Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Wonderful & Terrible Things That Effervesced in the OSR Scene, Part 4

A live action still from the Paramount film Weekend at Bernie's.
Being a lifelong small fry creator makes me particularly sensitive when it comes to criticizing other creators. I know how much work goes into this stuff. I know how rough it feels to put yourself out there and be stomped on. I try hard not to stomp on anyone, particularly someone who is just dipping their toes in the creative waters.

DIY communities are mainly composed of people who might otherwise be known as amateurs or hobbyists. The levels of quality and talent on display will vary wildly. And while being very critical of a book published by Wizards of the Coast seems appropriate or even necessary, applying that same degree of criticism to an indie PDF created by a single individual who probably won't make $20 on it feels rather like being a complete shithead. And of course you have to be wary of the weight of your voice relative to whoever you're criticizing. A negative word from an influencer within a scene can be a serious or lethal blow to a struggling creator and maybe for the influencer it really only represents one little thought about one little thing on one little day.

Words have power.

And yet... we should be honest. Creators generally want to know what people honestly think about their work. This is where the hard love comes down. If you create a thing and then publish it then you need to have some thick skin. You are the one putting yourself out there and there is always a risk that some complete shithead is going to give you a 1 star review that reads "My dog poops better dungeons". It's going to happen. Learn to roll with the punches.

Also, price your shit accordingly. Speaking only for me, I'm not willing to dish out $5 for a 1 page PDF even with pretty art. Asking too much money for your book is a very quick way to turn me off. Hell, I fucking love Barrowmaze Complete and I still complain that it costs too much. Especially the hardback.

And yet I bought it. Seriously it's that good.

The OSR/DIY scene* is chock full of good, bad, and ugly books. Some are absolute gems, others are absolute turds. I happen to love the fact that such a scene emerged at all and that people feel free to be creative within it. Yeah, much of what gets put out there is forgettable. But the same is true of any creative scene. And I will happily suffer a slew of forgettable books if it helps increase the chance of getting something wondrous every now and then. I just might not pay any money for the turds.

*OSR... DIY... indie? RPG community is too big an umbrella so you need some crunchier terms. I know some folks strongly resist or reject the OSR label even when they're creating content that is clearly in the OSR vein. I get it, and maybe that'll be the subject of one of these rants soon. I'll need more tequila sunrises though.


  1. It would be nice if we had someone out there that everyone liked that was known as an artist that could rate products on design & art. If they added such reviews to an ongoing blog they might get folks sending free copies for review.

    Just an idea but you seem well positioned for such a task.

    1. Well I am flattered at the thought of everyone liking me, though I seriously doubt it's true.

    2. To be fair, that's not a shortcoming of you, James. There just aren't people whom everybody likes, for one reason or another.