Writing/Publishing

[Scott]

So as not to derail the Broken Castle thread.
To get myself into the writing rhythm I am going to try to start with something similar to Joe Bloch/Grehawk Grognard’s stuff. A small freebie set in Greyhawk that uses and expands on existing material. If all goes well I’ll try putting some of my others ideas out. Joe’s Adventures Dark & Deep (AD&D) system seems like a good option for writing 1E compatible material, and Gene’s self publishing methods is probably the way to go.

[Scott]

Art and maps are the difficult part for me. Well, it’s all the difficult part for me since I can never make myself finish anything, but when I am working on something it’s the maps that give me the biggest problems.

[geneweigel]

Maps are all just tracing. Broken castle has a massive paper trail about an inch thick not even counting the campaign stats and notes.

[Scott]

It’s the map designing that gives me brain freeze. I can never settle in the final version of the map.

[geneweigel]

Just retrace it and add new stuff as you go. Do not do it on computer until finalized.

[GRWelsh]

What existing material would you expand on, Scott? Are you talking about classic modules or some other Greyhawk esoterica?

I have a way to help me do maps. I take miniatures terrain and physically build it out on the gaming table, and then make a map based upon that. That gives me a sense of its size and playability on the actual game table and also helps me to visualize it in three dimensions.

I'd like to publish something and have it all be me with no computer graphics... So, scans of my hand drawn maps, my own artwork, and so on. What happens if I don't specify the rules the adventure is for and just reference generic acronyms like AC, HP, points of damage, etc.?

[Scott]

Dec 20, 2022 11:36:18 GMT -5 geneweigel said:

Just retrace it and add new stuff as you go. Do not do it on computer until finalized.

That's what I need to get better at. I default to starting over, and then I stall.

[Scott]

Dec 20, 2022 12:04:54 GMT -5 GRWelsh said:

What existing material would you expand on, Scott? Are you talking about classic modules or some other Greyhawk esoterica?

I have a way to help me do maps. I take miniatures terrain and physically build it out on the gaming table, and then make a map based upon that. That gives me a sense of its size and playability during the actual game table and also helps me to visualize it in three dimensions.

I'd like to publish something and have it all be me with no computer graphics... So, scans of my hand drawn maps, my own artwork, and so on. What happens if I don't specify the rules the adventure is for and just reference generic acronyms like AC, HP, points of damage, etc.?

Not really modules, except maybe the DM Monastery as a test run. It's more locations, flavor, etc. Stuff I've been putting together for the Wild Coast sandbox idea I had. Original dungeons, but set on the Wild Coast ("30 miles west of the town of Fax in the village of Uskendale", or even usk trees for that matter) or referencing Greyhawk deities, or factions based on Greyhawk lore, like the Highport Trading Company. or an elite mercenary brigade I came up with that's made up of barbarians from the Thillonrian Peninsula that the Scarlet Brotherhood used, and now they're a faction in the Wild Coast area, etc.

[grodog]

Dec 20, 2022 6:51:16 GMT -5 Scott said:

So as not to derail the Broken Castle thread.
To get myself into the writing rhythm I am going to try to start with something similar to Joe Bloch/Grehawk Grognard’s stuff. A small freebie set in Greyhawk that uses and expands on existing material. If all goes well I’ll try putting some of my others ideas out. Joe’s Adventures Dark & Deep (AD&D) system seems like a good option for writing 1E compatible material, and Gene’s self publishing methods is probably the way to go.

That's a reasonable option, as is OSRIC if you want a "purer" 1e rules set. ASSH is also sufficiently close to 1e, but it has no demi-humans, and caps out at level 10 or 12 like many of the newer OSR clones do, so probably not as useful if you're looking to baseline on Greyhawk normal AD&D.

Just releasing your work for AD&D like Guy Fullerton does is also an option (like Role Aids BITD); see www.chaotichenchmen.com/2018/01/publishing-9-deploying-open-game-license.html for his guidance on that.

Dec 20, 2022 6:59:48 GMT -5 Scott said:

Art and maps are the difficult part for me. Well, it’s all the difficult part for me since I can never make myself finish anything, but when I am working on something it’s the maps that give me the biggest problems.

Just go with the flow, and if the map is giving you fits, you might consider trying to start out designing the key first, and then drawing the map afterward. That's not how I generally design (I start with the maps usually), but it would certainly help you focus the map's purpose relative to the key, its inhabitants, secret areas, loops and escape routes needed, etc. in ways that just starting from scratch on a map won't.

Dec 20, 2022 12:43:49 GMT -5 Scott said:

Dec 20, 2022 11:36:18 GMT -5 geneweigel said:

Just retrace it and add new stuff as you go. Do not do it on computer until finalized.

That's what I need to get better at. I default to starting over, and then I stall.

If you can good "stopping points" on your map, and scan them iteratively, you can always "go back" if you screw up a map later. I did this more when I was drawing maps in pen vs. pencil, but it is useful sometimes to be able to go back in time to revisit an entire section of map drawing that I decided later just didn't work out.

Allan.

[Scott]

Thanks for the feedback, Allan. I thought about just publishing as 1E. That’s probably the best option for freebies. But I’ll have to think about it before charging.

[Scott]

What are your thoughts on boxed text, yay or nay? I know a lot of people don't like it. When done right I thing it adds to the flavor of a module and sets a feel for specific authors. Sometimes it's just cringe. I don't like when the boxed text takes volition away from the players. Tsojcanth is one of my favorite modules, but there's boxed text when the party first enters the caverns that never sat well with me, and I changed the last time I ran it. It's basically, 'You ignore the small cave to your left to explore something shiny in the cave ahead.'

Another question, not for the quality of the adventure writing, but the art and layout, what are your favorite adventures? WG5 may be my favorite, but I'm not a big fan of the color used for the maps.

[GRWelsh]

I don't like boxed text but I do like the first sentence or two to be evocative and handy in describing what characters can perceive. The primary function of modules should make the DM's job easier. Ideally, I can DM a module on the fly by reading each room description quickly and then translating that into what I describe to the players. My favorite layout is two columns with relatively small font such as from the classic modules like S1, G series, B1, B2, T1, etc. Below are a good sites on fonts used in classic D&D and AD&D products:

mystara.thorf.co.uk/fontfaq.php

www.hahnlibrary.net/rpgs/tsrfonts.html

The fonts I have access to -- and which seem to be commonly available on Microsoft Word -- are Century Gothic (modules like C2), Century Schoolbook (Dragon magazine prior to May 1983), Baskerville Old Face (Dragon magazine May 1983 and after), and Garamond (Gazetteer series, Rules Cyclopedia). Others I'd like to get: Quentin EF (Original D&D title), Chisel D (interior AD&D title), Futura (1st edition DMG text), Souvenir (Moldvay Basic text) and Helvetica (later AD&D products like UA).

My favorite art is from S3 with the illustration booklet that includes color art and is the high point for that first generation of modules. The illustration booklet is a concept I always loved because it isn't merely eye candy for the DM but has some utility because it shows players what their characters see.

[geneweigel]

The adjustment for the uploading of the PDF cover was the only thing that I found nerve wracking because I thought it was going to be over already and I was gnawing at the bit so make sure everything is ready size wise before the upload. I had a print up sent at a lower rate than the retail so I could check. It has a grey band going across the cover. I've been using that one to scribble in.

[Scott]

Once I get there I am sure ll be asking for more help

[GRWelsh]

Gene -- Is there anything differently you would have done in regards to self-publishing, now that you've learned about it?

I was thinking smaller font and layout to maximize pages which should bring down 'print on request' costs. That could help one get closer to the ideal $10 price tag.

[geneweigel]

I had priced it based on other contemporary rpg things that had campaigns which is not what it really it is. I could have chopped it into 4 books and probably made more. The font size and page count I didn't base on price. That was preference to laying it on the table size for quick reference.

[geneweigel]

I saw two instances of campaign book series which were priced $40 for each of 3 books. So I figured $40 but I wasn't aware that $7 is the price that people will automatically spend without thinking and around $10 is the ideal "game book" price.

[grodog]

Dec 21, 2022 19:41:36 GMT -5 geneweigel said:

I had priced it based on other contemporary rpg things that had campaigns which is not what it really it is. I could have chopped it into 4 books and probably made more. The font size and page count I didn't base on price. That was preference to laying it on the table size for quick reference.

Gene, you could certainly redo the layout once the current print run is gone, and break BC into multiple volumes.

Allan.

[geneweigel]

Well, the PDF version is eventually going to knock the print version from distribution. Then it'll just be PDF going forward. I don't even know what the price of the PDF version is going to be but its irrelevant because it'll only be for latecomers who didn't buy the print version. I don't even know how I'm going to handle the free distribution. Photograph or receipt with a limited timed so I don't have to deal with it forever?

[foster1941]

I write my stuff nominally for OSRIC but in practice it’s straight 1E except for a few monster name changes (bullywugs become batrachians, xvarts become svartlings, displacer beasts become coeurls, etc). I’ve had a few people using the OSRIC book confused because my stuff doesn’t quite match it in some ways (like I include psionics which don’t exist in OSRIC) and had to let them in on the secret but I think most people (at least of our generation) get it.

I also have an elaborate kabuki system of alternate proper nouns for all the locations, gods, and characters that I can’t use under the OGL - the Free Shore, Tanglewood Forest, Gemstone River, elvish realm of Lunaire, humanoid dominated Palm March, shadowy Order of the Crimson Sash, etc. I’ve got dozens of these. If WotC was feeling aggressive there’s probably a little risk in this approach but at the scale I’m working at I doubt anyone’s paying attention and I don’t want to have to bother with rewriting everything to put it into some other setting nobody else is going to use - I always found the “generic” settings of mid-80s TSR stuff annoying.

If you’re distributing non-commercially you probably don’t need to hassle with this level of obfuscation, but I don’t like the idea of having to give everything away and not being able to produce printed books so I consider it worth the effort.