Allowing Others to Publish Supplements for Your Game

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

I was considering allowing other people/companies release supplements for CAH, since I feel the game has a strong enough fan following to make it a credible approach.  So far, I've been asked by three people about this and it got my wheels turning.  

So, my questions are;

1) What kind of restrictions (if any) would be adviseable, in your opinions?

and

2) Will I need some kind of elaborate, lawyer-drawn-up contract?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Cynthia,

All I can talk about knowledgeably is my own arrangement: the Sorcerer mini-supplements. The contract for them is available at the Adept Press site and at the Sorcerer site, in the Products section, sub-section Mini-supplements.

It works wonderfully, as far as I can tell. The "line of support" for the game is maintained in a long-term fashion, and I see no reason on this earth for me to profit (besides the support and traffic) from what is essentially someone else's creation.

Now for more speculative comments about more traditional arrangements, and I hope others can add their better-experienced perspectives.

You could do it on a work-for-hire basis. There are two basic options for payment. (A) Pay at a word rate, or perhaps a fixed fee for an approximate word-count assignment. (B) Pay a royalties rate, which requires accounting and check-cutting at regular intervals essentially for forever.

Although I am not a big fan of work-for-hire in the first place, plenty of people (both writers and publishers) prefer it. Debates continue to rage about (A) vs. (B).

Best,
Ron

[Jared A. Sorensen]

I'm using the Ron model for my mini-supplements, so "what he said."

I approve it, I host it. But other than that, it can be for sale, free, big, small, whatever. So long as it meets "my standards" (whatever that means) and I maintain exclusive distribution rights (meaning it's on my site and my site alone).

- J

[Michael Hopcroft]

Since I use an open-source mechanic for HeartQuest, I probably would put myself in a bad position if I tried to prevent people from publishing their own HeartQuest material. On the other hand, I'd like to get as  much of what fans produce under my umbrella as I can, for diversity's sake if nothing else.

Anime fans who game have a habit of posting writeups of popular anime characters onto the Web in every system imaginable anyway, licence, permission or no. There are GURPS, Champions, FUDGE, and I don't know how many other anime RPG writeup websites. There seems to be nothing the copyright holders can do about that. Then again, these websites are open to everybody as opposed to a PDF fanzine you pay for.

[pigames]

I have to agree with what I've heard so far. If someone wants to sell a supplement for one of my products, then as long as they meet my requirements, let them.

If someone else can promote your product for you then why not? If they make money out of it - good. If it makes other people buy your product - good.

Work out an agreement, get it on paper, and guess what? Now, we have yet another person pitching your goods.

Just make sure you specify what is proper and what is not.

On the other hand, royalties are good. You could always work out some minimal percentage (I wouldn't require an up front payment).

Play it by ear.


Brett Bernstein
www.pigames.net