Charity Fundraiser - our own setting search!
- Thread starter Morrus
- Start date
Another idea for settings
Hiya!
I originally had the idea that Better World Roleplaying would put out a setting once a year as a fundraiser. It would be a great way to debut an artist or two and get lot's o' volunteers to collaborate in writing, editing, illustration, layout etc.. My thought was that one day industry pros would unite with industry newbies to do a setting project once every few years, thus giving new people some enlightenment and the experts a chance to teach what they know.
It would be awesome to see an annual setting put out by the RPG community. I LOVE the idea of doing a setting search every year and then publishing the top 3-5 settings. This is something I always wanted to do through BWR and I spent a lot of time working on how to do a massive collaborative world creation project and keep it organized and free of legal BS AND open content. So heres a suggestion for how to do this and get it out and high quality with in two years. (The program would be annual, however, it would take two years to get the first one out. So after that a new one would be released every year at Gen Con, for example).
Steps:
1. Take 1-page setting proposals from anyone and have a panel of experts in the RPG community select the top 3-5.
2. Form a charitable nonprofit organization to act as the "owner" of all copyrights, illustrations, products, etc... (This was my original plan for BWR until I failed to communicate why this was the ideal way to do an open game community world creation project, however, it looks like it's time to bring this up again).
3. Give the top 3-5 winners a private discussion list and allow them to recruit as many volunteers from the RPG community as they want or need to include: editors, artists, writers, playtesters, etc.... The winner is completely in charge of how their setting is developed after they receive guidelines from the "board" or the "producer" or the committee.. whatever...of the project. (For example, the top winner might need 34 pages of content and 30 illustrations and the third place winner might just need 10 pages and 7 illustrations.)
4. Have all volunteers agree that their work is property of the nonprofit organization. This way if someone quits mid-project then all is not lost for the others. It also makes it easier to release ONE document under the OGL. Before you get upset abut this please read on. ALSO make the volunteers who agree to make their work property of the organization ALSO membership of the organization WITH voting privileges. AND make the board of trustees have it in their bylaws that they are elected by the membership and have a limited term AND do not ever receive pay for their jobs. NOTE: it would help if the board was made up of industry professionals.
5. Once all of the projects are in and fine tuned, the board of directors uses the membership fees to pay for the cost of printing the work. All proceeds from sales of the book go into other charitable aspects of the organization. (In BWR's case that would be its scholarship and grant programs). Experts get to contribute their skills for nonprofit work. Newbies learn from experts. Money goes into charity. The work becomes Open Content. Life is good. Everyone's happy.
6. Do it all over again.
BWR is already established as a 501c3 charity. We already have writer's contracts drafted. We already have a bank account. We could DO this NOW if more people would give it a chance. The structure is here. BWR is ready. For what it's worth I would be totally willing to take a back seat to Morrus and lend him whatever support BWR could give to the effort. Think about it!!!
Maggie
Hiya!
I originally had the idea that Better World Roleplaying would put out a setting once a year as a fundraiser. It would be a great way to debut an artist or two and get lot's o' volunteers to collaborate in writing, editing, illustration, layout etc.. My thought was that one day industry pros would unite with industry newbies to do a setting project once every few years, thus giving new people some enlightenment and the experts a chance to teach what they know.
It would be awesome to see an annual setting put out by the RPG community. I LOVE the idea of doing a setting search every year and then publishing the top 3-5 settings. This is something I always wanted to do through BWR and I spent a lot of time working on how to do a massive collaborative world creation project and keep it organized and free of legal BS AND open content. So heres a suggestion for how to do this and get it out and high quality with in two years. (The program would be annual, however, it would take two years to get the first one out. So after that a new one would be released every year at Gen Con, for example).
Steps:
1. Take 1-page setting proposals from anyone and have a panel of experts in the RPG community select the top 3-5.
2. Form a charitable nonprofit organization to act as the "owner" of all copyrights, illustrations, products, etc... (This was my original plan for BWR until I failed to communicate why this was the ideal way to do an open game community world creation project, however, it looks like it's time to bring this up again).
3. Give the top 3-5 winners a private discussion list and allow them to recruit as many volunteers from the RPG community as they want or need to include: editors, artists, writers, playtesters, etc.... The winner is completely in charge of how their setting is developed after they receive guidelines from the "board" or the "producer" or the committee.. whatever...of the project. (For example, the top winner might need 34 pages of content and 30 illustrations and the third place winner might just need 10 pages and 7 illustrations.)
4. Have all volunteers agree that their work is property of the nonprofit organization. This way if someone quits mid-project then all is not lost for the others. It also makes it easier to release ONE document under the OGL. Before you get upset abut this please read on. ALSO make the volunteers who agree to make their work property of the organization ALSO membership of the organization WITH voting privileges. AND make the board of trustees have it in their bylaws that they are elected by the membership and have a limited term AND do not ever receive pay for their jobs. NOTE: it would help if the board was made up of industry professionals.
5. Once all of the projects are in and fine tuned, the board of directors uses the membership fees to pay for the cost of printing the work. All proceeds from sales of the book go into other charitable aspects of the organization. (In BWR's case that would be its scholarship and grant programs). Experts get to contribute their skills for nonprofit work. Newbies learn from experts. Money goes into charity. The work becomes Open Content. Life is good. Everyone's happy.
6. Do it all over again.
BWR is already established as a 501c3 charity. We already have writer's contracts drafted. We already have a bank account. We could DO this NOW if more people would give it a chance. The structure is here. BWR is ready. For what it's worth I would be totally willing to take a back seat to Morrus and lend him whatever support BWR could give to the effort. Think about it!!!
Maggie
MJEggertson
First Post
I don't have time to browse the whole thread, but I think that this is a good idea. Four things though, some of which are major obstacles.
The author must get a cut. A setting proposal like that is a huge undertaking to do it properly, and I think there are very few of us in the situation to give so much time up to charity, no matter how good the cause. If the author desires, he/she may donate their earnings, but that choice must be up to the author. Whether or not the author intends to donate their money should not be stated in the entry, as it may bias votes, not to mention issues of honesty may arise.
Putting all the ideas in the public domain raises issues. Some of the losing entires will no doubt be excellent ideas. The problem now, is that they are in their entirety posted publicly. Now, this in itself isn't an issue since the author will hold copyrights, but let's also be realistic. There is alot of danger, because the ideas may get ripped off, and the ability for the author to legally defend him/herself is probably almost null in most cases.
I do think the charity should be chosen by the author, but it must be part of the submission. One should be able to vote for an entry, but they must also know where the money will be going, as they may not wish to support the charity for various reasons.
Lastly, there is the same obstacles facing Wizards of the Coast. There will be alot of entries. Even if you only get 100, that's alot to get a fair judement. If you get 1000, what do you do? I'll be lucky if I have the time to read ten.
-Mike
The author must get a cut. A setting proposal like that is a huge undertaking to do it properly, and I think there are very few of us in the situation to give so much time up to charity, no matter how good the cause. If the author desires, he/she may donate their earnings, but that choice must be up to the author. Whether or not the author intends to donate their money should not be stated in the entry, as it may bias votes, not to mention issues of honesty may arise.
Putting all the ideas in the public domain raises issues. Some of the losing entires will no doubt be excellent ideas. The problem now, is that they are in their entirety posted publicly. Now, this in itself isn't an issue since the author will hold copyrights, but let's also be realistic. There is alot of danger, because the ideas may get ripped off, and the ability for the author to legally defend him/herself is probably almost null in most cases.
I do think the charity should be chosen by the author, but it must be part of the submission. One should be able to vote for an entry, but they must also know where the money will be going, as they may not wish to support the charity for various reasons.
Lastly, there is the same obstacles facing Wizards of the Coast. There will be alot of entries. Even if you only get 100, that's alot to get a fair judement. If you get 1000, what do you do? I'll be lucky if I have the time to read ten.
-Mike
Last edited:
Jack Daniel
Legend
Dude, count me in! 
Relative Entropy is half-written already, and I'd have no problem sumbitting it to make a profit for charity. I don't know about my coauthor or illustrator, but if we got a 20% cut to split among us for what we do for fun, I'm pretty sure they'd be happy. Hell, they'd be extatic just to see our book published, since the publicity could be worked into future setting-specific sourcebooks and adventures. That's the way I see it from a writer's perspective, anyhow.
Relative Entropy is half-written already, and I'd have no problem sumbitting it to make a profit for charity. I don't know about my coauthor or illustrator, but if we got a 20% cut to split among us for what we do for fun, I'm pretty sure they'd be happy. Hell, they'd be extatic just to see our book published, since the publicity could be worked into future setting-specific sourcebooks and adventures. That's the way I see it from a writer's perspective, anyhow.
seasong
First Post
The more I thought about it, the more I want a setting anthology. So I'm pimping the format a bit, hoping Morrus sees this, and hoping I'm not too annoying.
I really hope I'm not too annoying
.
Basic Idea
128 pages, 10 settings. One setting given a full treatment (50 pages), and nine other settings given enough treatment (8 pages) to be usable.
Published annually (or bi-annually or whatever works), the best that ENWorlds has to offer.
Price: $25-$30.
My flat-out goal: A few years from now, I want to look at my shelf and see a short-but-growing section of fat setting anthologies with the Natural20 logo. Each one will be filled to the brim with ten compact, exotic, tasty settings. And right next to that section, a few full-sized setting books by authors in the anthologies... Mmmmmmm...
Ok, back to business.
The Anthology Format
A short story can afford to be more experimental and interesting than a novel - novels require too much reader investment to take real risks unless the author is an utter genius. At the same time, a short story rarely makes money all by itself - a booklet with one short story generally costs more to make than it can sell for. The anthology provides a small slew of short stories in a novel-sized format.
Think of this as nine (9) short story settings, with a novella headliner. They can take a few more risks, explore ideas that a big "please the masses" setting can't, and provide a veritable cornucopia of exotic, interesting, fresh brain food ideas.
Anthologies have also traditionally been a launching ground for new authors, particularly in the fantasy genre. While this won't magically bootstrap an author into the world of full-time publishing (that requires a lot of hard work, not 8 pages in an anthology), it is a heck of a leg up.
Charity Is Nice, But...
Hope I don't get slammed for this, but if I can persuade anyone that this needs to be annual (and I hope I do), all editions after the first should be done for profit.
It's cool to do a charity and all, and as a one time thing, it's great. But what I would really like is for this to be a continuing thing, and that means profit going to the publisher. Plus, really, I would like to know deep down that Morrus & the Natural20 crew will benefit from doing this megacool thing.
Will This Compete With Wizard's Setting?
Naw, not really.
Wizard's setting search will produce a complete, ready made meal to serve immediately, this will be more like a collection of exotic, tasty ingredients.
Full Format
Possible Titles:
ENWorld's Setting Book
The Setting Anthology
ENWorld's Setting Anthology
Big Bad Book of Settings
Contents:
1 .... Title Page
1 .... Table of Contents
4 .... Introduction(1) & Author Bios(2)
50 .. First Place Setting
72 .. 2nd - 10th Place Settings (8 pages each)
(1) For the Intro, the first one would ideally have something from Morrus (of course) and Ryan Dancey (for making so much of this possible), and possibly Anthony Valtera (for purely associative, community love reasons).
(2) Author bios would be a paragraph in length, and would ideally have a thumbnail picture of the author.
Other Book Sizes
I think 128 pages would be ideal, but here are two example alternate sizes if you like the format but not the size:
Reduced Version (64 pages, $15 - $20):
1 .... Title Page
1 .... Table of Contents
4 .... Intro & Bios
34 .. First Place Setting
24 .. 2nd - 4th Place Settings (8 pages each)
Enlarged Version (256 pages $30 - $40):
1 .... Title Page
1 .... Table of Contents
6 .... Intro & Bios
100 . First Place Setting
144 . 2nd - 10th Place Settings (16 pages each)
4 .... Wasted Space?
I really hope I'm not too annoying
.Basic Idea
128 pages, 10 settings. One setting given a full treatment (50 pages), and nine other settings given enough treatment (8 pages) to be usable.
Published annually (or bi-annually or whatever works), the best that ENWorlds has to offer.
Price: $25-$30.
My flat-out goal: A few years from now, I want to look at my shelf and see a short-but-growing section of fat setting anthologies with the Natural20 logo. Each one will be filled to the brim with ten compact, exotic, tasty settings. And right next to that section, a few full-sized setting books by authors in the anthologies... Mmmmmmm...
Ok, back to business.
The Anthology Format
A short story can afford to be more experimental and interesting than a novel - novels require too much reader investment to take real risks unless the author is an utter genius. At the same time, a short story rarely makes money all by itself - a booklet with one short story generally costs more to make than it can sell for. The anthology provides a small slew of short stories in a novel-sized format.
Think of this as nine (9) short story settings, with a novella headliner. They can take a few more risks, explore ideas that a big "please the masses" setting can't, and provide a veritable cornucopia of exotic, interesting, fresh brain food ideas.
Anthologies have also traditionally been a launching ground for new authors, particularly in the fantasy genre. While this won't magically bootstrap an author into the world of full-time publishing (that requires a lot of hard work, not 8 pages in an anthology), it is a heck of a leg up.
Charity Is Nice, But...
Hope I don't get slammed for this, but if I can persuade anyone that this needs to be annual (and I hope I do), all editions after the first should be done for profit.
It's cool to do a charity and all, and as a one time thing, it's great. But what I would really like is for this to be a continuing thing, and that means profit going to the publisher. Plus, really, I would like to know deep down that Morrus & the Natural20 crew will benefit from doing this megacool thing.
Will This Compete With Wizard's Setting?
Naw, not really.
Wizard's setting search will produce a complete, ready made meal to serve immediately, this will be more like a collection of exotic, tasty ingredients.
Full Format
Possible Titles:
ENWorld's Setting Book
The Setting Anthology
ENWorld's Setting Anthology
Big Bad Book of Settings
Contents:
1 .... Title Page
1 .... Table of Contents
4 .... Introduction(1) & Author Bios(2)
50 .. First Place Setting
72 .. 2nd - 10th Place Settings (8 pages each)
(1) For the Intro, the first one would ideally have something from Morrus (of course) and Ryan Dancey (for making so much of this possible), and possibly Anthony Valtera (for purely associative, community love reasons).
(2) Author bios would be a paragraph in length, and would ideally have a thumbnail picture of the author
.Other Book Sizes
I think 128 pages would be ideal, but here are two example alternate sizes if you like the format but not the size:
Reduced Version (64 pages, $15 - $20):
1 .... Title Page
1 .... Table of Contents
4 .... Intro & Bios
34 .. First Place Setting
24 .. 2nd - 4th Place Settings (8 pages each)
Enlarged Version (256 pages $30 - $40):
1 .... Title Page
1 .... Table of Contents
6 .... Intro & Bios
100 . First Place Setting
144 . 2nd - 10th Place Settings (16 pages each)
4 .... Wasted Space?
Arken said:If I sent in my setting page (a while ago) but it isn't on the page of settings that have been sent in then should I send it again or just be a bit more patient?
Sorry to cause any trouble...
Just be patient. I have so many of the things to get through!
