I did it! I’m now a publisher with my first PDF, Locks Vaults and Hiding Places, live on both DriveThruRPG and RPGNow as PWYW I also launched my Patreon. The PDF is a sample of the types of RPG supplements I have in mind. Not just regurgitating blog articles, but bringing them together in a coherent form and expanding them.
I have over 700 blog articles, not all are worthy of inclusion in a PDF, but many are. My brain won’t stop, and I have far more ideas than I will ever be able to put to use in my own games, so I don’t want them to go to waste.
There is no better feeling than to put your game ideas out there and have other people like them and use them. I found that this past spring at Gary Con 10, when I play tested my card game. I’m still working on it in the background, revising the rules and play testing. I want things as done as can be when things are ready for the next step and I can launch the Kickstarter, sometime in 2019.
Putting together PDFs will help me get more feedback than I get on most blog articles. I love the ease of feedback on Anchor, and have listeners and calls in’s from other countries. All of this will help me be better at presenting my Kickstarter. Part of a successful Kickstarter is building a community. I know I have offers from some large YouTube channels to mention it when the time is right.
Please join me on my journey into the realm of making games! If you just grab the PWYW PDF, please give me some constructive criticism. I have my own ideas about what need to be done to improve it, but I’d never get it done if I did that. I can update the PDF as I get feedback and am excited by the possibilities of the interchange of ideas.
Thanks!
I want to thank the RPG artists who make their art available on OBS at a price point beginners can afford. I hope by directing others to your offerings on OBS you get at least a spike in sales. In my case Denis McCarthy for the cover and some interior art, and Daniel F. Walthall for the rest of the interior art.
I finally realized that what I already do on my blog is worthy of starting a Patreon. I had a moment of clarity while cleaning and organizing my office. I work from home, and my personal computer and gaming stuff is all in the same space. I let things go for too long. I am not done, but the freedom that comes from less physical clutter has the added benefit of less mental clutter.
Back at the end of January, 2017, I did a blog post, Trap Idea – Take One Thing and Expand on It. There was a post on Reddit asking for trap ideas for a kobold infested dungeon. The first thing I thought of was a trap door that is so fast leaving a puff of smoke and a pile of dust that makes the players think that the individual was disintegrated. Then have the NPC or character show up later either on their own, or discovered by the others.
I took this idea and I ran with it in that blog post and came up with all kinds of ideas for how kobolds could leverage a trap infested dungeon.
After I read an article or other mention of how silver plates and utensils were used to fight germs, I wrote another article on my blog, Magic Item(s) – Table Service is about magical dishes that defeat poison. That article spawned another article, More Magic Dishes, about things other than poison. And another article, More Variation on Magic Items, to be something other than the standard rings, wands, and staves.
My idea for a Patreon is to let patrons both vote on ideas, or submit their own, for me to Take One Thing And Expand On It.
I can then collect all these ideas into a PDF and patrons get it for no additional cost, and I put it up on OBS for non-patrons.
The end result will be a collection of tables and ideas to help others with their game prep and help fuel their own creativity.
Many of these ideas are not tied to specific RPGs or versions of RPGs, so as long as I don’t mention or use rules based on OGL materials, it won’t need the OGL or other game license.
I think having a monthly poll in the form of [Creature] doing [x], or [Everday item with an RPG twist.], or other table to meet a need because there isn’t a table, or if some existing tables don’t do quite what you want.
Initially, I will pull together my existing blog posts that fit and put them into individual PDFs, with spelling and grammar cleaned up, and possible additional material. I’ll do the first one as a free download/PWYW. This will give something for potential patrons to see what I have before committing to a pledge.
I will also discuss development of my card game, no spoilers, just some mention of progress and struggles. Eventually, the card game will be on Kickstarter, once all the ducks are in a row.
I will have coordination between my blog, YouTube, and Anchor podcast for things relating to Patreon. I will continue my YouTube series, Roll20 For The Absolute Beginner. My blog and podcast will also continue to cover topics I have in the pipeline, and otherwise want to cover.
A few months ago, I laid the groundwork for a Discord channel, G+ Group, and Facebook group for patrons. Since I already researched the requirements for a Patreon, I know that it will take a couple weeks to get all the particulars in order of how I want it done. I also need to get set up on OBS as a publisher. It has been a few years since I first looked into what that takes.
My thoughts are for the Patreon to be a monthly pledge with sensible tiers. I have played around with various ways of handling tiers. I still don’t quite have tiers the way I want, so that will take some more time.
Finally, since I want to have something “ready to go” to offer patrons when the Patreon goes live, I need time to work on that. All of this juggled around work, chores, and grandpa time. At the earliest, I could probably pull it off in two weeks, but I want it to be done well. At the outside, I’d like to have it live by Labor Day. I also need to factor in getting up and running as a publisher on OBS.
I value what a supportive group of patrons can do with giving feedback and an eye to detail on PDFs that will eventually go on OBS. I’ve seen that model on other Patreons I support.
I have a seven part checklist for all the things I need to do for becoming a publisher on OBS and starting a Patreon. Most of these same steps are items on my to do to get ready for the eventual Kickstarter of my card game.
