After Apotheosis, Introducing Storytellers Forge
We had a lot of reflection to do after Apotheosis Studios.
Reflective Pool in The Black Ballad by Carolyn Arcabascio
Let’s Address the Obvious
“For as revered as gods are, they are not perfect—far from it. And those who have been on the receiving end of their slights will understand… They will always do what is in their own interest, what will further themselves, and what won’t damage them. They aren’t afraid to expend or abandon others, much like they did to me.” -Nyxia
For as much distance as I would like to put between Storytellers Forge and our work at Apotheosis Studios, it requires at least one post. So, here is that post. The events and calamities that lead to the collapse of one studio and the launch of another over very public events during 2022 are well documented on the internet. A simple keyword search for relevant names and information will uncover an entire slate of TTRPG controversy.
I won’t link them.
Why? Since 2017 I’ve been writing both novels and campaigns. For a full five years, at nearly a full-time breakneck pace, I’ve been working with Nerdist and Geek & Sundry, churning out novels and short stories in The Seventh Age series, and primarily: writing The Red Opera: Last Days of the Warlock and Sirens: Battle of the Bards. The latter two took up three years of my professional writing career easily. Enough time has already been spent creating entire worlds from scratch for entities that tried to siphon the creative essence from freelancers in the pursuit of fame.
For everyone who worked on The Red Opera: Last Days of the Warlock and Sirens: Battle of the Bards, I’m incredibly proud of the talent and craftsmanship that was poured into those massive books. Talent that has decided we won’t quit writing, illustrating, and storytelling. No matter what OGL, studio, or hurdles get in our way. So here is how we are moving forward.
History Is The Best Teacher
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History Is The Best Teacher ~
Storytellers Forge Has Some Ideas…
So, what are we doing differently? Many of our writers, artists, and editors worked at Apotheosis, helping to bring campaigns to life. They were badass. That part isn’t different. We are going to keep writing massive storylines and campaigns with music, integration, and gut-wrenching storylines.
The Hasbro OGL fiasco of early 2023 also highlighted something unique for our studio. Many of us grew up on games other than D&D. From Aliens to White Wolf, Deadlands, Rifts, Powered By the Apocalypse, Dread, Ten Candles, the PIP System (I could go on for ages)… my point is we have a metric ton of experience. All of these game systems still require storylines and campaigns. After The Black Ballad is finished, our goal is to join the community and explore other licenses and game systems—then create full-length mega campaigns for those worlds as well.
That, however, isn’t my favorite part about Storytellers Forge. This is:
We let our primary creators own their rights.
Let’s say you’ve been creating a campaign, got your 100,000 words drafted, and need a team to produce it. Rather than a typical publishing agreement where you forsake your rights, thanks to our partnership with 4 Horsemen Publications (a team of absolutely amazing cryptids in human skin), we can be creator focused.
Additionally, we allow all of our contributors on a project to acquire the books they work on at wholesale. Why should retail and game stores get a better deal than most of the contributors? Screw that. Anyone who works on our projects gets to be proud of their work and go forth to conventions, conquer, sign, and showcase their contributions—earning some extra scratch while doing so.
But Wait… There’s More.
I did mention we also write novels, right? Several of our writers are also Novelists (some full-time!). Getting into the publishing industry and launching a book can be… difficult. We’ve coordinated our studio to remove a few barriers of entry. Anyone who is an aspiring (or an actual author) can submit a novel idea through our webform. If it’s based on the game worlds we create (and has a compelling hook!), we can offer a pathway to full publication.
You’ll work with our editors and make sure that it’s canon appropriate to our settings (no lasers in the Black Ballad), but after that—you are off to the races with full distribution and a published novel in your name.
OR, if you are another game studio that wants a full-length mega campaign developed for your game line, email us! Crafting storylines is our forte. There is just one catch:
We need to make the Black Ballad work. We are moving forward with Backerkit as our crowdfunding partner, and there is no scenario in which we don’t need community support. Storytellers Forge was started from ashes and broken glass of crushed dreams, but we are determined to never give up.
So, boldly, I’m asking for your help: support our efforts, sign up with our mailing list, share our stuff—and maybe roll some dice with us.
-Rick Heinz
