When my interest in tabletop RPGs came back after a long hiatus, one of the games that easily drew me to the hobby was Basic Fantasy RPG, written by Chris Gonnerman. Yes, I had my old Basic D&D books, but as much as I love old D&D, there are some things I’ve never quite jived with (that’s a subject for another post).
Anyway, there it was, Basic Fantasy RPG: a game that came up by chance in my Amazon product search. The reviews were fantastic, there was a lot of content for it, but being honest, the clincher was the price: $5.00 USD for a softcover rulebook that had everything needed to run the game (except dice), and all the PDFs are available for free at their website.
At that moment in time I was in a particular tight spot in financial terms. I didn’t have that much money to spend away on hobbies and games. And yet, I was definitely able to get a brand-new RPG for the price of a Starbucks coffee.
This is the game that kicked my pants and got me fully invested in tabletop RPGs again. And, yes, the game is great: flexible, fast, modular, easily modifiable, and yet carries that unique B/X D&D flavor with it. Fantastic work by Chris. I ended up buying all the modules and supplements, as they were around $3.00 USD for a softcover adventure module. In total, I spent less than $50 getting all the Basic Fantasy books.
Where am I going with this?
As I let Perilous Ventures run its course in Playtest Edition (no more writing for now, just playing to squeeze bugs out), my mind can’t stand still; I started writing a new tabletop RPG, 52 Fates, that uses a unique dice-less resolution mechanic. And in writing both games, I realized an kind of unconscious decision I made for both: make them accessible.
Perilous Ventures uses six-sided dice only, which are easily available and cheap, and it’s oriented towards theater-of-the-mind style of play. In the case of 52 Fates, all you need is two decks of standard playing cards. That’s it. So I definitely want almost anyone to be able to acquire and play my games.
But here’s the conundrum: especially if you’re hiring people to do some work, those people need to get paid, and you should pay yourself, too. There’s been a discussion regarding proper compensation in the TTRPG market, and how things are priced so low it’s impossible for some to become properly compensated.
The only way that I see to properly handle this is to have a Kickstarter that funds the creation of the game book(s). Factor in the goals paying fairly for art, editing, and layout. Make supporters feel special by providing extras in your stretch goals.
But when it’s all done, sell the product at a relatively low price. That way, everyone gets paid, even yourself, and yet you can still make the game accessible to the vast majority of players.
What do you think?
