So, I've been running a game for about a year now, but it's been developed off of games I've run in the past, and have put a considerable amount of effort into it, both in terms of crafting the campaign (NPCs, encounters, plot), and in building up my own, somewhat unique setting. I'd been working on this just for the games I've run with my friends, but they have, for a while now, been nudging me and insisting that I should work on getting this published.
I'm using the Pathfinder rules set, but it's not set in Golarion, and while some of it could be transplanted somewhere into the Paizo world, not all of it can be, and I'm fairly attached to the setting. The campaign has been E6, but I can convert it to an adventure path that goes from 1-8 with what I have so far, I think, and have material drafted that would probably carry a party on to level 12 or so, although I'm not especially adept at planning encounters and challenges for mid- to high-level characters with a multitude of spellcasting options available to them (the ability to fly, teleport, walk through or remove walls, etc... makes certain types of challenges irrelevant, for example).
I just don't know where I would start for any of this, and I really don't have much experience with other companies/systems/whatever (I've played some of WotC's RPG lines, Pathfinder, Mutants and Masterminds, and Edge of the Empire, and have used a few supplements from Super Genius), so I suppose my questions are as follows:
1. Is it reasonable to get a new setting published, using the Pathfinder rules? That is, does anyone pick up and publish stuff like that (a new setting, attached to an existing rules set)?
2. What's my starting point for getting the ball rolling?
3. Should I be looking to mold the adventure path to an existing campaign setting, rather than bundling them together?
A very similar topic was discussed in this thread recently. Lots of great, realistic advice. I highly recommend looking through it.
Short answer: A campaign setting is one of the most difficult things to get published because of the scale involved. Be prepared to invest a massive amount of time, money, and energy to the project if you are dead set on it. It is possible but very difficult without first building up a reputation as a creator of quality content on a smaller scale.
Don't let this discourage you. I would love to publish a campaign setting as well (in the very distant future). Take it as a challenge to develop the necessary reputation and skill. Just don't take on an encounter without knowing it's Challenge Rating first ;)
Thanks, I'll check it out!
Yeah, I realize the campaign setting is harder to push through than just an adventure path, but I DO have a lot of material worked up on it to some degree (deities, some world history, some geology, ecology, several major cities, and a smattering of towns, some politics, racial interactions, national histories, some unique locations...), and I've drawn up a world map, a map for one of the major cities, and for on of the major kingdoms.
There's a lot more that needs to be done, which I suppose is also a question I'm asking: how much really needs to be there as a starting point?
One of the more prominent third-party publishers (Frog God?) has a campaign setting that they're just getting around to publishing now. They've set various adventures and such in the setting without a full-blown campaign setting.
The lesson: If you publish good adventures, you can build up a reputation with them, and also tease info about your campaign setting, so that people will be a little bit familiar with it, but also wanting more.
[I don't know if this was that 3pp's strategy, but I think that's how it turned out.]
Thanks, I'll check it out!
Yeah, I realize the campaign setting is harder to push through than just an adventure path, but I DO have a lot of material worked up on it to some degree (deities, some world history, some geology, ecology, several major cities, and a smattering of towns, some politics, racial interactions, national histories, some unique locations...), and I've drawn up a world map, a map for one of the major cities, and for on of the major kingdoms.
There's a lot more that needs to be done, which I suppose is also a question I'm asking: how much really needs to be there as a starting point?
I don't think it's so much a matter of the world content you have worked up as much as it is a question of logistics and economics (as far as I can tell). The art, editing, layout, and more need to get handled by someone. To do a full scale campaign setting (150-200 pages minimum) successfully requires a lot more than just one person and some ideas; it takes a strong project lead with a good concept, a team of people with the time to devote to the project, and the money to cover all the costs involved.
If you want to do a minimalist campaign setting, Little Red Goblin Games mentioned something like a mini campaign setting in that thread I linked to. Also, I think Raging Swan Press has a more condensed campaign setting, but I'm not completely sure.
Basically, everything depends on the scope of the project you want to do. A campaign setting book, for me at least, evokes the idea of a large hardback book with new rules content and flavor for nearly every aspect of the game along with art and good layout. If that's not what you're shooting for, then the difficulty may be much less than I'm making it out to be :)
Hmm...thanks. That's given me some stuff to chew on.
