just like D&D. Kristen is just one example.

What’s your plan for releasing the game?  It seems nobody knows who owns the rights.  

I never started this game to get my name out there, or get my foot in the door anywhere.  All of my effort, focus, and time has gone into this game, and I want to share it with people.  I don’t see money as an object when it comes to this.  This started as a game I was playing with friends and it’s turned into one of the most transformative experiences I’ve ever had.  It’s for my Uncle John and my cousin Anne Marie, who I miss every day.  Plus, from a pragmatic standpoint, I don’t want to lock horns with New Line Cinema [Laughs].  I have no dog in that fight.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

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