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Indie Publishers, what are you working on for 2023?
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<blockquote data-quote="zedturtle" data-source="post: 9079355" data-attributes="member: 6830534"><p>After a major health-scare late last year, I decided to take on a personal project—something that would be clearly my own thing (for good or ill) and not part of a team (which is my preferred way to work, but having a legacy became suddenly a lot more important).</p><p></p><p>Around that time, the OGL Kerfuffle was wrapping up and the Apology Tour was beginning. A friend advised that instead of making something for 'generic fantasyland' to make a setting to contain my work, and perhaps be able to cross-promote things. It sounded good, and Ha$bros execs had just said that there would never be any dim solar adventures, so I asked my buddy from high school that was a Dark Sun-stan for advice, and thus was born <em>Ashen Frontiers</em>.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]291146[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>which I hoped would appeal, at least to some folks. I worked up some general guidelines: no slavery, little metal, the discovery of way to transform Primal power into Arcane energy creating corruptive and destructive Ash in the process, a firm commitment to employing Diversity Consultants to help avoid dangers of not doing being accidentally offensive (again, missteps here were very top of mind).</p><p></p><p>I launched on <a href="http://www.ashenfrontiers.com/patreon" target="_blank">Patreon</a> once I had enough to show off, and a bit of professional art from friends (one benefit of being in the industry for a while). I didn't know what to expect. There was a chance that seeing the same setting element in Pathfinder and 5e might be of interest to converts. There was a chance that grognards might flock to a post-apocalyptic setting. There was a chance that marketing a new idea, even as an award-winning writer would be hard. In the end, it was true. All of it.</p><p></p><p>By then, serious applications for Diversity Consultants were rolling in, and I had prospects review my draft of the setting guide. After some excellent feedback that helped narrow the field, I produced <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/442192" target="_blank">The Broken World</a>, a free guide. As of the last check, over 250 folks have downloaded the PDF, and I've got a print proof (for those who don't like digital files, or who want to support the project without the commitment of becoming a patron on Patreon).</p><p></p><p>Then I decided that I would demo the game at Gen Con, since I go there every year. I scheduled four sessions (each three hours long with premade characters for the 5e version of the setting) entitled <em>The Lost Vault of Theadira.</em></p><p></p><p>You see, when the man who became The Tyrant was first attempting to seize power and invent (or rediscover) the ability to convert Primal energy into Arcane, folks were not blind to this. Some built defensive structures to protect themselves and their valuables. Then, when the Ash came, it killed them and turned them into Undead. So (ala <em>Earthdawn</em>) there's a built-in explanation for why there are trap-laden dungeons full of treasures and deadly Foes (not Monsters, because another project goal was keeping it simple for new players and explaining that not all Monsters are Monstrosities is too much).</p><p></p><p>Two of the sessions are sold out. <a href="https://www.gencon.com/events/233818" target="_blank">Thursday</a> is still open, and <a href="https://www.gencon.com/events/233819" target="_blank">Friday</a> has some slots left. After I get back and analyse the results, I'll likely transform into a release via Patreon (and maybe DriveThru or even print). So I hope that the rest of 2023 and 2024 will be good for me. Between the 5e Creative Commons SRD, the ORC licence, the natural drift that a (non-)edition change creates, the fact that a <em>Ruins of Symbaroum </em>product is up for an ENnie, and more announcements to come from various publishers on announced (and unannounced) projects, it should be a good rest of the year.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="zedturtle, post: 9079355, member: 6830534"] After a major health-scare late last year, I decided to take on a personal project—something that would be clearly my own thing (for good or ill) and not part of a team (which is my preferred way to work, but having a legacy became suddenly a lot more important). Around that time, the OGL Kerfuffle was wrapping up and the Apology Tour was beginning. A friend advised that instead of making something for 'generic fantasyland' to make a setting to contain my work, and perhaps be able to cross-promote things. It sounded good, and Ha$bros execs had just said that there would never be any dim solar adventures, so I asked my buddy from high school that was a Dark Sun-stan for advice, and thus was born [I]Ashen Frontiers[/I]. [ATTACH type="full" alt="General Ad.jpg"]291146[/ATTACH] which I hoped would appeal, at least to some folks. I worked up some general guidelines: no slavery, little metal, the discovery of way to transform Primal power into Arcane energy creating corruptive and destructive Ash in the process, a firm commitment to employing Diversity Consultants to help avoid dangers of not doing being accidentally offensive (again, missteps here were very top of mind). I launched on [URL='http://www.ashenfrontiers.com/patreon']Patreon[/URL] once I had enough to show off, and a bit of professional art from friends (one benefit of being in the industry for a while). I didn't know what to expect. There was a chance that seeing the same setting element in Pathfinder and 5e might be of interest to converts. There was a chance that grognards might flock to a post-apocalyptic setting. There was a chance that marketing a new idea, even as an award-winning writer would be hard. In the end, it was true. All of it. By then, serious applications for Diversity Consultants were rolling in, and I had prospects review my draft of the setting guide. After some excellent feedback that helped narrow the field, I produced [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/442192']The Broken World[/URL], a free guide. As of the last check, over 250 folks have downloaded the PDF, and I've got a print proof (for those who don't like digital files, or who want to support the project without the commitment of becoming a patron on Patreon). Then I decided that I would demo the game at Gen Con, since I go there every year. I scheduled four sessions (each three hours long with premade characters for the 5e version of the setting) entitled [I]The Lost Vault of Theadira.[/I] You see, when the man who became The Tyrant was first attempting to seize power and invent (or rediscover) the ability to convert Primal energy into Arcane, folks were not blind to this. Some built defensive structures to protect themselves and their valuables. Then, when the Ash came, it killed them and turned them into Undead. So (ala [I]Earthdawn[/I]) there's a built-in explanation for why there are trap-laden dungeons full of treasures and deadly Foes (not Monsters, because another project goal was keeping it simple for new players and explaining that not all Monsters are Monstrosities is too much). Two of the sessions are sold out. [URL='https://www.gencon.com/events/233818']Thursday[/URL] is still open, and [URL='https://www.gencon.com/events/233819']Friday[/URL] has some slots left. After I get back and analyse the results, I'll likely transform into a release via Patreon (and maybe DriveThru or even print). So I hope that the rest of 2023 and 2024 will be good for me. Between the 5e Creative Commons SRD, the ORC licence, the natural drift that a (non-)edition change creates, the fact that a [I]Ruins of Symbaroum [/I]product is up for an ENnie, and more announcements to come from various publishers on announced (and unannounced) projects, it should be a good rest of the year. [/QUOTE]
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