Would it make economic sense for publishers of OSR games to convert their content (adventures, settings) to other OSR systems? A lot of them already do this to support 5e, but I'm specifically thinking about supporting other...yes, competing...OSR games for three reasons:
- The conversion is probably/usually quicker and simpler, both mechanically and conceptually
- The "flavor" of the adventures might appeal more to OSR fans
- Players of other OSR games might both be more aware of the offerings
I assume one of the reasons this doesn't happen very often is that the publishers, understandably, want to make their own core product more desirable, not enable their competitors. But I wonder to what extent this actually achieves that. I, for one, am not going to switch from my preferred system (Shadowdark) to another OSR system just because I want to run their adventures. I
might buy their product and convert it myself, but I would much more likely to buy it if it were already converted. Not just to save me the work, but to save me the trouble of cross-referencing two sources. (Dolmenwood is the specific example I'm thinking of here. I'm very interested in it, but am still sitting on the fence. But I would pounce on a Shadowdark port in a heartbeat.)
So not porting the content isn't going to get me to buy the core system, but porting it would increase the likelihood of me at least buying their supplements.
Thoughts?