D&D 5E So, 5e OGL

[Mark CMG]

Hrm, I'm going to publish a book/product (. . .)

Are you really? Or is this you just tossing around "expertise" again?

And, let me say once more, $700 isn't going to get you anything but a guy telling you it's going to cost a lot more and that you shouldn't even try it given what he knows after $700 has been spent.

 

[Jester David]

Hrm, I'm going to publish a book/product that's going to take about 100 man hours to create (at a very, very low minimum). That's an investment of about 5000 dollars right there just for my time. Never minding printing costs, distribution, advertising, whatnot.

Hahahahahaha!!!
100 manhours of freelance game design does NOT earn anyone $5000.
Heck, WotC, arguable the best place for a RPG game designer to work, only pays $1300/week. And Paizo pays half that.

If you're starting out in the industry, do not even expect to make money.

I mean, I just backed Primeval Thule for 5e. This is a book that's an update of a product that's been done for Pathfinder and 4e already - so, most of it is already written. All that needed to be done was fix stat blocks and maybe do some shifting around in the adventures.

They asked for 15 000 dollars for that product.

So, yeah, dropping 700 dollars is a pretty small investment compared to what I'm going to invest in my product. And, note, once I've done it once, I hopefully won't need to talk to a lawyer again.

$15,000 to pay for books is very doable for Sasquatch Games. They're also known designers with a reputation in the industry who wanted to make a professional high quality book. They can get $15k. Heck, even Necromancer Games can reliably get $15,00, and Goodman Games pulled $25k for 5e adventures.

But how much do you think I'd get if I started a Kickstarter to do so? If I wanted to start publishing 5e, do you think I could hit $15,000? Or even $5,000? Heck, raising $500 might be a stretch, and I'm somewhat known here on ENWorld, the WotC community, Twitter, and could probably swing a couple podcast appearances to plug.

That's the catch. The cost is incredibly prohibitive for new companies interested in publishing. They can't just jump right in, earn a reputation, get a few products under their belt while gaining experience on making a high quality product. Instead, they have to go for a Kickstarter or sink money in a HUGE gamble.
Heck, I've published an RPG-related book. I don't even want to think about how many hours I spent writing, re-writing, editing, and planning that book. If I'd sunk $500 for legal fees before releasing that book... I'd still be in the hole over $200.

This is also assuming any profit is sought. The OGL also works for blogs, forums, e-zines, fan publications, and the like. Who the heck wants to spend a thousand dollars before hosting their campaign's website or their homebrew world on a free wordpres blog?

 

[Jester David]

So, yeah, dropping 700 dollars is a pretty small investment compared to what I'm going to invest in my product. And, note, once I've done it once, I hopefully won't need to talk to a lawyer again.

Example: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ons-5e-the-city-under-the-mountai/description
The City Under the Mountain adventure, with some pretty cheap backer rewards. Low risk since he's already done a few adventures. It even made the front page of ENworld. It raised all of £1,268 (or $1978 USD).
He started low, with £60, which helped him succeed. Had he asked for £560 and it was his first adventure, he'd probably have scared off everyone.

 

[prosfilaes]

And, note, once I've done it once, I hopefully won't need to talk to a lawyer again.

Why would you think that? An attorney can't give you a clear pass, like the OGL combined with a friendly WotC can. Can you publish a book about an ettercap-fey war, given that the SRD ettercap entry said nothing about the fey and that was all new to 5E? What happens if you have a darkmantle show up on the plane of shadow, another 5E innovation? An attorney can't produce a document about every theme one might consider, certainly not for $700. If you play around the edges of a license and copyright, you really need to have the attorney look over everything.

 

[Jester David]

Another thought: most OGL-based products have been adventures modules or campaign settings, with a few monster books and a book of spells. Because a spell is a spell, a monster is a monster, and campaign settings can have very little crunch. And adventures can almost be edition neutral if they just list the name of common monsters.

But I've yet to see a class splatbook. Can that be done? I imagine that would be a lot harder. Identifying something as a subclass would be tricky, and avoiding non-OGL terms (like reaction) would be much harder.

 

[Yaarel]

Another thought: most OGL-based products have been adventures modules or campaign settings, with a few monster books and a book of spells. Because a spell is a spell, a monster is a monster, and campaign settings can have very little crunch. And adventures can almost be edition neutral if they just list the name of common monsters.

But I've yet to see a class splatbook. Can that be done? I imagine that would be a lot harder. Identifying something as a subclass would be tricky, and avoiding non-OGL terms (like reaction) would be much harder.

For 3e content, Mindscarred Press has a ‘splatbook’ for psionic classes, using the OGL, SRD, plus a cooperation with Pathfinder. Pathfinder welcomes and helps publicize indy publishers.

 

[Jester David]

For 3e content, Mindscarred Press has a ‘splatbook’ for psionic classes, using the OGL, SRD, plus a cooperation with Pathfinder. Pathfinder welcomes and helps publicize indy publishers.

Sorry, I meant books with class options for 5th Edition. My post was referring to 5e books done under the OGL, not the OGL in general.
Splatbooks for 3e (and Pathfinder) are easy, but I've yet to see anyone attempt a 5e one.

 

[Yaarel]

Sorry, I meant books with class options for 5th Edition. My post was referring to 5e books done under the OGL, not the OGL in general.
Splatbooks for 3e (and Pathfinder) are easy, but I've yet to see anyone attempt a 5e one.

It is worth mentioning Mindscarred because they couldnt do what they did without the OGL.

 

[Jester David]

It is worth mentioning Mindscarred because they couldnt do what they did without the OGL.

I'm assuming you mean the Ultimate Psionic book by Dreamscarred Press. Which they can do because the psionics rules were one of the few additions to the SRD beyond the Core Rulebook. It was psionics and Unearthed Arcana IIRC.

 

[wedgeski]

Same for one of mine, though it was 30 years ago, and it cost a meager $500. I say "one of mine" even though I have only been married the once because I hope someday, fingers crossed, to meet the wrong woman.

You're always on the look-out for the next ex-Mrs. Mark CMG?