Plug-Ins

Introduction to a new plug in series and the first book in the range.....

Welcome to the first in a series of plug-in tool kits for roleplaying games. The idea behind these plug-in's is that they can be used in any gaming system and they are simple to use and incorporate. These plug-in tool kits are intended to add story elements to any game that give player characters a reason for existance. They provide the reasoning as to why a person should head off on adventures and what they aim to achive in the long run.
Exodus is the first plug-in tool in the series and lays out some basic principles and conventions for the rest of the series.
Exodus defines an event that compels the characters to adventure. These events may be man made, natural or magical depending on the system that is being used and the scope of the campaign that is being played.

Right , A few weeks ago I, along with another player were asked if we would like to come up with some interesting ideas for rpg settings, pubs, safehouses, and the like!

well i see this as my opportunity to let loose! already have some patrons drawn up and names of pubs, plans and more and more ideas popping into my head by the minute! but i have a problem! i need somehow to be able to draw! i can use a pencil about as good as my girlfriend is at driving!! so i need ideas!! help!

Friday Night Link Madness 3

This week.....art.

http://www.epilogue.net/index.php
online community devoted to fantasy and sci-fi artwork

http://www.deviantart.com/
another community for artists to show off

http://forum.rpg.net/forumdisplay.php?f=12
rpg.nets artist and writers forum, plenty of people posting links so you can check out their work

Systems

So its been a while since my last post, but I thought I would discuss something that i'm struggling with now.... rpg systems, build or re-use?

One of my previous posts was regarding OGL systems such as D20 OGL and such like.
At the moment im working on the system for Skyfell and its just spiraling out of control everytime I touch it. When you design your own system you try to make 3 things happen:

1. Make it a fair system - don't weight it too much towards the GM or the players
2. Make it interesting - nothing worse than a system that people don't get or find clumsy
3. Make it work - The system has to cover anything that might be required of it... and thats a lot!

After that you need to make sure that its tested and that its useable in play, otherwise you may have just wasted a lot of time and a lot of paper.
With all this to consider, OGL systems seem much more attractive, all the basics have been covered by the people who wrote it originally, and that is a heck of a bonus.

Friday Night Link Madness 2

This week......GMing


http://www.plotstorming.com/
Writting plots, campaigns or worlds. Some good advice here for all.


http://forum.rpg.net/forumdisplay.php?f=11
RPG.net's game design & development forum


http://www.treasuretables.org/
Daily advice for GM's

WoAdWriMo

So the last post I did was about NaNoWriMo which a write a novel in a month competition where people try and complete a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of Novemeber. Kinda tough going, but fun for those that manage it.

In a simular vein there is WoAdWriMo, Worldwide adventure writing month. Basically write an RPG adventure in a month... in the case of 2007, the month of June. I was lucky enough to get my entry in 3 days into the start and handed in my finished article just within the final deadline.
It was tough going but so much fun to actually get something out of it. It really does give you an idea of the pressures that professional writers face day to day, from initial ideas to finished page.
If you ever get the chance try one of the one-month-writeathons... you won't regret it.

If your interested the final adventures from this years WoAdWriMo are posted here... http://www.treasuretables.org/woadwrimo-adventure-downloads
Mine is called "SkyFell" and is based upon the campaign world that I am in the process of writing

RPG writing for fun and profit

Or just for profit......
If you want to make a living at writing, take a look at the following link, a great resource of advice for would-be RPG writers.

http://www.charke.ca/My%20Writing/WritersResourcePage.html

OGL systems

So when your writing your RPG, which system do you use?
One of your own or someone elses?
With OGL things have become a lot easier in using the second option. Lots of systems are now available for you to use without paying huge sums of money to another company.

Here is a thread on RPG.net with lists and links to many of those available. Check out whats available and then you can really consider if its worth spending all that extra time making your own system.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=359474

Here is a website that lists lots of free RPGs, including open license ones.

http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/freerpgs/bykeyword/open-license.html

Publishing Options

So from a conversation between the three of us, the questions arose on what the options are for publishing. Here are the answers that I gave the others.....

1. Sell - Sell your game/setting/book to Wizards, Mongoose or one of the other companies
2. Self Publish - Get a ton of money and spend it on publishing the book
3. POD Publish - Print books on demand as needed
4. PDF Publish - Publish electronically on the net in PDF form

So 4 options, with 4 outlooks, upsides and downsides.

1. You sell it, its no longer yours, they can do what they like to it. Also very difficult to do. Wizards, Mongoose and White Wolf probably have hundreds of submissions a month from budding writters. Competition will be very stiff.
2. Print a load of books and you may end up with your attic, garage and garden shed full of books you can't sell. Very expensive until you get to higher numbers of books printed, think 1000+ books before the cost per book is worth it.
3. Pretty good perks for a beginning writer, but beware of poor quality printing and high cost per book for every book, it don't get cheaper the more you print. Also long lead times on the first printing have been an issue with some POD printers.
4. Fast, easy and cheap. PDF files can be created for free with downloadable programs. sales may be anyware from low to not quite so low, especially for first time publishers. Ideally best suited to support of an in-print book.

So thats the options I came up with, any more, feel free to post 'em.

RPG Book Layouts

So what shold you expect to see when you open an RPG book or how should you lay out your books if your a publisher?
There are many examples out there, pretty much every company follows a few simple rules though and I have been trying to follow them with Skyfell. So here for you all is the short list of what should be in a book and in what order... feel free to disagree with me, there is no right or wrong here but I would be interested in others thoughts on the matter:

1. Table of Contents
2. Fiction (if you need it)
3. Overview
4. Setting
5. Rules
6. Campaign Ideas including adventure seeds and first level scenario(s)
7. Maps
8. Index (A must for all books!!!!)
9. Character Sheet

Sky-What???

So whats SkyFell?
Its basically a setting that I have been working on for the last 10 years in fits and bursts with various people giving feedback and guidance here and there. If you read the fiction posted below you can get the general idea behind the world, but essentially its a low fantasy setting that find itself spun around after the world is hit by a rock from up above.
This created a new strange island in the middle of the biggest ocean, and the 3 main races find that strange things begin happening around the island to anyone who visits.

Thats the general jist.... i'll leave it like that to stew awhile before revealing too much info :)

SkyFell - Intro Part 1

This is a little snippit that I wrote long ago by way of introduction to my home grown RPG. Feel free to mock my bad fiction skills.....

The Burning
By Gannon Fellstaff of the Deltrib.

0.
How it happened, no one yet knows......
Why it happened, no one yet knows.......
When it happened, no one forgets......

1.
"The day the sky burned was pretty much just a normal day, at least for the likes of me.
I was minding my own business, wandering the streets of Bravyet after a very nice lunch at the 'Playful Mare'.
I'd decided not to waste much more of my pittance of pay on another round of ale and that I should really walk off the 4 tankards that I'd had with the meat pie. You never could be sure of those meat pies, they had a tendancy to have rich gravy just to cover the "meat" from being identified and as such ale was a requirement just to wash it down
People were just being their usual noisy selves and the air around the marketplace was filled with all sorts of shouting, laughing, arguements and singing. I love the marketplace, the noise of the people and animals, the smells of fresh food and flowers, the sight of people busy with their lives and the clash of colours and hues.
I was just walking and minding my own business, not a care in the world........ then it got quiet and dark."

2.
"I remember it started to get dark very quickly and I just shrugged it off, thinking the sun had gone behind a cloud untill I heard it, or rather didn't hear it.
The marketplace was quiet, the people stopped talking and shouting, the animals stopped barking and bleatting, the air became still. I looks up to see everyones face was turned to the West, over my shoulder, I followed thier gaze, I still wish I hadn't.
The Western sky was grey, deepening until it was jet black as my eyes moved southwards.
Then I noticed the shaking of the ground, the sway of the trees, the rattle of the marketstands.
Things got loud again, pretty quick.
People shouting, screaming, crying. Animals whining, scared and helpless.
Deep in the centre of the black, a pin prick to begin with, a small shaft of orange light piecered the sky.
Watching, the glow grew and flared until a ball of fire was streaking across the sky, moving northwest.
Seeing the trail of fire in the sky as it swept north over the horizon, made my eyes tear, the shear intensity of the light and the burning of the sky was imprinted and ingrain in my skull for the rest of my life.
After the mass moved past the horizon the shaking became worse until it exploded with a gut-wrenching tearing of the earth."

3.
"I remember the return of the noise and light.
Some people started to scream and shout, asking what, why, how and what just happened, liek anyone in the back end of Bravyets merchant quarters had any idea. If they did they were liars anyway.
Others fell to there knees like it was some kind of sign of God or something, praying or begging for salvation, deliverance or something.
Most people were just stunned by what they had seen, unable to think of what to do so they just stood slack jawed......myself included.
I never seen the sky on fire and I doubt I ever will again.
That was the day of The Burning."