No worries Steve. Like a fine wine, we men get better with age.
No worries Steve. Like a fine wine, we men get better with age.
Don't forget smelly cheese is like that too.
GGG
No worries Steve. Like a fine wine, we men get better with age.
Don't forget smelly cheese is like that too.
GGG
As are big green dragons, young wyrmling ;)
So...the render biting?
So...the render biting?
The render seems busy with other concerns. Perhaps we'll get some mangled queries back post GenCon, but I'm betting not before.
The word is: Wait until after GenCon.
Quick update for you guys. I printed off the pending adventure submissions (up through last Wednesday, the 16th) and took the stack home over the weekend. I got through about half of them, and just finished sending out replies. We should be up through June 6 so if you have an adventure query that you submitted before then and haven't heard back, send us a ping.
I'll try and go through the rest of the stack and get back to you sometime later this week.
Again, if you have questions or need clarification about a particular query, send us an email (although it might take awhile to hear back, as we're rather busy at the moment).
One of mine got rendered and one made it past the render to be evaluated at the meeting...have you ever smelled a rendering plant? Both queries were from April, which was the last time I sent in any adventure queries.
Same as F2K - 1 for 2 this time around; I was told the rejection was because an adventure with a similar theme will be running soon.
I like Jeremy better than JS. :D
I don't have any adventure queries in the hopper, but my creative juices are beginning to flow again. I was wondering if the editors could summarize some adventure ideas to avoid because they're too close to something soon to be published or because there has been a recent slew of adventure proposals.
I don't have any adventure queries in the hopper, but my creative juices are beginning to flow again. I was wondering if the editors could summarize some adventure ideas to avoid because they're too close to something soon to be published or because there has been a recent slew of adventure proposals.
Hmm, I can tell you to avoid spiders and aranea, Shar, pirates, dinosaurs and other Savage Tide related stuff, we have a lot of hell-related stuff coming up as well (in addition to the abyss stuff in Savage Tide) so it would be good to avoid both of those.
That's about it. Even then, if the proposal is truly exceptional, we might consider it anyway (one example is The Weavers, we accepted that proposal even though we knew we had a spider adventure on tap already).
I don't have any adventure queries in the hopper, but my creative juices are beginning to flow again. I was wondering if the editors could summarize some adventure ideas to avoid because they're too close to something soon to be published or because there has been a recent slew of adventure proposals.Hmm, I can tell you to avoid spiders and aranea, Shar, pirates, dinosaurs and other Savage Tide related stuff, we have a lot of hell-related stuff coming up as well (in addition to the abyss stuff in Savage Tide) so it would be good to avoid both of those.
That's about it. Even then, if the proposal is truly exceptional, we might consider it anyway (one example is The Weavers, we accepted that proposal even though we knew we had a spider adventure on tap already).
Any tips on adventure levels? I know that the APs usually tie up certain level adventures depending on the issue, but a clue no where a niche may be would be shiney.
Going to poke my head in here and repeat something I heard recently. Short adventures (like 5,000 words) are (or were when I heard this) in demand right now as it is easier to squeeze one in to a bloated issue than to do the same with larger adventures.
What about undead employees? Or were-bosses? Or monster buisnesses that devour all? Oh, wait! This is not the real world that we are needing to do adventures for. Drat!
Just got reamed twice by the render :( One query will be up on the Critique thread for another ravaging in a bit.
I'm getting back to work already though.
One other thing though, Jeremy: you mentioned that if we had any questions on particular queries we could email you. Does this include unsuccessful ones? I don't really mind the long wait if that eventually means I recieve some feedback.
Any tips on adventure levels? I know that the APs usually tie up certain level adventures depending on the issue, but a clue no where a niche may be would be shiny.
Currently we need low-level adventures. Especially short (as Steve posted) 5000-8000 word low-level proposals. FR and Eberron is a plus.
Generally, we need about half as many high-level adventures as the others, as half the adventure path adventures are high level.
But, considering how hard it is to write a high-level adventure, if you do it well, we will probably accept it anyway.
Jeremy: you mentioned that if we had any questions on particular queries we could email you. Does this include unsuccessful ones? I don't really mind the long wait if that eventually means I receive some feedback.
Yes I will take questions about unsuccessful queries. But that being said, I don't have time to give feedback on every query that I reject. (As much as I might like to, I tried that when I first started doing gatekeeper stuff, and it led to some of the longest wait times for contributors on record, and the original creation of this thread.) So, try to content yourself with the critiques available in the community most of the time, but if you really want to know, then go ahead and email me.
Thanks Jeremy, I really appreciate that. I think I'll save asking for feedback on queries that had my "HAHAHAH THEY CAN'T NOT ACCEPT THIS AWESOME IDEA" stamp on them.
The others I'm not too fussed about.
Creative Director
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I'd like to stress what Jeremy just said: We need short adventures. 5,000 to 8,000 words. Low level adventures are our current main gap, but short adventures for all 3 level bands are always needed, especially as the Adventure Paths become more and more of a standard feature of the magazine. We've generally got enough room in an issue of Dungeon for 45,000 words. Since the adventure path installments generally have to level a party twice, they tend to be long; most are about 20,000 to 25,000 words, which leaves us with 20,000 words or so for the other two adventures.
Without short adventures, we're often forced to cut large portions of the adventures we do run, or (more often) result in us having to cut installments of the campaign workbook or the map of mystery.
So yeah. Send in more short adventure proposals!
I try to send in nine adventure pitches each round, three low, three mid, and three high. This time around two of mine made it past the initial cut, both high level strangely enough. Guess it's time to start in on the next batch while I wait for the final word :)
One ping only, this time. But there is a barrage of cabbage-green prescient torpedos on their way.
Hehehe,
GGG
I'm pretty sure Dungeon will only print adventures set in Greyhawk, Eberron, FR, or a generic world.
I'm pretty sure Dungeon will only print adventures set in Greyhawk, Eberron, FR, or a generic world.
Correct.
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Creative Director
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One more question to the Dungeon-Crew:
Is your magazine the right place to send a querry for an adventure which is set in Ptolus?
Nope. We only print adventures that are either generic in setting or that utilize official D&D campaign settings. We won't be publishing any adventures set in Ptolus.
One ping only, this time. But there is a barrage of cabbage-green prescient torpedos on their way.
Hehehe,
GGG
Give me a ping Vasily.
Give me a ping Vasily.
One ping only, please...:)
(My favoritist movie EVAR!!!)
Give me a ping Vasily.One ping only, please...:)
(My favoritist movie EVAR!!!)
It's definately up there on my list. I finally bought it a few months ago after renting it for the TEN JILLIONTH TIME!!! No joke I probably spent over a thousand dollars on renting it over the past decade or so...I'm so silly.
Same as F2K - 1 for 2 this time around; I was told the rejection was because an adventure with a similar theme will be running soon.
I like Jeremy better than JS. :D
Same, I'm 1 for 2 as well.
Once I finish polishing up a manuscript for submission this week, I think I'll fire off some more queries... I've been slacking and haven't sent anything in for a couple of months (new house, new job, new baby on the way.... and then I broke my laptop, like I wasn't busy enough, lol)
I posted the query that got axed by the Gatekeeper on the Critique My Query thread today
And interestingly enough, the query that got axed was a high level, and the one that made it through to the next meeting was a low level (albeit the "higher" end of the Low Level spectrum), which hopefully bodes well when it comes up for review.
Give me a ping Vasily.One ping only, this time. But there is a barrage of cabbage-green prescient torpedos on their way.
Hehehe,
GGG
Vasily (looking around as if for help or something. Finally he gives up and annunciates): Ping? Sir?
Speaking of pings I have yet to get mine, but that's cool because that might mean the adventure I proposed is in the don't "Dismiss Out of Hand" Pile. Even better it was short before short was in style.
Go me!
G-to-the-Three
2 pings from 5 for me, with a few yet to receive. Hope to be hearing from the Gatekeeper soon, though.
Where have all the Eberron adventures gone? There hasn't been one since issue 135 or thereabouts!
I've had two Eberron queries rejected, but that's not the setting's fault, just mine.
Hi everyone,
I'm new to these boards, though not to the magazine. I had an adventure published back in issue #73 and have decided to try my hand again at writing adventure proposals, so I suspect I'll be frequenting this thread more often.
Oddly enough, it was my first proposal to the magazine in 1996 that got accepted (Liz Baldwin was assistant editor at the time); everything that followed was rejected. I hung in there for more than three years, submitting an average of 3-5 proposals a month, then called it quits and moved on to other things.
Now I'm back and ready to try again. I recently emailed a proposal, but judging from previous posts in this thread, it seems I may have a long wait ahead of me. Still, seeing that one adventure make it into the magazine was worth it.
Congratulations on your previous success and welcome back. Good luck for future success as well!!
Congratulations on your previous success and welcome back. Good luck for future success as well!!
Hey, thanks buddy. I appreciate it.
The Necromancer's Pet, eh? Welcome back, Jason. Kinda similar situation for me, too. My very first proposal was accepted and the adventure published then every proposal after that up until just a few months ago got rejected.
The Necromancer's Pet, eh? Welcome back, Jason. Kinda similar situation for me, too. My very first proposal was accepted and the adventure published then every proposal after that up until just a few months ago got rejected.
Heh, go figure. Though it's good to know I'm not alone. Yes, The Necromancer's Pet is my fifteen minutes.
I've had two Eberron queries rejected, but that's not the setting's fault, just mine.
Speak for yourself, I ALWAYS blame the setting :)
I blame Keith Baker - whether it's an Eberron query or not. :D
Another update. I finished going through the rest of the stack that I printed out last week, and just got done sending out replies. We should be caught up on adventure quires through Aug 16 now, so again, send us a ping if you submitted an adventure proposal before then and haven't heard back.
I may be able to get through a few more before the submissions meeting next week, but no promises.
Another update. I finished going through the rest of the stack that I printed out last week, and just got done sending out replies. We should be caught up on adventure quires through Aug 16 now, so again, send us a ping if you submitted an adventure proposal before then and haven't heard back.
I may be able to get through a few more before the submissions meeting next week, but no promises.
I got two Eberron pings coming your way Jeremy! Ping Ping!!!
Just sent my first manuscript off to the Dungeon staff...
/lifts glass
Here's to "Barpazreal Complex!"
May she never know the black hole or the render,
Or for sure I'll go out on a bender.
She's my first adventure stint.
So, I hope she's fit to print
Or my next query will be nothing but Kender.
Ping....
Translation: See you at the meeting.
Hehehe,
GGG
Hey everyone. I just signed on. I'm a longtime DM and just submitted my first query (an epic level). Any tips, suggestions or feedback would be appreciated.Thanx
Well welcome on board, Luz. There are a few threads of import that youmight wish to look at this one though very, very, very, very, very long is one of the best. There are others but many have probably floated down to the archives by now. In particular try and find "Tips for Contributers" (I know it had "Tips" in it somewhere). Another useful thread is "Critique My Query" (but don't post any queries that are pending -only after it hits print or hits the curb are you allowed to post a query there.
Anyhow its late here and I have another half-dozen adventures to whip into shape before the competition starts to heat up. ;)
G3
Well welcome on board, Luz. There are a few threads of import that youmight wish to look at this one though very, very, very, very, very long is one of the best. There are others but many have probably floated down to the archives by now. In particular try and find "Tips for Contributers" (I know it had "Tips" in it somewhere). Another useful thread is "Critique My Query" (but don't post any queries that are pending -only after it hits print or hits the curb are you allowed to post a query there.
Anyhow its late here and I have another half-dozen adventures to whip into shape before the competition starts to heat up. ;)
G3
Hey, thanx for the "tip" Green God. I found that thread you mentioned. Good stuff. A lot of it is repeated in the updated guidelines, too. Anyways, always good to re-read and I checked out "critique my query" a few days ago and found it pretty helpful.
As for mine,whether for good or bad I'll post it when its allowed, to show what those editors are or aren't looking for.
Ping....
Translation: See you at the meeting.
Hehehe,
GGG
Oh, well if thats what it means...
ping
Hey Jeremy,
Just curious...About how many adventure proposals did you get and how many made it to the next level?
::ANNOUNCER VOICE::
Ladies and Gentlemaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!
The time once again draws nigh! Next week, the Gods of our favorite magazine shall once again decide our fate in a grueling 36 hour (I imagine) meeting of the minds. Our sweet sweet labors - proposals bathed in our blood, sweat and tears shall be feasted upon...and many promptly spat back at us.
Some of us shall know the sweet taste of glory, and many of us shall feel defeat's bitter sting. One thing is for certain...
IT'S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!
I for one have anywhere from 2 to 6 proposals at the meet (a paltry showing, I know, but wait until next meeting...MUUUAHHHAHAAAA!). I now offer my obesiances, plenty of macademia nuts and dried mango to the Lords of Dungeon. I pray they look upon my proposals with kind eyes!
Good fortune to all who brave the meeting next week!
Victory is Life!
So Say We All.
Hey Jeremy,
Just curious...About how many adventure proposals did you get and how many made it to the next level?
I don't have the stack in front of me, but looking at my email about 20 will be in the meeting out of about 80 recieved. That doesn't count any that Lafond may have looked at before I printed out the stack though.
Victory is Life!
So Say We All.
All hail the founders?
By your command!
I watch waaaay too much TV...