The Business: When You Remind Folks That RPGs Don't Need Supplements

Jeffro reminds people that publishers selling shit players don't need is hardly a new thing.

Question for people that owned this supplement.

How did you use this in actual play? https://t.co/0PjQCWVqkC

— Jeffro Johnson (@JohnsonJeffro) December 10, 2022

I had that supplement.

It was useless for actual play. Lots of lore that wasn't going to see the light of day, information that most players would never bother to ask after, and other things that had sweet fuck-all to do with what is relevant to running a campaign.

Instead, it was there to give non-players something to read, act as part of a backdoor Series Bible for hired novelists (and later other media), and push the idea of Official Writ from the publisher being more important to the campaign than the users themselves.

The later Waterdeep boxed set, with a massive set of maps (that did not perfectly match up) implied for wargaming activity but not supported in that use, built on this foundation.

There is nothing that a tabletop RPG actually needs in terms of supplemental material after the ruleset is published. Contrary to gamer mythology and business cargo cult talk, you do not need a publisher-supported setting. You do not need to constantly add new gear, powers, and so on to the product line.

What you actually need to do is provide user support in the form of detailed online demonstrations of intended use. This is what the #BROSR has done for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition. Show that user--and that prospective user--how your game actually works by letting them see you use its rules and procedures in action.

Yes, this is why Critical Role is cited so often as being the single largest driver of Current D&D's adoption and spread. It is also a fine example of doing that wrong, so wrong that it single-handedly warped the entire product line and its network of users because of the dissonance between the expectations of the viewers and how Current D&D actually works.

It's why all those channels and blogs doing battle reports for 40K, Fantasy, BattleTech, etc. matter- that is what they are doing.

The best part, oh ambitious tabletop RPG enterprise? Far cheaper and easier to do, and completely avoids killing your business via product overload.

No more of this "Do the supplement treadmill, bury the game under its own weight, reboot with new edition and start the process over again." Keep your game evergreen, keep your costs far lower than otherwise, and keep the users' creativity where it belongs: front and center in their own campaigns.

You, the RPG publisher, are no different than someone that sells guns or cars. You need only show them how to use it. What they do with it is their problem.

Yes, I am saying that all of you people have done this wrong for generations, and it's all down to Cargo Cult Mentality. That time is done.

"But-"

*looks over at Bright Noa*

That introductory module? Make it a Let's Play series. Show that new or prospective player how the game works. It will be far better than throwing them into the deep end and expecting them to not drown.

Therefore, there is only one other explanation for this practice to continue. I'll let Grames point this out.

One of the items that had been revealed recently with Hasbro, was how D&D made most of it's bank from overselling silly splat books to DM's, as a strategy to make bank off of the recent iteration of the product.

And sadly that became the norm even when TSR was it's own thing.

— Grames Barnaby (@overunderwriter) December 10, 2022

Whaling is still despicable and vile exploitation even if it's not weaponized gambler psychology at work, and as more people see this for what it is the opportunity to put an end to it shall grow.

It is for the best that it is put to the sword.