The Finn's page

The Finn wrote:

Another general question, but does Dungeon still send out a free issue to people who have something published? I have an article in #145 and I'm eagerly awaiting it. If not it's on newstands in a few days so no biggie but I just want to see it ASAP :D

I usually receive 2 contributor copies of Dungeon when I have an article in the magazine, but they typically follow the publication by several months.

In other words, you may want to go get a copy or borrow someone else's copy if you're anxious to see it, otherwise you're most likely in for a wait.

- Ashavan

Thanks for the heads up. I just went downstairs to IT to see if a fellow D&D nerd had his copy, but he didn't. I'll pick it up in a few days. I should stop being lazy and subscribe already.

Another general question, but does Dungeon still send out a free issue to people who have something published? I have an article in #145 and I'm eagerly awaiting it. If not it's on newstands in a few days so no biggie but I just want to see it ASAP :D

This thread seems like a good place to ask since it is frequented by editors and such. What is the ideal article length for CW articles? I thought I remembered someone mentioning that the length listed in the guidelines was a bit long and you were looking for more in the 1,000 to 1,050 range. Just wanted to be sure.

Yesterday I had the very nice feeling of an acceptance email in my inbox. My Campaign Workbook submission was accepted and will be in issue #145. It's the first, so I'm going to ride this feeling, right up to my next rejection. :D

The Finn wrote:

Quick question. I just receieved an email from James asking me to rework and resubmit a CW article (cool!)

It came from the Gatekeeper addy, so should I just resend it to the Gatekeeper with Resubmission: XXXXX as the subject header? Stupid question but I don't want to use the wrong wording.

In general, send everything query- or CW-related to the Gatekeeper. Adventure manuscripts go to jeremy.walker@paizo.com, and prison mail goes to dungeon@paizo.com. Thanks!

-James

One more question, do I need to attach a new SDF to the resubmission, or am I correct in assuming the original one still applies?

Sorry for being annoying, I obsess over getting this right.

Finn, resubmits and manuscripts usually do not go back through the Gatekeeper. Usually to the person asking for them, which in most cases is jeremy.walker@paizo.com. If it came from Jeremy send to that address unless told otherwise.

It came from James Sutter, so perhaps james.sutter@paizo.com would be my best bet?

Quick question. I just receieved an email from James asking me to rework and resubmit a CW article (cool!)

It came from the Gatekeeper addy, so should I just resend it to the Gatekeeper with Resubmission: XXXXX as the subject header? Stupid question but I don't want to use the wrong wording.

GGG, thanks!

Is the Word version of the SDF something you scanned in, or is there a Word version available for download? I thought it was just in .pdf.

Is there any good third party scanning software out there, preferably open source?

So I've been submitting stuff on a pretty regular basis, and I find the process I'm using to handle the attached SDF to be quite cumbersome. I print it out, fill out the info in black pen, and then scan it in Photoshop. I don't like the quality it comes out at, I think it's too big, the file size is too big, and then I mess with it to get the file size down and worry if I've made the quality so low the guys at Paizo won't be able to read it, etc. I end up taking as much time messing with the SDF as I do creating an article or query.

What do you guys do? Does anyone have a system that's fast and easy?

So let's see how I do here... This'll actually make a fun little "test." ;)

Note that creatures that use natural attacks do not gain more attacks from a high BAB. For example, a "standard" dire boar has a gore attack and a +5 BAB. When it advances enough hit dice to gain a +6 BAB, it still only receives a single gore attack.

So, that said, your boar doesn't qualify for Multiattack; it only has one natural attack (a gore). Since it doesn't qualify for Multiattack, it gains a second gore attack; the second attack is at a total attack bonus of 5 less than the primary. So if your 13 HD dire boar had the same Strength as the standard, it's primary attack would be at +17 (+9 BAB, +8 Strength). It would now gain a second gore attack at +12.

Link goes on the same line as languages; Evasion goes on the same line as the saves. I believe the others do indeed go in the SQ section. Note that some items (such as Link and Share Spells) should also be on the master's stat block.

SQ is probably the right section for them. The SQ area seems to be the "catch all" area for when stuff doesn't fit elsewhere.

So hopefully my answers don't send you off in the wrong direction. ;)

-- John

Zherog, thank you, that cleared it up and I was able to finish the stat block. But more questions! :D Now I'm on to the spells area of the stat block, and I have a few questions.

Caster Level is simple enough, my 10th level Druid is CL 10. Now ranged touch, I looked all over and couldn't find a concrete description of how to figure this number. Is it just my ranged attack bonus? What modifiers apply? And then the "creature's bonus on caster level checks to overcome spell resistance" I don't even know where to go for that one.

Sorry for all the questions but I'm learning I swear.

Thanks again James, I've gotten a copy from a friend and will check it out.

I have another stat block issue, this time with a druid's animal companion. I have a 13HD dire boar, and I'm having trouble trying to stat block the Multiattack bonus feat it recieves.

Quote:

Multiattack

An animal companion gains Multiattack as a bonus feat if it has three or more natural attacks and does not already have that feat. If it does not have the requisite three or more natural attacks, the animal companion instead gains a second attack with its primary natural weapon, albeit at a -5 penalty.

Now the boar has 2 attacks thanks to it's HD, but the only natural attack it has is gore. It has no claw, bite, tail, etc. Just gore. So what do I do here?

Also, I put all the other animal companion bonuses it recieves (Link, share spells, evasion & devotion) on the SQ line in the stat block. Is that correct? And where do I list any bonus tricks, or trained tricks for that matter? Ok I guess that was more than one question :D I'm fine with fluff, but I've always had problems with the crunchy aspects of D&D. I appreciate the help.

Ok another question. I'm statblocking a psionic character for the first time, and I'm not quite sure how to block the psionic points, powers etc. Does anyone know the proper place for psionic stuff in the new statblock?

Generally, you only need to list skills that a creature has ranks in. If a creature has size, racial, or synergy bonuses in a skill but no ranks in it, you should list the skill if it's important to the encounter. A minotaur that's part of an ambush needs his Hide and Move Silently skills showing, but one that's part of a gladitorial challenge does not, for example.

Perfect, thank you for clarifying that. This messageboard really is awesome for clearing up issues with you guys.

This is excellent, and the breakdown of the new statblock is exactly what I needed. Really well done.

One question on stat blocks and Skill points shown for a character. I'm only listing Skills in the statblock that a character has ranks in, correct? If I listed every skill that he has a modifier applied to it I'd be listing 25 skills for each character.

As an example, I have a minotaur NPC with 5 Skills that he has ranks in, but his size/ability modifiers influence every skill check in some way. I don't have to list every single one, correct?

If the animal companion has no added hit dice (in other words, the equivalent druid level for selecting it is 1st or 2nd) than you can just use a short stat block with a Monster Manual page referance.

If the animal companion has bonus hit dice, it needs a full stat block.

Got it. So a 10th level druid's animal companion definitely needs a stat block.

I'm working on a high level druid NPC, and was wondering what the official line was on a stat block for animal companions? Would just the one line listing his type and MM page do, or does he need more? What do the editors prefer?

Congratulations to both of you. Hopefully soon I can be blase about getting a CW article in Dungeon as well. :D

Issue 114. I suspect several of us have our own indexes of these articles, but I don't know of a publically accessible one.

- Ashavan

Good to know, now hopefully I can gather all the back issues I need and create a publicly accessible one.

I've been focusing on CW articles lately, and one resource I would love to have is an index of all the CW articles that have appeared so far, so I don't duplicate work or waste my time developing an idea that is very similar to one that was published.

In what issue was the Campaign Workbook section published for the first time? My buying habits on Dungeon have been spotty over the last few years, so I only have a few issues to go on. I'm buying back issues, but if someone has every issue since CW began, and can just quickly throw something together, it would be a huge help.

Man, as much as I love these boards, it does make the waiting for responses that much tougher. At least with other submissions, I can "fire & forget" until I hear back, but I check these msg boards everyday, and thus get reminded of the submissions that are "in progress", lol

Anyone else get that feeling?

---
On a slightly different topic, anyone hear word back about a query lately?

I have a Campaign Workbook article in, I sent it in just the other night. First time I used the gatekeeper@paizo.com address, and the first time I've submitted something in about a year and a half. I think I'm better off now than I was then, as far as creativity goes, but we'll see. I have a few more CW pieces that are in various stages of completion, I always have trouble with stat blocks.

As far as adventure queries go, I have one that I feel is very strong, but actually getting that across in a query is tough for me, so I'm going to take my time with that one until I get it just right.

Thanks for the clarification Jeremy.

So I'm about to submit my first Campaign Workbook article in a long time, and I want to make sure I'm not breaking any rules, or doing anything the editing team doesn't like.

It's a full article, 2 1/2 pages. I've used the official style sheet, and formatted it as appropriate. All the pages are numbered, and it is titled with my name underneath on the first page only. Should I title/author the other 2 pages? I included the word count on the first page, do you want that on the other 2 pages as well? Any other things I am missing?

Thanks for all the excellent advice!

I took a couple of days of from writing anything, didn't really even think about it, and now I feel pretty much refreshed and refocused. It also helped to go back and read some stuff that's been published, and check it against my own work, which didn't fare too badly.

To touch on the inspiration angle, where does everyone get their moments of "Oh wow this would make an awesome adventure/article?" Aside from the obvious ones, like existing fantasy literature/films, what other places do you get your inspiration from?

So what seemed like a great CW idea a week ago now looks like a perfect candidate for the recycle bin at the Paizo offices. Does anyone else get this? You get what you think is a good idea, you work hard on it, you get to about 85% done, and then you look at it and think "This is crap. Why am I wasting my time on this?" I start to question it's worth, and comparing it in my mind to what's in Dungeon currently, it never seems to stack up. I swear it happens to me all the time. It seems like I run out of steam, and then I instantly get down on the idea, my writing, etc. I just don't have the energy to finish it, and I feel like it will be rejected anyway, so why bother? I don't even wait for the official rejection, I get a head start on it by being super critical of my own work.

It's probably partly my personality, because I am prone to bouts of dark cloud-itis, but I was wondering if anyone else has encountered this, and what you do to overcome it, recharge your batteries, and stay positive to keep writing?

*bump*

Anybody have any new news? Last thing I heard anything about was from 2/7, anybody heard about proposals newer than that? What about titles? I have two new ones bracing themselves to Bluff their way in (they've been watching the Tumblers get clobbered and are trying a different approach).

"Sign of the Bull"
and
"Whispers in the Dragon Tooth"

I have a CW I'm about 85% done with, this will be my first shot at the Gatekeeper, all my previous stuff went right to the Dungeon address. I'm hoping I can play it cool, and whistle my way past him and into the magazine.

Putting a title on something is one of the hardest things for me, I find I have a terrifying tendency to immediately choose something tongue in cheek and very unfunny as a title. I have to shake myself from that, because I can see a tableful of people groaning as soon as the title is read.

The Finn wrote:

Since this is the query thread I thought I would ask my question here. For Campaign Workbook submissions, is it acceptable to put the entire submission in the body of the email, and not on an attached document? I would attach the signed disclosure form, but the actual submission would be right in the email. Is this cool?

Not to be difficult, but I'm going to say "no" to this one. Putting the query in the email itself makes it slightly (but significantly) annoying to print/file/etc. If you have the capability of writing it up in Word or some basic program like Rich Text - which I believe almost every operating system comes with these days - then we'd prefer attached in that format. If for some reason you DON'T have access to a word processing program, go ahead and put it in the body of the email, but I highly recommend you go out and purchase one ASAP. Remember, queries in an email body are questionable - manuscripts submitted that way are flat-out unacceptable. We simply don't have the time to deal with all the formatting issues it brings up.

Anyhow, hope that clears things up, and good luck!

-James

Thanks for the clarification James. I have Word, and have submitted a few Campaign Workbook pieces as attachments before, but then I started reading threads here, and at the Dragon board, and quite frankly I confused myself. All cleared up now!

Since this is the query thread I thought I would ask my question here. For Campaign Workbook submissions, is it acceptable to put the entire submission in the body of the email, and not on an attached document? I would attach the signed disclosure form, but the actual submission would be right in the email. Is this cool?

I love the footnotes on the stat block, all the little details were killing me. That was a very funny article, well written, and I'd love to see more like it.

The Finn wrote:

I went looking around the main Dungeon page for the updated style layout but couldn't find it. Does anyone have a direct link?

On this page, scroll down to a section labelled "Contribute to Dungeon!" It's right above the Messageboards links. In that section are links to the guidelines and the style sheets.

And for those who are too lazy ( :P ), here's a direct link to the dungeon style word doc.

Thank you, I swear I checked before I asked. :D

Thanks for the effort in creating the new sheet as well, it really comes in handy.

I went looking around the main Dungeon page for the updated style layout but couldn't find it. Does anyone have a direct link?