GMs Don't Buy Raging Swan Press's Supplements…

GMs don’t buy Raging Swan Press's supplements, adventures or sourcebooks; they buy what our supplements will do for them, their game and their friends. They buy how our books help them feel about their game. This is a subtle but important distinction and one you should not lose sight of while plotting your own publishing doings.

Hopefully, it is self-evident that as a publisher, you want your customers to enjoy your books. But you should also want your customers' players to enjoy your books. Gaming is a hobby of shared experiences, and it is at its best when everyone at the table is having fun.

GMs—or at least any GM I'd want to play with—want to run a fun, immersive game; our supplements help them do that. (And if the GM doesn’t think they will do that they shouldn’t buy them.)

Successfully books help everyone at the table have fun while fixing a problem. The GM could need help dressing their dungeon, they might need a village for the characters to explore or a dungeon for them to sack. Each book solves a different problem, and that means that not all our books work for all our customers. As a publisher, I’m fine with that.

When designing your own books think deeply about why your customers will buy the book. What problem does it fix for them? How are you trying to make them feel? How does it make their game better?

Remember

Every GM has a problem. How can you help fix it?

Two Questions for Intentional Design

The wise designer does not simply dive in. Instead, they ask two questions before they start their new project

The GameatoryCreighton Broadhurst

Creighton Broadhurst is the Publisher of Useful Items at Raging Swan Press. He lives on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity. He is not planning to voyage far.