Earlier this week, I received a letter from a game design student named Jonathan, asking me questions about how I got my start writing RPGs, and if I had any advice to give to an aspiring game designer. I figure that this advice might be useful to a whole lot of designers out there. If you hope to design D&D (or any other tabletop roleplaying game), I hope that this advice finds you well. 

To preface this letter, let me say that I got my start designing D&D material for publication in 2015 with EN Publishing, as the editor for EN World EN5ider. I was a sophomore in undergrad then, and fifth edition D&D was still new on the scene.  Working for small publishers like EN Publishing and Kobold Press was an essential starting point for me, as it let me learn the do's and don'ts of RPG writing in a relatively low-risk environment. Trying to jump straight into the big leagues immediately is a fool's proposition. My first entry to the "big-time" was when I worked with Matthew Mercer on the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting while I was an editorial intern at Geek & Sundry. 

I got my internship at G&S by noticing a call for interns on their Twitter account. I emailed them, sent a resume (which included my EN5ider work), and got an interview. I didn't know it at the time, but Critical Role was just starting to become a big deal, and they were in search of writers with RPG experience who could feed RPG news to their fanbase. I still carry some of the friendships I made there with me to this day. Do your best to surround yourself with skilled and talented people, like fellow RPG writers who are willing to be supportive and honest with you about your work, your strengths, and your weaknesses. The best way to do this is to be an authentically good person; the kind of person that other people want to be around. Making friends will be good for the quality of your work and the quality of your career, but most importantly, the quality of your own mental health as a creative individual.

You may want to work for Wizards of the Coast (or your favorite company of choice) right out of the gate, but don't underestimate the value of starting small and creating your own network of peers. You'll learn more about yourself, your tastes, the kind of games you'll want to create, and the kind of people you want to make them with. I was fortunate enough to learn that D&D really is the game for me, but the same may not be true for you. 

On My Job. My role as lead writer at D&D Beyond is unlike any other RPG job I've had before. Its deadlines are strict and constant, but more significantly, it's consistent, day-to-day work. This is in sharp contrast to RPG freelancing, in which the main thrust of my job is searching for new jobs. Freelancing full-time can be incredibly stressful if you aren't well-supported by parents or a partner with a well-paying job. (While I was freelancing full-time, my partner was working full-time at a tech job. Now that she's freelancing full-time, I'm working at a less lucrative but nevertheless full-time job at D&D Beyond.)

On My Writing Process. Learning about my writing process may be of limited usefulness to you, since it's such a personal thing. I discovered my process through trial and error over the course of my entire career, and I have no doubt that it will continue to evolve as I continue to write. My only advice to you is to write. Experiment with conditions. Do you like to write with music, or silence? At a desk (which I highly recommend) or on your couch or bed? Try writing collaboratively, and then writing independently. Which is the better experience for you? Whenever you finish a project or an assignment, debrief yourself for a few minutes afterward. Really think about what worked and what didn't work about this process, and work on improving the experience for next time.

On Where to Publish Your Work. Publishing on the DMs Guild is an excellent idea. It gives you a lot of free marketing, the invaluable opportunity to use official D&D intellectual property, and a host of royalty-free art right from the start. I strongly believe that publishing on the DMs Guild is worth the 50% royalty you pay (30% to OBS and 20% to Wizards, I imagine) on all sales. This is especially true if you're just getting started. While you're starting out, write short things. Once one thing is written, publish it and start something else. Iterate, iterate, iterate, and keep your projects small and focused. This is like playing your scales over and over again on the piano. It's drilling vital skills into your brain. If you're interested in getting Wizards of the Coast to possibly look at your work, be sure to take full advantage of using their intellectual property. I was hired to work on Dragon Heist in part because of my work on the DMs Guild, and I have it on good authority that they only review products that use Wizards of the Coast intellectual property (like the Forgotten Realms and so forth) when seeing who they should reach out to as a new freelancer. 

However, the DMs Guild isn't the only option. Once you've published a few things on DMs Guild (or DriveThruRPG, if you don't want to use D&D IP), start pitching to third-party publishers like Kobold Press. Show them copies of the work you've published on your own. Then, pitch them ideas that you think will please their fans and make them money. Study their catalog and see what sort of things they publish. What's "their brand?" The advantage of working with third-party publishers is that they can provide you with expensive resources like art, graphic design, marketing, and professional editing. You will probably get a lot more eyes on your creations working for someone than working on your own. All of those things are a godsend! But, you will have to work "to spec," and you likely will be working "for-hire," which means that you will be paid up-front and won't make royalties on sales, and you also probably won't maintain the rights to your work. (Though, you also surrender certain rights when publishing on the DMs Guild. Please be sure to read the DMs Guild FAQ so you know all of the legal whys and wherefores!) 

On What Software to Use. When it comes to software, I use Microsoft Word 2013, and I'm very happy with it. You will have to use Word if you work for Wizards of the Coast, so I would recommend getting used to it now. Likewise, if you plan on self-publishing, I highly recommend you learn how to create and publish PDF files using Adobe InDesign. It's the industry standard, and it takes some getting used to, so start learning it now! It's also a very transferable skill, if you end up taking a day job outside of RPGs (or work on an RPG that isn't D&D). As you use these programs, know that the most important facet of D&D design and layout is style. D&D has a house Style Guide (which you can find on the DMs Guild), and many other publishers have their own style guide as well. For D&D, their style guide is based on the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. I highly recommend purchasing a copy of this essential reference manual. 

Parting Thoughts. Finally, I encourage you to take advantage of the fact that you're still in school. You said that you aren't familiar with freelance writing, so take this opportunity to become a better one. Writing for RPGs requires a unique mix of skill with both creative (prose) writing and technical writing. If your school offers classes on either, take as many of those classes as you can. If they have classes on game design, take them too. And if you're in search of skills you haven't found in the classroom, seek them out online. I only took a single game design class in college, but I'm a voracious watcher of Mark Brown's Game Maker's Toolkit YouTube series, which taught me so many lessons about video game design that I've been able to transfer to my RPG design work. And lastly, never stop reading books and watching movies. Read novels, both in the fantasy genre (obviously) and other genres, too. Dragon Heist was, for me, largely inspired by the film The Maltese Falcon and other Humphrey Bogart films. Reading the Dragonlance novels has helped reinvigorate my creative writing skills. And reading D&D books, from sourcebooks to adventures, helped me master writing in fifth edition style. 

The world of RPGs is unpredictable. The winds of fortune are constantly changing, and there's no defined path to success. You will be embarking on an adventure that has no map. In order to survive this journey, you will need to find allies who help you improve your craft and support you through your darkest, weariest nights. I entrust you with this wisdom because I believe you will use it well. 

Best,

James Haeck

James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of  Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.