So far we’ve discussed genre selection.
Now let’s take a look at actually selling this thing. We have to submit both an elevator (short, poignant) pitch and a longer, back-of-the-book style pitch for the BRP Design Challenge. (*Lots of hearts.) I’m crazy excited about this thing. I am going bonkers on this game engine and designing this setting.
Genre selection is super important when it comes to new games this year. Whatever I choose has to blow other games, other genres out of the water and get massive amounts of attention. I’m looking at the indie TTRPG scene and trying to position this product in an optimal place for it to not only sell itself, but Chaosium’s Basic RolePlaying: Universal Game Engine.
2024-2025 are critical turning point years in the TTRPG industry.
Not only is it the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, but the new “edition” of that game releases tentatively in September this year. We don’t get the third core D&D book, the Monster Manual until tentatively February of 2025. With the way Wizards of the Coast has been acting over the last two years, I’m not sure they’ll even get that much right. (*Oh noes. The YouTube WotC shills hate me now like never before.)
Regardless of what else happens, all eyes in the TTRPG community are on new fantasy releases. MCDM, Daggerheart, DC20, Tales of the Valiant, and dozens more are trying to outmaneuver WotC for the number one TTRPG slot. Some games have been labeled, “D&D killers.” What if no one has considered the D&D slayer has been right under their noses the whole time?
BRP has been around for decades, almost as long as D&D. I’ve played Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu, Elfquest, and Pendragon. I’m familiar with Runequest and Glorantha, but I’m sad to say I never got into it. BRP is a solid base game, certainly on par with the d20 rules. I’m rather surprised it’s not listed as the D&D killer given last year’s successful relaunch.
High Fantasy is what the people seem to want.
I conducted an informal poll on X (Twitter) and Threads to see what people were in the mood for. Much to my dismay, 62.5% of the 315 respondents on X (Twitter) chose High Fantasy. That’s over a hundred of y’all. My first thought was, “Now what am I gonna do?”
I love you, family. My #ttrpgfamily are all wonderful and beautiful people. You, too if you’re reading this. What the heck am I gonna do to compete with Colville, Mercer and his crew, Shadowdark, or frickin D&D? Chaosium already has two medieval fantasy games, Runequest and Pendragon. Not to mention years of other BRP products that have a strong fantasy theme. How is this gonna work?
There have been a lot of interesting ideas thrown around. Somebody suggested low fantasy, but that leads to high character mortality in my experience. I’ve considered a high fantasy steampunk setting which is still on the drawing board. (At least I get my technological trappings that way.) No lie, I’m sweating this one pretty hard.
How to stand out in the crowd?
I’m not kidding when I say that poll result has me a lot worried. I want to give the people what they want, certainly. That’s how we sell games, after all.
The big concerns I have are what happens if I don’t give the people what they want, and what will the nice judges of the BRP Design Challenge say when I present yet another fantasy setting out of potentially hundreds of them? I’ll cover the judging portion in a moment, but this is the year of high fantasy games. You can’t swing a warhammer around without hitting new or upcoming fantasy something TTRPG right now.
How do I make my particular ducky stand out in a whole pond full of duckies that look exactly like it? That’s really the $2,500+ freakin question on this one. After the contest is over, we still have to sell games, family. How’s that going to fly? This thing has to somehow walk like a duck, quack like an elf, swim like a wizard and fly like a dragon.
How to stand out to the judges?
I’m going to hand this ducky, err… game over the nice judges at Chaosium eventually. How’s it going to look amongst the dozens of other high fantasy submissions they’re probably going to get this year? Then there’s also the question of, “Is this what they’re looking for?” I have no reading on that whatsoever. Maybe Chaosium is looking for their own D&D killer.
I’m going to speculate for a moment and ask, what if they’re not looking for a D&D killer? What if fantasy is not particularly what they’re going for? That’s when I started debating about a second high fantasy setting, time permitting. Basically, I’ll make one the setting I want to make and another the high fantasy setting that I’m gambling is what they want to see. It’s extra cool if both manage to win something, but I’m not banking on it.
I’m speculating what the real purpose of the BRP Design Challenge is even about.
Friends and family, I’m not kidding when I say I’m pouring everything I can think of into this challenge. I want people to enjoy this game/setting and write adventures for it. I want people to smile when they see what I’ve created for them. Winning money is very cool, but entertaining and delighting hundreds if not thousands of TTRPG fans is better.
What if Chaosium wants this challenge to simply promote Basic RolePlaying: Universal Game Engine? I can do that. Maybe the new game and/or setting isn’t nearly as important as calling attention to BRP?
BRP never stopped being a solid competitor for D&D. Several thousand Call of Cthulhu fans in Japan know what’s up. I’m guessing Brazilian, Portuguese, and Polish players will be catching onto games translated into their languages. All of us Luddites who don’t like Artificial Intelligence will be looking at games made by homegrown humans, which BRP is definitely organically created.
My personal goal is to attempt to hand the judges and the fans a game unlike anything they’ve ever seen yet. That is gonna be challenging. (*Especially if any of the judges read this article somehow.) Part of me thinks in a pond full of wood ducks, why not be a Trumpeter Swan? Whatever I do still calls attention to BRP. That’s the goal if it’s what Chaosium wants to do.
All of this competition aside, what’s going to sell?
I want to see if DriveThruRPG.com keeps track of sales figures by category. I’m not worried too much about the D&D sales numbers from all of the editions combined. That’s going to be a big number that we can temporarily put aside. I would be curious to see what the genre, book type (core, etc) and manufacturer numbers look like, though. I don’t even need specific dollar amounts as much as a bar graph of who’s on top.
Challenge aside, (because as I said, this game has to sell long after the judging ends,) I want to have some kind of profits coming in on my DriveThruRPG account, too. I think the goal for me, at least, is to publish something solid with or without the challenge money. I want the appeal to be there for everyone and anyone looking to try out a TTRPG.
The other thing I’m still struggling with- what to charge?
As long the game is ORC License compatible, Chaosium has said it’s all ours to do with as we please once the BRP Design Challenge ends. That’s extremely cool. Not many companies that I know of wouldn’t give away a lump sum of cash for a game and not at least demand a percentage of the sales or something. A+ for that right there, Chaosium. Yes, I’m still going to thank the heck out of Chaosium’s team, the judges, and everyone else involved regardless. This is truly a great opportunity for noobs like me.
I’m also interested in what to charge because the profits from one BRP project could run int the next project I decide to do, whatever it is. Theoretically my game/setting could roll over into one or more sourcebooks and adventures. That could be another year or two of projects if I’m lucky. Those will require more capital or more time on the struggle bus with art costs.
I’m sure this won’t be the end of pondering this particular topic. Thank you for being here. I appreciate you so much. Please embrace the things that bring you joy today.
Jeff's Game Box 