I think I know what direction to take my BRP Design Challenge entry now.
Taking this thing down to an A5 sized zine is going to help on so many levels. Plus it will buy me some much needed time to finish the original and knock out the second entry. If I spread my original idea out over six Black & White volumes it’s going to accomplish more and cost less than the original 256 standard 8”x11” page book I was planning to write.
It was so amazing coming up with what seemed like such an obvious plan. I was watching Ben Milton’s latest Questing Beast video here when it came to me. (I should shout Ben’s channel out more often because his reviews are usually so on-point and about awesome games.) He mentioned where zine sales fall within the grand scheme of OSR games and I found that fascinating.
I’ve been holding back off of Zine publishing, but now I’m reexamining this approach.
Once upon a blog, many moons ago, I had seriously contemplated starting my own digital zine on DriveThruRPG. I miss Dragon Magazine and Polyhedron a great deal and cherish my collection of back issues dearly. Clear back in late 2021 I was at a crossroads between a zine or a blog. I knew with the kids and my wife I wouldn’t have time for both.
We know which entity won the debate with ease. Hi, family. (Nervous grin.) I can drop one article per day on here a lot easier than I can pump out a magazine every four weeks like clockwork. I tend to hold myself to high standards on paper. But hey, you get me every day of the week this way. An 80-96 page magazine once per month turns into a lot more work than one might imagine.
I figured out I was looking at the whole thing all wrong. The Arcane Library has put out three zines on their own for Shadowdark RPG with more on the way according to Kelsey Dionne. The Cursed Scroll Zines are more like mini sourcebooks and adventure guides for Shadowdark. The first one piqued my interest immediately due to the bonus classes contained therein. I’m pretty happy with my decision to pick that one up.
The nice thing about zine format is I can get away with less art, B&W throughout, shorter form content, and surprisingly no harsh deadlines. I’ve been selling the zine idea short for years.
How does this work with Basic RolePlaying: The Universal Engine?
The shorter format of the zine will allow me to sell the setting as a supplement for BRP rather than a full reprinting of the ORC License BRP Rules and my setting. This way I can explain my changes, additions, and modifications to BRP. This saves space which I will need for the hexcrawl sandbox rules and setting info that I want to squeeze in. I don’t have to reprint all of the combat rules and Chaosium hopefully gets some more business selling their core books.
I don’t know how many designers will follow the same path as me, but it’s a doozie of an idea. I’ll still put in all the professions, skills, equipment, monsters, and magic I was originally planning, but spread out over six volumes instead of one thick book.
Keeping costs down for you, the consumer.
Another thing about doing a zine is that they’re relatively cheap. I see 68 pages retailing for $14,99. I have seen sources suggesting $20-$30 would be okay for 96 pages. My original book plan was to sell digital for $24.99. Honestly $20 for 96 pages seems a bit egregious. Maybe we could do $14.99 for 96 pages.
I’ll do my best to pile as much text as possible onto those precious 96 pages. Whatever doesn’t make the first book can show up elsewhere in the five other books. I want return customers to my humble corner of DTRPG if at all possible. I’m following the old formula of quality product at a cheap price.
Other volumes may be thinner. I’ll try to work as much into the first one as possible. I want everyone to be happy with what they’ve got. Minimally, it helps out all involved. Chaosium gets a few book sales and I get my setting out into the world. I’m loving this plan!
Jeff's Game Box 