Submission Guidelines (opens a PDF file)
Style Sheet (opens an MS Word file)
I too am toying with an idea for an epic level adventure. However, just given the massive size of the stat blocks, I don't think it is possible to create a decent epic adventure under 15,000 words unless you only used nothing but high CR creatures from the MM and ELH. I would think that a word count of 15,000 to 20,000 words would be more realistic for an epic adventure.
Creative Director
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For epic level adventures, we might assume that the DM has the Epic Level Handbook, or at least has access to the Epic Level SRD. So the monsters in that book could be printed with short stat blocks.
But yeah... one of the problems with epic level adventrues is the fact that the stat blocks are super long. Which means the adventures tend to run long. Which causes a problem, since epic level adventures are a niche adventure...
But not a problem we can't cope with if we get some good epic proposals coming our way!
For epic level adventures, we might assume that the DM has the Epic Level Handbook, or at least has access to the Epic Level SRD. So the monsters in that book could be printed with short stat blocks.
But yeah... one of the problems with epic level adventrues is the fact that the stat blocks are super long. Which means the adventures tend to run long. Which causes a problem, since epic level adventures are a niche adventure...
But not a problem we can't cope with if we get some good epic proposals coming our way!
Seems to me that you have been asking for Epic level adventures for quite some time. Perhaps it is time to give a submission a shot. What better way to do it than in grand Epic style?
-Neomorte
Might I mention that one thing I often struggle with in proposals is squeezing the adventure synopsis, challenge summary, and flavor teasers into 1,000 words. The one experience I've had with proposing an epic adventure, those had to fight for space with wordcount needed to show that the adventure was one that could stand up to an epic party. (i.e. that the encounters were ones that the party wouldn't skip by use of high level divination magics, routine teleportation, etc.)
Might epic proposals be allowed to go over the 1,000 word limit a bit?
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Creative Director
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There's no reason an epic proposal needs to be any longer than any other proposal. In fact... if your epic proposal is too long to fit in 1000 words, that's more than ever a good sign that the completed manuscript would be way too huge for us to print in Dungeon.
Again, we don't need to know every single detail of your adventure. Location, villain, minions, plot, and rewards is really what we're looking for.
It is theoretically possible to squeeze an entire three-part arc in under 1,500 words. I submitted one last night. Now whether it gets accepted; that's another story....
;)
GGG
I know the following doesn't really pertain to this thread of discussion, but has there every been any thought of disgarding the usual standard whereby none MM monsters are given a full stat block?
In my own query and adventure writing experience, I am always put off by the fact that none MM critters are such a space filler. I feel almost restricted to use any more than two or three monsters from say MM2, 3, or 4, FF etc. I also seem to add more MM "fodder" monsters (like orcs, grimlocks etc) rather than choose something more appropriate from another source. Anyone else feel this way?
I know the following doesn't really pertain to this thread of discussion, but has there every been any thought of disgarding the usual standard whereby none MM monsters are given a full stat block?
In my own query and adventure writing experience, I am always put off by the fact that none MM critters are such a space filler. I feel almost restricted to use any more than two or three monsters from say MM2, 3, or 4, FF etc. I also seem to add more MM "fodder" monsters (like orcs, grimlocks etc) rather than choose something more appropriate from another source. Anyone else feel this way?
While sometimes I feel that this kind of restriction is a pain, most of the time I regard it as a useful tool to enforce discipline. For example, if I have to make a decision between using a non-core monster or expanding the personality of a NPC because of word count, I have to decide which is more important to the overall adventure that I'm writing (and depending on the situation, it could go either way) and the experience I want the players to have.
I've also found that you can stick a lot of non-core material in if you stick to low-mid CR monsters; apply templates, class levels, and advancement to creatures you would have to stat out anyways; minimize high-level spellcasters; and judiciously use prestige classes (seriously, is there an prestige class in the Complete Warrior that would not eat up 1000-1500 words to describe its abilities).
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Creative Director
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There's basically two reasons we want adventures in Dungeon to rely heavilly on the three core books. First of all, whenever we pull something from another book and don't reprint everything, we fractionalize our audience and make the adventure less useful. For a magazine (which by its nature is always skirting the line of profitability), making an issue less useful is like shooting yourself in the foot. You just don't do it.
The second reason is less obvious. The contents of the core books comprise the "core experience" of D&D. Whether you learned to play last week or 30 years ago, there's a lot of familiarity and shared knowledge in these 3 books. By using them as a baseline, the adventures themselves automaticaly inherit this familiarity. The further afield you get from the core books, the less D&D you get, in my opinion, and the less profitible the adventures become. Don't get me wrong; I think that new innovations like Incarnum or binders are really interesting, just as the old innovations (like psionics or Oriental Adventures) are interesting. But we've seen it time and time again; adventures that draw heavilly on the fringes of D&D simply appeal to less readers than the "core D&D" adventures do.
Put another way, almost everyone who likes D&D likes the stuff in the core rules. Not everyone who plays D&D likes the same things on the fringes. Therefore, fringe adventures aren't published as often in the magazine. And to bring it back on topic... epic level adventures are included in this fringe. Which is the main reason they don't appear in the magazine more often (closely followed by the fact that we just don't get many epic-level adventure submissions... maybe 3-4 a year).
James, are you guys getting more epic submissions now that you've put out the word that you don't see many? I mean, I've seen two rejected queries for epic-level adventures recently on these boards.
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Creative Director
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James, are you guys getting more epic submissions now that you've put out the word that you don't see many? I mean, I've seen two rejected queries for epic-level adventures recently on these boards.
I suppose... if by "more" you mean an increase from 1 a year to 2–5 a year. As it turns out... epic-level adventures are hard to write.
I think the fact that this thread is up shows there's interest in epic levels. That's a good sign. I've put in a few proposals recently and I'm obviously not the only one, so sooner or later one of them will get through.
I think its important not to lose sight of the original idea. I know there are lots of things to keep in mind when writing a query, but a good idea is a good idea and I think the editors will recognize that better if its kept simple. Stick to the MAIN details, not the little ones. If its a good idea, they'll want to see more.