Roaring: Flappers, Gangsters, and a Life of Adventure

[Finvara]

I'm currently in the brainstorming process of what I hope to be my first published (albeit probably free/online) RPG.

The setting is an amalgum of the 20s and 30s, incorporating all the flash, glitter, and excess of one with the dark, seedy underbelly of the other.

What I really need right now is feedback on whether I should consider it for more than just free/online publishing, or if there's a possible interest-group large enough to warrant paper publishing.

And of course, comments and suggestions are always welcome.

If you like, I can offer more detail, but I'm hoping to get a response on the basic concept first.

[madelf]

I don't see why it couldn't be successful (assuming it was done well).

It's not as if there have never been any other pulp or noir styled games set in that time period. Some are even still around.

[komradebob]

Personally, I really love that era for gaming.
There are a couple of games set in that era in existence.

To my great sadness, no one of them has ever really been heavily supported. Daredevils by FGU had maybe3-4 supplements/modules, and I think Gangbusters had 4-5. I'm not not sure if Adventure! or Noir had any at all. The two Indiana Jones games I've seen had a couple each, but TSR's version was mostly recap modules for the first two movies.
I don't recall Justice, Inc. having any support for itself, though Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes had a couple.

Are you sure you don't wanna make supplements for someone else's game, or do you think you've got a really novel take on the overall setting that you haven't seen other folks do well with. I suspect a very different mechanical approach could do great things...

k-bob

[lumpley]

Howdy Finvara. Welcome to the Forge!

Sell PDFs first, then print if it goes well. Not everybody does it that way, but it's the snap answer.

There's about three things you need to do before you decide, though. One is, disconnect "free" from "online" in your head. Whether you're giving PDFs away, selling them, or selling print games, you'll be doing it online. Another is, ditch the brainstorming and the "interest group." Create your game out of passion, your own personal passion for your subject matter. Those are the only games worthwhile.

The most important is, design the game. Which doesn't mean, write up your setting and slap some RPG mechanics on it. It means, figure out how you want people to play: what you want the group dynamics of your game in play to be, what you want the people who play it to get out of it, and what you want it to require of them as friends. Then you have to design rules to make it so.

This is hard! But doable!

So my suggestion to you for right now is: give us those details. We want 'em. We can't give you intelligent advice without 'em. Tell us about the flash and underbelly!

My name's Vincent, by the way. Is Finvara yours?

-Vincent

[Finvara]

The mundanes call me Thomas, but then again so do my friends.  Finvara is my second favourite handle.  My favourite handle would have revealed me for the closet Ironclaw fan I am (never played, just looked at the books).

I'l write a big, juicy detail post tommorrow in the spaces between work (yeah, working Saturdays :(  ).

[Finvara]

although on a complete tangent note... I do aspire to write a WWI/WWII supplement for WOD.

[madelf]

To my great sadness, no one of them has ever really been heavily supported. k-bob

It's a little later time period, but Deep7 has a decent amount of stuff out for their Noir PDF game "Mean Streets." I believe they're up to about 6 books now (though they're not huge books).