How, if at all, does a number cruncher get into the business?

[whydirt]

Hello!

I've seen plenty of Q&A sessions and editorials talk about how to get into the RPG business as a writer of material, but I am curious as to what options (if any) are there for people who are more into the game balance and crunchy side of the industry. I'm currently a Math major at Indiana University and while I consider my writing and creative abilities to be at least proficient, my main strengths tend to lie in the area of mechanics.

I figure it would be tough to do such a job as a freelancer, but maybe I'm wrong. Would any of you folks in the industry care to offer your two cents?

Thanks ahead of time.

Jonathan Weidert

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

Basically, except for highly specialised projects, you will have to be able to do something else as well What you are talking about _is_ an important factor in games, but (say) a competent writer who had your math skills could be given an entire project, rather than farming it our to different people.

That said, if someone like yourself approached us with good (and demonstrable) math skills, was willing to work in our UK-based office and could write or at least edit well, we might well give him a full-time job straight away

 

[Mystic Eye]

At Mystic Eye Games we actually have two contracted freelance d20 mechanics specialists. As it happens, they are both good, solid writers as well but we use these "number crunchers" to review d20 mechanics, make stats uniform (or create stat blocks), make sure we avoide any non-OGC (some freelancers do this by accident) material,etc.
My friends at Troll Lords are doing the same, and in fact, use one of the same guys for this.

You will see heavy evidence of this in our upcoming Urban Blight book. The NPCs are so detailed they went through heavy mechanics reviews for accuracy. This is very important when considering cross class skills and odd skill bonuses, syngergies, etc and most freelancers make some mistakes in this area due to the heavy math.

We are good right now with our two guys but if you have great math skills and a deep knowledge of the d20 game mechanics then you should contact other publishers to see if they would want someone to do this as well. It has been extremely valuable to us.

 

[whydirt]

Basically, except for highly specialised projects, you will have to be able to do something else as well What you are talking about _is_ an important factor in games, but (say) a competent writer who had your math skills could be given an entire project, rather than farming it our to different people.

That said, if someone like yourself approached us with good (and demonstrable) math skills, was willing to work in our UK-based office and could write or at least edit well, we might well give him a full-time job straight away

My main weakness is the writing of non-game content, such as storylines and the like. I feel I have a good grasp for creating the initial ideas, and my grammatical and content-based editing are also good along with my math ability.

Would working out of your UK office mean living there, or just being able to stay in close contact via phone, email, and regular mail?

We are good right now with our two guys but if you have great math skills and a deep knowledge of the d20 game mechanics then you should contact other publishers to see if they would want someone to do this as well. It has been extremely valuable to us.

If I were to contact some publishers, what information should I provide?

Would it help to include a "portfolio" of sorts containing personally created mechanics and rules? What things in particular would be the most important to cover to show my abilities?


Thanks to both of you for your responses.

Jonathan

 

[Mystic Eye]

Yeah, put together some material, a resume with your skills and background as well. Maybe do some stat blocks for the pub for free or offer to do a sample technical edit. What ever you gotta do if this is something you really want.

 

[corndemon]

Another route you could consider pursuing is finding a partner who is strong in writing the "fluff" but weak in the "crunchy" department. While this would mean having to share the pay on projects, it could be a realistic way for both of you to get a foot in the industry door.