Creating NPC's For payment?

[The_Gunslinger658]

Hi-

One idea i have been rolling around my head is creating NPC's upon request IE someone sends a list of NPC's they want created be it a Yuan-Ti Anti-Paladin/ The Master of Vipers NPC or what ever the individual might request. Is this a good idea? Would people actually pay to have some one else do the dirty work?

And if someone actually wants me to do the time consuming job of creating such NPC's, e-mail me at:

scott.holst@us.army.mil



Scott

 

[DSC-EricPrice]

Just be sure if you are going to sell it you avoid using any Product Identity, or non open gaming content. I THINK that yuan-ti got pulled from the SRD when it was finalized, which means that you probably dont want to be selling stat blocks for those. Also be sure to include the declaration of OGC, and include a section 15 (properly filled out). Other than that, you might be able to get people to pay for that. Id question though the time/volume issue, but I applaud your effort to find a niche. Lord knows making stat blocks can be cumbersome, particularly if you dont have a program to help with it.

 

[The_Gunslinger658]

Hi ya-

Yup, just checked my handy dandy SRD and WoTC did pull yuan-ti as well as the mind flayer off the SRD, waird.

Basically; Joe Snuffy e-mail's me his request for lets say 10 NPC's, all SRD complient, and then I e-mail him back with time and cost to create such custom NPC's for his campaign. A very time consuming project even if you have some kind of computer software. But then that DM has someone else working on his requested NPC's while he can concentrate on getting the adventure in order.


Scott

 

[Lizard]

I can't imagine anyone willing to pay enough to make it be worth your time to do it. Either you'd end up earning sub-minimum wages or you'd price yourself out of the market.

For example, it can easily take an hour to make 1 very complex NPC and make sure everything adds up. So at minimum wage, I'd need to pay you 5.35 or so to do this. But for a bit more, I can buy or download D20 supplements filled with NPCs.

The economics don't make sense. (And for simpler NPCs which you can crank out very quickly, it's more cost-effetive to fire up PCgen and do it myself)

 

[The_Gunslinger658]

Hi-

And I thought 5 bucks per an NPC would be too high. Anyway, I'd be a moron to think I could get anything more, this is just for a little extra and plus I dont mind getting paid for something I like; be it time consuming or not.

It's up to you guys if you want such a service at your disposel, plus I would do the honor system thing, do up the NPC's, e-mail to ya, if you like them, you can pay, if not, dont pay.


Scott

 

[Andre]

The economics don't make sense.

Agreed. This is a lot like painting miniatures for money - too time-intensive (and therfore expensive) to be anything more than a luxury for the potential buyer.

I'd recommend creating your own version of "A Dozen..." pdf's, for npc's. You can offer one of the 12 as a demo to whet the appetites of your potential customers. Priced at $1.00 - $2.00, you might be able to sell enough to make it worth your while.