Books, Poetry, Review, Role Playing Games, The Laid Back Dungeon Master, Writing

Laidback DM: The Year in Review 2023

This is only the second time I’ve done this kind of post (you can check out 2022 at the following link: https://stevestillstanding.com/2023/01/02/laidback-dm-the-year-in-review-2022/

2023 was a big year for my TTRPG content business – I created and launched lots of new products, started GMing more games, faced family loss and started new social media projects! Let’s start at the beginning…

Products

10,153 products were downloaded from my DrivethruRPG webstore in 2023, a 10% increase over the previous year. Since starting my business part-time in 2019 (and transitioning to my full-time business in 2021), there have been 41,370 product downloads from my online store.

New products included the St. Avon’s Madness hardcover and PDF adventures, Maps For Fantasy RPGs 7 and 8, Verona Province Map and FiveE Magazine issue 3 (a periodical collaboration with lots of other TTRPG creators that I edit, layout and publish each year).

Kickstarters

My primary source of revenue is from Kickstarters, and I generally run around eight per year. For 2023, they were:

  • MAPS YOUR PARTY WILL DIE FOR 4: CITY – DM’s Workbook & Maps
  • Shotglass Adventures: SAINT AVON’S MADNESS Hardcover
  • MAPS FOR FANTASY RPGs 8 – ROYALTY FREE MAPS
  • Shotglass Adventures: THREE $1 ONE-SHOTS!
  • Shotglass Adventures: TWO MORE $1 ONE-SHOTS!
  • MAPS FOR FANTASY RPGs 7 – ROYALTY FREE MAPS
  • SHOTGLASS ADVENTURES: Two $1 One-Shots!
  • SHOTGLASS ADVENTURES: The Madness of St. Avon – ONLY $1!

I tragically lost my mailing list late-2022, and I needed to rebuild said list in order to maintain the viability of my business. A new business approach led to the $1 One Shot Projects, which enabled me to rebuild my list while offering quality DnD 5e/OSR TTRPG content at a low price point. This was a success, enabling me to rebuild the list (though not completely), maintain my business income and launch my biggest project of the year – Maps Your Party Will Die For 4: City, a set of interconnectable maps that will be available soon on DrivethruRPG!

Commission Maps

2023 saw me making commission maps for Sagaverse, for their product Curse of the Chupacabra. This additional line of revenue supported my primary Kickstarter and DriveThrRPG sales income. This business arrangement will continue into 2024 as Sagaverse and other companies release new products.

Social Media

I’m the first to admit I’m hopeless at Social Media! In 2023, however, I decided to be a bit more active and put together a YouTube channel, revamped my Instagram page, continued posting to Facebook and Mastodon (and to a lesser extent Twitter, which I refuse to call X and which I don’t like because of its billionaire d$%^head owner).

Games

In 2023, I finished off my long-running Sunday Shadows Over Saltmarsh DnD 5e Campaign and switched that group to Pathfinder 2e and we haven’t looked back. We’re currently working our way through Abomination Vaults after playing the P2e Beginner Box and Troubles in Otari adventures.

I also had the great pleasure of GM’ing several sessions of Monster of the Week, Call of Cthulhu and being a player in The One Ring, Vampire the Masquerade and DnD 5e adventures. This year included a return to running face-to-face games for the first time since I moved to VTT (I’ve been running VTT games ever since Covid 2021).

On top of this, my Tuesday DnD playtesting sessions turned into a full campaign as those players continue each week on the Trail of St. Avon’s Madness!

Laidback DM - stevestillstanding.com

Poetry

In 2023, I continued writing and publishing poetry on this website and published a new hardcover poetry book Places Far From Home in memory of my nephew, who we lost in tragic circumstances. He is sorely missed.

Laidback DM/Stevestillstanding.com Website

2023 saw a major revamp of my website, SteveStillStanding.com. I love the new look and apparently so do you lol. I continue to publish information about my products, free maps, videos, reviews and poetry here.

This year, The Sound of Magic, a new column with free magic items, and Footfall, session summaries from one of my longest and biggest DnD 5e campaigns, debuted.

Thank You!

Finally, I want to thank you all so much for your support in 2023! Without it, I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills, keep a roof over my head, make cool TTRPG-related content, run games and generally enjoy life!

I wish you all the very best for 2024 – let’s make it the best year for everyone, ever!

Cheers

Steve, Laidback DM

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