What Do You Need From Publishers?

[Reynard]

This question is NOT aimed at new entrants into the hobby. of course those people need rules and adventures and stuff.

But the vast majority of ENWorlders are NOT new entrants into the hobby. They have been playing RPGs for years, probably decades. They own games, probably multiples systems.

So, assuming you are a customer of "the industry" as a whole -- what do you need from publishers (whether it is WotC or a tiny one person outfit)? Why are you buying stuff? What can't you do with your own imagination and elbow grease?

 

[aco175]

For DnD, I could use some aid in making the world. Something on making towns and taverns that people remember, but also making them faster. I know there are videos and sites that talk about this, but aids that help. Something with building campaigns that tie together. I like to make campaigns in a few parts that group a few levels. Sometimes the parts do not tie together in the end.

Spells and magic items are hit or miss.

I do not need more classes and subclasses and races. I just have no need for these.

 

[jdrakeh]

Updated errata documents. A lot of publishers don't provide any errata documents, despite their products being riddled with errors, instead leaving such things up to dedicated fans.

 

[Belen]

Encounter and lair books. The books that accompanied the Tome of Beasts were great. Drop in encounter and lair locations make my life so much easier.

 

[Scribe]

What can't you do with your own imagination and elbow grease?

Man, after my last few kickstarters fulfill? Not a whole heck of a lot?

Really solid, low prep adventure paths? Maybe?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Encounter and lair books. The books that accompanied the Tome of Beasts were great. Drop in encounter and lair locations make my life so much easier.

To expand on this idea, I really appreciate full hexcrawls, and worldbuilding material in general.

I also love subsystems that can be dropped into an existing game with little conversion needed. Lots of games have gaps in what they model, or how granular their simulation gets. I love subsystems they provide mechanics for that kind of stuff.

 

[overgeeked]

Inspiration and time.

I can come up with thousands of random names for an infinite amount of bog-standard faux-medieval and high-fantasy towns, cities, regions, etc. Same goes for any bog-standard fantasy stuff. I’m good. I have 40+ years of modules, books, supplements, etc all around me. I don’t need any more. Keep your quests that were cliched when Arthur was still alive. And keep your “it’s an X, only slightly different” monsters.

What I need is the weird stuff. Things I can’t think of. Things only some other designer can think of. A mix of their weird interests and loves that I’d never think of. The weirder the better. Gonzo, nutso, insane, wild, strange, bizarro, whatever. The further from the bog-standard baseline the better. Throw three completely unrelated things in a blender and make it work kinda stuff.

This is why I love the OSR/NSR. The scenes are filled to overflowing with inspiration.

But I need the stuff presented in a useable way. Don’t waste my time by hiding important info, burying the lede on page 12, making the thing unusable at the table. This is where my threads on module layout and design came from. So much of what’s standard practice in the hobby wastes mountains of the referees time. Having to read the entire module multiple times and effectively rewrite the entire thing just to use it at the table. Make it easy to use at the table. Make it easy to play from the book without reading and re-reading and mountains of notes.

Again, this is why I love the OSR/NSR scenes. Information presented in an easy to find, easy to read, and easy to use at the table way.

What do I need from publishers? Inspire me and don’t waste my time.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I’d say play resources. Like reference sheets and the like that can be used at the table. Some games do this and it’s very helpful.

Other than that… I just want to keep seeing new games.

 

[payn]

Adventure modules/paths. Sure I could write my own entirely from scratch, but I'm not good at it. I do better with a foundation with which to spring from after my interest has been jump started.

 

[prabe]

What I need mostly from publishers is rules, and at least some mechanical implementations of those rules (In a game like D&D, that'd be player options, monsters, spells, items) that A) give me some sense of the general expectations of the game and B) give me ideas I can fold, spindle, and mutilate into things I can use at my table. Things to make play easier at the table are nice, but my experience is that different people will find different things helpful, there--and it has mostly seemed to me as though what other people find most helpful, I find least. (Obviously if everyone else finds a thing useful, the publisher/s should keep publishing that kind of thing, it's just not a thing I need.)