Community Content Publishing (OneBookShelf)

What, a post so soon?

It's Day 1 of 2021 but I'm not using that naming convention for these blog posts anymore.

I mentioned in my end of year post about potentially publishing content for games other than D&D.

Whilst doing some reading of the other Community Content Programmes on DriveThruRPG I thought it may be of interest to others how this works.

Before we dive in though.

I am NOT an expert on this subject but I have spent a fair bit of time reading the info on DriveThruRPGs website and doing some digging around the interwebs.  If any of this is wrong, please let me know!

If you're creating something that is not tied to an existing RPG and you want to publish it on DriveThru then you have two options:

1. Exclusive
2. Non-Exclusive

What's the difference?  This page explains https://www.drivethrurpg.com/joinchoice.php and here's the table for speed.

	Download Exclusive	Download Non-Exclusive
Earnings on digital sales	70% of customer price you set	65% of customer price you set
Digital sales channels	Only resold through DriveThruRPG.com	Sold anywhere
Earnings on printed sales	70% of print margin*	65% of print margin*
Printed sales channels	Sold anywhere	Sold anywhere
Enhanced title rotation	Yes	No
Bonus on-site promotion	Yes	No

If you want to create something that IS tied to an existing RPG then worth looking at the Community Content Programmes on DriveThru.

Three things to consider.

1. If you're planning to create products for one of the Community Content Programmes on DriveThruRPG then first you need to decide which one. This page lists all of them - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/cc/0/default

All of them give you access to their IP and in many cases provide artwork, templates for InDesign, Word and Affinity Publisher to create content and a variety of other resources.

This is really important to consider when creating something.  If you're wanting to write for a specific RPG then it's an easier decision to make because you are actually writing for that RPG.  If you don't want to lose that 15% or 20% then you have to ensure that what you produce doesn't infringe on copyrights or at the very least uses Open Gaming content.

2. The trade off is in the Earnings %.

In the main the Royalty % is 50% although there is one exception I could find (Savage Worlds) and a few where I couldn't find the %  on the DriveThru website (those in italics).  I'd err on the side of those being 50% too though.

Community Content Programmes	Royalty
Canis Minor (Pugmire)	50% Royalty
Chronicle System Guild (Green Ronin)	??% Royalty
Cypher System Creator Program	50% Royalty
Disciples of the Demon Lord	??% Royalty
DMsGuild	50% Royalty
Free League Workshop	50% Royalty
Genesys Foundry	50% Royalty
Gumshoe Community	50% Royalty
HERO GAMES	50% Royalty
Hero Kids Creator's Guild	50% Royalty
Infiniverse (Torg)	??% Royalty
Jonstown Compendium (Runequest)	50% Royalty
Miskatonic Repository	50% Royalty
Pip Worlds ???	50% Royalty
Savage Worlds Adventurer's Guild	60% Royalty
Scriptorium Aventuris (The Dark Eye)	??% Royalty
Slarecian Vault (Scarred Lands)	50% Royalty
Storypath Nexus	50% Royalty
Storytellers Vault	50% Royalty
Stratosphere (Unknown Armies)	??% Royalty
TinyTrove (Tinyd6)	??% Royalty
Travellers' Aid Society	50% Royalty
WOIN (What's Old Is New)	50% Royalty
ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous	50% Royalty

Stuff not listed would include games / systems like Pathfinder, Powered by the Apocalypse and FATE mostly because they either don't share their IP or have no specific IP to share.  If you're using these then you're not using a Community Content Programme and if you publish for these on DriveThruRPG then you're able to take advantage of the Exclusive / Non-Exclusive options above.

3.  If you're publishing D&D 5e compatible material you have 2 options.

1. DMsGuild
2. 5e OGL / SRD on DriveThruRPG

The former gives you access to the D&D IP and the dedicated D&D platform for customers that is DMsGuild. Although that's with a 50% royalty.

The latter gives you access to (most of) the core of D&D 5e as a game and gives you 65%-70% royalty. Although that's with being in a marketplace (DriveThruRPG) that isn't targeted at the D&D community.

That said it is worth noting that if the OGL / SRD approach means you can publish stuff wherever you like whether that's itch.io or Kickstarter or frankly anywhere.  DMsGuild produced stuff can only be sold via DMsGuild.

Beyond that we get into the area of ownership of what is created.

It's here that I need to clearly state that I am not a lawyer.

Below is a summary from Travis Legge comparing three such offerings.  Travis also isn’t a lawyer, but he’s been involved in self-publishing for many years so certainly a good guide.

DMsGuild	The FAQ states, “Wizards does not own any of the unique IP that you create in your publications. Wizards does own the IP that they contribute, plus the DMs Guild agreement will grant Wizards and other DMs Guild authors a license to use your IP. That said, if your work merits incorporation into canon, Wizards will contact you about purchasing your IP outright.” What this means is that if you create a Wizard named Blinky McScuzzlefort and in an adventure you create for the Dungeon Masters Guild, you have Blinky McScuzzlefort get kidnapped by Mind Flayers (A Wizards of the Coast IP property) that you own Blinky McScuzzlefort and Wizards keeps ownership of Mind Flayers. If Wizards wants to later use Blinky McScuzzlefort in a book they create called “Blinky McScuzzlefort’s Guide to Stuff” they have to purchase that intellectual property from you in order to do so. This seems to confuse a lot of people, but it is really that simple.
OGL	This is the part of the OGL that new creators seem to find the most challenging. When you publish under the OGL, you effectively split your content into two types, which you must clearly designate in the title or legal page of your text. The first type of content is Open Game Content, which is game systems, rules, numbers, stat blocks, etc. This is effectively added to the SRD in terms of ability for people to draw from and use in their own publications. It becomes open source. Anyone can use it, so long as they follow the guidelines laid out in the Open Game License. The second type of content is Product Identity. Product identity is generally Proper Nouns, setting elements, trade dress, storylines, and other non-system items, which you retain ownership and copyright over. Others using the Open Game License can reuse your Open Game Content, but they cannot use your Product Identity.
Slarecian Vault / Canis Minor	These community content programs each list specifics regarding the Product Identity you are allowed to use and the ramifications of publishing under these programs. The Slarecian Vault FAQ, available here, explicitly states that Onyx Path owns the content you create under the Slarecian Vault. This is not the place to publish ideas that you wish to retain ownership of. You won’t. The Canis Minor FAQ, available here, makes the same stipulation. In effect, you are using their Product Identity to contribute to their Product Identity. This is something to be aware of and create accordingly.

If protecting ownership of any Community Content you create is important to you, worth reviewing the wording of these FAQs etc very carefully.

Atomic Robo RPG!!!!!

I HAVE IT!

-ahem- I have it in PDF that is as the printed version isn't out til June but I decided to be spontaneous and make sure I have it sooner than later by pre-ordering it via Leisure Games in London.

So why do I have the PDF now?  Intelligent publisher / retailer relationships.

A number of years ago a service called Bits & Mortar was set up to enable stores to provide PDF copies of RPGs to customers when they pre-ordered (or indeed bought) the physical product.  To me this is a no brainer service for a retailer to embrace as simply put IT COSTS NOTHING and PROVIDES EXTRA VALUE TO THE CONSUMER.

Sorry for the CAPS but I'm feeling both ranty and excited right now...

Anyway!  I have the Atomic Robo RPG!!!!! Time to read!

The Force is strong with this one.

In my previous post on licenses I made reference to the popularity of Star Wars within the hobby.

Star Wars is one of those properties that has serious longevity and is consistently establishing new fans to enjoy the games by publishers such as Fantasy Flight Games.

What caught me by surprise today is that ICv2 have released some market performance information around the success of games in the Non-Collectible Miniature format during Summer 2013.

These numbers are taken from independent stores in North America and doesn't include Games Workshop stores in that mix.  The numbers show that the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures game outsold Warmachine, Warhammer Fantasy and Hordes.  Now there are no numbers published to give market share or anything like that but seeing the game selling so well in comparison to the stalwarts of that format is surprising.

Top 5 Non-Collectible Miniature Lines – Summer 2013
	Title	Publisher
1	Warhammer 40k	Games Workshop
2	Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures	Fantasy Flight Games
3	Warmachine	Privateer Press
4	Warhammer Fantasy	Games Workshop
5	Hordes	Privateer Press

Mind you looking back at my post on bias/snobbery in the hobby I had managed to determine that the market for Warhammer (both games combined) was something in the region of 1.5 Million players worldwide.  So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that a game which gives fans of Star Wars the opportunity to play games of starship battles or maybe it's more a reflection of the size of that format as a whole but either way it was a surprise to me to find X-Wing as the 2nd most popular Non-Collectible Miniature game of the Summer.

Have you got a license for that?

Licensing of popular TV shows, movies and books has been fairly common place throughout the hobby for as long as I can remember.  In my post on MERP I only covered the RPG licensing of the setting for The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.

Currently Middle Earth can be explored in a variety of forms whether that be wargaming with Games Workshop, collectable miniatures with Wizkids or any number of board and card games that are set in the world created by JRR Tolkien.  And that's just what's currently being published!

Star Wars is another regularly used license with Fantasy Flight Games releasing a RPG, Card Game and in the form of X-Wing a Board/War Game (I can't decide).  The key omission here is the lack of a full scale wargame along the lines of Warhammer.  I'm not sure why this is the case as I can't think of any reason why any gamer (including this one) wouldn't be interested in playing the Hoth battle using miniatures...

Superheroes (primarily DC Comics and Marvel Comics) have also had a number of instances in the hobby with Heroclix being the main example but RPGs and Board/Card Games also exist.  Plus to make sure no-one forgets there's an Atomic Robo RPG coming out!

Licenses for TV Shows have gone through a bit of a glut over the years with Firefly / Serenity, Stargate, Leverage, Supernatural, Smallville, Primeval and Dr Who all having RPGs. Some have multiple formats of games.

Now, none of this is bad as in many respects a product based on a licensed property increases the exposure of the hobby as a whole.  It's also fair to say that a number of licensed products are one-shot publications to maximise the opportunity to tie-in with the popularity of the TV shows involved.  Not saying it's a bad thing as afterall these are companies in the business of making money.

What am I saying then?  A licensed game doesn't make it a good game.  It doesn't provide any form of guarantee that the game will invoke the sensation of taking part in that license.

So by picking up a license, any license, a company gives themselves a good start in finding a player base for that game but at the same time that game better be good!  The thing that kills a licensed product quickly is when the players buy it in droves but find that it's actually "not that good".

What games based on licenses were you most disappointed with?