RPG Publisher Spotlight: Scoundrel Game Labs

It’s Halloween month, and it’s down to Geek Native Patrons due to the timing since they voted in Scoundrel Game Labs for it.

As we’ll see in the interview below, Scoundrel might be best known for spooky 5e.

Wait! Hold up! Let me rush to say that Scoundrel are not exclusively 5e, and Grizelda’s Guide to Ghost Hunting has a Savage Worlds edition. 

 We’re lucky enough to have T. A. Gray as the RPG publisher in this interview, who founded Scoundrel Game Labs. He’s also whipsmart, and in this article, we get into indie RPG publishing and the law. Okay, we don’t get in deep, but we do discover that publishing company owners probably need to know more about the law (US law) than I do.

A great way to skip to the heart of the matter is to accept T. A. Gray and Scoundrel Game Labs’ kind offer to make Grizelda’s Cursed Curiosities preview free as an adventure. It’s a no-risk way to find a new RPG publisher. 

T.A. Gray and Scoundrel Game Labs interview

I’m not being original at starting at the start for this RPG publisher interview. Why not? It tends to work. 

Who are Scoundrel Game Labs?

I have a lot of great people that help me on these projects, particularly our art director Matt DeMino. But at its core it’s a one man show. I’m just a guy that spent years playing games and then thought maybe it was time to try and make them, too. 

What are you best known for, and what would you like to be known for?

Ghosts. I think most people that are aware of me probably associate me with ghost-related books and products. I love ghost stories and felt that they have been largely underrepresented in D&D, so a lot of our books are related to ghosts and hauntings in some way. Grizelda’s Guide to Ghost Hunting is probably the book we’re most known for. As far as what I’d like to be known for? Just someone that put some fun games into the world. 

RPG publishing and the law

Okay, I admit, since discovering that T. A. Gray has legal exposure, there was the temptation to ask a whole host of law questions.

I didn’t. Firstly, not everyone who works for a legal firm is a lawyer. Secondly, don’t take legal advice of random blogs you read online. That said, T. A. certainly gives me food for thought. 

How does freelance game design or running your own business compare to working in a big law firm?

It’s a lot more fun. Running your own business is scary, and for most of my life it is something I was certain I would never do. I’d never go back to an office job now, though. Having the flexibility to be creative and work on my own schedule is so valuable, especially with small kids running around. 

Do you ever look at the RPG landscape and wonder or worry about potential legal issues that other publishers or fans might be making for themselves?

Definitely, and we see people stepping into legal quicksand pretty often. The good thing for a lot of 5E publishers is that WOTC has never been overly litigious and doesn’t seem to go out of their way to hassle people. They do seem to care about trade dress a lot though, and i’ve seen a few Kickstarter campaigns go live and thought they’ll probably be getting an email from WOTC legal before long. From what I’ve seen the fastest way to catch their eye is to use some form of the ampersand symbol. But there are definitely other IP holers that are much more aggressive. 

Do you predict problems with the use of generative AI in RPG products or fandoms?

Yes. I’m not a fan for a few reasons. I have ethical issues with the use of AI art in commercial publications just like a lot of people do. However, I have some deeper concerns about widespread AI use that even its supporters aren’t really considering. My worry is that AI will get to the point that large publishers like Hasbro will be able to use their resources to churn out countless books and games on a weekly basis. The quality is never going to be exceptional, but if it’s “good enough” and cheap there will be a market for it. My worry is that many small publishers will eventually get priced out entirely by two or three behemoth companies. I hope that the gaming community never lets that happen, though. 

Should even a small RPG publisher or a tabletop games streamer know much about the law?

It’s always a good idea to understand the law. While streaming is generally going to be safer than publishing, there are definitely pitfalls to be aware of when it comes to implying an association with Wizards of the Coast or something similar. The good news for D&D publishers is that with the SRD now in creative commons, there is plenty of room to create without worrying about a cease and desist hanging over your head. I always recommend talking to a lawyer with any questions, though. 

A savvy eye on the future

I often ask about trends and RPG futures in the RPG Publisher Spotlight. I think it’s the best thing in the future. There was absolutely no way I’d skip asking these crucial questions with T.A. Gray. Here’s an acute brain and finger on the pulse. 

Have you spotted any trends in RPG publishing that interest you, and are Scoundrel Game Labs part of any?

I think the trend is that even smaller products are getting the 5 star treatment these days. It is wild to see so many passion products get the kind of polish that was reserved for WOTC books. We definitely strive to put out something that holds up even when compared to much larger publishers. 

Wizards of the Coast have been building books around characters from D&D fiction like Mordenkainen, Tasha and Fizban. Is that why you’ve gone with Gritzelda?

It wasn’t necessarily based on that approach, we really liked the idea of having a sort of narrator for these ghost stories. The follow-up to that book, Grizelda’s Cursed Curiosities, is a collection of adventures that uses a curio shop owned by Grizelda as the mission hub. We had that in mind when we made the first book. 

Did Gritzelda’s Guide to Ghost Hunting get a crack at the Halloween season last year, or did it come out too close to the day itself?

We missed out on Halloween last year unfortunately, but we’re getting some traction this year. I’m about to start an ad campaign, so fingers crossed. 

As we approach Christmas (gulp! is it too soon?), will you be revisiting Assault on Santa’s Workshop, and how on Earth did you come up with such a concept!

Yes, we’ll be doing some sales and promotion for Assault on Santa’s Workshop. It’s a fun, kind of absurd oneshot that is perfect for a winter night. There is extra content that allows you to spread it out over several sessions if you’ve got friends or family around for multiple days. When we made that, I wanted to put together a different kind of Christmas adventure that had a mix of action and silliness that still felt like D&D. I was also inspired by my favorite Christmas movie, Die Hard. 

What’s life as an indie RPG publisher like?

I admit that the US legal system is a world removed from life in Scotland. I can’t imagine stepping into it. I can’t imagine stepping out of it and into RPG indie publishing, either.

Yet, that’s exactly what Scoundrel Game Labs did!

Speaking about timing, what was it like to start up just months before the Pandemic hit?

The pandemic was actually the catalyst for getting into game design. I stopped practicing law in Fall of 2019 to focus on freelance writing. I was mostly writing content for law firm websites and took the leap to start my own business after a year of doing it successfully as a side hustle. Within six months the pandemic hit and nearly all of my clients paused their work or went out of business, so I suddenly was sitting at home with a lot of free time. I started publishing on a whim and was pleasantly surprised at how it went early on. Even with my own business getting back on track, I stuck with and now spend about half my time on game design. So the pandemic was a scary time, but I’m not sure I would even be doing this if it hadn’t happened. 

Would you do anything differently?

Probably not. I learned a lot from all of my mistakes. I would definitely try to procrastinate less. 

What might we expect from Scoundrel Game Labs in the future?

We’ve got a full publishing calendar coming up. In November we launch the Almanac of Allies, a collection of sidekicks, allies and henchmen for 5E. I also recently purchased the IP rights from the board game company Grimlord Games. They make some popular games like Village Attacks and The Everrain. So a lot of my focus right now is in our expansion into the board game space. It’s an exciting time!

Scoundrel Game Labs

• Scoundrel Game Labs’ website.
• Scoundrel Game Labs on DriveThruRPG.
• Scoundrel Game Labs on Facebook.