Hey all,
We have been working through our latest d20 book on our playtest list and
a subject came up that I wanted to share with this forum.
One of the things that has set Eden apart has been its willingness to
approach, if not cross over, the edge of acceptability in language, subjects
and art. We label our games for mature audiences and we have no trouble
exploring disturbing, unconventional, crude, or raw subjects. After all, we
are the company that put out a zombie survival game called All Flesh Must Be
Eaten. Usually, when an author or artist gets into questionable stuff, we say
"go for it" -- we want that edge. Now, we don't get stupid about it and just
print reams of swear words, or actual pronography, but we don't shy away from
it either.
Now, the question is whether to bring that same philosophy to our d20
work. I worry about that because D&D is not a dark, modern horror game (as
our other three lines are). Also, it attracts a much younger audience.
The specifics of the current situation involve using a swear word as part
of the presentation. We plan to give the usual monster stats for an average
member of the species and provide guidelines for making them stronger or
weaker. We also plan to create a sidebar in many of the monsters detailing a
"better than average", ready-to-play sample. On the playtest list, we are
calling that sidebar "Instant Badass." Personally, I like that name
(my other choice would be "Instant Bad Moe-Foe") but it may rile up some
parents. Then again, maybe that's good for creating buzz about the book.
So, the basic question is should we reign in creative inpulses to avoid
tweaking some parents' sensibilities, or just publish like we always do with
some indication that the material may not be suitable for the very
young?
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Alex Jurkat
Eden Studios
