Collaboration in the TTRPG “Community.”

This is a tough subject for me to tackle.

I ran into this post on X (Twitter) from a creator I normally agree with. I can see it both ways, and that’s why I think my now deleted response was so unwelcome. I see a lot of lone wolves and not always a heap of cooperation. Maybe it’s because I had a very unfavorable experience than most with any sort of collaboration.

In the very distant past, I made the mistake of sharing ideas online and looked to find a partner in crime. I’ve had several people take my ideas and run with them. That’s great that the idea got used. Did I make anything off of it?

Someone once asked me in relation to my social media friends, “Would any of these people care if it was you needed it?”

I honestly had to say, “I doubt it.”

Here’s the way it looks around here for me.

I was very close to starting a GoFundMe back in March just to pay for basics such as food and gasoline. Things have improved financially since then and I’m super grateful that small windfall came through when it did. Good fortune and prosperity are always welcome.

Basic needs (meds, food, stuff for the kids, gas) are met. Good enough for basic needs. Of course, I’m always looking to go onto more than just basic needs.

But the harsh reality is I’m not where I want to be financially. My ad revenue on the site is, uh… what revenue? $6.09 on Itch.io. I need to push more product that way. My big project for DTRPG is still very much in the works, probably months away yet.

Fiverr? Nope. KoFi? Nothing. Patreon? Not sure I’m going there without some sort of monthly reward, which is a whole different story.

Can’t sell my very flawed blood. Too nutz to work with other humans at a regular job. Too torn up physically to work at any of my old jobs. Wouldn’t waste perfectly good urine on corporate America if it were on fire and I was their last hope.

Where does that leave me?

Well, it’s pretty much my writing or scout out a place under a bridge to live. Writing what? TTRPGs, of course. What else is there? (*LOL I mean, I guess there’s other stuff. I just want to stick to what I know.)

Professional DM? That’s a sketchy proposition and my schedule doesn’t allow for it. They’re called kids, okay? I have them. They destroy my available times. Love em, but free time is hard to come by when there are four kids involved.

YouTube? Streaming? Umm… I’ve considered it. I have a channel trailer. It’s years away from making money. Have you seen some of the TTRPG YouTubers? I won’t name anyone specifically, but some of them are seriously painful to watch. Fortunately, the good ones outnumber the idiots by a narrow margin.

I’ve looked at Twitch. I’m not much of the streaming type. I’m terribly camera shy and chat would drive me crazy. Maybe a podcast, but I don’t know how Spotify and all of those work and more research is required.

I’m not a social media influencer. I’m a “Content Creator” in the strictest sense. I don’t have a gigantic following on any given platform. If I start seeing more than 5K followers on any given platform we’ll revisit that notion. Right now it just feels like I’m yelling down a dry well every time I post.

I’m a writer first and foremost.

It’s in my blood. I’ve been a gamer and a writer since Eighth Grade. It’s my jam. (I mean, I’ve been a TTRPG enthusiast since I was ten years old.) I love TTRPGs. I live for TTRPGs.

I’ve taken a few chances with various supposed inlets to the TTRPG industry over the last couple of years. I’m pretty sure it’s just not happening. I’ve said it before, if you think the gatekeeping is bad in the OSR or at the table, you haven’t seen the people in the industry.

Collaborate with the indie scene? Yeah…  My experiences look a lot like people trying to take advantage of new writers. Not naming names, but I’ve seen my share of people looking to get talent for free. Pardon me if I’m not down.

I’m a lone wolf.

Hey, if someone out there wants to collaborate with me, we can talk. If we actually click maybe we could put something together. TTRPG collaboration is like any other relationship. It doesn’t have to be a lifelong commitment, but it does have to work well enough to get the job done. My poor wife will be the first one to tell you I’m terrible with relationships.

I’ve said it in multiple articles prior to this. The only true way to break into the TTRPG industry as a content creator is to start my own company and do my own thing. After that all I can do is hope, pray, and be grateful for every follow, every like on social media, every cent, and every comment.

It’s an employers market, as always. Writers are a dime a dozen. No one wants to hire me. It’s just that simple.

Am I out here barking in the dark every night? Maybe. Wolves don’t bark, they howl. (I actually love huskies, wolves, even coyotes under the right circumstances.) But I feel like that one duck out on the lake away from the other ducks, closer to the geese than anything. Maybe it’s just me.

I think it’s kind of a TTRPG nerd thing to feel completely misunderstood and generally ignored by society as a whole. Sometimes, I don’t think there’s as much of a #ttrpgcommunity as there are just hundreds of individuals misunderstanding one another daily. Some of us manage to get together in groups of 2-6 sporadically long enough to play Dungeons & Dragons for a few hours, I guess. Thanks for listening to my ramble. I appreciate you. You’re truly a great audience and I love you for it.