I'm looking for a fantasy artist interested in working with the Open Design project. This is most likely an opportunity for a younger artist looking to break into the market or an established artist who wants a chance to experiment, or to create a print/portfolio piece.

The upsides are that

• the artist has wide creative freedom, working off a title or concept rather than micromanaging art direction. Because I'm not an art director.


• the work will be published in a major industry magazine


• I'm buying second rights or first electronic rights — so the majority of the image rights stay with the artist

The downsides are

• the pay is not robust


• the final version will be electronic-only, rather than printed

If you have a recommendation (or if you are an interested artist!), please send a name, samples or a pointer to a web gallery, and contact information care of this blog's user info.

My work on the WotC super-huge adventure is winding down, and I'm considering doing something completely different: a customized adventure delivered direct to the fans who pay for it. This is a little like the Glorantha patrons project (Issaries, it was called) from a few years back. People who want to see me write something just for them would get some creative input in exchange for payment up front. Roughly 90 days later, they'd get a copy of the adventure. Repeat quarterly to suit the audience.

Obviously, the adventure can't be set in a WotC campaign world because they own those copyrights. It might be set in a sympathetic d20 publisher's world, but most of them retain the rights to the non-rule portions. So really, this is an adventure for any D&D campaign, meant for a wide range of players and DMs. It could be a "Kingdom of the Ghouls" sequel, an outrageous dragon hunt, or a great 1st-level adventure for a new campaign. I'd use all core and/or d20 material, add new monsters or items, and let the buyers determine some of what the adventure is, for $10 or $5 per suggestion they make. No contribution, no customization. If you send me a 1,000-word outline, you best back it up with a $200 check or the like. I'd have to iron out the details, but it might allow for a kind of feedback between gamer and designer that you don't see very often.

It would take just a couple hundred folks at $10 each to make this worthwhile, compared to the standard industry rates of 5 to 8 cents a word. A rate that hasn't budged in about 10 years or so. Am I crazy, or is offering customized design worth a shot?

Poll #694321 Customized Adventure
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

How crazy is this?

What features would you want to customize?

How polished would you want it, considering that more editing, art, and maps means less game design?

What else would make this project fly?