MUP Ep 357 – Collaborative Projects with Heinrich Moore

This episode, Keepers Bridgett & Evan welcome back Heinrich Moore to discuss collaborative RPG projects, such as scenarios and anthologies.

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[Heinrich:

Obed’s Seafood thinks you shouldn’t have to settle for soggy, bland fish sticks, fish filets and crab cakes. Your family deserves only the best, so why not give them the seafood that’s harvested from our own hidden fishery in New England, reef-caught and fresh-frozen. How do we attract such fantastic fish? That’s Obed’s secret! 

From our boats to your table, Obed’s Seafood stays crispy and tasty. Ask for Obed’s in your grocer’s seafood aisle. – A division of Marsh Family Industries.]

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Welcome everyone to the Main Topic! Tonight we are discussing collaborative RPG projects, such as scenarios and anthologies. And we have with us, fresh off masterminding the phenomenally successful Year of the Goat anthology… HEINRICH MOORE! Heinrich, you’ve been with us on MUP before, for a special episode where we played through your Guide to Character Creation. But for those few folks who don’t know you yet, tell us who you are!

[Heinrich does so]

Year of the Goat was an anthology of 12 scenarios, by 12 different authors, and in bringing it to life, Heinrich and I learned a LOT. We want to pass those lessons on to the listeners, both to encourage you to try putting together your own collaborative projects, and to help you get over some of the barriers.

Level-set: What is a Collaborative Project? Why do it?

• A written project where two or more people are contributing text, editing, art, or other skills and content.
• It can have one or two people leading the project, or be a collaboration of equals

Some critical tools and tips for doing this well:

• Clear Concept
  • Concept paper
  • Topics – what’s in scope and not
  • Any content restrictions
• Clear format and requirements
  • Templates
  • Style guide
  • Word Count
• Clear roles and responsibilities
  • Writing
  • Editing (different kinds) – who has final say over text?
  • Art (including providing inspiration or public domain art)
  • Marketing (including promos, submitting for nominations, making videos, sending to reviewers)
• Deadlines and contingencies
• Payment split – ideally, decide on this BEFORE ANYONE DOES WORK 

Dear listener, tell us – have you led a collaborative writing project for Call of Cthulhu or another system? Have you been part of one? How did it go, and how could it have gone better? Come to the Discord, channel ep-357, and share what you’ve learned!