What a Tabletop RPG Needs To Be Now: Part 4

There are rules. There are mechanics. There is content. A RPG must have all three to be playable.

As a designer and publisher you do not need to provide all three equally to be successful as a commercial endeavor. This is because these three components are not equal in value. Rules and mechanics are useless without content to provide a context for the rules and mechanics to operate within. This is why I say that you can, and should, give away the rules (and the mechanics) for free and focus instead on selling playable content.

So what am I talking about?

Rules are governing statements of operation. "You must have a character to participate in the game." is a rule. Mechanics are systems of procedure, such as character creation and combat adjudication. In short, What To Do are the rules where as How To Do It are the mechanics. Where, When, With What, and Why is where your content lies.

Your System Reference Document is about rules and mechanics. Now do you see why you can get away with just putting up online and linking your content to it? Your readers, and users, care about the adventures they can have and all of that is content-related; where they can go, why they want to go there and do that, what tools they have at their disposal to solve emerging problems, and what they will face if they go there to do that- all content-related. Eliminating whole swaths of space by using a master document that they can just look up as needed makes getting on with gameplay faster and easier, and so makes purchasing more likely by prospective buyers.

Yes, you may need to add some free content to your SRD to demonstrate by example how your rules and mechanics work. That's fine, so don't sweat it and just do it; these are typically related to character creation and improvement, such as equipment, powers/gear, and character features (Classes, skills, or however you specify what a character can do- that sort of thing.) The trick here is to specify that your content examples are examples and not indicative of your entire product. This is vital if you're using the same ruleset for multiple genres, multiple settings, or both.

This approach also applies to settings, should you choose to offer one. Most of what a tabletop RPG publisher puts out is little more than a print version of a Wiki, so don't be a moron: make a Wiki for your setting, lock down editing privileges, and publish for sale only actual playable content therein. Your gods? Put on the Wiki. What powers a character serving this or that god can wield during play? Sell that. The location of Lord Scotland's castle? On the Wiki. The map? Image on the Wiki; print version for use at the table is for sale. A detail location guide, complete with several brick-to-face obvious features (Scotland's stat block, for example) that you can just drop in and use at the table? Sell that, and don't skimp on the quality of presentation.

Why do this?

Because tabletop RPG users are not equal in ability, or in desire, to make their own content. To varying degrees, they want or need someone to do most of the component creation for them and that is where you justify your existence as a tabletop RPG designer and publisher. By satisfying that demand, you bring in the revenue that will allow you to pay your bills and maintain your household (be it in whole or in part). Few understand this, including many who really ought to know better.

That brings us back to the hustle. Tomorrow.