Owen KC Stephens' Tabletop RPG Truths

Multi-award winning game designer Owen Stephens (Starfinder, Pathfinder, Star Wars) has been posting a series he calls #RealGameIndustry on social media.

• Most TTRPG game company's art archives are not well indexed... Or indexed.
• Yes, the RPG book could have had ONE more editing pass. There would still be errors, you'd still complain, it would cost more and take longer, and not sell any better. And people would download it for free illegally because "it's too expensive."
• Tabletop RPG books are not overpriced. They are specialty technical creative writing social interaction manuals. At double the current prices, they would not be overpriced. This is why most TTRPG creators leave the industry. Along with constant fan harassment.
• Quality, effort, marketing, and fan fervor cannot change this. Ever. That's not to knock, or praise, D&D. It's just a fact.
• Impostor syndrome is hugely common in the TTRPG industry for two reasons. One: Studying and modifying RPGs often appeals to socially awkward shut ins who become broken professionals. Two: There's a sense that if you were a REAL professional you could afford a house, and insurance, and a retirement account, but that's not true for 99.9% of TTRPG professionals.
• People who are passionate about making games for other people, people who are good at making games, and people who are good at the business of game sales and marketing don't overlap much in a Venn diagram. Most game company failures can be attributed to this.
• A TTRPG professional with enough experience and credibility to criticize the industry as a whole is normally tied to one company so closely that the criticism is seen as biased, or unwilling to do it for free, or too naughty word tired to care anymore. Many are all 3.
• If you are a TTRPG creative, you aren't paid enough. Thus, if you find people listening to you and apparently valuing your words you owe it to yourself to make sure they know there is an option to pay you for them. Also, I have a Patreon. https://patreon.com/OwenKCStephens
• There are beloved, award-winning, renowned, well-known TTRPG books with total print runs of 2000 or fewer copies. That did not sell out.
• Most RPG creators cannot afford the upper-tier of RPG accessories. Colossal dragons, scale sailing ships, and custom-built gaming tables are not for those of us who create the hobby. We are too poor to enjoy even a fraction of the things our creativity sparks.
• The ability to master a game's rules has no correlation to the ability to write clear or interesting rules or adventures. Neither has any correlation to being able to produce 22,000 words of focused, usable content about a specific topic on a set deadline.
• There are 65 people in the Origins Hall of Fame. Most fans can't name 5 of them. Most creators can't name 10. They are overwhelmingly (though not quite entirely) white men.
• TTRPG companies generally have no interest in your ideas for products. They went to all the trouble of starting, or staying at, an RPG company to publish their ideas, even if they need you to write them. They certainly didn't stay for the money or respect.
• Asking RPG freelancers to publicly call out a publisher is asking them to reduce their tiny chance of making enough money in RPGs to survive. Sometimes it's a moral imperative. But it's always painful and dangerous. It's more dangerous for women and minorities.
• Occasionally, male game designers who do streams or vlogs or podcasts find themselves disconcerted receiving unsolicited commentary about their appearance. It happened to me. Or, in other words, they get a tiny taste of what women in every field face every day.
• Freelancers aren't paid enough by game company employees and managers, who themselves aren't paid enough by their companies, which don't make enough from distributors and stores, that don't make enough from customers. This never improves. It can get worse.
• Fantasy and scifi art has sexualized women for decades, so many pro artists assume that's what you want. Explaining otherwise takes more words that describing the art piece. I had to go with "No skin should be exposed except on the face." It was 75% effective.
• Most RPG work is "work-for-hire," This includes most work I commission from freelancers myself. This means that, legally, the writer isn't the author. They have no rights to it. No royalties. No say in how (or if) it is used. It never reverts to them.
• I have received 3 death threats in my 21+ RPG career. One for not listing the fans preferred length for the Executor SSD. One of having a male succubus (not an incubus, with that game system) drawn in a seductive pose. And one for being fat and on video streams.
• Once, at Gen Con, a fan interrupted [Amanda Hamon] at the Paizo booth to ask her to point me out. She kindly did so. They came and asked me if I was the Starfinder boss. I pointed them back to Amanda, and noted she was my Managing Developer, and direct superior. I followed that by pointing out Lisa Stevens was an owner of Paizo but that I also worked for Nicole Lindroos and Miranda Russell at other companies, and that Lj Stephens was my project manager for my own company who kept me on schedule, The fan seemed upset.
• I have been extraordinary lucky and well-treated in my RPG career. I love most of the companies and people I have worked with. It's just a harsh industry. This hashtag isn't intended as complaints. They're facts and alerts I wish I had gotten 20 years ago.

 

[JLowder]

Let me be even more blunt, how many of the RPG writers would be able to cut it in a different industry? Would there be a place for them as a writer in another industry? Can they do anything else? Because people keep comparing what folks make between RPG writers and really good paying jobs (a few of us that got lucky), Not between RPG writers and really bad paying jobs like burger flipper, etc.

Most RPG designers have degrees or advanced degrees they could monetize. Many have worked in other industries where they were successful and did make more money, even significantly more.

You seem to view everything through the lens of pay. You were right to bail on writing for the tabletop industry, though. It doesn't reward people who view things primarily through that one lens.

Cheers,
Jim Lowder

 

[Dioltach]

Or, in other words, to show women skin is not to sexualize women. Sexualization depends upon what kind of connotation you give to the subject. Maybe is a matter of culture. In Italy we are sourrounded by art and many of this artistic expressions involves women body.
Would you say that this is "sexualized woman"?
View attachment 122677

Just jumping in to say, "The Birth of Venus" not sexualised? She's literally the goddess of sex!

 

[Cergorach]

So, the answer is, if you really are passionate about doing something, and it doesn't pay enough, you should go be an accountant or something lucrative that doesn't particularly speak to you instead? (Apologies to every accountant passionate about their job.)

His opinion isn't invalid because he made a different calculation than you did.

The answer is: "If you really are passionate about doing something, you better live with the consequences of your choices!".
Then I'm saying: "Don't blame the customer."

I'm working to live, I do not live to work. Making worlds, adventures and monsters is fun. As an IT freelancer I have the freedom to sometimes work 24/7/365 for a few years and other years work a few months out of the year and spend the rest of the time on fun things that don't require a paycheck.

@JLowder The reason why I eventually passed on the job was because of information folks had shared on the forum about practices in the RPG industry that were 'not cool'. A bit like the warnings above... And I've read other folks that faced similar problems and took the dive, and more often then not, got screwed. I'm not talking about low pay that you agreed to beforehand, but about no pay or pay delayed by sometimes years. Companies not following through on their promises, etc. That isn't just the publishers in the RPG industry, but the same goes for distributors. Like someone else said, most people in the RPG game industry are horrible business people.

The reason I'm not in financial ruin after my dalliances in the gaming industry is because I didn't dive in headfirst without looking at the financial consequences. The world is full of graduates that are flipping burgers for a living, a good education does not guarantee a good job. Especially after spending a decade+ in a niche industry. Not everyone can be a Judge in RL... ;-)

The RPG industry also doesn't reward those people that don't have that one lens of 'pay'. Hence the complaining (like clockwork)...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The answer is: "If you really are passionate about doing something, you better live with the consequences of your choices!".
Then I'm saying: "Don't blame the customer."

Make something worth stealing, have it stolen, and thus likely taking food off your table, then see how you feel about it.

I'm sorry you spend a third or more of your life doing something you don't enjoy because you feel you have to. Spending all this energy in an apparent effort to shame Stephens for doing what he loves is a weird look, man.

 

[JLowder]

The RPG industry also doesn't reward those people that don't have that one lens of 'pay'. Hence the complaining (like clockwork)...

The discussion is about a lot more than pay and raising the problems is not "complaining." It's warning people about landmines that may not be obvious--the kind of thing that helped you make an informed decision. It's saying things aloud that others in the industry might have observed but might not think are common.

Oh, and it's not a binary choice between financial ruin and leaving the industry. Your single lens is once again failing to give you access to a full picture.

Cheers,
Jim Lowder

 

[MNblockhead]

I don't know Owen, but I appreciate what he is doing. Reading over his tweets is like having a beer with an industry veteran or an uncle in the field. It is the kind of unfiltered reality check that you don't often get from published sources. Probably because optimism sells and you don't want to be seen as the guy crapping on your industry.

Cynically tearing down someone's dreams is not a nice thing to do, but simply chanting encouraging slogans and providing cheap career nostrums may be worse. I don't think Owen is doing the former and I'm glad he is not doing the later.

 

[Cergorach]

The pie may grow a little, but it's not going to grow enough unless something is done about the supply side. Too much good content already available, and more coming every day.

This is also so true! I own almost every 2nd, 3rd and 4th edition D&D book. Physical and bought most of the 2E stuff electronically as well (when they were $2-$3 a piece). And that is only about 30% of my collection. After 30+ years of collecting, my bookcases are overflowing, I now have to curate my collection, so very little gets added. If it does, generally it's in an electronic format, with a physical book being the exception. I have a lot of room dedicated to my hobby, but many others don't have that luxury, so what do they do when the space they have is filled? Stuff they don't want anymore is sold or given away, very little is actually destroyed. So there is a huge secondary market for RPG books, pretty much the same issue GamesWorkshop has always had and why they are pricing their miniatures so highly, they are competing with themselves. They are filling up the market faster then the market grows, their best case is that entire collections gather dust in attics without being sold or given away. From a D&D perspective a gamer/DM is pretty much done after the PHP/DMG/MM if they were playing/collecting older editions. But a lot of gamers have some form of OCD and want 'complete' collections and keep buying until they don't have no room to put new ones (aka. hoarders).

@Whizbang Dustyboots There is no stealing here. But I get what your getting at, that feeling that someone else is making bucks over your back? You know what I did about that? I got creative... Felt that the local gaming store was taking advantage of product pricing, poor service, no stock, etc. Start your own online game(book) store, run that as a side business until other online businesses can do it better and cheaper then you can (amazon.de for example). Know that the folks hiring you out to the customer are making trice what they are paying you? Get a job without intermediaries. Experience telling you that as a freelancer you can earn better, with more freedom? Become a freelancer. Etc. The problem here is not that they pay doesn't suck and people are sometimes treating you badly, but that your not willing to do anything about it. Not willing to change (enough?). Or just not bringing his point across that well, I've read such warnings before here on Enworld, they sounded a lot less like complaining... ;-)

As for not enjoying my work: I didn't say that, it's not always sunshine and rainbows, but generally I like helping folks with their IT issues. I especially like it when I make it so that their systems run more efficiently, cheaper, with less man-hours needed for operation. I'm in the business of making myself obsolete... ;-) Just because I work to live, doesn't mean I don't enjoy what I do. But work is still work, not the same kind of 'fun' as fun stuff. Like Pogre said, when a hobby becomes a job, the hobby might be (significantly) less fun. The difference between need and want. I need to do things at work, I want to do things with my hobbies.

As for shaming? Look, I don't disagree what with (most) what is said in the original article, just how it is said and why it was said. As a warning, I can only say "Know what your getting into, the pay is going to suck, plan for failure!". But as a complaint, I say what I've been saying. This isn't new information, this has been discussed over the 20 years here, online (do your research!). looks at bottom of posts Where did that signature go? My signature was: "will not accept that, no regrets"

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

@Whizbang Dustyboots There is no stealing here.

Stephens specifically talked about piracy. Ignoring one of the things he expresses frustration about while telling him he's wrong to be frustrated is intellectually dishonest.

But work is still work, not the same kind of 'fun' as fun stuff.

For you. Requiring everyone to have the same life experience as you is irrational.

 

[Shardstone]

That's because even as an artist => creative person your not as creative when it comes to other things or willing to learn other things. That costs, in this case money. This is not only true for your industry, but true for just about every industry. Workers that work for minimum wage, while management reaps the benefits by doing 'nothing'. The last 20 years have given writers/artists oodles of opportunities, the OGL/D20, pdf publishing, shared knowledge on these forums, crowdfunding, online collaboration, etc. And some people have done it by cutting out the middleman (publisher) and publishing themselves. Many have tried, many have failed, but most have never tried at all... Artists have for decades formed their own communities, this can easily be done online, virtually. Finding like minded individuals has never been so easy! But again, that is often out of the comfort zone of most people, so they keep slogging along at their 'old' job and complain. ;-)

Thanks for explaining to me, someone who has done all the things you said I've never done, why I'm not creative when it comes to "other things" and not willing to learn.

Really impressive how you ignored my entire post just to attack my character and made up a bunch of strawmans that don't even make sense given the rest of what I wrote. You must have really been sitting on this one for a while.

 

[Staffan]

I would argue that the core problems pointed out by Stephens are:

• People who are passionate about making games for other people, people who are good at making games, and people who are good at the business of game sales and marketing don't overlap much in a Venn diagram. Most game company failures can be attributed to this.
• If you are a TTRPG creative, you aren't paid enough. Thus, if you find people listening to you and apparently valuing your words you owe it to yourself to make sure they know there is an option to pay you for them. Also, I have a Patreon. Owen K.C. Stephens is creating Geek blogs & RPG rules (Starfinder, 1e/2e Pathfinder, AGE, etc.) | Patreon
• There are beloved, award-winning, renowned, well-known TTRPG books with total print runs of 2000 or fewer copies. That did not sell out.
• Most RPG creators cannot afford the upper-tier of RPG accessories. Colossal dragons, scale sailing ships, and custom-built gaming tables are not for those of us who create the hobby. We are too poor to enjoy even a fraction of the things our creativity sparks.
• Freelancers aren't paid enough by game company employees and managers, who themselves aren't paid enough by their companies, which don't make enough from distributors and stores, that don't make enough from customers. This never improves. It can get worse.

The RPG market, to be blunt, sucks. A big part of the problem is that the step from being a customer to being a writer or publisher is too small (I mean, it's still a big step, but you have a far larger percentage of people who play RPGs who become RPG writers than you have, say, people who drive cars who become car designers).

Since we as customers don't have infinite money to spend on games, a lot of games go unbought. Even among those we buy, many will just sit on a shelf and not get played. Even among those we play, we generally only use a small part of the game. So yeah, from one perspective, RPGs are among the best value for money you'll ever find. Before the Corona thing made my main game group go online, we were getting close to finishing a Princes of the Apocalypse campaign we started back in late 2016. Sure, we've been mixing it up with other games in between, but that's still something like three years of gaming from one adventure (plus the core books). So that's good value for money, probably even if we include the minis I've bought and painted. But at the same time, Dragon Heist, Out of the Abyss, and Storm King's Thunder have been gathering dust on my shelves, and I haven't had much use for Volo's Guide to Monsters, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, and Explorer's Guide to Eberron. I still bought them, because even if I only get a bit of inspiration from them, $50 isn't that much. But I'd have been much more hesitant to buy them at $60 and above – then, the purchase moves into the realm of "Do I really need this?" instead of "Sure, why not?"

I think, deep down, that the only way for the RPG market to fix itself is for about half the current publishers to drop out. Assuming that people would still, on the whole, spend about as much money on RPGs but only have half as many things to spend it on would seriously boost the viability of the remaining companies, which in turn would allow them to pay and treat their freelancers and employees better, and that would in turn lead to better product and us customers being able to demand more from the remaining companies in terms of punctuality and such.