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Post by AxeMental on Jun 7, 2005 16:34:55 GMT -5
Does anyone "out there" sell modules as PDFs online that they write? So far, all I have seen are people giving these away.
Thanks.
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Post by TheDungeonDelver on Jun 7, 2005 19:28:18 GMT -5
Does anyone "out there" sell modules as PDFs online that they write? So far, all I have seen are people giving these away. Thanks. I don't know of anyone doing it. I think WotC would crush the life out of anyone who tried. |
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Post by PapersAndPaychecks on Jun 8, 2005 3:59:54 GMT -5
Hmm. Selling old-school modules could now be done. I don't want to bend the site rules by explaining the process in detail, but let's just say that I do expect online adventures that are *cough* very easily convertible to 1e AD&D *cough* to become available for sale.
I don't mind admitting that one day, when I've gotten considerably better at writing than I am at the moment, I'd quite like to earn a couple dollars selling online adventures in a very thinly-disguised 1e AD&D format.
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Post by AxeMental on Jun 8, 2005 7:18:31 GMT -5
Wow, I was under the impression that there had been GENERIC FRPG modules (playable with any game type) being sold over the net via direct mail or PDF for years, I guess not. I could see paying a couple of bucks for a high quality non gay module like this.
Man, thats the route EGG should have gone instead of LA. Just make up some GENERIC FRPG rules that have nothing to do with AD&D but close enough to be able to convert. Then sell modules (with a page or two of rule explination in the front) online as PDFs or direct. Imagine, we could already be halfway through CZ.
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Post by rogattny on Jun 8, 2005 8:20:46 GMT -5
Perusing the OGL and d20 licenses, I've always thought that it could be done, so long as you used the most generic stats possible...
2 Orcs (hp 8, 7)
F2 (hp 9, Plate Mail, Shield, Spear)
etc.
Only use those things in the SRD that are consistant with AD&D, and fudge the rest. 3.x fans wouldn't like it or buy it, but then that wouldn't be who you were selling to.
R.A.
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Post by mistere29 on Jun 8, 2005 9:29:50 GMT -5
Yup, I have even seen books of names with the d20 logo on them. They didn't have any game stats in them at all, but as long as you have a certian percent of open gaming material and don't have character creation rules, you can pretty much do anything you want.
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Post by AxeMental on Jun 8, 2005 9:39:28 GMT -5
You would need great artwork and probably someone with star power name recognition behind it (and there both taken) to make it work (ie sell anything).
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Post by PapersAndPaychecks on Jun 8, 2005 9:45:34 GMT -5
You would need great artwork and probably someone with star power name recognition behind it (and there both taken) to make it work (ie sell anything). Nobody's ever going to get rich selling online .pdfs to the 1e market. But people do download 1e .pdfs written by virtual unknowns, so maybe they could be persuaded to part with a couple dollars for something a bit more substantial. |
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Post by foster1941 on Jun 8, 2005 11:20:17 GMT -5
Perusing the OGL and d20 licenses, I've always thought that it could be done, so long as you used the most generic stats possible... 2 Orcs (hp 8, 7) F2 (hp 9, Plate Mail, Shield, Spear) etc. Only use those things in the SRD that are consistant with AD&D, and fudge the rest. 3.x fans wouldn't like it or buy it, but then that wouldn't be who you were selling to. R.A. There was supposed to have been a game like that once, but, err, something happened to it, IYKWIMAITYD... I still think this is an interesting idea, though. It's an OGL product with the OGL license in the back using all the familiar OGC terms, but the actual numbers (hp, multiclass combos/levels, etc.) all match pre-3E conventions. Those 'in the know' would get it (elf f/w 3/3, hp 16, longsword+1, elfin chain, shortbow, spells: sleep, magic missile, invisibility), those who don't would wonder why the names are all familiar but the numbers don't make sense (why does this 6th level character have so few hp? where are all the rest of his spells? what are his feats/skills/etc.?). I don't think this could be done with the actual d20-brand license because in the wake of the "Book of Erotic Fantasy" I believe WotC added a clause allowing them to review d20-branded books for content and withdraw the license if they so choose. A d20-branded book with stats that deliberately "don't make sense" seems like just the kind of thing they might find 'objectionable' under this clause. And of course this would only work with adventures/modules. I'm fully convinced that a 1E-compatible rules system under the OGL is impossible. |
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Post by mistere29 on Jun 8, 2005 11:26:16 GMT -5
You can always drop the d20 brand to get around that and just go OGL. Honestly most people don't know the difference.
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Post by foster1941 on Jun 8, 2005 11:33:36 GMT -5
Just make up some GENERIC FRPG rules that have nothing to do with AD&D but close enough to be able to convert. Then sell modules (with a page or two of rule explination in the front) online as PDFs or direct. Imagine, we could already be halfway through CZ. This has been done throughout the history of D&D, but I'm extremely confident that none of those products have sold jack. Even the "Gary Gygax's Fantasy Master" line didn't sell very well (at least based on how few people are familiar with "The Abduction of Good King Despot") and it had EGG's name on the cover. The only "generic" D&D-compatible products that actually sold anything were Mayfair's Role Aids, and of course those had "compatible with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" on the cover (something that was the cause of multiple lawsuits) and had mass-market bookstore distribution (i.e. they were shelved right beside the official TSR stuff at every Waldenbooks in the country). In order for EGG to be willing to undertake Castle Zagyg he needed to have a publisher willing to pay him a lot of money. In order for a company to be willing to pay him a lot of money they needed to have a reasonable expectation of a lot of sales. "Generic-statted" products traditionally haven't generated anywhere neat a sufficient level of sales (of course none of those generic-statted products have been Gary Gygax's original Greyhawk Castle dungeons, but even so). Gary (AFAICT) doesn't want to do CZ for the sake of doing it, or for the sake of getting it out to the fans -- he's "moved on" to LA and wishes his fans would as well. He's only willing to do it if he can get paid for it, as well or better than he could get paid for doing something else. |
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Post by rogattny on Jun 8, 2005 15:39:59 GMT -5
There was supposed to have been a game like that once, but, err, something happened to it, IYKWIMAITYD... IKWYM. Their problem is that they thought that they had to have a system to go along with the adventures. To make any appreciable amount of money, they were probably correct. They still have plans to put out a ton of adventures that are going to be as close to 1e compatable as it comes without having to include a set percentage of parody content. IYKWIMAITYD. Hopefully, flipping the AC and pairing down the spells carried lists won't be too big a hassle. R.A. |
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Post by PapersAndPaychecks on Jun 8, 2005 16:32:12 GMT -5
Spells carried list is easy: "The character has the spells x, y, and z. Remaining spell slots to be filled at the DM's discretion." It's just flipping the AC.  |
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