Mr. Goodman... Your thoughts

[papaholdy]

Mr G,

Green Ronin had posted a mission statement for '06 on the site, and it mentions you all. I was wondering what you think of their assessment of the d20 publishing world? I'd like you insight. I have posted the quote below

Last but not least we come to our problem child, the d20 System. As you know, d20 put Green Ronin on the map and we've had many years of success with our various d20 product lines. These days though, d20 is not doing so well. The player base is fragmented and unfocused. Gamers told us they wanted core material that slots in seamlessly with their D&D books. We responded with the Advanced rulebooks and were told they were too generic. Other fans said they wanted interesting settings and rules variants. We responded with our Thieves' World and Mythic Vistas lines and were told they weren't generic enough. Then we talked to retailers and distributors, only to hear that d20 is a dirty word to them these days. What's a game company to do?

Our answer this year is to get back to basics. We started with 32-page adventures and we're going back to the format in a new line called Bleeding Edge. Few companies publish adventures anymore and those that do are mining the nostalgia vein. That's cool and all, but our friends at Necromancer Games and Goodman Games have that angle covered so Bleeding Edge is going a different way.

[goodmangames]

He is correct that the d20 market (and role playing market in general) has slowed down noticeably in the last few years. Part of the slowdown is due to the d20 "bubble" bursting. That's why you see fewer stand-alone products from RPG publishers these days.

Despite that slowing market, the DCC series has done well, and sales of the DCC line have actually increased at a time when other RPG products (and d20 in particular) are declining.

The basic hook for the DCC series is nostalgia, clearly. But if nostalgia were the only hook, the series would have hit #3 or maybe #4 and then petered out. What's sustained it is the fact that they're also very good adventures.

More important than that, they're adventures that tie into the reasons people play D&D. Many publishers forget that the game is called DUNGEONS and DRAGONS. It's a game of medieval fantasy heroes. The game isn't about complex math and intricate game balance; it's about being a hero, thwarting a villain, getting the girl, ruling a kingdom, and becoming a legend. It's a game of adventures and heroism, first and foremost.

Too many published adventures ignore this fact, in a number of ways. They don't emphasize the element of the fantastic that makes D&D great. They focus on the stats instead of the fun. They don't give the players the chance to be heroes. They don't have dungeons! Or dragons!

I think the DCC line has done well not because of nostalgia, but because of something many publishers have missed: the DCC's harken back not to what D&D *was*, but to what D&D still *is*.

[papaholdy]

Too many published adventures ignore this fact, in a number of ways. They don't emphasize the element of the fantastic that makes D&D great. They focus on the stats instead of the fun. They don't give the players the chance to be heroes. They don't have dungeons! Or dragons!

I think the DCC line has done well not because of nostalgia, but because of something many publishers have missed: the DCC's harken back not to what D&D *was*, but to what D&D still *is*.

Awsome! I agree! Players I know talk a good game about role playing and all, but what I find is that no matter what they say, they seem happiest to me when they are crawling through a dungeon, bonking mosters, and taking their stuff. And DCC modules are simply the best.

I am now running a DCC based campaign, and my players love it. I started with DCC 0 and I knew I had them when one players said...

"In all my years of playing I have never encountered a dire skunk."

Hats off to you and to the entire Goodman games staff.

[walrusjester]

There's a dire skunk in DCC 0?

[papaholdy]

There's a dire skunk in DCC 0?

There sure is! And my cagey players though they would twart me by taking intiative and killing it in one blow (which the bis bad Barbarian did). But BAH! I just had the sent gland explode all over them anyway!

[fonkin]

I think you're right on target there, big guy! Our player group has been running together for almost 20 years now. There's way too much world-building in the standard market, and Wizards itself seems to be falling back into the old TSR habit of proliferating game settings. This is what turned AD&D into such a dire bore! (pun intended)

P.S. Yep, the giant skunk was a true terror in 1st edition dnd too. A single 2 hit dice animal had the ability to empty an entire battlefield, what with the indoor-outdoor area of effect conversion for its musk cloud.

But nothing beats my Dire Possums!

[Chris McCoy]

Amen to that, Mr. Goodman! Our group of five years (converted from 2nd ADnD) has been living off of DCCs for the last two years so keep 'em comin'!

We love that old school flava!