Forest's End: 96 page budget
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Dec 07, 2019 at 11:42:03 PM
I've finished my preliminary edit of Forest's End; layout is next. My initial pour into layout shows 67 pages of solid text with no spaces, and 24 creatures, though not all will be full page. There is also a need for a title page (1), a Table of Contents (1-2), and an index (1).
Additionally, there also needs to be some maps. At least one map of the entire town, one each for two of the "dungeon" areas. That's six pages.
That suggests the right page-count budget for the adventure has to be 96 pages.
Forest's End in Sight (Editing, anyway)
over 4 years ago
– Wed, Dec 04, 2019 at 03:54:10 PM
So, I've been laid up with strep throat and an inability to sleep since this past Saturday, but between Emily and myself, are nearly all the way through the major editing work for Forest's End. I have to finish the very last room in the dungeon - the boss fight, so to speak - and then take care of the denouement.
Writing an adventure for publication is different than making notes for your own games in ways that are sometimes difficult to see from the inside. Things that you spend a lot of time stipulating really should go unsaid. Things that seem like important plot points infringe on player agency and are better as tasks to be performed (gather rumors, find clues) than as exposition (and now the NPC delivers an info-dump to you in the form of a sonnet). Guidance that reads "but of course the GM can make stuff up" is Rule Zero stuff and doesn't need to be said (in fact, you can't stop it, and should not), but where (say) one can invoke magic to solve a problem, it's Gaming Ballistic's job to go through the spell list for the GM and make suggestions on the most common options. In short: the point of a published adventure is to save the GM work, not cause more.
That takes time to get right, and the editors and author are taking that time. But, I think, in the next day or so I'll shift from "editing" to "layout," and then see where art spaces pop up. I've already had a few good ideas for cover art.
Also: Merlin has some really, really cool encounters in the book. Devious mind, that one.
Anyway, once the layout is complete, with art spaces identified, I'll get the art team working and see how quickly we can get to a ready book. I should be able to start the maps right away. There will also be a chance to proofread and playtest things by backers, and actionable commentary will be taken very seriously.
Then the work turns to the Dragons of Rosgarth, and once again Emily and I will double-team the work. On the setting to adventure spectrum, Rosgarth leans away from the midpoint to "setting," while Forest's End leans pretty hard on the adventure side. In truth, it's the first core dungeon-centered publication that I've done for Dungeon Fantasy RPG; Hall of Judgment has most of the action being finding and getting to the Hall.
Just letting you that quite a lot of progress was made over the last week; the holiday was not spent entirely playing XCom 2.
(But I gotta tell ya: XCom 2 as an Action style game/setting? I'd love to buy that. Or write it.)
Find an error?
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 10:30:40 PM
We know of some. There are usually more lurking around.
If you find something, contact me at gamingballisticllc at gmail dot com. If I don’t get it there it’s much less likely to be considered and incorporated.
What’s an error? Let’s start with what’s NOT.
It’s not “I’d have done this differently.”
It’s not “This Pyramid or other GURPS book, even a DF book, does this differently.”
It’s not format, art, or layout preferences or other aesthetic considerations.
Requests to add content. As you can see, the books are full.
What is an error?
Grammar, spelling, definitely.
Comprehension or clarity issues, but this only goes so far. See above about full books.
Formatting issues and GURPS term of art use. Hit Points being written as hit points. Condition or advantage names that depart from the specific terms used in the Dungeon Fantasy RPG published books.
Point count issues. Though these were pretty wel checked.
Theme mismatch. For example, the thunder god, clearly a Thor expy, accidentally was listed with spear for melee and thrown weapons and not axe/mace. Thor gotta have his Mjolnir.
If your observation makes it in, you’ll get playtest credit in the book.
Nordlondr Folk has been distributed
over 4 years ago
– Mon, Nov 25, 2019 at 11:49:37 PM
If you've filled out your survey (and nearly everyone has) then you'll find the first of the official Kickstarter books, Nordlondr Folk, ready to be downloaded via Backerkit.
I'm going to be traveling for Turkey Day. But I'll be editing and seeing what I can get done over the next week - thank goodness for shared files and the cloud. But I suspect it's going to take a good six to eight weeks to lock down the bigger books from an editing, art, and readiness standpoint.
Unlike the 16-pagers, where I was pretty loath to send out art-less previews, that's not what's going to happen here. I'll get the maps done in preliminary form, then edit and lay out the text with spaces, THEN get the preview out there. That way maximum eyes and commentary can happen, and then the art will plop in on a near-final text, and then distribution, final errata on all four books, hyperlinks, and get them to the printer.
Hand of Asgard preliminary file distributed
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Nov 21, 2019 at 10:37:00 PM
Hand of Asgard got very nearly everything done, so I decided to send it out tonight.
When the art comes in on Nordlondr Folk, that one's ready too.
In both cases, the hyperlinks aren't fully established yet. I'll go over those once the final files are all in, as they are being prepared for print.
