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Seeing as nobody has shown up on this thread mentioning copyright laws, and seeing as the chances of a dungeoncraft sourcebook actually being made are small, here are links to where it can be found online. In html, seperated into articles: http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/dnd/dungeoncraft/
I'm not sure if it's legal to distribute them freely, due to copyright problems. On one hand, I'm told they were at one point available online for free. On the other hand, they were taken down (due to a change of website, I'm told), and I'm not a lawyer and therefore don't know whether it's now okay to distribute them.
Ray Winninger's articles were definitely a classic. They were extremely helpful to me in understanding how to make adventures as a DM (something I have found WOTC to be useless with. The MM gives a lot of monsters, DMG gives a lot of dungeon features. Nowehere does it help with actually designing dungeons, or worlds for that matter). If the articles were turned into their own sourcebook, I would be the first to go out and buy them. Monte Cook's articles aren't bad, but focuses on different things than Winninger. And seeing as dungeon and dragon's reformatting eliminated any other kind of DM advice article, Winninger's articles are needed now more than ever. Together they're over 150 pages, which means that once pictures and "the scar" and whatnot are added, it's long enough for a full sourcebook.
SCORE! Starting from December, OoTS will be in Dragon. You can see quite clearly from the date this thread started (almost a year ago) that it was entirely my idea to begin with. I started this thread, and one on GiantITP forums, and planted the seed that has lead to this.
I think doing a whole series of articles on one computer game is a bad idea. Rather, one article on what you think is the idea that fits most into dragon is probably the best idea. Also, make sure it's accessible to all those who haven't played it, as too few silicon sorcery articles have been in the past.
Btw, shouldn't this be in article requests?
When dragon and dungeon first did the relaunch, DM articles were lost in the middle. This is because dragon claimed to be the players' magazine and dungeon the DMs' magazine, while dungeon was still more of an adventure magazine and had few DM articles.
More advice articles, less (read: no) Flaws articles. I also find that many class acts lean too far towards the steriotypes of the classes. I would prefer the opposite; class acts should help broaden the ideas of each class.
I'm in the midst of writing a campaign workbook (actually, I'm almost done), but am unable to figure out what category it should go into. Without ruining it (not that I expect it to get accepted), let's just say that it has to do with adventure hooks. My co-author thinks that should be 'the journey', as the journey is about the path to adventures, but I think 'the journey' is specifically about the wilderness and that it should be 'the dungeon'. Who's right?
What exactly are the style sheets? All I see is a near-empty word document.
Back in 2004, I sent dragon a query for several articles, one of which (a class acts) was accepted. I sent in the article, and have not yet recieved a response. Months later, I sent in a new query, which included a questioning of the status of the first article. As of today, no response. A couple moths went by, and I sent a follow-up of that in, no response. A while later, another follow-up. Guess wat the reply was. Question 1: Has this happened to anyone else?
Back in 2004, I wrote a query to dragon, one article of which (a class acts) was accepted. I sent in the article, and have not yet recieved a reply. Several months ago, I sent a new query, in which I also mentioned the last article. No response. I sent a floow-up to that several months later, an a little while ago yet ANOTHER follow-up. Guess what happened. So I guess I have 2 questions:
Way back in 2004 I sent a query to dragon and had one Class Acts article accepted. I sent them the full article in January 2005, and have not yet recieved a response. On march 16th I sent a new query, in which I also asked about the status of the article. No response. April 14th, I follow-up the query and the article. No response yet.
I've noticed that even in the new guidelines dragon - unlike dungeon - requires a query for EVERY article. Dungeon does not require them for Campaign workbook articles, which are two pages long. Kal Vachomer that for a one-page article such as the Class Acts articles a query should likely not be required. Why should a person need to go through a multi-month process for a one-page article? It gets more absurd with Power Plays (my congragulations, btw, on adding them), which have a maximum word-count of 150 words. The query will be as long as the article!
Don't you know that #300 was the most contraversial dragon magazine in history? No way they'll do that again!
FOr those who don't know, Bag-of-rats is a 3.0 tactic involving a lot of rats, whirlwind attack, and great cleave. 3.5 swarm rules have eliminated this, but I think the new tactic is Bag-of-Cats.
Maybe I have time on my hands I'll make one myself and post it on my website (I've been looking for ways to advertise it). Also, it doesn't seem like such hard work. Make a WORD document (or just take a stack of pages) and with each new issue, add the prestige classes, the spells, etc. to the list. Even if the Dragon staff did listen to your idea, would you really pay extra money for something you can do on your own?
Although I haven't tried either, I believe traits are probably a better idea. The advantage is related to the disadvantage, which not only makes more sense but is more balanced. If I did do flaws I'd probably try Milwan's idea, which looks like it will help balance things out well.
by now nearly 3000 people have pre-ordered the book. He intends to quit his day job and become a professional cartoonist. They're just that good... And the good news: he said a while back that he'd be willing to write comics for dragon/dungeon, but that he was waiting for them to come to him. Now is your chance, Paizo!
Btw, he's making a book of the first 121 of his comics, and the first day on the market 647 people pre-ordered (granted, he chose christmas season). By now it's almost 3000, so many that Rich intends to quit his day-job and become a professional cartoonist. They're just that good. He said a while ago that he'd love to write comics for dragon/dungeon, but he's waiting for them - you - to come to him...
Sorry I couldn't give anyone the copy as promised. My downloaded copy od dungeoncraft is in an ancient win 98' computer which has died at least twice. Now it works, but I can't get it to put dungeoncraft onto a floppy. So in that case, I guess I'm on the other side of the table now. Could I have a copy? iscbrooks@yahoo.com Btw, for those interested, Richard Burlew (author of #324 spellcraft article, third place in world search that Ebberon won, author of the funniest d&d comic in existence {Order of The Stick}) has his own series of world-building articles at: www.giantitp.com/form They're out-in style, and aren't quite finished yet, but are otherwise pretty solid.
Seeing as I don't have the EPH (along with probably most of the d&d world), I'd be against that. Dragon has recently (righteously) started focusing more on the core aspects than on splatbooks.
The problem with that is that non-core articles are only useful to those who have the right books. Personally, I wouldn't be interested in something like your suggestion (I've never heard of any of the classes you just mentioned except for swashbuckler, though I'll guess that they're all from OA) although I wouldn't start a protest over one page per issue.
~And Witch Hunter was a fighter kit, I believe... Think they even used that kit in Baldur's Gate 2 (I don't know very many kit names, tho).~ Not in the core game, no. Might have been in The Darkest Day, or another mod (I mention TDD because it had tons of kits). Trust me on this one, I'm a BGII expert. Whoever wants to see Vin Deisel talking about d&d, just buy 30 years of adventure. The forward is by him.
Campaign components: Pirates. Though not as long as the old
The query was rejected by dragon, with the following message:
As some of you might remember, I posted a similar thread here a while back, but I can't find it now. It's about articles, advice and otherwise, that are aimed mainly at DMs rather than players. These were some of my favorite articles, and now they're gone. Obliterated. The unleashed edition of dragon and dungeon has been done in such a way that DM articles have been neglected entirely, not fitting in either.
Why dungeon? I had a thread to try and get it into dragon, both here and on the GiantITP website. Rich is interested, but unfortunately no-one from Paizo has read his comics (if they would they'd be begging him to write comics). In case one of them is reading this, the website is: http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=1
I just remembered a site I've been using for weeks made by someone who took the dungeoncraft articles, but made small adjustments of his own. The main reason it's there is because the dungeoncraft articles are not available online anymore. It's not complete yet, but is still a pretty good site. http://jdyal.cheapwindows.us/main.htm
Well, #323 is the most recent one I got, so I wouldn't know.
There was a thread on the WOTC messageboards in which people posted their email addresses, and others who had the dungeoncraft articles sent them a copy. I was one of the ones to recieve a copy, and if you post your email I can send you one.
A recent subscriber, I've only been reading dragon since #310. Loving it, I have since bought several backissues, though they were all in the $6 range (#286 and more recent). Though the main reason was economical, there was one other: I have no idea of the content in the earlier magazines. Aside from the rather low-quality (at least as far as reading the words goes) pictures of the covers, I have no clue what's in them, as there are no descriptions presented. This is unfortunate, as I'm sure many were excellent issues. I really do not believe it would be much work to add descriptions to the issues, and if it would give backissue-buyers the ability to buy the older issues then why not? Additionally, I would request a slight elaboration on the "one line per article descriptions of those beyond #286, which make them rather hard to judge. Of course, that is a much more minor issue.
My bad, should have posted in General discussion.
While harder to do with dragon's new angle of more, shorter columns, I still think they make a good idea for several reasons: 1) They make a more interesting/unique issue.
Even if it's not a completely themed issue (like #314, of which half the issue had nothing to do with the theme) instead of "special issues" like #315 (almost impossible with the new format), themes are still possible and would IMO improve the magazine.
~Why don't you tell me specifically what sort of article you'd like~ For example, something along the lines of DM's toolbox, or the darkness or collaborative campaigns articles from #322. They are only useful for DMs, and therefore the guidelines say they would be rejected. That was one of my favorite issues.
*Bump* Seriously, could I have a response, Eric? I'd like to know which magazine is going to publish DM articles. If there's some miscommunication between the two magazines, shouldn't we readers who love(d) the DM articles know?
Rich would create certain comics (presumably stand-alone) especially for the magazine, and it would be in addition to the regular ones. I know this because I posted a similar topic on the Giantitp messageboards.
My apologies for the misconception. Perhaps it was caused by the fact that "up on a soapbox" stopped the issue after a letter by someone saying he didn't like it. ~Pffft! Just Geas him!~ Lol!
Let's face it: aside from the occasional Nodwick, the comics in dragon are not very good. I haven't laughed at them for a long time. So where have I gone to enjoy quality d&d comics: http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript The writer, Richard Burlew (who was one of the three finalists for WOTC's world and lost to Keith Baker, as well as writing the illusions spellcraft article in #324) writes hillarious comics, which crack me up every time. So I got to thnking, why not try to manipulate both him and dragon to get them to talk and put the funniest d&d comic in dragon! I've already posted a thread on his website's messageboards, so I'll do the same here now.
When I picked up dragon #323 the other day, I started looking at the Wyrm's turn, then the scalemail. Then I saw something missing. I checked back to see if I had accidentally skipped a page, but no, there was no "up on a soapbox article". Oh, the shame of it all. That was an excellent article, one of the most entertaining I've read in dragon. And if you can have article completely worthless in actual play like Knight vs. Samurai, why can't you spend one page each month for the man who wrote the bloody game?
I just picked up dargon #323 today (live halfway around the world), and while the new format of more, shorter articles and more familiars were interesting, there was one thing that I found missing that seems like it truly should be there: core classes. With winning races and Gaining prestige a new race and new prestige class is added each month, but for some reason there's no article that presents a single - levels 1 through 20, core class. Why not? The only core classes that seem to come out of dragon are tweaksof existing ones, and it would be nice to see an original class eahcm onth along with the others. Personally, I would find that much more useful than a race or prestige class.
Btw, dragon #323 arrived today (finally), that should give you an idea of how long it takes...
I found out the details of unleashed only about a week after I extended my dragon subscription for another two (might even have been three) years. Like many, I don't like the new player focus of dragon (from things I've seen of course, 323 hasn't arrived half-way around the world yet), but do like the new advice articles in dungeon (bought lone issues with a bunch of backissues). I therefore wonder if it would be possible to "switch" subscriptions (if it comes to that) to be able to get one instead of the other. Given that everything's been changed around, I don't think it's so unreasonable a request to be able to change things around a bit with my subscriptions too.
I live in Israel, and it's pretty much the same. I got dragon #322 on september 14th (I've started timing the arrivals so I know when to expect the next), and am still waiting for #323, which should come any day now.
~~impression that, since Dungeon is being positioned as a "DM's Magazine," that means Dragon is the "Player's Magazine. This is in fact not the case.~~ The writer's submission guidelines seem to disagree with that. Quote: "Articles for dragon should be useful for players. We're not interested in content useful only to DMs or written specifically for DMs. If you'd like to write an article for DMs, see the dungeon writer's guidelines." Being a DM who likes to create his own adventures, my suggestion would be to cut back on them (have only two, or make them shorter), and put in some good DM articles. Things like "who's afraid of the dark" (dragon 322) are precisely the kind of thing I look for in a d&d magazine, providing creative ideas for my adventures.
I don't really understand how ecology articles can work well as Player articles. Things like their society structure, their tactics, and ideas for adventures or whole campaigns revolving around them would IMO make the best ecology articles. Of course with unleashed that would mean moving them to dungeon, which actually makes some sense. This is off-topic, but the article on alternate uses for knowledge skills (http://www.giantitp.com/Func0019.html) was excellent.
The weirdest thing has happened in the revision. Dragon has taken a more player-oriented style, while dungeon has added dungeoncraft. However, it did not add other articles for DMs, and the advice articles I enjoyed so much seem to have vanished. Take dragon #322, for example. Articles like "who's afraid of the dark", and "collaborative campaign building" were excellent, and they will no longer exist. Nor does the Campaign Components series, which I believe I speak for most dragon readers when I say was the best series in the magazine. Dragon is just for players, and dungeon has only 'critical threats', which are two-page articles about specific topics. I don't mind the revision, making each magazine point to a specific audience, but go through with it fully. Find space (by either shortening the adventures or reducing their number) and put in some quality DM articles!
Do either of you know what campaign components is? It's not a new backdrop, it's an idea for a whole new kind of campaign. The existing ones were Knights and Paladins, Swashbucklers, Galdiators, War, and Spies. They are unique kinds of campaigns, not locales.
The 'new' dragon magazine , with its updated look and shifting of articles, seems to have forgotten a very important article. The Campaign Components articles, which I believe I speak for most of your readers when I say were probably the best articles in the magazine, seem not to fit into the new format, as they're rather DM oriented. Dungeon has selected only a few articles alongside adventures in its magazine, and Campaign Components doesn't appear to be there either.
Dragon is now for players, not DM, as you'll notice that the submission guidelines specifically say that articles for DMs will be rejected. Unless the players want to have their own dungeons (a sort of evil Birthright campaign?) then I don't think it would make work.
~They'll be up by the end of the week for sure.~ I'll look on the bright side and notice that you did take down the old guidelinges.
~~I agree with bg2soatob somewhat. I don't want less adventures but I do want more DM articles. I've been working on an article that is geared toward DM's for a while.~~ My point precisely. Strangely, I too am writing a DM advice article. I would prefer more DM articles, and at least in #114 the section was quite small. Also, what will happen to the woderful Cmapaign Components articles? They are DM focused and long. Despite being the best articles (IMO) in the magazines, they might well disappear in unleashed.
Btw, these messageboards were a great idea, but they really need to be improved. I can't even quote here. Current Campaigns
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