Wayfinder #22 is now available for download! Go get it!
What the WHAT???? Oh my.....this is happening?? Absolutely warms my heart....
Hey all, Thanks for all the kind words. It is good to know that Wayfinder had an impact on the Paizo community, and contributed to the recruitment of fine, talented freelancers (who occasionally become Paizo employees!). Is the final issue still coming? Yes, we still plan on releasing it. I'm not going to commit to a date, though. I'm looking at a very busy summer for field work, so we will see how things go. Tim
Hey folks. I've been quiet on this mainly because I haven't had much to share. We've had a delay in layout (life priorities over Wayfinder). The issue is now in layout, and I hope to have a draft in the next few weeks. When that happens, we'll do our proofing round, and then we will finalize. So we are getting there, but I'm not gonna be to be able to give dates yet. I remain optimistic, though! It is probably pretty obvious now that we aren't going to have a 2023 open call or issue. In fact, it's overdue to let everyone know that this will be our final issue. There are a lot of reasons as to why, but mainly we felt it was time, and the establishment of the Pathfinder Infinite program was the logical successor for our mission. Infinite provides fans a way to create their own content and even better, to sell it, something Wayfinder couldn't do. It's a great initiative, and one that I'm happy will continue Wayfinder's mission to promote new freelancers and fan-created content. So, stay tuned. I'll give Wayfinder #22 updates when I have them.
Not to be that guy but are there any further updates on this? Even just an announcement that the issue is cancelled (provided that's the case) would be appreciated. So, no this issue is not cancelled. We have all the pieces, but the person that does layout has a lot of life stuff going on, and hasn't had the kind of time we normally have to work on the issue. Hence the delays. We've had several folks kindly offer their assistance, but we've done that in the past, and it just didn't work out well. People do layout in different ways, and it can cause...issues. I cannot say WHEN the issue will be done and released, because that's dependent on life stuff and available time. It WILL be completed though. My guess is probably late October/early November, but that's just what it is...a guess. Heck, I thought we could bang it out over the summer, but it hasn't turned out that way. I want to stress that I, more than anyone else, want to get this issue out. I'm proud of the articles, the art, and the editing that has been done. And I know that it will look awesome when we slap it all together. I will definitely post here when we have some progress, though.
Yep, time for an update. Unfortunately, life, work, and COVID have derailed our schedule. We won't be able to release for PaizoCon as usual. This all has pushed back the release date until late June. We have all the pieces, it just comes down to getting derailed by life. Disappointing? Hell, yes. But, I can assure you that this issue will be wonderful when we finish. The sneak peek of the Side Trek Adventure will still occur for PaizoCon, though. "Red Fields" is offered in person, and online by the authors, so look for that on Warhorn. Tim
You've got it. Thanks for the response. I will continue to work on the expanded version of my article quietly then. If you are doing that, keep in mind you retain the rights to your work. I would expect perhaps prepping that expanded version for Infinite. Once the issue comes out, you can be in a good position to point folks towards the expanded version....for a paltry sum, of course. Just my 2 cents.....
Final tally is 79 articles. Advice: 2
And four adventure pitches.
Just a little peek into what I was faced with in the decision process. In total, I had over 80 submissions to choose from. Now, we have about 12 categories or types of articles, and we strive to get a fairly even distribution of article types into each issue. Submissions are not evenly spread across those categories...so that means some categories have more "competition" than others. As I go through the articles, I assign 3 statuses: KEEP, RESERVE, REJECT. KEEP means it was a strong submission from the start. RESERVE means it was good, but didn't jump out in the front like a keeper...it goes into the "think about it/maybe" pile. REJECT is assigned to those articles that just didn't fit, or have too many errors, or just were not strong enough submissions. In a few limited cases, they violate the guidelines, which is an AUTO-REJECT. After we tally the KEEPs, we look at the page counts, and then start selecting the RESERVE articles to fill out the issue to bring it to the 76 page limit. At the end of the process for this issue, I selected 48 articles, and had to drop 33 submissions from pool. I honestly don't really consider the author names until the very end. Right before final selections, I review the author names, and if I have some "RESERVE" selections from an author that has all 3 articles, I'll look and see if a RESERVE from another author not selected could be used instead, so that we maximize our number of authors that get selected. In the end, it's not perfect, but the process is what it is.
So, there is a sticky history to this kind of request. I used to do that, yes. But, I started to get quite a lot of argumentative push-back, and it became VERY unpleasant. So, instead of opening the door to that kind of abuse, I opted to stop giving feedback. What I can say is this: send the request via email (be sure to prompt me to which article) and I will see what I can do, OK? Tim
After much review, much reading, and much consideration, here are the following authors with accepted submissions for Wayfinder #22: Aaron Filipowich
Next steps are sending out acceptance emails with the legal-type agreements, then editor assignments, and then art assignments. We are still quite low on artists right now. As it stands, we will not be able to illustrate all the articles.... so, we are putting out a BIG CALL for volunteer artists.
Final Count: 78 submissions, and 4 adventure pitches. Thank you to everyone that submitted something! I know this theme was a bit difficult, especially since the delay of the Absalom book derailed our original plan, but 78 is a VERY healthy number for us to generate a solid, high quality issue again. I greatly appreciate all your support in keeping Wayfinder going all these years. We can't make a magazine without fans sending in their ideas and art. As we head into the Infinite Era, it is my hope that Wayfinder will still maintain its relevancy and its appeal as the gateway and testing grounds for future freelancers. But, that's not necessarily for ME to decide....that's up to all of you. For now....we have a magazine issue to get started on!
OK, just counted. We have 27 submissions so far. We have ELEVEN days left in this Call for Submissions. That's close enough for the tally. Especially if it helps bolster some of you for articles! Advice: 0
Could use everything still, but Bestiary is filling up quickest.
We'll go ahead and put out a Call for Pitches for the Side Trek Adventure for Wayfinder 22. The Side Trek Adventure is 4500 words long, and includes a separate Weal or Woe (that's 1500 words) detailing the two NPCs that set up the adventure. And it MUST be ON THEME for this issue. (for a good explanation of the Weal or Woe, read my post above on Aug. 21) A good and proper pitch for an adventure should feature: 1. Title
It's essentially a side trek seed write-up with a Weal or Woe idea tossed in. I'd like the PITCHES for the Side Trek Adventure to be in by October 15th, same as the Open Call. If you have the Weal or Woe, submit it with the Open Call, and have your pitch reference that.
Any chance we can get one of those handy-dandy list of submissions by category so we can see what areas need more entries? We only have 15 submissions in right now, and 18 days left. A typical Wayfinder issue contains 40-45 articles. We like to get a pool of 60 articles or more for a good selection to draw from. Right now, ALL categories are WIDE OPEN. The tally list will be posted when submissions hit 30, OK? Tim
So regarding Infinite..... we fully intend to participate in the program, but we will continue to hold to our FREE issues to fans. Our mission is not to make money off this effort, but to promote the talents of fans in order to get them that crucial first step into the gaming industry. We are hoping that Infinite eventually brings POD service into effect, so that fans can get the printed issues we know everyone wants. Tim
Jacob is entirely correct. Authors and artists retain ownership of their work. Our only stipulation is that Wayfinder gets to publish it first, and that our right to use it doesn't get stripped away later. Now, yes, you CAN publish it in Infinite....but I'm sort of thinking that you might have to list Wayfinder in your OGL Section 15 at least. If you publish beforehand.....yes, I will remove it from the issue before publication. We will likely have to update our Agreement to reflect that as well. This Infinite program is new and exciting for the community, indeed. My only concern is that it might just replace the need for a community fanzine altogether....
Just a note about Weal or Woe articles.... When coming up with the backstories for your weal and woe NPCs, be absolutely sure that there is a strong connection between the two. Their backstories should be intertwined, with some history between them, and should make clear why one is an ally, and the other an adversary. Way too often we get Weal or Woe articles with two NPCs with completely unrelated backstories. There is no relationship, no history, and no reason that they are presented together. The very purpose of a Weal or Woe is to present a kind of setup for a sidetrek adventure. You encounter the Weal NPC, they need your help, the party assists, and ends up fighting the Woe NPC. That's what you should be thinking about when creating this kind of article. The more unique and interesting (and on theme), the better chance to be selected. Anyway, I was watching the various reviews on YouTube for Wayfinder #21, and both reviewers loved the Weal or Woe articles, but didn't really explain what we are looking for in a successful submission. Tim
Still no reviews? Come on, folks, surely there was SOMETHING in the issue you liked enough to let the author know? Remember, your review or comments are valuable to those that worked on this issue. Getting that feedback is our payment. Hearing crickets after a release is sending us the message that, well, no one is reading Wayfinder, and no one cares about it anymore. Is that the correct message we are hearing? I hope not. Please, post your reviews or comments.
Should we expect a confirmation email that our submission was received? I don't want it to disappear into the void of cyberspace. I will say that I did receive it, and sent you a reply regarding it. No, that's not common. But, I am seeing first-timers not following our guidelines, and helpful advice to avoid that seems in order.
I would try wayfinder.fanzine@gmail.com. Going to be upfront here.... I haven't gotten around to updating our templates to 2E yet. At least not the ones that we make generic and available for people to refer to. Give me a few weeks.
If you have questions about whether your idea(s) run up against the guidelines, then sure, I'll answer that. Agree with motteditor, that's a flavor article for sure.
We had fully intended to do an Absalom issue, but the delay of the book made that not an option (a similar thing happened for issue #6, and we took that lesson to heart). Wayfinder actually does have an adventure article, the Side Trek Adventure. We do not include it in the open call, because it's a special article that we do not want people to spent a ton of time writing and then not getting accepted. Adventures are typically 4500 words (so 6 pages) plus a Weal or Woe featuring the adventure's ally and final boss. We will be accepting anyone's pitch for the Side Trek during the Open Call. I typically post this a bit later in the process, as the adventure is on a slightly different schedule than the rest of the articles. But, in short, YES, we do have adventures, we are just way more selective about it!
Erik Mona offered to write some stuff for this issue on Facebook... so if you get in, your name will be in the same credit list. True, Erik did offer, but he's a really busy man, and it is not a firm commitment. We will, of course, be THRILLED to feature whatever Erik wants to share. Also, I will make sure that any special guest contributions will not cut into our abilities (i.e, pages) to feature as many new fan contributors as possible. We will make it work.
As Second Edition continues to build momentum, let’s take a look at the initial focus of the beginning adventures supporting the changed campaign setting: the Isle of Kortos. Throughout the entirety of the Golarion campaign setting, Absalom has been THE stopping point for most adventures on the isle. With the arrival of the Second Edition, we have been treated to two adventure paths that explore the rest of island, and it turns out that there is a LOT more to Kortos than just Absalom proper. So, let’s go exploring across the Isle of Kortos, and the Isle of Erran as well! Trek out into the Cairnlands, venture into the heart of the Immenwood, climb the Kortos Mounts, hike across the Swardlands! Visit the other towns and cities of the isle, such as Otari, Diobel, Pier’s End, and Escadar. And most importantly, expand upon all of this for the 22nd issue of Wayfinder! Goal
The theme for Wayfinder #22 will be the Isle of Kortos, focusing on those areas outside of Absalom, but not necessarily excluding Absalom. Given that the new Absalom book is coming out after the Open Call, it is tricky to write on specific places or features in the city without the risk of being made obsolete from the new content Paizo will be detailing in the book, so we encourage people who want to write Absalom submissions to take a more generic approach to places and people in the city. If you pick a named place with some importance, and expand on that, chances are that the book is going to do that as well. If your version contradicts the official Paizo material, it will likely be rejected. If it is a minor conflict, your piece may be selected, but revisions required. Ties to the Agents of Edgewatch AP would be more favorable submissions for locations within Absalom, as it specifically supports a published product. Please use the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook Second Edition as your main reference, along with Lost Omens World Guide, and many published adventures (Abomination Vaults, Extinction Curse APs; The Gauntlet, Master of Fallen Fortress, Troubles in Otari), and tons of PFS scenarios (The Kortos Envoy, Bandits of Immenwood, Raiders of Shrieking Peak, Ruins of Bonekeep, Skeleton Moon, and others), as well as the handy-dandy Archives of Nethys, and PathfinderWiki! Preference will be given to articles that follow the issue’s theme. Writers are invited to submit articles that fit within the following categories: Advice: Share valuable information or experiences with new GMs or players in the new Lost Omens campaign setting and 2nd edition rules system. Submission size: 750 words.
Guidelines • Thou shalt not disregard canon, thou shalt build upon it.
Submission Instructions Conditions for Submissions. All authors and artists must agree to have their works reproduced for this and other Wayfinder products, be it for translations into other languages (we will be responsible for the truthfulness of the translations), special publications, or use on a Wayfinder website. All of Wayfinder’s publications are NON-PROFIT, and authors and artists will be given proper credit where due. • Send all submissions to: wayfinder.fanzine@gmail.com with the subject line containing “Wayfinder #22 Submission:”, followed by the article title.
• For people who use open-source software, like OpenOffice and LibreOffice, and save their files as .DOC files, there is a mismatch between file types when trying to open the .DOC files in versions of Word from 2013 and up. It results in losing the last few lines of text. Those lines can only be viewed on Word 2010 or earlier. If you use these open-source programs, you MUST put one or two carriage returns after your last paragraph before you save the document as a .DOC file. Otherwise, we will have great difficulty being able to read and edit your submission. • Do not use fancy fonts or colors or styles for formatting - these will get stripped out in the editing and layout process. Use the standard body font for the program you’re using - bold and italics are fine. Ask us for an example of our style templates, if you’d like to use that. Tables must be tab delimited (DO NOT USE FORMATTED TABLES). • Use standard Pathfinder RPG Second Edition formats for stat blocks. Familiarize yourself with the style and wording choices used in Paizo products and apply those same style and wording choices to your submissions. Insertion of the action icons (if you do not have access to the font) should be [one-action}, [two-actions], [three-actions], [reaction], [free-action]. • At the top of your submission, in the body of the article, provide the following information: article title (and subtitle, if any), author name(s), contact e-mail address(es), and word count of the submission. For example,
• Accepted entries will go through editing passes for clarity and concision. Depending on time constraints, you may or may not receive feedback from the editing process. • Failure to follow these instructions or to meet one or more guidelines will result in rejection of the submission. DEADLINE: October 15, 2021, 11:59 Pacific. All entries will be handled on a first come, first serve basis. Some articles may be rejected depending on the final size of the PDF.
Yes, there was one in particular that I noted "NO Description??" Email us, which creature, and then give us your description idea. I'll need it for the art assignment. If you don't, then I get to decide what it looks like!
After much reading and review of submissions, we have finally made our selections for Issue 21! Congratulations to the following authors for making the cut! James Abendroth
Next steps are sending out the acceptance letters (with terms and conditions), assigning editors to articles, and get the art assignments out!
And that's a wrap! Thanks to everyone that sent in their submissions! Final tally is 78 submissions received, a good and healthy number to build a solid issue from! Here's the breakdown: Advice - 2
We've also selected the pitch by Jeremy Corff for the Side Trek Adventure, so congrats to Jeremy! Our next step is to begin our review of these submissions and make the selections to get us to at least 76 pages. So, that's pretty much our November, so end of November/beginning of December will probably see our final list. Once we make our selections, we'll be sure to post the list of accepted authors right here in this thread, as as on our Facebook page.
TWO WEEKS LEFT in our Open Call for Submissions! I just counted them up, and we have 29 submitted articles so far. Advice - 1
The categories that are still too low right now are the Bestiary and Magic Items. Our bestiary section of an issue typically is about 10-12 monsters. Magic items usually account for 4-6 pages of material, and we often group the really solid items together into a multi-author article if we get enough submissions. All other categories are fair game too, though. I'd love to see 60+ submissions. 80 would be awesome. The bottom line here is that we need a good number of submissions to make a solid issue. A typical 80 page issue has about 45 submissions accepted. Not every submission we get is publishable. Some articles are also too similar to use both. Some, unfortunately, are flawed mechanically, or grammatically, and would take too much time and effort to correct/rewrite. So, the more submissions we get, the better the issue is, because we have a greater pool of articles to select from, both in terms of quality and variety. So, in short, write it and submit it.
Still fairly early, with 36 days until the close, but I just counted them up, and we have 16 submitted articles so far. Advice - 1
Lacking right now?
Also, we don't have a Side Trek Adventure author lined up yet. What's that? How do you land the Side Trek Adventure slot? If you think you've got something good that will fit a 4500 word short adventure, paired with (and based on) a 1500 word Weal or Woe, and maybe a 600 word monster, send your pitch. But, I'd first advise you to check out past Wayfinder issues and the side treks in those, to get an idea of the format, and just how much you can do in 6 pages.
Working on a submission, and I was wondering just to confirm: for Bestiary entries, that's 750 words for just one creature, correct? It's 750 words or less, for 1 creature. For 2nd edition monsters, the stat blocks and text work out a little different. Stat blocks can be a lot shorter in the new format. If you make a monster with a basic and then larger form (so like the flytrap entry), I'd count it as one creature if it stays under 750 words TOTAL. Monsters entries are different in that they don't have hard word count targets, but do have upper limits. Make sense?
Hi. I just have a few questions. Good questions....let's see if I can help clarify. 1. Yes, the Age of Lost Omens is still going on. The Aftermath refers to Tar Baphon's escape. The new campaign setting starts after his return, and that's what we are making our theme: Golarion after the Return of the Whispering Tyrant. With that is all the finished results of the previous APs...so the world has changed A LOT. 2. If you venture beyond the Inner Sea region (those 10 areas in the Lost Omens World Guide) you are kind of stepping outside of the setting. I'm a little wary of doing that because it's part of the world Paizo has not fully addressed yet. Anything you write could be completely nullified by future Paizo products. We like Wayfinder to be complimentary to Paizo content, so that it gets good mileage for years and years. So, Qadira is safe. 3. That is the key, yes. If you can write two articles that can be taken separately, and no dependence upon each other, that's OK. The reason we have this rule is that earlier on in Wayfinder, people would circumvent the word counts for an article by just making TWO articles to cover it. The result was that if we liked one article, we were forced to accept BOTH. I know, gamers gaming the system, right? It happened often enough, we needed the rule. If we deem two articles that are by the same author to be related AND dependent on each other, they both get rejected. So....don't do that.
These issues are so incredible! This is a weird question, but is there any way I can help support them? Monetarily? No. That ship sailed several years ago. Otherwise, the best way to help is to help spread the word. Follow us on Facebook, and share our announcements with others that may have not heard of Wayfinder. More readers = more fans = more potential contributors = more future content for future issues. If you want to get involved, submit to our call for submissions. If you're an artist, consider sending us a link to your portfolio or gallery, and join our artist roster so you can illustrate in an issue. If you have good editing credentials, maybe see if you can help on the editing team. And if you like Wayfinder, write a review of one of the issues you liked. That is HUGE, as it tells our contributors that you liked their stuff! And feedback means SO FREAKIN' MUCH to everyone.
How about we try this a different way? I would not be opposed to seeing a 750 word or 1500 word article that explains the practice of the special eulogy, and then provides an example (or two). This sounds like a very thoughtful flavor article to me. I would be fine with mixing a flavor and poetry article together. We allow flavor articles with rules, why not poetry? Feel free to email me Andrew if you want to discuss further. Tim
After two years, Wayfinder returns to Golarion, and Avistan is no longer the same. The Whispering Tyrant, Tar-Baphon, has broken free of his prison, destroying the nation of Lastwall in the process, and lashing out at the entirety of Avistan before finally being forced to retreat to the Isle of Terror. This is the current state in The Age of Lost Omens. What changes will you find? Will you describe the unsettling scenes in The Gravelands, full of undead serving Tar-Baphon? Or perhaps explore Oprak, the new kingdom of hobgoblins? Will you venture West to the Saga Lands, and see what New Thassilon has to offer? Travel to Irrisen, and see how it has changed with their new Queen? Dare to visit to the East, to the Sarkoris Scar, and join the Reclaimers in their quest to restore their homeland after the demonic invasion? These are just a few of the changes that have transpired in the ten regions of the Inner Sea. There is much to discover. There is also a whole new set of rules to explore and expand upon! New character creation rules and options! Ancestries, and feats galore! A new action economy! Revamped classes! And that opens up a lot of opportunities for new ideas to fit into the new rules! So, let’s explore all the changes that a new Second Edition ruleset and an everchanging campaign setting presents, and expand upon it in this, the 21st issue of Wayfinder!
The theme for Wayfinder #21 will be The Age of Lost Omens: Aftermath! Please use the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook Second Edition as your main reference, along with the Lost Omens World Guide, (as well as the handy-dandy Archives of Nethys)! Preference will be given to articles that follow the issue’s theme. Writers are invited to submit articles that fit within the following categories: Advice: Share valuable information or experiences with new GMs or players in the new Lost Omens campaign setting and 2nd edition rules system. Submission size: 750 words.
Conditions for Submissions: All authors and artists must agree to have their works reproduced for this and other Wayfinder products, be it for translations into other languages (we will be responsible for the truthfulness of the translations), special publications, or use on a Wayfinder website. All of Wayfinder’s publications are NON-PROFIT, and authors and artists will be given proper credit where due.
For example, DEADLINE: October 31, 2020, 11:59 Pacific. All entries will be handled on a first come, first serve basis. Some articles may be rejected depending on the final size of the PDF.
It's fine to review the rest of the issue if you have something in it. Others have put a disclaimer statement up front saying that they have an article or more, so their review is for the rest of the issue, and excludes their own contribution(s). So, you're good. Please do consider writing a review!
The time that I dreaded has finally come....a year without a PaizoCon. It is, of course, the call that needed to be made, but it stings just the same. Take consolation that we still intend to release Wayfinder (I hope....probably should check on DaIn and see how he's doing). Tim
UPDATE: All editing rounds are complete and final pass and formatting is underway. Art turnovers are trickling in, and should start picking up as the due date approaches soon. Goal is to have nearly everything in hand for layout to start early March! This issue is looking GOOOOOOOOOOD.
Submissions have been reviewed! The following authors have had at least one of their articles accepted: Adam Kessler
Congratulations to you all!!
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