Design & Development

Hard at work on concepts for the next supplement. Deciding on a gold piece cost for this sucker.

The All-New Adventures of Mothshade Concepts

So, I've become a commercial entity. Did not see that coming.

What started as a little, personal 0e vanity project has become the launch of a fledgling indy RPG venture.

I swear I never thought for a moment that a flimsy little stapled booklet designed after the original 0e Greyhawk supplement, for my own campaign setting, would pique anyone's interest. I mean, who plays 0e D&D? Who cares about my home-brewed Avremier setting? Who would pay twenty buck plus shipping for this thing? So far, about thirty people. Many of whom aren't even gamers. Hell yes, I'm flattered. In fact, I'm overwhelmed.

But that's not all.

Real names and publishers in the RPG industry are taking notice and offering support. That's one of the things I love about this community. I won't be dropping names, but you'd recognize a few. I can't recall when I've felt so honored...so vindicated for thirty-plus years of scribbling, reading, drawing, mapping, DMing.

And, this is just the start. A new chapter, I suppose. My glorious wife is going to make me into an LLC. She's already talking about having tables or booths at conventions - and I have one product to my name. She's scheduling trips to various cons in the next year-or-two. My friends are clamoring for more - and many of them don't even have their copy of Avremier 0e yet. Newly-made pals in the RPG industry are offering me advice and support. Complete strangers are Liking the Mothshade Concepts FB page.

I've actually MADE a Mothshade Concepts FB page. Mothshade Concepts - something I toyed with a decade ago (so I already had a logo designed), but let anxiety and crippling self-doubt sideline the whole thing. Now I made a little booklet and BANG! 

So far, all of this is me. If there is anything to complain about - lay it on me. I wrote it. I did the layout. I edited it. I illustrated it. I did the final proofing. I converted it to PDF and failed to note the little shifts and changes made along the way. I printed it. I put it together. I shipped it. This is quite simply, my baby. I am proud, terrified, and exhausted. I got so utterly sick of looking at the manuscript before the end, I almost started to hate what might be my biggest RPG accomplishment to-date. If this had been only about me, I doubt I'd have continued. But, then came the supporters.

While I've no doubt someone will review this somewhere and let the air out of my head in the process, I've already done what I was sure I could never do. I self-published an RPG product. And, when I decide to self-publish, I take that $#|+ seriously. I wanted to learn it all - so I did. I wanted my hands on every aspect of the product - and they were. Greyhawk was my inspiration and my guide. Avremier has been my only D&D campaign setting for as long as I've played the game. I've had many players in my Avremier games. Now, I want to share it with everyone else.

This is only the first treatment of the setting. Like Greyhawk (Supplement I) itself, the book does not give you the Avremier setting to run. It offers bits and pieces of Avremier. Options and setting-specific stuff. Unlike Greyhawk, it does cram in as much setting detail as I was able to fit. It has more pages than the original books as a result. It is the first of five planned volumes, with a number of optional books to come. The references in Avremier 0e alone should give an idea of the number of books still in the works. The setting is big and detailed. These little booklets cannot contain it all comfortably.

Yes, there are plans for Avremier 1e. There are plans for Avremier D20. There are plans for Avremier Pathfinder. There are plans for Avremier 5e. Sadly, I currently AM the Mothshade Concepts Design & Development Team. I can't pay myself, much less freelancers or actual employees. The day may come, but I make no assumptions. But, I'm not saying never. Avremier 0e took me about five months to produce. I'm hoping future volumes take even less. I'm hoping for a bunch of cash to magically appear to finance all the projects to come. I'm hoping to live long enough to realize the full Avremier product line. I'm hoping all of you make the journey with me.

Achievement unlocked.

As prophesied, the Avremier 0e booklet is finished and ready to ship.

This has been an arduous, but fulfilling, journey into the wilderness of self-publishing. The original project was merely a nostalgic treatment of my personal D&D campaign setting, inspired by the original Greyhawk supplement. Through the interest and support of no-less-than thirty other people, the project grew into the start of something greater. For that, I am immensely grateful.

So, this is now the first of a series of booklets for the Avremier campaign setting. I will keep the world updated through this blog, and the Mothshade Concepts FB Page. Website pending.