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View Full Version : I'm a writer, what do I need to do to get into writing for RPG?



LordWarGod
2018-10-04, 06:42 AM
I'm writing an universe of my own and I've found that the RPG avenue might be the best place for my writing to excel after it was recommended by some writers I met. The problem is that I have little to no knowledge of what writing in RPG consists of, I have an understanding of what RPG is and what it entails but I don't understand what my role is as a writer.

How does it work? Do you pitch an idea and work with a game designer while you write the story?

I'm writing a fantasy history book centered around the universe I created and everything there is to know about it. It will feature classified top secret documents/audio transcripts, journals, diaries, biographies on important characters and scientific studies on demons/aliens which will be separated into categories. It seems like something that might be suited to the RPG world and people may enjoy role-playing with this sort of story/environment, so that's why people recommended me to RPG.

Thank you for reading and anything you decide to post will be appreciated.

(I had to repost this thread to this area after I realized it was posted in the wrong area, sorry!)

NichG
2018-10-04, 07:17 AM
I can't speak to how to go about writing RPGs professionally, but...

To my mind, the role of a creative writer in contributing to an RPG is to figure out what to write that will inspire creativity in others. For example, a lot of the Planescape materials tried to present the setting in terms of unresolved mysteries - each location or NPC would have text describing what the average person on the street might believe to be true of them, and often these would be mildly contradictory. Then, when a DM read that, it could give them ideas about how they might resolve that mystery by tying it with other things they had in mind.

From a player point of view, the writing should similarly inspire - it should make the player think of character ideas that they would want to inject into the situation, motivations that they would want to pursue, mysteries they would want to uncover, possibilities they would want to explore.

In that sense I think it's important to be evocative and open-ended in style, rather than being overly definite or declarative about the way things are. Iceberg type techniques (90% unstated) are probably good starting places.

The other wrinkle is that what you write has to be compatible with also being expressed via game mechanics. That is to say, you have to be careful that any sort of thing you introduce is something which is robust enough to survive the fridge logic of players who will interact with it. A magic glove that can freeze in place on command might be imagined as a cool detail to help someone climb a sheer wall, but in a game someone might e.g. get on a moving cart, activate the glove, and expect it to continue on its way through fortifications as an unstoppable force. Tropes like chosen ones, do-anything magic, etc need to be treated very carefully.

If you're writing into an existing system (mechanics already in place) then similarly, you need to be sufficiently aware such that when you write about something that goes beyond that fixed boundary, you can be intentional about it and have explanations ready (or use the violation of expectations as an actual hint as to what might be going on).

When I (homebrew) systems, I tend to have a thought process like 'how does the world need to work in order for the theme I want to explore to be dominant?'. I then design the metaphysics around that. Then I make the detailed mechanics, putting in hooks that I will intend to use to drive and support particular setting or story elements. Finally, I wrap those hooks with details in order to produce the actual setting and preexisting narrative elements.

For example, my current campaign started with the theme 'what limits come from psychology, and what does it mean to transcend that?'. The metaphysics is, roughly, humans got superpowers in the form of the authority to rewrite reality as they see fit, but this happens through the lens of their current world-view and expectations. As a foil to the central question, I created a mechanic by which it could be brute-forced: by accepting a loss of control, any character can broaden their powers arbitrarily at any time. I also built the core system such that any unopposed use of powers is essentially free and automatically successful - this sort of sets up the point where players and characters in the system might realize that they could be using their powers constantly but haven't been, allowing for a fairly reliable non-mechanical moment of revelation with respect to the theme. Then, from there, I detailed specific kinds of mental blocks, control metaphors, etc as system mechanics, designed to permit a number of different kinds of realizations which each can act as the core of an antagonist, session, area, etc - things like powers being made autonomous, powers ignoring range, powers ignoring temporal order, etc. Then finally, the setting details - what is this world like where any powered individual can go nuclear if they feel they have nothing to lose?

War_lord
2018-10-04, 07:30 AM
To continue from the duplicate thread...

Well, publishing work is easy, with the internet you can throw all your stuff onto a PDF and release it for $3 with minimum effort. Even if you want it printed, you can self publish pretty cheaply nowadays. The trouble is actually getting any kind of monetary return on your investment.

It's almost easier to write novels, at least there's a large audience for that.

MoiMagnus
2018-10-04, 07:37 AM
From my knowledge, there are 4 main things were writers are needed in RPG:

1) Rule writing. This is not really a "writer job", but experience in writing and edition is useful for it. Goal is to present a set of rules in the most readable and easy to access way. Probably not what you were asking for, but that a thing.

2) Background writing. Races/Nations/Classes/... all have a small text describing them. You can take a look at the basic rules from 5e (http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/PlayerBasicRulesV03.pdf). The basic rules have very... basic writing. But some other rule-books introducing other universes to play with have a lot more background text. The easiest way to write for this is to enter in contact is small content creators. They usually have a surplus of "technical content creators", and a lack of "artistic (graphical or writing) content creators".

3) Scenario writing. On top of background descriptions, they have locations (cities/places/...), characters, dialogues, ... Creation of those texts have to be done together with the creator of the scenario (the technical part). If you have some experience as a Game Master, you could assume both technical and writing role, but it does not seems to be the case. Same as in 2, small content creators are probably the best way to start writing for this.

4) Novels writing. That's stories that happens inside an already existing (or upcoming) setting/universe, in order to makes some "advertisement" for this setting/universe, and extend its lore. Don't really know who to contact if you want to start writing things like that.

Anyway, if you're gonna write for RPG stuff, I highly encourage you to go to a role playing game convention and play few games.
(Game Master experience would be even better, but you first need experience as a player).

Be warned that the RPG community has a very wide community, going from peoples that don't care about lore/background/role-play and are here to roll dices and make tactical plan and technical discussions, to peoples that will improvise and act during the whole session and will read every single piece of lore related to the game.

LibraryOgre
2018-10-04, 07:53 AM
Since you are working on your own IP, you might want to consider self-publishing. I have done some RPG freelancing (on my phone, so its not convenient to link to them), and, most of the time, you're working on someone else's IP, and the only way you're going to be working on your IP for someone else to publish is if they know you have writing chops and an audience... usually because you did work on their IP (qv Bill Coffin and Septimus... while WEG's fall nixed the project, his previous RPG and writing work was enough that they were willing to gamble on a new setting from him).

On the bright side, this is something of a golden age for self-publishing. Amazon, DrivethruRPG, LightningSource (and its offshoot, Spark), Lulu... all of these are ways to get your stuff out there. If you think you have a great universe that people will pay for, look into making some products for it. You might look at some systems released under the Open Gaming License to make your world into a game, if you don't want to design your own game, or look at some other licenses that are relatively low restriction (like Savage Worlds).

Good luck!

Rhedyn
2018-10-04, 07:56 AM
I'm writing an universe of my own and I've found that the RPG avenue might be the best place for my writing to excel after it was recommended by some writers I met. The problem is that I have little to no knowledge of what writing in RPG consists of, I have an understanding of what RPG is and what it entails but I don't understand what my role is as a writer.

How does it work? Do you pitch an idea and work with a game designer while you write the story?

I'm writing a fantasy history book centered around the universe I created and everything there is to know about it. It will feature classified top secret documents/audio transcripts, journals, diaries, biographies on important characters and scientific studies on demons/aliens which will be separated into categories. It seems like something that might be suited to the RPG world and people may enjoy role-playing with this sort of story/environment, so that's why people recommended me to RPG.

Thank you for reading and anything you decide to post will be appreciated.

(I had to repost this thread to this area after I realized it was posted in the wrong area, sorry!)
Something you may consider is that instead of writing up your own system (which requires math and game theory) is too instead adapt a "toolkit" system to your world (Like GURPS for a rules heavy game, Fate for metanarrative mechanics, or Fudge for a rules light game) or adapt a very flexible system to your world (Like Savage Worlds).

People can solo develop RPGs now. The bigger companies hire dedicated story writers, but then you are writing for the system not a system written for your world.

So you are looking at DIY.

Haldir
2018-10-04, 08:49 AM
I would say your first step is to actually play some RPGs, get yourself familiar with the culture and general zeitgeist of the TTRPG world. I am not saying we're an insular bunch (well, much less so in recent years), but having an idea of how story elements basically translate into games will be good for you moving forward.

As far as Systems go, you're really gonna wanna focus on either Pathfinder or D&D 5th edition if you're seriously interested in mass appeal. A lot of people here will tell you that X system is "better" at what it does, but the fact is that these games are soooo niche and the consumer base of them are soooo small that you'll immediately relegate yourself to obscurity. 5th Edition has the largest player base by far, but Pathfinder has many die-hards. PF is also where many people like you find themselves, so competition in the market is gonna be tight.

If you are interested in publishing your work as a comic through a small charity, please PM me, because my company is always accepting new writers and the commissions are very fair. (hope this doesn't violate for-profit advertising rules? I dunno, we're non-profit and I never thought to ask.)

Rhedyn
2018-10-04, 09:24 AM
...A lot of people here will tell you that X system is "better" at what it does, but the fact is that these games are soooo niche and the consumer base of them are soooo small that you'll immediately relegate yourself to obscurity...Ah but you also do not want to get "lost in the noise". The internet has made finding a niche appeal product easier than ever. Pathfinder at least has a fanbase that likes 3rd party, but you rarely see anyone talking about their favorite 3PP 5e supplement.

For a primary writer, making an RPG to capture a niche audience and then selling them novels is a great idea.

The big stinker in this process is the artwork and book layout, even if you have a perfect system with a great story, a lack of good art or a poorly formatted book will sink a project.

Haldir
2018-10-04, 09:29 AM
Ah but you also do not want to get "lost in the noise". The internet has made finding a niche appeal product easier than ever. Pathfinder at least has a fanbase that likes 3rd party, but you rarely see anyone talking about their favorite 3PP 5e supplement.

For a primary writer, making an RPG to capture a niche audience and then selling them novels is a great idea.

The big stinker in this process is the artwork and book layout, even if you have a perfect system with a great story, a lack of good art or a poorly formatted book will sink a project.

But isn't that advice sort of contradictory? You don't want to get lost in the noise of an established market (which could definitely happen in PF), but you should make your own game to get lost in the noise of obscure systems that nobody knows/ very few care about?

I'd rather have the already established fan base.

I mean, I definitely do see your point. But for my part, I see it being just as easy/ easier to design content for popular games and sell them books based on it. Less work, more audience, same strategy.

Rhedyn
2018-10-04, 10:01 AM
But isn't that advice sort of contradictory? You don't want to get lost in the noise of an established market (which could definitely happen in PF), but you should make your own game to get lost in the noise of obscure systems that nobody knows/ very few care about?

I'd rather have the already established fan base.

I mean, I definitely do see your point. But for my part, I see it being just as easy/ easier to design content for popular games and sell them books based on it. Less work, more audience, same strategy.
I actually wouldn't make a new system, but I would consider supporting a more flexible system with a more niche fanbase and mainly of a game that I want to play.

Because chances are, you make 0 money (if that) with RPGs. I guess FATE is more popular now-a-days, but the author is basically 95% done with a Fudge conversion by virtue of already knowing the lore of their world (and one could argue that any Fudge version is a custom system sort'of).

Something like a Savage Worlds conversion would take work just like a 5e conversion and really require getting invested into RPGs.

Both GURPS and Pathfinder supplements would be even more serious affairs.

A custom system will probably just end up subpar. You have to be really skilled/knowledgeable to make a new RPG system that isn't just a waste of paper and it requires many skills that have nothing to do with being a novelist.

Haldir
2018-10-04, 10:07 AM
But what advantages do these random obscure systems provide for an author? I've been playing TTRPGs for decades and the only place I've even heard of these games is here on a board completely dedicated to gaming. Supporting a "niche" system sounds good to you because you're one of the tiny tiny subset of people who care about obscure rulesets, but if OP is anything like me, he just wants people to read his stuff. Shrinking the possible fanbase is not a great way to go about that.

Rhedyn
2018-10-04, 11:23 AM
But what advantages do these random obscure systems provide for an author? I've been playing TTRPGs for decades and the only place I've even heard of these games is here on a board completely dedicated to gaming. Supporting a "niche" system sounds good to you because you're one of the tiny tiny subset of people who care about obscure rulesets, but if OP is anything like me, he just wants people to read his stuff. Shrinking the possible fanbase is not a great way to go about that.
But of the decades you've played, how many obscure 3rd Party RPG books have you bought/read? and Why?

Because regardless, this will be an obscure product unless a bigger publisher buys a licence from him.

Forum Explorer
2018-10-04, 11:44 AM
Well I'll pass along some advice I got when I asked a similiar question once.

You'll want to basically make your own adventure module. Assuming you have no experience in playing Tabletop RPGs, I suggest you start with D&D 5e. It's popular, not too complex, and most importantly, very friendly to the DM. Pathfinder is much more complex, and as such is much more work for any prospective DM.

Anyways, for starters, I suggest playing through a game with a group. Just to give you some familiarity as a player. Then I suggest purchasing one of the adventure modules made for the system. There are a couple out, just take your pick. Read through it first, and then try running it with your own group of players.

Next up is the hard part, try running a campaign without a module to guide you.

Then I think you'll be ready to write your own adventure module. Take the lessons you learned as a player and as a DM. Use the existing adventure modules as a guide. But it basically goes like this; you plot out a story with plenty of encounters. These encounters may involve NPCs, in which case you have to design enough of an NPC that someone different could control them, but not so much info that you waste too much time in designing them. You'll have a lot to make. The encounter might also just be a fight, in which case you have to design the enviroment it's in, the rewards for the fight, and balance the difficulty to the fight against any prospective composition of players.

Once you have the encounters mapped out, go back and look at ways for players to 'go off the rails' so to say. Add branches here and there where the players can change the story to suit them. Either use these branches to skillfully guide them back to the main route, or to change the story completely. Or just small tweaks. Or as sub-plots to explore a particular NPC or area. Or you can just skip this part entirely and leave it to the DM to handle.

Then playtest it a couple times, make adjustments and you're done.

Forum Explorer
2018-10-04, 11:48 AM
But of the decades you've played, how many obscure 3rd Party RPG books have you bought/read? and Why?

Because regardless, this will be an obscure product unless a bigger publisher buys a licence from him.

Oh, this first work probably won't be sold. It's used as a portfolio when applying to bigger companies like Wizards of the Coast, or even video game companies like Bioware. It's basically proof of what kind of job you can do when writing for an RPG.

Haldir
2018-10-04, 12:09 PM
But of the decades you've played, how many obscure 3rd Party RPG books have you bought/read? and Why?

Because regardless, this will be an obscure product unless a bigger publisher buys a licence from him.

Haha, that is an unfair question to ask a content producer. There's a reason why I'm writing comics instead of working the office scene. If I need material I make it. :tongue:



Oh, this first work probably won't be sold. It's used as a portfolio when applying to bigger companies like Wizards of the Coast, or even video game companies like Bioware. It's basically proof of what kind of job you can do when writing for an RPG.

This is the logical conclusion for people dedicated to the craft, and I point I hope I would have made eventually. :smallredface:

Friv
2018-10-04, 03:00 PM
I think what a lot of people in this thread might be missing is that this isn't a standard "I like RPGs, I'd like to write for them, how do I get started" situation.

The OP has an existing property, which they are writing for, and wants to know how to get that existing property turned into an RPG and sold. You can't do that by writing an adventure path and then putting together a portfolio of random work to get on the radar of Wizards of the Coast.

So, bearing in mind that I am at best a semi-professional in the industry, here's the thing, LordWarGod.

I'm afraid that your chances of handing this property to a studio as part of a pitch where they pay you are essentially null.

Licensed properties for RPGs these days do not usually go to small-market games unless they're being made by small-market presses, and small-market presses are generally working on labours of love, not on people's pitches. Large-market game companies are looking for things that are on a level with Star Wars, DC Comics, or the like. The lower end of them are still doing things like Firefly or Sentinels of the Multiverse (which isn't a big property in the grand scheme, but certainly managed a $1 million Kickstarter.)

Essentially, if you want to make an RPG out of your setting, you need to do one of two things - either design the game yourself, and pitch it to your existing fans, or hire a game developer to work for you, and rely on their reputation.

Gnoman
2018-10-04, 05:17 PM
Steve Jackson games states on their website that they're always interested in setting information. It might be a good idea to go through their submission guidelines (http://www.sjgames.com/general/guidelines/authors/), follow them, and then submit an overview of your material to them.

Friv
2018-10-04, 05:51 PM
Again, that's probably not going to work:


And please don't offer us a new roleplaying system . . . we don't want to publish another one. That doesn't mean, "Include a really earnest cover letter about how good it is." That means, "We can't use them."

And the section on writing for GURPS specifies that they're only looking for pitches that are within their current wishlist, from people who have already done work for them through one of the magazines. Unless this setting that the OP is designing fits really neatly into an existing GURPS setting, that's going to be a non-starter.

Rhedyn
2018-10-05, 09:06 AM
Licensed properties for RPGs these days do not usually go to small-market games unless they're being made by small-market presses, and small-market presses are generally working on labours of love, not on people's pitches. Large-market game companies are looking for things that are on a level with Star Wars, DC Comics, or the like. The lower end of them are still doing things like Firefly or Sentinels of the Multiverse (which isn't a big property in the grand scheme, but certainly managed a $1 million Kickstarter.)

Essentially, if you want to make an RPG out of your setting, you need to do one of two things - either design the game yourself, and pitch it to your existing fans, or hire a game developer to work for you, and rely on their reputation.
*Looks at Flash Gordon, Fear agent, Lankhmar, Rifts, The Goon, and Solomon Kane RPGs for Savage Worlds by Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

Some people do smaller licenses.

weckar
2018-10-05, 09:20 AM
From personal experience: Be careful when dealing with established rpg publishers. It's a small ecosystem, and some are incredibly unprofessional when it comes to IP, deadlines and the like. This is doubly true if you are trying to hook into their existing product line. Unfortunately, that is also the easiest way to get to talk to them.

weckar
2018-10-05, 09:24 AM
Again, that's probably not going to work:



And the section on writing for GURPS specifies that they're only looking for pitches that are within their current wishlist, from people who have already done work for them through one of the magazines. Unless this setting that the OP is designing fits really neatly into an existing GURPS setting, that's going to be a non-starter. They refuse systems, not settings. They are happy with GURPS.

Rhedyn
2018-10-05, 09:28 AM
From personal experience: Be careful when dealing with established rpg publishers. It's a small ecosystem, and some are incredibly unprofessional when it comes to IP, deadlines and the like. This is doubly true if you are trying to hook into their existing product line. Unfortunately, that is also the easiest way to get to talk to them.


They refuse systems, not settings. They are happy with GURPS.

This is kind of funny. You warn against your own idea.

weckar
2018-10-05, 09:40 AM
This is kind of funny. You warn against your own idea.I was not promoting talking to SJG, just clarifying the statement someone misinterpreted. Although, to be clear, I've never dealt with them specifically.

Friv
2018-10-05, 10:39 AM
They refuse systems, not settings. They are happy with GURPS.

Ah, fair enough. I misread.


*Looks at Flash Gordon, Fear agent, Lankhmar, Rifts, The Goon, and Solomon Kane RPGs for Savage Worlds by Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

Some people do smaller licenses.

Right, but they do them because someone at Savage Worlds really liked that setting, not because Eric Powell went up to them and said, "Oh, hey, how's about I pitch The Goon to you?"

And even then... I freely admit that all of those are smaller than Star Wars et al, so I will revise my statement, but the smallest of those settings is probably Fear Agent, which has been optioned for a Universal Pictures movie. Flash Gordon is old, but it has huge brand recognition. Ditto for Lankhmar, which has been popular among nerds for eighty years. Rifts has a massive fanbase. Solomon Kane is one of Howard's smaller works, but it's still a Howard product. The Goon raised $400,000 to make an animated movie, and regularly sells thousands of copies per issue.

That's just not the same level as "I'm writing a book and want an RPG to come out alongside it" unless the writer is someone who has already made those waves.

Rhedyn
2018-10-05, 11:08 AM
That's just not the same level as "I'm writing a book and want an RPG to come out alongside it" unless the writer is someone who has already made those waves.OP should try running some of his friends through a Fudge game in his setting.

After he does that, he has basically written a rules-light RPG for his setting.

xroads
2018-10-05, 01:06 PM
How much experience have you had with RPG? If you haven't already, I recommend playing (and especially running) a few different systems & settings. That way you can get a better idea of how RPG settings are generally laid out.

You might also experiment with writing one shots. This would be a great way of getting your feet wet. The Savage Worlds settings are a great place to start. Pinnacle takes one shots submissions and publishes them in an online magazine.

Segev
2018-10-05, 01:30 PM
A big difference between novel-writing and RPG module-writing that a lot of authors of the latter miss is that RPG modules don't "follow a plot" very well. Many can and are popular, but they require a high level of buy-in.

An example of this done VERY VERY POORLY is the Witchfire Trilogy for Iron Kingdoms. In it, there's a novel plot going on, and the players essentially get to watch it happen. If they do well, make the right choices, and win their fights, they get front-row seats. If they do poorly, make the wrong choices, or lose their fights (but somehow don't die), they get to hear about it happening while they were unable to watch. At no point are their choices impactful to the course of the story, only to whether they're favored background extras or hated background extras.

More commonly, badly-done modules assume PCs take certain actions/make certain choices, and have little to no provision made for them considering doing anything else.

The easiest way to do it with something approaching "rightness" is a sort of choose-your-own-adventure style, where you at least try to take into account all the choices you're leaving available. Obviously, you can't handle everything, and if they choose to deliberately walk off the map to somewhere the module is not going on, there's nothing you or hte DM can do to keep them in the module, but there's a lot of middle ground.

Think of choices as things that give them "tokens" to carry. "If they have done X, then the situation can change as Y."

The other approach is more like world-building. Design a module with what will happen if the PCs don't do anything, and then spell out all the NPCs' goals, the scheduled events (and what, if anything, could prvent them, and possibly what happens if they do NOT happen), etc. THen, when the PCs get involved, they change things from how they would have gone, and hopefully the module provides enough detail on the relevant actors that the DM can determine how the PCs will influence their behavior.

Stepping back from module-writing, you sound like you have a world setting you've created. Writing an RPG setting book is much like writing a lore bible for your world. It tells about the world, interesting things in it, and major factions and individuals and what their general goals and personalities are. It does not describe a plot. AVoid metaplots, wherein your future setting books assume things have advanced from the point in time you describe your setting initially. Modules should not change your setting. Players' characters will, by the nature of RPGs, advance plot in their own directions, and having metaplot that advances the setting books regardless of PC actions in their own games makes games suffer either from players feeling impotent, or STs feeling like the later splatbooks are useless because they assume things have happened in ways they have not.

Worldbook writing and the last kind of module writing I spoke of have similarities. The differences mainly are in how detailed you are about particular actions as they'll go forward absent PC intervention, and how much effort you put into offering advice on what NPCs are looking for and how PCs might hook into that.

Frozen_Feet
2018-10-05, 01:48 PM
If you're not a game designer and are not aiming to go through the effort to become one, jumping from writing prose (etc.) to writing a game is a bad idea.

My suggestion would be to get short stories and maybe commissioned art visible in magazines, websites etc. frequented by amateur and professional game designers. Once you have some degree of visibility and maybe some fans, you can start asking around for people interested in co-operation and making a game for you.

It's not a big market and you'll be doing it for no profit for a long time, most likely. In the long run, you probably want to move to novels or license your IP to a videogame company, because there's just more money there.

War_lord
2018-10-06, 02:50 AM
If you're not a game designer and are not aiming to go through the effort to become one, jumping from writing prose (etc.) to writing a game is a bad idea.

This, if the op is being understood correctly, they've just been given some spectacularly bad advice. Game design doesn't really pay, you'll get more from hammering out paperbacks then most people ever make working in the modern tabletop market. The people who do it do it out of love, it's not going to promote your writing product very far. Most collaborations of a fictional universe and an TRPG happen either because the TRPG company is a fan of the universe and wants the license, or because the fiction is popular and the TRPG company is hoping that by putting out an official game set there, they'll draw in some of that fanbase.

Trying to get a company to collaborate with you so that people will actually want to read your books, is working backwards. Even if it did happen, it probably wouldn't gain you many readers, and most companies would never agree to it because there's nothing in it for them.

LibraryOgre
2018-10-06, 11:56 AM
This, if the op is being understood correctly, they've just been given some spectacularly bad advice. Game design doesn't really pay, you'll get more from hammering out paperbacks then most people ever make working in the modern tabletop market. The people who do it do it out of love, it's not going to promote your writing product very far. Most collaborations of a fictional universe and an TRPG happen either because the TRPG company is a fan of the universe and wants the license, or because the fiction is popular and the TRPG company is hoping that by putting out an official game set there, they'll draw in some of that fanbase.

Trying to get a company to collaborate with you so that people will actually want to read your books, is working backwards. Even if it did happen, it probably wouldn't gain you many readers, and most companies would never agree to it because there's nothing in it for them.

How do you make a small fortune in RPGs?

Start with a large fortune. Get into RPGs. You'll soon have a small fortune.