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Author Topic: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?  (Read 3968 times)

APN

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #45 on: February 01, 2023, 12:08:43 PM »
In just over an hour I can print a PDF, gather in a home made press, drill holes and sew it together with some bookbinding mull (open weave cloth). Then I glue a 2-3mm thick greyboard cover and attach a spine. Cover that with an A3+ printed cover to cover colour sheet and glue on inner (white though I have used coloured or printed pages) cover and a section to cover the binding and done.

A machine that could collate, drill, sew and make ready for cover attaching would be a nice little earner. Setup is the highest cost and ongoing costs for ink and paper with drill bits (snapped a few). Whether you could then charge enough to make a profit vs waiting for a couple of weeks for a Drivethru POD is debatable. Last POD I bought was Dragon Warriors, came in about a week. Quality is excellent as you'd expect.



Some books I've done vs POD. Edges might seem a bit fluffy on the books because I used Paintshop pro to remove/trim the background.

Covers are the sticking point and take a while mostly to decide on layout and where to position titles. I tend to customise those and quite often break bullet stoppers into separate books (all taking extra time/materials). Against the Darkmaster was split into 5 books and Deluxe Tunnels and Trolls four.

Where I won't print are books that are ink heavy like Mork Borg and those that have full printed background cover to cover. I much prefer books that are black ink on white background as my eyes aren't great these days, so there are a few limitations onto what I can print/bind. I suppose I could try but it would need pretty thick paper or expensive coated stuff. I generally use 120GSM which is thick paper (82lb in yank measures) down to 90 gsm (60lb) which just about prevents show through.

At some point I will pre prepare the cover ready to go on and see if I can print/bind/finish in under an hour. Glue drying time is an issue so a shop would probably say 'ready in x hours' I would guess. 

GhostNinja

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #46 on: February 01, 2023, 01:55:35 PM »

Free League puts out a lot of box sets. Very high quality.

Well that is awesome they do that.  I, however cant stand their system so I wont buy their products but its cool someone is putting out box sets.
Ghostninja

JackFS4

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #47 on: February 01, 2023, 03:37:54 PM »
What will it be?  I'm not talking about a license.  I mean ideas, mechanics, methods, settings, style, etc.

What will be the most influential new thing?

My FLGS is running 3d printers to print minis on demand. I could see a make-your-PC kiosk like the Kodak machine in the drug store where you can get your lady gnome druid with scimitar riding a dire badger in 28mm.

Jaeger

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #48 on: February 01, 2023, 05:26:38 PM »
Within the past 15 years of TTRPG design, I think noticeable developments include:
  • 5th edition was hugely successful, with streamlined play including advantage/disadvantage replacing small mods; and bonus dice instead of fixed bonuses
  • Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) was a huge trend within indie games, with playbooks and player-only rolls
These existed long before either 5e or PbtA. Those systems only popularized the concepts.

True. But to the victor goes the spoils.

Unfortunately I find both to be too much on one side and too little on the other.

PBtA games are just too thin on the PC side for long campaigns. And have campaign play quirks from being so stripped down.

5e is deceptively complex and fiddly beyond the first few levels. In fact the bonus action, and the use of bonus dice for PC abilities were implemented against the playtest feedback they received - because the designers just wanted to anyway.

5e's just simplified compared to 4e and 3.5, but it is not properly 'Streamlined', and still has a lot of quirks that could be worked out.

We have yet to see the game that strikes that sweet spot between PBtA, and 5e, fully implementing most of the 'design principles' that they popularized.
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hedgehobbit

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #49 on: February 06, 2023, 10:44:09 PM »
In store print on demand.  Everything ever in print all the time.

How about taking print on demand to the next level with customization. The buyer goes to the web page (or uses an app, whatever) and makes a variety of selections: What setting to use, which Classes and races are available, whether or not Alignment exists, Vancian or non-Vancian magic, etc.

Then a one-of-a-kind rulebook is produced and printed on demand. Now there's no need for house rules as your house rules are already impeded into the rulebook. And there's no need for a massive, multi-genre rulebook that the GM has to slog through.

David Johansen

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #50 on: February 06, 2023, 11:55:22 PM »
So, we've talked about it for GURPS for years.  Really the fifth edition of GURPS will be an app plain and simple.

Clash Bowlery was at one point working on a game design database that would let you enter parameters and have a game pop out.
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DocJones

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #51 on: February 07, 2023, 08:20:11 PM »
In store print on demand.  Everything ever in print all the time.

How about taking print on demand to the next level with customization. The buyer goes to the web page (or uses an app, whatever) and makes a variety of selections: What setting to use, which Classes and races are available, whether or not Alignment exists, Vancian or non-Vancian magic, etc.

Then a one-of-a-kind rulebook is produced and printed on demand. Now there's no need for house rules as your house rules are already impeded into the rulebook. And there's no need for a massive, multi-genre rulebook that the GM has to slog through.
This would be perfect for GURPS.

David Johansen

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #52 on: February 07, 2023, 08:23:30 PM »
Though, you know, once we can combine CGI scans of ourselves, AI DMs, and AI Players we can not only have a session when nobody shows up, we can have a youtube channel to show that it happened.
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Jam The MF

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #53 on: February 08, 2023, 12:10:41 AM »
In store print on demand.  Everything ever in print all the time.

How about taking print on demand to the next level with customization. The buyer goes to the web page (or uses an app, whatever) and makes a variety of selections: What setting to use, which Classes and races are available, whether or not Alignment exists, Vancian or non-Vancian magic, etc.

Then a one-of-a-kind rulebook is produced and printed on demand. Now there's no need for house rules as your house rules are already impeded into the rulebook. And there's no need for a massive, multi-genre rulebook that the GM has to slog through.


That is a most excellent, idea.
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Tasty_Wind

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #54 on: February 08, 2023, 01:08:19 PM »
Within the past 15 years of TTRPG design, I think noticeable developments include:
  • 5th edition was hugely successful, with streamlined play including advantage/disadvantage replacing small mods; and bonus dice instead of fixed bonuses
  • Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) was a huge trend within indie games, with playbooks and player-only rolls

These existed long before either 5e or PbtA. Those systems only popularized the concepts. That said, there's no shortage of players who still want crunchy, convoluted mechanics (for some reason I can never understand). Streamlining and simplifying gameplay won't be the "next great leap" in the hobby as long as there's a significant subset of player who wants crunch.

I don't think the next evolution would be in mechanics at all, but rather in how we consume and gain access to the hobby. For some people, that might be a virtual playground indistinguishable from a video game. But expansions in POD books and POD miniatures it what I think will pull the hobby away from the clutches of walled-garden VTTs and back to tabletops. Within the next 10 years, most homes will have their own 3d printers, making it possible for players to inexpensively print whatever miniature they want. Download a bestiary pdf and get a bundle of .stl files for each entry.

I would expect this to happen first with tabletop wargames. Games Workshop will lose their shit if that happens.
“Hello, Games Workshop has noticed that you are currently printing an unlicensed Space Marine figure. The Citadel kill bot has been activated and is headed to your position. Would you like to browse our selection of official GW coffins?”

Godsmonkey

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Re: What will be the next big influential thing, in Print RPGs?
« Reply #55 on: February 09, 2023, 05:11:23 PM »
In store print on demand.  Everything ever in print all the time.

Spot on. Brick and mortar stores will always be necessary. Customers will always want to peruse through aisles and get their hands on physical product. With in-store POD the store will no longer have to carry an expensive inventory or sell out of a popular item. The printing technology will allow them to print while the customer waits with whatever kind of binding or collector's edition cover they want. Docutech printers already do this, the quality will continue to improve.

This will spread out into many other industries like hardware stores being able to print the parts you need. Yes, metal, glass, virtually any material can be 3d printed. SpaceX prints its rocket engines.

Maybe someday they'll figure out how to print food from ink wells of the basic flavors. Wouldn't that be something?

3d printing is every bit as incredible as the AI tech which is starting to overturn entire industries. We are going to see as much change over the next couple of decades as someone who lived through the 20th century experienced.

On demand, high speed 3d printing is the next wave of everything. For gaming, having 3D printed minis in say 15 minutes, or a quality bound book or custom dice while you wait will help fend the tide of VTT gaming.

And food? Well 3D food is already here. Can I get a side of bacon with my DMG?

https://savoreat.com/what-is-3d-meat-how-is-it-made-and-what-are-its-benefits/#:~:text=3D%20meat%20or%203D%20printed,'%20into%20meat%2Dlike%20forms.