#23: Why D20 is Good for Freelancers

[RPGnet Columns]

http://www.rpg.net/columns/free/free23.phtml

Summary:

The research and sales benefits of the d20 system.

Go to the column (http://www.rpg.net/columns/free/free23.phtml) for more information.

[smascrns]

Sorry but I don't buy your reasoning. D20 is not a single rules set, it has several variants (D&D, d20 Future, etc.), each with different rules and requirements. One still has to do independent research for each one of these. Furthermore, D&D (the variety of d20 I know) is far from being a simple game, so it requires a lot of research. On the other hand, there are several other game systems that are a lot simpler, thus require a lot less research to learn them.

I'm not saying that d20 is not a safe or even the safer bet for a freelancer. What I'm saying is that research time is far from being the main reason for such a choice.

[fmitchell]

A few other counter-arguments:


Because there's such a plethora of D&D and D20 material, it's hard to make sure you're being compatible with everything else out there. A friend who is a freelance writer calculated that there are 1700 Feats in just the WotC-published supplements alone. To make sure that no two of those feats together don't unbalance the game -- witness Punpun the 5th level Kobold god -- means checking 2,890,000 combinations. (It's his contention that nobody actually does, even at WotC ... even supposed experts write stat blocks with errors.)

Because of the d20 material already out there, how is your product going to stand out? Will it sell? Is there really no other product that covers the same ground? Witness the d20 crash of the 90s.

Call me a "method writer", but if you don't really like a system, then it's unlikely you'll write well for it. I've speculated on writing game material, but I just don't like d20.


Of course, the above assumes you're writing for games because you like them, and want to do something cool. If you're just in it for the money ... you're mad. Try romance novels.

[Fifth Element]

To make sure that no two of those feats together don't unbalance the game -- witness Punpun the 5th level Kobold god -- means checking 2,890,000 combinations. (It's his contention that nobody actually does, even at WotC ... even supposed experts write stat blocks with errors.)

Invoking Pun-Pun to support an argument is not terribly convincing - that build is an obvious fluke that takes advantage of loopholes in rules, and runs completely contrary to the spirit of the rules. (The Pun-Pun designer even said it's not intended to be played, and is merely an exercise.) Of course some people will find abusive cobinations of feats and abilities - but I think a writer can rely on a DM to have a modicum of sense to say "um, no, I'm not going to allow that." There is no requirement to check every other feat in existence when designing a new one. That's ridiculous.

[masque1223]

I can't read the column, I keep getting
"Parse error: parse error, unexpected '}' in /var/www/rpgnet/slib/columnlib.php on line 1086"

Is it just me, or what, and if it is just me, how do I fix it?

[LBrownIII]

I just received an e-mail saying the error is fixed.

Thanks for the discussion so far. I'll be back later with more substantive comments.

[Bill_Coffin]

Interesting article. But as one who regularly hires freelance (business) writers, I am not entirely thrilled with the common freelancer method of "research once, write thrice" method of cranking out material. Whenever I get articles that have sprung from ths kind of effort, I can always tell, and they are never nearly as good as articles for which the author conducted unique, specialized research. I don't know why this is, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that the freelancers I deal with who write multiple articles off of the same material also tend to write for lots of different publications. This keeps them busy and their mortgages paid up. It also, in the long run, encourages sloppy writing, sloppy research, and corner-cutting of every kind. These kinds of articles always scream out that the writer doesn't necessarily want to be published in my magaizne, he just wants to get paid. That's all well and good, but when money is your primary motivation for writing, the writing always suffers.

[fmitchell]

Invoking Pun-Pun to support an argument is not terribly convincing - that build is an obvious fluke that takes advantage of loopholes in rules, and runs completely contrary to the spirit of the rules. (The Pun-Pun designer even said it's not intended to be played, and is merely an exercise.) Of course some people will find abusive cobinations of feats and abilities - but I think a writer can rely on a DM to have a modicum of sense to say "um, no, I'm not going to allow that." There is no requirement to check every other feat in existence when designing a new one. That's ridiculous.

True, a pragmatic DM will find a rule screw, crumple up the character sheet, and tell the player "start over" (or "get out"). But it does point out a problem with d20 ... there are a plethora of rules, and "feats" that bend the rules, and feats that interact with other feats ... (Compare to point-buy systems like GURPS 4e or Champions, where most powers are combinations of existing advantages and already fairly balanced, or comparatively lighter systems like Call of Cthulhu and World of Darkness where rules take a back seat to color, atmosphere, and, alas, real-world research.)

A responsible writer will attempt to playtest his work before unleashing it on the public. Of course, playtesting undercuts the argument that "with a little research, you can pump out a lot of articles". An irresponsible writer will simply toss something out there; by the time some poor schmuck actually tries to use it, he'll have already collected his fee. As a previous post notes, eventually such a writer will gain a reputation for doing shoddy work ... but maybe he'll be selling time shares by then.

[adaen]

Interesting article. But as one who regularly hires freelance (business) writers, I am not entirely thrilled with the common freelancer method of "research once, write thrice" method of cranking out material. Whenever I get articles that have sprung from ths kind of effort, I can always tell, and they are never nearly as good....(snip)

Not to undercut what you've observed in your experience, but isn't it possible that you've only noticed shoddy work from the "research once, write thrice" method when it was done poorly and that there are writers who do it so well that no one can tell that is what they are doing? I mean, there is a difference in recycling research and recycling via the "cut and paste", right?

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to be adversarial. I am truly interested in your (and others) thoughts on this.

Best,

~AoB

[fmitchell]

Sorry but I don't buy your reasoning. D20 is not a single rules set, it has several variants (D&D, d20 Future, etc.), each with different rules and requirements. One still has to do independent research for each one of these. Furthermore, D&D (the variety of d20 I know) is far from being a simple game, so it requires a lot of research. On the other hand, there are several other game systems that are a lot simpler, thus require a lot less research to learn them.

I just wanted to highlight this argument, which seemed to pass without comment.

d20 might be the 800 lb gorilla of gaming, but there's simpler systems like Call of Cthulhu/BRP, RuneQuest, Fudge and its offspring (e.g. Fate), PDQ ... or if you prefer ones with bigger market share, World of Darkness, Shadowrun, and Savage Worlds.

Or, for that matter, a freelancer could actually do real-world research (gasp!) and translate that knowledge into systemless or multi-system articles and books. I think African culture and history are woefully unrepresented, for example; an expert in that could write a number of interesting supplements. A light dusting of d20 would hook into the biggest market, but the real draw would be the information. GURPS worldbooks are popular even for gamers who don't play GURPS, because many are 80-90% easy-to-read research.

[Fifth Element]

True, a pragmatic DM will find a rule screw, crumple up the character sheet, and tell the player "start over" (or "get out"). But it does point out a problem with d20 ... there are a plethora of rules, and "feats" that bend the rules, and feats that interact with other feats ... (Compare to point-buy systems like GURPS 4e or Champions, where most powers are combinations of existing advantages and already fairly balanced, or comparatively lighter systems like Call of Cthulhu and World of Darkness where rules take a back seat to color, atmosphere, and, alas, real-world research.)

A responsible writer will attempt to playtest his work before unleashing it on the public. Of course, playtesting undercuts the argument that "with a little research, you can pump out a lot of articles". An irresponsible writer will simply toss something out there; by the time some poor schmuck actually tries to use it, he'll have already collected his fee. As a previous post notes, eventually such a writer will gain a reputation for doing shoddy work ... but maybe he'll be selling time shares by then.

As Lloyd pointed out in his article, writing for other systems is great, but if SJ Games doesn't want to publish your GURPS book, tough. Not so with d20. That's one of the main thrusts of the article. It's also one of the reasons there is so much d20 stuff already.

And as for the "problem" you have identified with d20, please remember that one man's problem is another man's feature. Many d20 fans *love* the plethora of rules, which allow them to pick and choose what they like, rather than what a single publisher deems acceptable.

Speaking as a freelance writer, playtesting is the publisher's job. If a publisher publishes something that was not playtested, blame the publisher. For the meager rates a d20 freelancer earns, he doesn't have the time to playtest things himself. An "irresponsible" writer might throw tons of news ideas out there; it's the publisher, editor and playtesters that seperate the wheat from the chaff. Not every idea a writer has will be good; but if a publisher can't tell a poor idea from a good one, you can hardly blame the writer.

[Fifth Element]

d20 might be the 800 lb gorilla of gaming, but there's simpler systems like Call of Cthulhu/BRP, RuneQuest, Fudge and its offspring (e.g. Fate), PDQ ... or if you prefer ones with bigger market share, World of Darkness, Shadowrun, and Savage Worlds.

Again, this completely misses one of the main thrusts of the article: if you write for Shadowrun, and FanPro (or whoever the current licensed publisher is) doesn't deem it worthy, you're out of luck. Not so with d20. That was one of the important points in the article.

[Citadel]

This is an interesting article. I was thinking about game systems today. I have been reading Burning Empires and Blue Planet both of which use systems I have not come across before. But the mechanics of the systems really only take about 20 pages each. Only about an hour each to understand. The stuff that takes time to learn is the specifics of the systems (skill, traits, gifts, feats, biomods, aptitudes, whatever it is in the specific game) and of course the background. It seems that with the various D20 games I have played they still have a 300 page rulebook to go through. Do you really save that much time in not learning a new outline of game mechanics/character creation. Especially as D20 games tend to be quite complicated compared to many other systems.

Also, how compatible are Dungeons & Dragons and say Star Wars? Can you really write articles for both based on one six session game? I didn't quite follow how you save on gaming sessions by sticking to D20.

[Michelle Lyons]

This article was 100% true a year ago, or perhaps even two years ago. Now it is significantly less so. The number of companies publishing for d20 is declining rapidly. While it is still the most "universal" rules set one can write about, finding publishers for that material is becoming more and more challenging. It is also not the case of "if you write it, they will come." D20 publishers are not hurting for material, IME. Writing original work and seeking a publisher for it is an excellent way to get into PDF or self-publishing, but less so to see print under the auspices of the mainstream d20 publishers.

Prior to the d20 boom, if one wanted to write for a company, you bought their book, learned it, and worked your way into writing for them. If you could learn more than one system and could be relied upon not to screw up, you moved from "fan author" into the professional category. If you could write for 3 or more systems and/or design your own, your reputation often preceded you within the industry. d20 changed all that, as suddenly there was more work, more consistent work, and of a more consistent design skillset than there had ever been before. That was great while it lasted, but the pendulum is quickly swinging the other way.

Having d20 in your design toolset is highly recommended, but don't count on it to support you. Its days as the freelance skeleton key that could open any door are fast waning. Be flexible, be a quick study, and be willing to take work where you can get it. Those are the skills that will stand you in much greater stead.

[LBrownIII]

Well, it looks like other people beat me to the punch on a couple of points I wanted to make earlier.

As for various incarnations of D20, generic meant-for-D&D D20 is the largest chunk. Of the open calls I pulled for my count, the 2nd-largest block was D20 future, and that was all for one publisher. Who really uses D20 past? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

The number of companies publishing for d20 is declining rapidly.

Maybe so, but most of the crashing and burning comes from people paying less than my acceptance threshold anyway. Mongoose is expanding. WotC has publicly stated that 2006 was the best year ever for D&D. You might simply be seeing the tiny pie-slices being eaten by the big pie slices in the RPG market.

[fmitchell]

Mongoose is expanding. WotC has publicly stated that 2006 was the best year ever for D&D. You might simply be seeing the tiny pie-slices being eaten by the big pie slices in the RPG market.

Which does somewhat undercut an earlier argument about the diversity of companies paying for d20 work.

But yes, I'm not a freelancer, I'm an occasional gamer, and as I've stated earlier D&D (and d20) is far from my favorite system. So I'm biased, and hardly in touch with market realities. (As a reference point, I also dislike Microsoft and nearly all pop music.)

D&D is what nearly everbody knows, and I don't doubt that WotC and Mongoose can afford to pay more than SJG or Chaosium. I guess I disagree with the implied philosophy of learning about, and writing for only for whoever pays the most; the best work comes from people actually interested in what they're doing. Never mind the "let George playtest" meme: I simply can't believe that a gamer can't call some friends together for an evening and actually use the rules he's proposing, just as a quick sanity check.

[LBrownIII]

I guess I disagree with the implied philosophy of learning about, and writing for only for whoever pays the most;

Me too.

Learning & writing for D20 gives you the biggest batch of options. I'm not saying you shouldn't learn anything else. At some point, you might have to. D20 just nets you the most reward for the work. I'm not recommending that it's all you do.

the best work comes from people actually interested in what they're doing.

We're all writing RPGs because we want to. My contention has always been that you can write what you want and make money at the same time by paying as much attention to your career decision as you to do to character creation or flavor text.

Furthermore, earning more allows you to indulge yourself in writing for RPGs longer--if you have financial trouble and have to look for better-paying work, then you might have to give up the RPGs for trade magazines or something. But if your RPG income pays the bills, you can do it as long as you like.

[Fifth Element]

But yes, I'm not a freelancer, I'm an occasional gamer, and as I've stated earlier D&D (and d20) is far from my favorite system. So I'm biased, and hardly in touch with market realities.

Then perhaps you should reread the very last line of the article. You know, the part where it says regardless of whether you like the d20 system as a player, it's a good system to write for as a freelancer. It's basically the point of the whole article.

[fmitchell]

Then perhaps you should reread the very last line of the article. You know, the part where it says regardless of whether you like the d20 system as a player, it's a good system to write for as a freelancer. It's basically the point of the whole article.

But, if one doesn't like the system as a player, what's the playtest session going to be like? "Ugh, I'd love to play Cthulhu, but I have to playtest this damn d20 article." Will there even be a playtest?

As a reply to Mr. Brown ... yes, I guess I indulged in some kneejerk reactions. It's a combination of my previously stated dislike of d20, and a vision of the freelance world as I wish it to be. My friend the freelancer, who adamantly wishes to remain anonymous because he has a deadline, has set me straight.

No, Virginia, there are no Quality Fairies that help out freelancers; they've must either make their wordcount or forego their pittance. The sense or inspiration of the words often matter less than their number. And -- quelle suprise -- even the best succumb to the sweet, seductive voice saying, "skip the playtest, just mail it". And, just like nobody ever got fired for buying Microsoft, nobody ever lost work because they *did* know d20. And, hey, it's OGL, which comparatively few games are these days. (RuneQuest, FATE, Fudge, ... any others?)

I guess I'd just like a world where other systems got their time in the sun, and gaming articles contained less system-specific crunch and more inspiring ideas. If anyone finds that world, please tell me.

P.S. One reason I harp on playtesting is because, as a programmer, I'm obsessed over code testing. Alas, you can't run your rules through a battery of automated tests to find vagueness, lameness, or world-breaking power.

[spshu]

As Lloyd pointed out in his article, writing for other systems is great, but if SJ Games doesn't want to publish your GURPS book, tough. Not so with d20. That's one of the main thrusts of the article. It's also one of the reasons there is so much d20 stuff already.

<snip>
GURPS is licensed out to atleast Amarillo Design Bureau dba Star Fleet Games has a license for GURPS for the Prime Directive RPG. So there is the possibility of licensing the system. although in this case, the license was gained through the friendship of the owners of two companies.

There is all ways switching the system as atleast you have your flavor text done.

[LBrownIII]

So there is the possibility of licensing the system.

Licenses are possible, but they're rare. And what can you do with your Prime Directive supplement if ADB doesn't want it? Can you sell it to SJ? No.

The licenses that are most helpful are the arrangements where another company produces additional material for the game you want to write for. If you fail to sell your Call of Cthulhu supplement to Pagan Publishing, for example, you can offer it to Chaosium instead. If WotC doesn't want your Dungeons & Dragons material, Kenzer will consider it because they have the license to produce official D&D work.