The project itself is chosen by the patrons who donate and support the work: your donation supports either the "Empire of the Ghouls" underdark adventure or the "City-State of Zobeck" steam & sorcery city book.
What's Open Design?
I'm returning to an old, old model for writers with the next adventure I write: patronage. In the medieval age and in the Renaissance, patrons were the ones who commissioned artists and writers. There was no such thing as a "publisher". People who wanted books paid someone directly to write them.
The OpenDesign projects are about applying that strategy to RPG adventures. They use a publishing approach that avoids the pitfalls of corporate game development, and they provide a way to share design knowledge with interested gamers.
What are the Zobeck and Ghouls projects?
You can support either of these two projects with your donation.
The City-State of Zobeck: All Levels of Play
A regional and magic sourcebook for the Free City of Zobeck first described in “Steam & Brass”. The usual NPCs, adventure hooks, and major locations are just a small slice of the setting. A big section focuses on rules for things that make Zobeck unique, such as the star & shadow school of magic, clockwork magic, and rules for kobold and skinshifter PCs. We'll discuss CR ratings, spell balance, and setting logic.
The campaign section describes the local pantheon and provides a regional gazetteer that outlines the giant-dominated cities of Nordheim, the elven River Court, the trading hubs of the Seven Cities, the dwarven stronghold of Bernau, the necropolitans of Morgau & Doresh, and the magocracy of Allain. Includes a two-page city map and a full-page regional map showing trade routes, cities, and kingdoms.
Because I love monsters, it includes 10 new ones: the lorelei, cave and lightning dragons, new clockwork creatures, plus one or two from prior Open Designs.
At roughly 70,000 words with complex mechanical design and worldbuilding, "City-State" will take five or six months to write. It is loaded with plug-and-play pieces for any campaign.
The Empire of the Ghouls: Suggested Levels 8-12
This Underdark adventure pits the party against a civilization of intelligent, shadow-powered, hideously strong ghouls who dominate the Underdark and have enslaved gnomes, dwarves, and even the drow. They are now ready to seize a city of cloakers, a place of hanging stalagtites and elder cloakers who control an ancient artifact. If the ghouls seize it, their power will double, and shadow-walking assassins will soon become commonplace on the surface world. The party must enter the Underdark and destroy the ghoul empire at its heart.
Probably at least 60,000 words long, "Empire" will take a minimum five months to write.
Who are you?
My name is Wolfgang Baur. I've been professionally involved in the RPG field for 15 years, starting at TSR and later at WotC. I've written for every major D&D setting, though I'm best known for things like Expedition to the Demonweb Pits, Forge of War, Frostburn, Planes of Law, the Book of Roguish Luck, Assassin Mountain, "A Rose for Talakara", and adventure design in general.
I've written about 12 adventures for Dungeon magazine, and used to be its editor. I'll do all the writing, organizing, and scut-work. You just decide what you'd like to see in the adventure.
How many patrons will there be?
I need about 100 patrons to commission the work. Since there's no retailer, no publisher, no distributor, and no print costs, even a tiny audience makes it worthwhile to design exclusively for patrons.
What do I get?
You'd get the complete adventure written to your instructions regarding level, monsters, etc. For instance, the first adventure title and concept will be chosen by the people who sign up, as will many other adventure details.
It will be professionally laid out and available both as a PDF and as a paper POD book. Please review the final vote results and join today!
Yes, Open Design is trying to do something different. I hope you join the small community that's supporting original and amazing design, right here.
Profile
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
open_design- Wolfgang Baur
- the Free City
Comments
On that note, how can I cast my vote for which project to take on?
I've contributed to other patronage projects because I think it's an innovative and valuable model for creating IP -- a way of using the 'net to get the audience and the creator together without involving all the middlemen. Sometimes those patronage schemes have been "I need X amount of money, once I get it I'll release it publicly so that anyone can see it" and sometimes those patronage schemes have been "once I've been pledged X amount of money I'll create it and mail it to the people who have made pledges, but anyone coming after will need to pay the same amount".
Both of those schemes make sense to me.
What I don't understand about the patronage system being used here is the "limited collector's edition" mentality: Buy it now or you'll never be able to buy it again.
The site says "feel like a Medici", but the Medici commissioned works of art and then displayed them to the public as a testament of their wealth and power. I'm not saying that I want to strut my patronage around like a peacock preening its plumes, but one of the appealing things (for me) about other patronage schemes is the idea that I'm directly contributing to the creation of something new -- something that not only will I enjoy (that's why I'm paying for it), but something other people will be able to enjoy for years to come, in some small part, because I paid for it.
But maybe there's some rationale to this variety of patronage that I'm not understanding. So that's what I'm asking: What's the rationale for this "limited collector's item" mentality of the project?
Justin Alexander
http://www.thealexandrian.net
The confusion arises out of the first project, which is much more limited, because that's what I promised that first group. Four patrons, led by
As to the Medici, I fear you may simply be mistaken. The majority of the work they commissioned was held in private hands, for their own enjoyment.
I understand that your motivation is that of the majority, and I agree with that position. That's why Castle Shadowcrag is available more widely. However, I continue to stand by the pledge I made to
So I guess here's my question: How do I go about doing that? I can see links for becoming a patron of the next project, but I don't see any links clearly labeled to also purchase Shadowcrag. (It's fully possible I am just being blind and/or stupid. :) )
And is there any way to see the design threads and other materials after the fact? (Obviously there's no way to participate after the fact, but the material sounds like a unique resource for using the material even once the discussion and development has come to an end.)
Thanks.
But you're right, it could be easier. I'll put together a "2-in-1" choice to make it easy; right now, you pretty much have to use the patron of the arts button and make a $50 donation, then explain in the notes that it's half-Shadowcrag, half-new project.
Haven't really thought about opening the design threads, polls, and the like.
What options, if any, do I have?
The only option at the moment is to sign up with the current project; Ghouls patrons can pick up. If that's not your thing, you could wait a few months and see if Zobeck (July) makes Shadowcrag available.
The Open Design projects really aren't about keeping stuff in print. It's a design community and patron system more than a publishing house.
Think of this like stock. Each patron has bought a quantity of this project (lets say that project was steam and brass as it seems to be the most hotly contested.) This creates a value based upon its upper limit. Only a certain amount of these patronages exist. To add more patronages to a project after it is done will inflate the number of patronages and deflate the value of each patronage. 1 share of 100 is greater that 1 share of 101.
Why should my share (and with it what little input I offered) be devalued because now, after the project is completed, people decide they want in on it.
The patronage model developed because the nobility wanted exclusivity. They wanted the ability to have one share of one share. To say (with a snotty accent) "I have an ORIGINAL Wolfgang Baur and oh they joy of it. Don't you wish you had one too?" (this is why after an artist died their works went up in price-damn copyright laws back then there were none to speak of-a dead artist insured he couldn't make a copy of the one he sold you-which is exactly what often happened.
The patronage model is based entirely upon selfish acts. The patrons want access to, or to own, something no one else has or gets. The artist wants to create what they want to create, and get paid for it. Wolfgang is kind enough to actually allow us input and ideas. If this is not the case then we are a marketing group that pays for the privilege of giving our ideas to Wolfgang. A model he could sell to publishers.
I still don't think these exclusive works of art should be published beyond what is being offered to patrons and that old projects should not be offered to new patrons. If there is a broad market for them then a publisher will call Wolfgang and say-"write us an adventure, we won't interfere and it can be any thing, any length you want. We will pay you going rate for it. We own and distribute it when you are done." Lets face it we as patrons cannot match those dollars.
I am in this to see what an artist will create. If some of my thoughts get added then great but in all I am paying Wolfgang to see what he will come up with. If it is something I really like I will pay him more to make sure it happens. Shadowcrag was for me a lukewarm experience. Not that it did not turn out great. I am very pleased with the project. It is however not something I would look at on the shelf. Which is to my benefit because now I have, through supporting the arts, expanded my horizons.
Troy Luginbill
We would go to their house and verify that they don't have a copy of the book left? Give them shock therapy to wipe the memory of the book from their minds?
Or is it blackmail on the secondary market?
My preferred solution right now is to publish "Zobeck" with most of the important material from "Steam & Brass", or to publish a future anthology of Open Design material that includes an updated edition of S&B.
Wolfgang has now specifically stated that he won't be giving S&B to future patrons, because of the feedback from his question. I would be very upset if he went back on his word now (which he seems not to be doing, even if he is tempted).
The alternate solution to buying out the patrons is to create physically what they expect. A collectors edition of Steam and Brass. I would see this as a printed, signed and numbered book (or at least a cover to go around what was printed at home) and CD. Sooner or later pirated copies of this are going to start floating around if for no other reason than to "get around" the selfish stubborn patron holdouts such as myself. I would be surprised if extra copies have not been loaned to others to play already.
What I want out of the project and expected to gain was a piece that was limited and exclusive. This is difficult to require in a digital format because it is so fluid and easily copied.
Maybe what the patrons should be getting is a collectors edition which contains the creation, something signifying that their copy is authentic and not the general public release (signed and numbered and/or content that is exclusive to the collectors edition-such as special artwork or information that can expand the world of play but is not required to actually play or even some of your essays on how to create, behind the scenes of the project, list of patrons, etc.). This creates the limited/exclusivity aspect of the project, provides you with a piece that you can publish and make some extra cash on without devaluing the original project. The collectors edition would never again be released.
This is a compromise between the patron and limited edition public release issue. It is what has been happening in many areas of production-such as collectible swords. China/India is more than happy to make a copy of any original and sell it. To combat this artists are selling the original (which you cannot do in this case as the original is a digital entity although if you kept a journal, log, notes etc I guess you could count those as an original piece.) and a collectors edition production that is officially certified in some way that makes it hard to duplicate the makers mark. Many will even come up with an official limited edition (which is really just a single production run.) that does not have the certification or "extra" that comes with the collectors edition. This limited edition is produced usually at a lower quality and offered at a lower price. The limited edition is often also reproduced as needed as it is not marked to a limiting number and is often only a marketing ploy.