D&D 5E Auroboros Kickstarter From Warcraft Devs Has Launched

The D&D 5E setting from developers who originally hail from video game studios like Blizzard, and video games like Warcraft and Diablo, has launched on Kickstarter with a bang, as expected. Auroborus: Coils of the Serpent details a realm called Lawbrand, which contains a number of trade cities and factions. Will this one be the 4th in the last month to join the $1M club?

The high-powered team, under the banner of Warchief Gaming, includes Chris Metzen (Blizzard Entertainment, Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, Overwatch), Mike Gilmartin (Blizzard, Eidos, Maxis, Atari), and Ryan Collins (Hearthstone, Marvel Heroes, HeroClix).

The setting contains 5 new races and 4 new subclasses, plus details of 8 trade cities. It also features a new game rule called the Mark of the Serpent which lets you do incredibly powerful magical effects at a cost.

Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent

An epic 5E fantasy campaign setting by Chris Metzen.

www.kickstarter.com

For $25 you can pick up the PDF bundle, or $50 for the hardcover. There are higher tiers with GM screens, world maps, slipcases, and more, with expected delivery in one year (March 2022).

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Knowing and becoming friends with folks in your industry, networking, is not quite the same thing as a "good old boys" club. That particular term implies that you can only get into the gaming community as a publisher if you already are, or know, one of the so-called "good old boys". That the entrenched members of the industry engage in heavy gatekeeping to monopolize all the profit.

You're confusing two different terms - "Old Boys Network" or "Old Boys Club" and "Good Old Boys". They are not related or connected, and the thing you've constructed and are saying doesn't exist isn't the meaning of either.

The Old Boys Network is not "entrenched members of the industry engage in heavy gatekeeping to monopolize all the profit". I dunno what the term for that is, but it's not the Old Boys Network. The Old Boys Network means that it's highly beneficial to have been educated at certain places, to know certain people and so on. There's no active gatekeeping, no active attempts to "monopolize all the profit". That's patently ridiculous.

The gaming industry is not a "good old boys" club by any means. It's a small industry, and folks do get to know one another as they work on projects together and run into each other at conventions. Working with someone already in the industry, or helping them promote their product, because, 1) you know they do quality work, and 2) you like them personally is not being a "good old boy".

That's an extremely good definition of an Old Boys Network. I dunno what this "Good Old Boy" nonsense is about, sounds extremely American and Southern, but I know a lot about Old Boys Networks (from the inside too), and what you're describing there is an Old Boys Network. Helping people because you know them and like them is exactly what this sort of network is about.

 

[Scribe]

Anyone that's worked in an industry for some time knows connections matter, a lot, for future opportunities.

It's not what you know, it's who you know, is not a false statement in the real world.

Anyway, my favorite is the Salamander guy. I love that face.

 

[Waller]

No.

Knowing and becoming friends with folks in your industry, networking, is not quite the same thing as a "good old boys" club. That particular term implies that you can only get into the gaming community as a publisher if you already are, or know, one of the so-called "good old boys". That the entrenched members of the industry engage in heavy gatekeeping to monopolize all the profit.

You're confused. I believe you when you say that a "good old boys club" implies that "you can only get into the gaming community as a publisher if you already are, or know, one of the so-called "good old boys". I'm sure that's correct (or I have no reason to think it is or isn't).

However, you're putting the words "good old boy club" in quotes, like I said them. I said "old boys network".

The gaming industry is not a "good old boys" club by any means. It's a small industry, and folks do get to know one another as they work on projects together and run into each other at conventions. Working with someone already in the industry, or helping them promote their product, because, 1) you know they do quality work, and 2) you like them personally is not being a "good old boy".

Well, I don't know what a "good old boy" is, but I believe you that that is not what that is. It is, however, the exact definition of an old boys network.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Publishing has been greatly democratized since Ryan Dancey got the D&D OGL published. No one has to get permission to be a D&D publisher publishing compatible works. One can publish on DMs Guild or Drive-Thru RPG or sell their works via Kickstarter, Amazon or Lulu (all of which have some rules about who can publish there, but none of which are terribly restrictive). Worst case scenario, you just make PDFs with Google Docs and sell them on a self-hosted website.

There have been very successful products released by people who didn't get any leg up from connections, with WotC or anyone else. Start a blog or YouTube channel to get your name out there, get an audience, and sell them a PDF or Print on Demand book, or go to Kickstarter or another crowdfunding site and you've bypassed WotC entirely.

There are still industries where the Old Boys Network has a lot of sway, but in the internet era, publishing your own works isn't one of them.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't know what a "good old boy" is

This might help:

Just some good ol' boys,
Never meanin' no harm,
Beats all you never saw, been in trouble with the law since the day they was born.

Straight'nin' the curve,
Flat'nin' the hills.
Someday the mountain might get 'em, but the law never will.

Makin' their way,
The only way they know how,
That's just a little bit more than the law will allow.

Just a good ol' boys,
Wouldn't change if they could,
Fightin' the system like a two modern day Robin Hood.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

There are still industries where the Old Boys Network has a lot of sway, but in the internet era, publishing your own works isn't one of them.

I think there are two different things here. To me, looking at the staff of WotC and other bigger RPG publishers (who are all tiny compared to WotC but still...) it absolutely looks like the Old Boys Network is in effect to a very significant degree, and I think it's a big part of what is preventing WotC from being able to get diverse staff, because the people working at WotC can't even process that many of them have been beneficiaries of this.

But what you're describing isn't a lack of an Old Boys Network, it's a way to bypass the Old Boys Network and sell books yourself directly, if you can manage to do the right things, or hit the right note. Bypassing something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

(I mean, the Old Boys Network unarguably exists in the City in London, aka The Square Mile, but people have bypassed that too in modern times. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist.)

I see relatively little evidence of WotC hiring people who have made it big with KSes and the like, note, which again supports the Old Boys Network being in effect. I mean, it's not a total thing. It's just something that makes things a lot easier. Like mild nepotism but without the familial relationships (usually).

 

[Dire Bare]

You're confusing two different terms - "Old Boys Network" or "Old Boys Club" and "Good Old Boys". They are not related or connected, and the thing you've constructed and are saying doesn't exist isn't the meaning of either.

The Old Boys Network is not "entrenched members of the industry engage in heavy gatekeeping to monopolize all the profit". I dunno what the term for that is, but it's not the Old Boys Network. The Old Boys Network means that it's highly beneficial to have been educated at certain places, to know certain people and so on. There's no active gatekeeping, no active attempts to "monopolize all the profit". That's patently ridiculous.

That's an extremely good definition of an Old Boys Network. I dunno what this "Good Old Boy" nonsense is about, sounds extremely American and Southern, but I know a lot about Old Boys Networks (from the inside too), and what you're describing there is an Old Boys Network. Helping people because you know them and like them is exactly what this sort of network is about.

You're confused. I believe you when you say that a "good old boys club" implies that "you can only get into the gaming community as a publisher if you already are, or know, one of the so-called "good old boys". I'm sure that's correct (or I have no reason to think it is or isn't).

However, you're putting the words "good old boy club" in quotes, like I said them. I said "old boys network".



Well, I don't know what a "good old boy" is, but I believe you that that is not what that is. It is, however, the exact definition of an old boys network.

The terms, in my experience, are interchangeable. However, it's clear we have different experiences!! Sorry to misunderstand what @Corrosive was saying.

 

[Dire Bare]

You're confused. I believe you when you say that a "good old boys club" implies that "you can only get into the gaming community as a publisher if you already are, or know, one of the so-called "good old boys". I'm sure that's correct (or I have no reason to think it is or isn't).

However, you're putting the words "good old boy club" in quotes, like I said them. I said "old boys network".



Well, I don't know what a "good old boy" is, but I believe you that that is not what that is. It is, however, the exact definition of an old boys network.

After a little more thought, I'm not sure that I am confused or misunderstood your point . . . but rather we have different ideas on what the implications of an industry working within an "old boys network" means . . . and I also (think) I still disagree with you. But either way, I came across a bit strong initially, sorry for that.

I'm not really sure there is any difference between a "good old boys" club/network vs just an "old boys" club/network. In fact, I think I just added the word "good" for some odd reason . . . . focusing on the word "good" misses the point.

An "old boys network" (good or otherwise) is where folks in an industry use their positions of influence to help their friends in the network to the exclusion of those not in the network. It takes your everyday networking, and adds a layer of exclusivity. Making it harder to break into the industry unless you are one of the "old boys", or are one of their buddies. The term usually refers to men (specifically) who share an association through a university or a social/professional club . . . but I think it could be extended to "folks in the RPG industry". Or at least, that's how I understand the term.

Just plain old networking is something everyone should be doing in their respective industries . . . getting involved outside your cubicle, getting to know others in the industry, promoting friendly competition, and helping each other out with projects when it makes sense. Nothing wrong with preferring to work with someone you know, if you feel you have a good handle on their work quality, and you enjoy working with them personally. Nothing wrong with promoting the work of others in the industry when you have confidence they do good work.

The difference between a "network" and an "old boys network" is the exclusivity . . . which I don't see in the RPG industry. Granted, I'm not a part of the industry (other than as a consumer/fan).

WotC struggles with diversity in hiring, not because the RPG industry operates within an "old boys network", but due to white privilege. IMO, of course. Most of the folks at WotC are, and have been, white, cis-gendered, dudes (EDIT: And so am I). Most of them also see themselves as very progressive and pride themselves in promoting diversity, but . . . . they don't always realize their own privilege, or that it takes work sometimes to find and hire folks outside that white, cis-gendered norm. EDIT: Or, perhaps it would be better to say, they are not always successful in seeing past privilege and habit, they are certainly aware and try to overcome.

 

[Waller]

After a little more thought, I'm not sure that I am confused or misunderstood your point . . . but rather we have different ideas on what the implications of an industry working within an "old boys network" means . . . and I also (think) I still disagree with you.

What do you think I think the implications of an industry working within an "old boys network" are, and what do you disagree with, exactly?

 

[Dire Bare]

What do you think I think the implications of an industry working within an "old boys network" are, and what do you disagree with, exactly?

Um, read my post?