Okay, I'm a bit nervous talking about this idea, but I think it's a great idea. You have to bring something to the table that is unique that would spark interest. Well, here is something unique.
Phaeselis was originally meant to be a one off, a city that was created out of my feelings about the Psionics vs. no Psionics debate that raged on WotC's forums across the last decade or so. It was meant to be a city where DMs who hated psionics could place in their worlds far enough away from the action, but close enough so that they could have a strange and mysterious place to visit.
However, I built a world around that city and it's gotten bigger for just one man to support. Instead of dealing with a cast of thousands, I'm dealing with a cast of hundreds of thousands. So here is my plan.
I want to share the world with the whole Publishing Community. We've got several game systems we share already. At least one based off of one free license (the OGL), and others based off paying licenses (Fuzion, d6 system, Savage Worlds, and possibly Powered by GURPS). The Sage of the first 1 Century A.D. (and born soon after the first Citizen of Rome -- Caesar Augustus -- wanted a Census of the Empire), said to share and share alike. So, I'm sharing a historical fantasy world based off of Alexander the Great.
If you notice on the Wiki, at the bottom right hand corner, there is a wonderful, beautiful, notice called "Content is available under CC-BY-SA." Let me put that in bold italics in case you missed it: Content is available under CC-BY-SA.
The Empire of Alexander the Great is the first great Empire where you would have personal, and individual Adventurism at it's finest for the Western Europeans. While the Persian Empire extended from Cryopolis in the East to Thracia and Egypt in the West, and many Orientals experienced some adventurism during that time, the King of Persia in Persepolis wielded great power and great respect.
When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, and died, he had no time to consolidate his empire and left it to the strongest. The result was that the empire split into six different kingdoms, and all six had different governments.
Also, the Hellenic Age, which is seen ultimately as a time of decline of Greek Culture and Prestige, can be seen as a time of grand commerce for the Greeks. The Greeks could export their philosophy and culture to other nations, and thus larger numbers of people could benefit from the wisdom of the Greeks (Hellenes, actually).
It's a time that is just as exciting as the Middle Ages, and it should be saying something to that fact. Not only do you have adventurers facing the unknown in far off places (i.e. Alexandria Eschate -- Alexandria the Furthestmost), but they are also fighting dragons and monsters in the Western Colonies of southern Europe. You have cities like Massalia (Modern Marseilles), Emporion (where our word, Emporium, actually comes from), and Syracuse. Also in the Western World, you have a little known city in Italy. I'm sure you heard of it.
After I get done with the little project for Rite Publishing, I'm going to be laying out the Phaeselis Player's Guide. I've already have background pages that shouldn't interfere with the text. I'm gathering and rendering pics already, also.
After the Phaeselis Player's Guide is laid out and ready to ship, I'll be shipping the Shared World Guide and the pictures I rendered along with it. I'll also be putting the InDesign file up for sale for $100 exclusively here, on Paizo. So, I'll be seriously giving my all to the Shared World Project.
You are welcome to add to the Wiki. The link is above, so have fun. You can add characters, adventures, adventure seeds, and your own touch to the city by editing the city pages directly. Maybe you want to add a Den of Thieves, or add a small society of spell casters or psionics users. This is all possible with the wiki. Please note that your creation is part of a shared world. Other DMs may build off what you wrote and some publishers might use your creation. If you love what you created, and you love it enough to share it with everybody, you're more than welcome to edit the wiki.
You will be able to take the information on the Wiki, and expand it into a sourcebook, an adventure, or what you will -- perhaps a campaign book that caters to a specific audience -- by using the OGL or the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Unported License if the system you use isn't set up for the OGL (i.e. Fuzion or Fate). This possibly means that Phaeselis would be among the worlds of Monte Cook's The Strange RPG. Or that Phaeselis can be represented in Savage Worlds, or an indie Publisher working with Powered by GURPS can bring it to GURPS. And with unlimited translation rights, the world of Phaeselis will truly be available for every one (but I get to endorse a certain translation).
Most likely, Paizo Publishing, Wizards of the Coast (via Mike Mearles), White Wolf Publishing, Pinnacle Entertainment, Steve Jackson Games, Catalyst Labs, and Monte Cook Games will probably want an exclusive license for D&D or whatever.
I'm committing my all for this project, the least you can do is contribute to the Publishing Community as well in the spirit of the Shared World Project in some way. There are several ways you can do this:
-- You could publish under the OGL, designate the crunchy bits as open game content, and keep the rights to the fluff.
-- If you hate the OGL (which is something I can't understand why Mike Mearles hates so much. After all, he got his START with the OGL -- anyone remember Iron Heroes? Talk about two-faced irony), you could clear all rights to the pictures you use in, and on, your book and SELL them on DTRPG or any number of electronic publishing outlets.
-- You can expand the Wiki after the book is published with a synopsis of what you added in different pages, use the pictures you made for the book but designate them as copyrighted.
And in any number of ways!
Remember, exclusive licensing is expensive. I'm a Solarian, which means that if I do seemingly stupid stuff for free to Lunarians and Stellarans (like this Shared World Project), I do need money to make my way in this world. I may have to ask for a lot of money to cover living expenses for one year, maybe five. (Yes, I will be asking for enough money to buy a house -- there's a woman in Missoula, Montana I'd really like to have live with me, so I've got to impress her).
These are my plans, this is my proposal.
My name is Elton Robb, I'm your brother, I'm (hopefully) your friend, and I'm your servant.