Into the Mother Lands: Interview with Eugenio Vargas

While on my search for more content to devour during the pandemic, I discovered Into the Mother Lands via Twitter ready to launch its second season. It’s fair to say that the world of TTRPGs (Table Top Role Playing Games to the uninitiated) have blown up over the last year; thanks in part to the ongoing lockdown.  Families are bonding over dice rolls. Friends are building their own adventuring parties to explore unknown worlds. Table Top Role Playing Games are escapism at its best.

Having caught snippets of the first season of Into the Mother Lands, I took some time to catch up before getting ready for the premiere that went live on April 21st.

We’re now a few weeks in, and I’m absolutely hooked!  From the futuristic setting to the rich storytelling, it has something for everyone!

Into the Mother Lands is a science fiction odyssey like no other, journeying into a brighter and blacker future. Run and developed by POC (people of color), who are both on and off screen talent, the stream is fully funded and supported by Twitch. This struck a particular cord with me; seeing myself represented on screen and our stories being told through this medium – it’s a rare find, but hopefully this will encourage more POC to tell their stories.

Jumping into Season 2 of Into the Mother Lands

I had to the pleasure of speaking with Eugenio Vargas, the Storyteller of Into the Mother Lands about the second season and what to expect!

For those that were not able to watch the first season and are jumping on fresh for the second season: what are you most excited for audiences to see?

I’m really excited to get to explore the central planet of the setting more. We spent almost no time on Vutoa last season except in the flashback scenes, so it’ll be a lot of fun to see what the setting has to offer without leaving home. And of course, I’m always excited for new viewers to join us and see the INCREDIBLE roleplay that the players bring every single week. Their characters are so rich and exciting, and it’s such a joy to sit back and watch them get to know each other.

Both seasons premiered during the pandemic; has that made it more challenging a processes to coordinate or is it business as usual?

Honestly, it hasn’t felt like such a difference to me, but that’s probably because I don’t have much of a frame of reference for what the process would have been like in person anyway. All of the designers are spread out across the country (and our stream producer lives in another country!), so our work on the setting itself would have been largely remote. And most of us in the cast who have been streaming TTRPGs for a while are used to the virtual setup for games.

Speaking of the pandemic, has that influenced any of your decisions as a GM?  Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I’ve actually tried to stay away from disease and pandemic-adjacent story lines just because I don’t need that particular facet of reality to invade my game time. As for where my inspiration DOES come from…everywhere, honestly! I’m a voracious reader of Sci-Fi and fantasy, so that helps me with broad story ideas. The designers and I have been inspired by everything from Babylon 5 to Doctor Who. And watching other incredible streamers and GMs do their thing is also a huge inspiration.

What do you hope audiences take away from watching Mother Lands?

There are several takeaways from our show. One is that it is not only possible, but relatively easy to find BIPOC designers, writers, and players in this industry, no matter what some folks like to think and say. Not only that, but it’s possible to create a rich universe with interesting characters and compelling conflict without leaning on racism, colonialism, and other harmful tropes to set up your antagonists. Aside from all that, I hope people enjoy the setting and the mechanics and the characters and want to get their hands on our setting guide (Kickstarter launches on May 14!) and start telling their own stories in this space. It’s wild and wildly exciting (and humbling) to think that what our cohort is creating is going to be the basis for other people’s games and stories!

What’s been the most exciting thing about being back in the GM chair for Motherlands?

Welcoming Aabria onto the team has certainly been a huge joy of this season! She’s such an incredible roleplayer, and I’m so very pleased with how quickly the whole team embraced her and her character. She’s driving character growth with several other PCs, she’s bringing new skills to the party, and she’s doing it all while delighting us with the quirky, energetic Koseh.

Into the Mother Lands successfully launched their Kickstarter campaign, raising money to publish a sourcebook so other people can create their own adventures at home.  With a goal of $50,000 USD the sourcebook was funded in just 90 minutes!  Check out the campaign here to see what the hype is about – you won’t be disappointed!