D&D Archaeology

Something I realized about what Frog God Games is doing at the moment. It's something I should have realized earlier, but it's one of those things where I knew what, but didn't quite twig to how interesting it is until a couple of days ago.

As we all know, back in the day, TSR was a highly litigious company that worked very hard to quash any third-party products that were for D&D, either on a trademark basis or on a copyright basis. There were several small companies that folded as a result, including companies that were definitely violating the IP laws. The result of this is a hidden and largely lost body of work from the old days, some of which probably sucks, but some of which is probably really great stuff.

The Black Monastery module that we're working on right now is one of these products. The module itself wasn't the object of litigation, it was a product that was essentially finished at the time the original game company folded in response to TSR activity. Bill got the license to publish it.

How is it possible to do this? The answer is that the legal IP landscape has changed radically since those days with the advent of the open game license. PROVIDED that there wasn't a legal settlement that would quash a specific module (and this is a very important proviso!), in some cases the modules produced at that time can now be published for an open content game: not just retro-clones, but for things like Pathfinder or 3e as well. In other words, an archaeological dig has been opened up.

This is what's happening with The Black Monastery. I don't know if Bill Webb has found others or not (and I don't think so), because there's a fairly specific set of parameters that must be met -- you need a license from the original company, it can't be subject to a legal settlement that specifically prevents republication, etc. Nevertheless, the project to look around for quashed modules that are really from the old days is a fascinating approach. As a legal matter it's quite different from the retro-clone approach, but it's another neat tool that rises from the implications of the open game license.

Note: I am NOT talking about reproducing modules without the permission of the original IP holder; that is NOT legal. It's just that if you HAVE that license, and there's not a pre-existing legal settlement that would get in the way, the changed IP landscape has eliminated some of the grounds that originally blocked those publications. Legally, they are no different than a module written yesterday.

That's an interesting project. I hope that more of these can be found.

The Upside of Unprofessionalism

In my last post, here, I talked a bit about the various quirks and limitations of the way I handle the "business" of selling the things I write. My personality quirks create and define the shape of how I'm organized on this, and all I can do is try to warn people up front about things like if I have to go to a post office it can take weeks before I work up the motivation to do that. That's one example. And how, even though I've never cheated anyone, I don't handle or borrow money -- this is a general rule for people with bipolar disorder.

Those are limitations, but there is an upside to being only a semi-pro. The big upside is that I'm freer to follow the trail of creative ideas with more time and energy than I could if there were back office matters like mailing and accounting taking up my time. Because there isn't any kind of publication schedule, it gives me more freedom to switch from a project where my creativity isn't working and shift over to something where the ideas are jumping.

I don't mean to suggest that a full-service publisher, or a one-man shop that's better organized than me can't produce great materials, but the odds are stacked in my favor. A casino doesn't always win in every game, but they make money -- in the same way, it's possible for a guy running a better organized business to produce a better product than me, but over time I think what I write is going to be slightly better on the edges. You can't measure quality in units, but if you could, I think my freedom of action would stack up more quality units per hour, or per product, or something, than a guy who have to divert time and attention to the other parts of a business.

If I don't think something is the best it can be, I have the luxury of putting it aside for a while until I get the inspiration for that missing piece. If I need time off from everything game-related, I can take that time and come back rejuvenated (this, I think, just happened again). I avoid the parts of this whole process that, for me, are a chore. In other words, I steal the benefits of being a freelance writer but still get to produce or control the entire work from text to art to layout. Freelance writers don't get to do that; it's the guy running the business who gets the reward of assembling the totality of a piece of work.

When I get the luxury of putting together a complete resource, I can't say that everyone, objectively, will conclude that it's of higher quality than a work where several people deployed their particular talents in cooperation. In fact, I think many, many readers would prefer the high production values of the more "professional" result. However, I think there's also a spirit and an energy to something that's produced with some rougher edges, finished out on its own schedule, and reflects the overall vision of the module in the totality of art, cartography, text, and layout. These things have a fire to them.

On the other hand, of course, lots of artists are more capable of rendering my own mental images than I am, so there are definitely limitations on the ability to do this all the way. Nevertheless, by being unprofessional in terms of the "business" side, playing hooky to act like a pure freelancer, I think I produce material that if not "better," at least has more fire to it. It might not be a perfect orchestration, but it has the energy of a kick-ass garage band.

That, I think, is the upside to being unprofessional in terms of the actual business of producing cool modules and resources. You have a better chance to succeed big or to fail big. I lost money on the art book I produced some months ago, and I'm proud to have lost (or spent) that money to produce an art book of the visual side of recent old school modules. On the other hand, I apparently hit a "commercial" home run with Tomb of the Iron God ... which I really only thought of as a meat and potatoes module. And Spire of Iron and Crystal, which is the module I'm proudest of, has basically been right at the middle of the road in terms of popularity. When there's no way to predict how any particular resource will be received by people, I have the reward of knowing that no matter how well it sells, or how it is treated by reviewers, it's a product that I'm proud of.

Again, I'm not saying that a more professional publisher *can't* do this, I'm just saying that I have more time and flexibility, which gives me a slight edge each time to produce something that I think is the best it can be (whether it's well received or not).

This sort of brings me full circle to the recent events in which a blog publisher (who has restarted HERE) pulled his blog in response to an attack post on another blog. The mental protection against that sort of attack has to be internal -- the internet does not provide much external support. That's not a criticism of our community, it's just the way the internet itself channels and shapes discussion. Nevertheless, the real rewards of publishing have to be based in personal satisfaction with the product, or at some point someone on the net will manage to get under your skin.

Which is why at heart, the unprofessionalism of the way I work is ultimately linked to that objective -- being proud of the work itself rather than focusing on pride in the business. I do my best on the business, but my best is kind of ratty on that side of things. So as much as possible I try to shift the business side over to people who enjoy it, and keep all the stuff I enjoy. because that way, I have the maximum amount of time available to wander in the Alice-in-Wonderland world of the actual writing and art without facing the responsibilities of being a good business.


Which is why I rely on warning people about my flaws, rather than trying to fix those flaws. In my case, at least, putting more focus onto the business would cause me problems in terms of the product -- that';s probably not the case with everyone, but it is with me. So when I say I'm unprofessional, I specifically mean about the business side of things, not the quality of the product. I could be better at this, but by doing so I would turn a hobby into work. But warts and all, I'm a hobbyist publisher, and that's what I like, and I would probably slip a lot if I tried to be something else. It's a matter of recognizing what I can and cannot do, and working around that.

It stays fun. :)

Professionalism (my lack thereof)

[quick edit - this will turn into a two-part post because I tend to focus on the downside of being unprofessional, and I think there's a corresponding upside as well]

The topic of professionalism by people who are selling game materials as opposed to giving them away seems to have come up a couple of times recently; directly, in the case of Austrodavicus's posts about a dust-up with Pacesetter Games a year ago, and indirectly in terms of how it's dickish to attack a free publisher, as is the case with this most recent situation where a blogger pulled his blog because of an attack by another blogger. I won't go into that one because I'd rather not draw attention to the attack blogger: "don't feed the troll" is the way to handle trolls.

And another set of things that have brought it to my mind; (a) I forgot to send Pete Mullen a check and was a month late, and (b) I have been non-existent on the net for about a month.

This leads me to something that I've often said about myself, but wouldn't expect anyone to have been hanging on my every word about it, so I'll mention it again. I don't make any claims to be professional about what I do. That might sound, well, unprofessional, but the fact of the matter is that I don't have the capabilities to be professional, and I try to work around that instead of banging my head against a limitation that's too much of a stretch for me. That's a weakness, especially since I probably spend more time, although not in the last month, on D&D than many of the other publishers out there. With bipolar disorder and an anxiety disorder, I don't hold down a regular job, and I basically look after the kids and the house. Not only is my free time probably somewhat more than others have, more importantly it's flexible time. I can get on the computer when I want to, not just when a 9-to-5 is done with. So I really ought to be striving for a higher level of professionalism, and I don't. This really applies to the business side of Mythmere Games -- I focus everything on the quality because I can do that, but it's because of my limitations that I print things POD -- I avoid taking money for pre-orders, I avoid having to mail checks as opposed to using paypal, and I let lulu or RPGnow handle money, printing, and mailing.

I have had a tendency to tweak books after the initial publication, thereby screwing over the early adopters. I often miss emails from people, or fail to remember that [internet name] is the same person as [real name], is the same person as [email address]. I am perennially late on Knockspell deadlines. In some cases, I have totally fired off some vicious public attacks on people who make personal attacks on me like calling me a liar or saying that I publish stuff to make the boatloads of money they envision me to be making. Those are flaws, and (with the exception of trying not to tweak books) I try to work around these rather than fixing them.

The reason for not fixing them is that it would be a change to the whole reason I am in the online oldschool community. I'm a hobbyist, not a real publisher. I don't pretend otherwise. I always try to warn people that at some point I will drop off the net for months at a time because I'm in one of the downside swings in the bipolar cycle. Another example, from a smoking-area talk with Rob Kuntz -- he took me to task initially for the fact that while I agree maps work best in a module when they are separated from the rest of the booklet, my maps are included in the back of the book rather than being separate. His point was that I am publishing something that I admit is less than perfect. He changed his mind, though, from the answer -- publishing separate maps requires using a traditional publisher. You can't do it if you're using POD. And I am not willing to climb that mountain by dealing with the whole raft of additional issues involved with dealing with printers, taking money, and mailing things. I have always tried to get partners to handle that side -- whether that's Frog God Games, Black Blade Publishing, or lulu. I work around the weaknesses, and try to warn people about this, rather than making huge changes in my life that are difficult for me just in order to be more professional.

This isn't as much of a cop-out as it sounds, since if I tried to do that side of things I would absolutely leave people waiting for things for months. I would be bad at it, and it's better to recognize this head-on. I just try to warn people ahead of time about where my particular failings are -- the areas where I simply don't measure up, and where I know I don't measure up.

I think -- and definitely hope -- that the matter of professionalism is really a matter of telling people up front and in advance that "these are the areas where I fail, and can be expected to fail from time to time, and either cannot or will not improve."

In other words, I try not to make anyone think that I'm anything more than somewhere in the gap between a true publisher and a hobbyist publisher.

This isn't, by the way, a response to anything anyone has said about me, it's a response to finding Pete Mullen's check still on my desk instead of mailed. And reading Austrodavicus's post about a publisher other than me, and also the fact that I didn't post anything for a long time over the last month or so. But occasionally the emphasis people place on professionalism in our little publishing world makes me very uncomfortable because I don't claim to be one or live up to that standard. I do what (a) I can, and (b) am too lazy to make huge changes in my personal life in order to be what I'm not.

I do try to be honest and up-front about it, though. Hence this post.

I'm Back (sort of)

After a multi-day trip to Oklahoma for a funeral, we got back to find that the wiring connecting us to the net was fried, which meant another couple of days getting it fixed. I'm online again, but it will be a couple of days to wade through a week's worth of email plus handling the everyday things that accumulate when you're out of town. I should be functioning again soon, but I thought I'd post a quick note to explain the long radio silence.

Quotes from Mythrus Tower

We had a couple of good ones during NTRPGCon:

"I'm getting myself an eleven foot pole, custom made."

"Strip down the elves and cover them with oil. I want to push all those levers."

Retro cover option on S&W Core Rules

Several people have told me that they prefer the original title font that was used on the covers of the earlier printings of the Swords & Wizardry Core Rules. The reason for ditching the original font was because Blackletter fonts aren't good for off-the-shelf sales if the book goes into distribution. Since, if Swords & Wizardry goes into real distribution, it would be the Complete Rules, that issue doesn't exist any more.

So, for those who really, really want that original title font on the cover, I have put up a retro version of the book with the original title font. It's the same interior as the regular 4th printing -- the only difference is the title font. It is only in hardcover, and has the same price as the regular hardcover.

The lulu link is http://www.lulu.com/product/hardcover/core-rules-retro-cover-%284th-printing%29/15976988

Hollow Mountain Released by Frog God Games

The Hollow Mountain is designed for four to six characters of 7th to 9th level, using the Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook. The description of the module on the FGG website is based on the Pathfinder version, so I'm putting a better description of the Swords & Wizardry version here. The pdf is $4.95, and the book with pdf is $11.99

Link to the Module

Adventure Summary

A peaceful tribe of nomadic wood-elves suddenly becomes hostile and starts raiding human settlements with murderous zeal. Investigating this sudden change of heart, the heroes discover that the tribe has abandoned its traditional nomadic lifestyle to take up residence inside a famous feature of the local landscape, the Hollow Mountain.

The Hollow Mountain is a very sharp, lone mountain that sticks up from the dense forests of the region like a rotten tooth. It derives its name from the fact that it is almost completely empty inside.

On their way to retaliate against the elves and rescue the prisoners, the PCs learn that plants and sylvan creatures in the area are being corrupted by some vile influence that must be destroyed before the whole forest turns on its inhabitants. As they proceed closer to the Hollow Mountain, the PCs encounter strange and hostile creatures; something is indeed terribly amiss.

Once inside the mountain, the PCs must brave cave after cave of different misshapen enemies, mutant elves and their animalistic masters, prehistoric plants and monsters until, at the top level, they pass into a nightmarish planar pocket through a portal opened ages ago by the highly-advanced lizardfolk who once occupied the hollow mountain and experimented with powerful magic that proved to be their undoing.

There they face the unlikely master of this insane unholy war, “the tree that sees”, a tree-like aberration from before the dawn of time that threatens to spill its madness into the PCs’ world.