Our group playtested much of the Conan RPG material. Here were our experiences:
1. We were asked to playtest rules and evaluate material and tell what we liked, didn't like, what was broken, what worked, what "felt" right for Conan, and in general to give feedback.
2. Although we were belittled by
some of the design staff and made to felt "inferior" to
some the unquestionable-designers, MOST of our and other playtest group suggestions actually came through and helped to make a solid d20 product that MOST people felt was very Conan-esque and playable without too much "hassle."
3. Many in our group and I have written, designed, and edited dozens of RPGA Living Greyhawk and LC scenarios, background material, and "rules" in the past 20 years and I can tell you that playtest reports are CRUCIAL to working out the kinks in every project.
On to your questions:
1. What is expected of a playtester in general, and what is expected of me as the designer in need of playtest? A: Tell them specifically what you want them to review and also give them as much leeway as possible to SPEAK THEIR MINDS. Don't fight or justify anything when they speak their minds. Just say "I'll take that into consideration. Thank you for the suggestion."
2. REMEMBER: "Volunteers are not paid because they are wortheless, they are paid because they are priceless."
3. Yes, it is customary to give a copy of specific playtested materials to playtesters if they request it. It is suggested that they get their copies after the release date to prevent piracy.
4. If you're selling a product, a non-disclosure agreement is in order. YOu can simply google a .doc copy or .pdf of a non-disclosure agreement online for about any product test. They're not hard to find.
5. If you are playtesting rules, it's best to go to the "character build" and "house rules" forums of WotC, RPG, and Enworld and take a good look at what's already broken. If you're a small company, it's
not essential that your product 'not' be broken..in fact, most companies find the alternate is true..because the "gossip" get's your name out there..you just dont' want to go overboard.
6. To find playtesters, I recommend posting on multiple forums and also perhaps contact "players wanted" forums. I will forward your information to the RpTools.net (maptools) forums too. Virtual online tabletop is an excellent place to playtest stuff because you can always find players.
7. A small project is a good start
8. THought for starters: you will want to create some hub-bub about your product as well as ways to convert it to other worlds (such as Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Ebberrron, etc) by doing ONLINE articles where you at least discuss it with friends. For example, a moon theme works well with many FR and Greyhawk themes and gods. These work for good side-articles. You could also consider supplemental material to Magazines. If you playtest it a little, submitting supplemental stuff to Dragon FIRST and if it doesn't get published, THEN self-publish it.
Good Luck!
jh
[reposted from enworld summer camp]
While I am looking for playtesters, I'm mostly looking for advice on how to deal with them. What is expected of a playtester in general, and what is expected of me as the designer in need of playtest? I think I read that it's customary to give the playtesters a copy of the final pdf (or print copy if it's printed?), but I don't know if that's actually true. What other issues should I expect and be prepared to deal with?
As for people actually interested in playtesting . . . I'm more interested in getting the stuff from above sorted out before getting anything started, but here's some basic info:
· The project has a moon theme
· It's mostly oriented around giving players more character options
· It's meant to be a small project. I'm hoping the final version will be around 20-30 pages.
· Right now I have two sections done, plus a little bit of fluff to apply to the whole document. I have the
Silver Defender and
Crescent Striker done. Both are essentially multiclass-only classes for their respective character archetypes.
As you can see, I'm not too far into it, which brings up another question: Should I be finished before asking people to look over it? How close to completion should I be?
Okay; I have a pdf ready for anyone interested. If anyone wants to test a moon-themed fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue or warlock, e-mail me at
fissionessence@hotmail.com with the subject "4E Moon Playtest" so I don't accidentally delete your message.
If you'd prefer a method other than e-mail, let me know and tell me how you think I should send you the file.
~ fissionessence
