Paizo Paizo Launches Community Content Program

Paizo has joined the likes of WotC, Chaosium, EN Publishing, and many other publishers in launching a community content program at DriveThruRPG which grants access to much of its IP for both Pathfinder and Starfinder. Like WotC's DMs Guild, the royalty is 50% of the proceeds.

Today at Gen Con, we announced a new way for members of the Pathfinder and Starfinder communities to create content to expand the brands and make a lasting mark on the games we all love: Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite.

Beginning on October 13, 2021, content creators will be able to sell adventures, fiction, setting supplements, rules expansions, maps, art packs, and more using Paizo’s intellectual property. That means that you can, for the first time, write an RPG supplement set in the official Pathfinder or Starfinder settings that references our locations, organizations, characters, deities and more, and sell it to your fellow players and GMs.

Want to tell the story of Kyra and Merisiel’s adventures on what they’d hoped would be a restful honeymoon? Now you can!

What about that side quest adventure you’ve always wanted to share to support your favorite Pathfinder Adventure Path? Now’s the time!

How about that custom character class or alien species you made for your Starfinder campaign that you just know others are going to love? Yep, that too.

Our partners at OneBookShelf (DriveThruRPG, DriveThruCards, Astral Tabletop) will be hosting and managing the program, bringing years of experience running similar community content marketplaces for other tabletop properties to bear.

Check out the content creation guidelines, frequently asked questions, and the starter layout templates and art assets available to community creators at pathfinderinfinite.com and starfinderinfinite.com.

We’ll have more information to share in the coming weeks, but the real excitement won’t start until all of you can share your Pathfinder and Starfinder creations with the world in just under a month. I’m looking forward to seeing what incredible things you come up with!

 

[Parmandur]

As someone that sells on DMSGUILD, I can tell you that getting only 50% for your work is not fun....Less than 40% of items on the site, give or take, sell even 51 copies. Less than 27% sell even 101 copies.....

It seems like a hard market for creators, to be sure.

 

[Erdric Dragin]

Looking over some details.. it looks you can use this for Pathfinder 1st or 2nd edition. Supporting both is pretty cool.

This is awesome, because I'm still a PF1e supporter and 2e is just not even a consideration for me.

I wish WotC allowed others to create 1e-4e content on DMsGuild and not 5e only. Doesn't sound like a good business decisions to lose out on getting money from older edition players

 

[Retreater]

It's a trade-off for sure. There's plenty of material you can use from Paizo's open content without paying them a dime. The access to trade dress, story, product IP, and (presumably) greater exposure on their site is what you're paying for. Same as on DMs Guild.

 

[Dire Bare]

As someone that sells on DMSGUILD, I can tell you that getting only 50% for your work is not fun....Less than 40% of items on the site, give or take, sell even 51 copies. Less than 27% sell even 101 copies.....

Really, it's 50% for the creator, 25% for Drivethru, and 25% for WotC. It's the "extra" 25% for WotC that you're trading for access to their IP.

It's a pretty good deal.

You always have the option to produce OGL content without WotC's D&D IP for closer to a 70/30 split at Drivethru, or sell it yourself for 100% of the price, minus your costs. And as Morrus pointed out, publishing your own work comes with costs, significant ones.

Another option is to write for others, rather than publish your own work, but . . . you'll probably get paid even less, you won't own your work, and you have to write what companies are looking for rather than whatever you want.

A 50/50 split doesn't seem so bad to me, considering what you're getting for it.

 

[Zaukrie]

Really, it's 50% for the creator, 25% for Drivethru, and 25% for WotC. It's the "extra" 25% for WotC that you're trading for access to their IP.

It's a pretty good deal.

You always have the option to produce OGL content without WotC's D&D IP for closer to a 70/30 split at Drivethru, or sell it yourself for 100% of the price, minus your costs. And as Morrus pointed out, publishing your own work comes with costs, significant ones.

Another option is to write for others, rather than publish your own work, but . . . you'll probably get paid even less, you won't own your work, and you have to write what companies are looking for rather than whatever you want.

A 50/50 split doesn't seem so bad to me, considering what you're getting for it.

I know you didn't mean it, but man, that comes off like serious 'splaining. Like I said, you didn't mean it.....but .....

 

[Dire Bare]

I know you didn't mean it, but man, that comes off like serious 'splaining. Like I said, you didn't mean it.....but .....

Sorry, that wasn't meant as a criticism of Zaukrie, but more of a . . . . well, a 50% cut sounds like a good deal to me, and why.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Sorry, that wasn't meant as a criticism of Zaukrie, but more of a . . . . well, a 50% cut sounds like a good deal to me, and why.

Yep, typical cut of retail print product is a lot less than 50%

 

[HawaiiSteveO]

Putting the issue of making fat stacks aside, I can think of several people who (over time) cut their teeth on dmsguild and leveraged that into getting noticed.
That being said, there will be the inevitable trickle / flood of middling or not ready for prime time content.

 

[kenada]

According to the licensing FAQ, rules must be published under the OGL as open content. I wonder if that will deter some people from publishing.

 

[Morrus]

According to the licensing FAQ, rules must be published under the OGL as open content. I wonder if that will deter some people from publishing.

Can't think why. The OGL has been used for 20 years now with no complaint, for D&D, Pathfinder, and a ton of other games. Pathfinder itself is published using the OGL (it has to be, as it was originally derived from the 3.5 SRD). Why would it deter anybody? It's the most awesome thing!