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.
Any idea when the next submissions meeting is after next week's?
I am especially excited about next week's meeting. It is a win-win situation for me. If none of my proposals are accepted, a certain someone who shall remain unnamed (hint: his surname is a form of foreplay) will have to consume his own boogers and send me a videotape of said consumption as proof.
And no, I'm not showing you guys the tape if you reject all my props outright based on the assumption you will then get to watch Mr. Pett's performance! Play nice guys!!! :-)
On the other hand if you reject all the props cause you think they are poop, and can prove this with a videotape (of my proposals transmuting into poop when you cast detect good adventure on them) I will of course share Pett's booger-rama with you all.
Next week is gonna be great anyway you slice it.
I have a question for the Grey Render or any of his assistants that is related to the following guideline:
"Do not ... use defunct rules from previous editions (including rules that were dropped in the transition from 3.0 to 3.5)."
What I'm wondering about, though, concerns some details from a 3.0 suplement which doesn't have a fully matching 3.5 counterpart. Specifically, in addition to the Great Wheel Cosmology the Manual of the Planes contains an appendix describing several variant planes such as the Region of Dream, the Spirt World, the Plane of Faerie and the Elemental Plane of Wood and though the basics of planar geography and the Great Wheel cosmology were transfered to the 3.5 DMG these varient planes were not.
There is also the Planar Handbook but I understand it is less about the planes themselves and more about how to run a campaign involving planar travel and, I have been told, it also does not include any of the variant planes from MotP.
As a final note, the variant planes in MotP do not appear to need much, if any, modification to become "3.5 compatible," since there were very few changes (if any) that modified how the geography of a plane is described between 3.0 and 3.5
So, the question I have is: "Would a query that made reference to a variant plane from MotP have a chance of making it past the Grey Render? (I am thinking, of course, primarily of the variant planes that could easily be slipped into the Great Wheel and most custom cosmologies - e.g., the Region of Dreams or the Spirt World)
Thanks,
Jenni
I have a question along similar lines. I noticed in the Fiendish Codex (at the back) a lot of demons from the FF and MM2 had their challenge ratings changed. Have a lot of the other monsters' CR from these books changed in the 3.5 rules? If so, where can I find the new CRs? Any help on this would be appreciated.
Thanx
Creative Director
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I have a question along similar lines. I noticed in the Fiendish Codex (at the back) a lot of demons from the FF and MM2 had their challenge ratings changed. Have a lot of the other monsters' CR from these books changed in the 3.5 rules? If so, where can I find the new CRs? Any help on this would be appreciated.
Thanx
The Monster Manual 2 has a lot of issues... many of the monsters in there have inappropriate CR scores but at this point, as far as I know, only the demon CRs have been revised. Generally, the lower CR scores are pretty okay; it's when you get higher CR scores that they start to fall apart. For a good example of the strangeness with the MM2 CRs... compare the megalodon (page 147) to the legendary shark (page 138). They're nearly identical monsters in niche and ability, but the legendary shark's got more hit points, a better AC, more hit dice, and a better attack roll, but the megalodon's CR is higher.
Now that said, the Monster Manual 2 has some really excellent monsters, and we use creatures from it all the time in Dungeon. You just have to be a bit more careful with the monsters. Look at their actual abilities rather than their CR when picking them for encounters is my best advice.
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Creative Director
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So, the question I have is: "Would a query that made reference to a variant plane from MotP have a chance of making it past the Grey Render? (I am thinking, of course, primarily of the variant planes that could easily be slipped into the Great Wheel and most custom cosmologies - e.g., the Region of Dreams or the Spirt World
It'd absolutely have a chance. In fact, using unusual regions like that only increases the chances of your adventure seeing print, since one of the big things we look for is a unique location in an adventure.
As I said as well in my previous post, we certainly accept monsters, locations, spells, magic items, and other thigns from previous editions of the game. What we DON'T use are rules that were dropped; for example... 3.5 dropped the rule that a magic weapon has to be of an equal or higher enhancement bonus to sunder another weapon (even though the 3.5 DMG unfortunately kept some of these rules, they've been erattaed away). Another example: Monsters with non-square facings no longer exist in 3.5, so if you use a 3.0 monster with a facing like 5 ft. by 10 ft., you'll need to convert it to a square facing.
I am especially excited about next week's meeting. It is a win-win situation for me. If none of my proposals are accepted, a certain someone who shall remain unnamed (hint: his surname is a form of foreplay) will have to consume his own boogers and send me a videotape of said consumption as proof.
And no, I'm not showing you guys the tape if you reject all my props outright based on the assumption you will then get to watch Mr. Pett's performance! Play nice guys!!! :-)
On the other hand if you reject all the props cause you think they are poop, and can prove this with a videotape (of my proposals transmuting into poop when you cast detect good adventure on them) I will of course share Pett's booger-rama with you all.
Next week is gonna be great anyway you slice it.
Listen...total cow-pat though you are, I have absolute faith that Quoth the Raven will be accepted and thereby remove any video making necessity involving earwax and eating, plus I remain hopeful that several higher quality submissions (including the one you will recall with the auction scene you had nothing to do with whatsoever that you envied so much you started trying to claim some time back) may also be viewed favourably, and even if they aren't, there are more waiting for those lovely people at Dungeon.
Boogers - I must buy an american dictionary to understand what you are saying. Or maybe a junior dictionary would be better:)
M'nnnnnnnnnnnar.
Soon, soon....they will mostly be coming out at night, mostly...
So, the question I have is: "Would a query that made reference to a variant plane from MotP have a chance of making it past the Grey Render?It'd absolutely have a chance. In fact, using unusual regions like that only increases the chances of your adventure seeing print, since one of the big things we look for is a unique location in an adventure.
AWESOME! James, you, sir, just made my day . ;-)
-jenni
Boogers - I must buy an american dictionary to understand what you are saying. Or maybe a junior dictionary would be better:)
Pick your nose; the result is a booger. :D
--John
Boogers - I must buy an american dictionary to understand what you are saying. Or maybe a junior dictionary would be better:)Pick your nose; the result is a booger. :D
--John
ah! - so what's earwax...don't tell me...
ah! - so what's earwax...don't tell me...Boogers - I must buy an american dictionary to understand what you are saying. Or maybe a junior dictionary would be better:)Pick your nose; the result is a booger. :D
--John
The Sorcerer's Stone.
GGG
As an aside from the Anti-Greyhawk AP thread, (and for that matter, Ashenvale's hyper wierd Query thread) I was wondering what the stance is on mini adventure pathways of say, 1-3 seperate adventures?
I personally love to become intricately involved in a plot, with deep, well-rounded and interesting characters. Often I find myself, unfortunately, going from a single one-night session adventure (a typical Dungeon adventure) to another with only whatever impetus I add myself into the mix for the players. Now while Dungeon features the best stand-alone adventures, it can become stale as the group wanders from one random town under attack to another.
Hah! I prefer "enthusiastically confused," but will settle for hyper weird in a pinch ;)
Curses!
You did only agree to ear wax didn't you Rich!? Daggnamit! I thought it was boogers too. Oh well, at least I have something disgusting to look forward too.
By the way, I love those disgusting Berttie Bott's Every Flavor Beans jelly belly makes now. Most disgusting by far - earthworm...ewww.
My gaming group eats these often...we love it!
Also, out of curiosidad, does anyone know on what auspicious day the magic meeting is set to happen on. I AM SO EXCITED!!! I can't sleep! Dungeon is all things! :-)
As an aside from the Anti-Greyhawk AP thread, (and for that matter, Ashenvale's hyper wierd Query thread) I was wondering what the stance is on mini adventure pathways of say, 1-3 seperate adventures?
I assume you mean what is the Dungeon's editorial stance on submitting queries for short adventure arcs. As I recall somewhere on another thread James "Head Hancho" Jacobs said something to the effect of "query away" - you just have to, as always, make it cool.
Of course considering that you have to sell all three adventures - a herculean feat by any measure - you better make sure it is really really cool.
GGG
I expected as much.
I'll add Samuel L Jackson to my next query. That will make it ice cool by default.
Contributor
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By the way, I love those disgusting Berttie Bott's Every Flavor Beans jelly belly makes now. Most disgusting by far - earthworm...ewww.
My gaming group eats these often...we love it!
Back when those first came out (around the time when the first Harry Potter movie hit the theaters) my best friend and I bought a big bag of regular Jelly Belly jellybeans and several boxes of Berttie Bott's jellybeans right before a game. We mixed in the Berttie Bott's with the regular jellybeans, careful to leave a layer of the regulars on top (so we could eat some and make it look like they were all just normal beans), then we set them on the gaming table. My best friend and I presented the jellybeans and took a couple of handfuls (of the safe jellybeans on top) and encouraged the rest of our group to do the same.
Ah yes... I can still see their reactions in my mind to this day. One of the guys got a vomit-flavored bean. He tossed it innocently into his mouth and two seconds later spit it out. My best friend and I laughed and laughed, and our gaming buddies never again let us bring jellybeans to the game. ;D
/tangent
Also, out of curiosidad, does anyone know on what auspicious day the magic meeting is set to happen on.
Yesterday. Stay tuned.
Also, out of curiosidad, does anyone know on what auspicious day the magic meeting is set to happen on.Yesterday. Stay tuned.
HOLY COWS!!! :-) :-)
::NIck immediately begins his voodoun rituals::
:sobs:
I've been kicked to the curb...
:sobs:
Well that's it everyone. With the exception of a couple of proposals that JJ sitting on, all of the news (good and bad) has been dispersed.
The total count on green lights this time around was 5.
Congratulations to the ones that made it, and condolences to everyone else.
The overall quality of the adventure submissions continues to improve, and fewer and fewer people are committing the old mistakes that made the poor submissions easy to weed out. We had some really tough choices this time around.
Once again, I encourage you all to keep writing, keep submitting, and keep sending us your ideas!
:sobs:
I've been kicked to the curb...
:sobs:
I still love ya!
And I gots no emails, good or bad, in my inbox. I must have missed the cutoff date. Shoot.
*good natured grumbling*
Got a greenlight....my first for an adventure on my own, without the safety net that is the were_cabbages. I'm nervous as hell, but excited as all can be. I counted about 14 proposals that I sent in solo before I got one greenlit, if you count the handwritten manuscript I sent in in 1982 in response to the Dragon magazine adventure design contest.
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Got a greenlight....my first for an adventure on my own, without the safety net that is the were_cabbages. I'm nervous as hell, but excited as all can be. I counted about 14 proposals that I sent in solo before I got one greenlit, if you count the handwritten manuscript I sent in in 1982 in response to the Dragon magazine adventure design contest.
Awesome!
Congratulations!
Awesome!Got a greenlight....my first for an adventure on my own, without the safety net that is the were_cabbages. I'm nervous as hell, but excited as all can be. I counted about 14 proposals that I sent in solo before I got one greenlit, if you count the handwritten manuscript I sent in in 1982 in response to the Dragon magazine adventure design contest.
Go F2K!!
The overall quality of the adventure submissions continues to improve, and fewer and fewer people are committing the old mistakes that made the poor submissions easy to weed out. We had some really tough choices this time around.
While this may suck for me as an aspiring writer, it makes me tingly as a Dungeon reader and DM.
Got a greenlight....my first for an adventure on my own, without the safety net that is the were_cabbages. I'm nervous as hell, but excited as all can be. I counted about 14 proposals that I sent in solo before I got one greenlit, if you count the handwritten manuscript I sent in in 1982 in response to the Dragon magazine adventure design contest.
Way to go, man! If you need any suggestions or a second set of eyes to look your manuscript drafts over, you know how to reach me. Have fun.
Got a greenlight....my first for an adventure on my own, without the safety net that is the were_cabbages. I'm nervous as hell, but excited as all can be.
Way to go, farewell2kings! Fantastic!
I'm in Amber's camp - no word at all, so my submissions must have been untimely. Anyone have any sense when the august arbiter assemblage will meet again?
Congrats, f2k.
All that hard work has finally paid off... with more hard work.
Thanks a lot, guys....let's hope I can write a worthy manuscript.
Steve--thank you for the offer--I will certainly take you up on it, because we all know how important a second set of eyes is.
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Creative Director
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Ok. I've replied to all the adventure proposals that were on my desk. With the exception of ONE, because I don't have the email address handy... (reason #1 why you should always include a SDF with your proposal, and why it doesn't hurt to print an email in the proposal itself).
There were a lot of hard decisions in this round, and a couple of fairly heated arguments even between us. They didn't come to fisticuffs, so it wasn't THAT exciting, but still...
Yup; if you have an idea for a 3-part adventure arc, send it in! We've accepted one of them for print already. You could be next!
Trying to work out a query for a three-part Forgotten Realms arc and figured I would ask... pitching three adventures at once would require a few more words so would four pages and a shade over 2,000 words be acceptable for such a proposal?
Ok. I've replied to all the adventure proposals that were on my desk. With the exception of ONE, because I don't have the email address handy... (reason #1 why you should always include a SDF with your proposal, and why it doesn't hurt to print an email in the proposal itself).
There were a lot of hard decisions in this round, and a couple of fairly heated arguments even between us. They didn't come to fisticuffs, so it wasn't THAT exciting, but still...
James, (and Jeremy)
Um... that one proposal that you haven't replied to wouldn't happen to have been an Eberron adventure with the unwieldy working title of "The Fallen Heroes & Tsochari of Vedykar", would it? (I'm pretty sure I included my email on the SDF and the proposal itself, but you never know...)
I got the email that this one was headed to the meeting back on May 30th, but I just checked my email tonight, and I haven't heard anything one way or another about it...
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Creative Director
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James, (and Jeremy)
Um... that one proposal that you haven't replied to wouldn't happen to have been an Eberron adventure with the unwieldy working title of "The Fallen Heroes & Tsochari of Vedykar", would it? (I'm pretty sure I included my email on the SDF and the proposal itself, but you never know...)
I got the email that this one was headed to the meeting back on May 30th, but I just checked my email tonight, and I haven't heard anything one way or another about it...
Nope.
If you haven't heard back; send me an email at dungeon@paizo.com and we'll track down what happened tomorrow.
James, (and Jeremy)
Um... that one proposal that you haven't replied to wouldn't happen to have been an Eberron adventure with the unwieldy working title of "The Fallen Heroes & Tsochari of Vedykar", would it? (I'm pretty sure I included my email on the SDF and the proposal itself, but you never know...)
I got the email that this one was headed to the meeting back on May 30th, but I just checked my email tonight, and I haven't heard anything one way or another about it...
Nope.
If you haven't heard back; send me an email at dungeon@paizo.com and we'll track down what happened tomorrow.
Done. Thanks for answering back so quickly James.
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Creative Director
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Trying to work out a query for a three-part Forgotten Realms arc and figured I would ask... pitching three adventures at once would require a few more words so would four pages and a shade over 2,000 words be acceptable for such a proposal?
Well... it's 3 adventrues. So really, we'd need a seperate proposal for each one. Keep them all to about 700 to 1,000 words though, and you should also provide a short cover letter that lets us know we're looking at a Campaign Arc along with a short summary of the entire campaign. Something like:
"The PCs learn that the true ruler of the city still lives, but in order to save him they must secure the aid of a giant shaman before confronting the true enemy deep below in the Underdark."
Well, I am back here again. I had hoped to be a full of vim n vigor proudly shouting that I had recieved a 'golden ticket'...alas and alack, I got bupkus. "Cheers!" to all y'all that got the go-ahead this round.
But, I threw 5 shiny new proposals over the walls in the last couple of days. I'm trying a new tactic against the gatekeeper. The render is inside somewhere getting heal spells thrown at him and now there is a new ghoulish beast named Hammerhead...I mean Hammerbeard standing guard in the gateway.
This time I mean to overwhelm the gatekeeper with numbers...I bet he can't catch 'em all!!!
Pi-ka-...
Got a greenlight....my first for an adventure on my own, without the safety net that is the were_cabbages. I'm nervous as hell, but excited as all can be. I counted about 14 proposals that I sent in solo before I got one greenlit, if you count the handwritten manuscript I sent in in 1982 in response to the Dragon magazine adventure design contest.
Congratulations buddy.
Well done F2K. You deserve it.
*Jealous mutterings*
The overall quality of the adventure submissions continues to improve, and fewer and fewer people are committing the old mistakes that made the poor submissions easy to weed out.
Thats really good to hear. But in fear of becoming That whiney guy, I was curious if you've began to give any feedback again.
Basically my current crux is that I liked a particular idea within an old, and rejected adventure query. I liked it so much that I've decided to use it again. However, as that query was rejected with no actual reason, I could possibly be setting myself up for fall for exactly the same reasons as last time. Maybe you guys HATED this part of the idea. I don't know.
I know it's a pain and it takes time, but even a simple "too long", "crap idea", "poorly written", "CR's too whacky", "not developed enough" would help improve us even further.
Ok. I've replied to all the adventure proposals that were on my desk. With the exception of ONE, because I don't have the email address handy... (reason #1 why you should always include a SDF with your proposal, and why it doesn't hurt to print an email in the proposal itself).
There were a lot of hard decisions in this round, and a couple of fairly heated arguments even between us. They didn't come to fisticuffs, so it wasn't THAT exciting, but still...
Oh man! Shucks...
;-)
Got a greenlight....my first for an adventure on my own, without the safety net that is the were_cabbages. I'm nervous as hell, but excited as all can be. I counted about 14 proposals that I sent in solo before I got one greenlit, if you count the handwritten manuscript I sent in in 1982 in response to the Dragon magazine adventure design contest.
Congratulations my man!!!!!!!!!!! This is awesome news!
Were_Cabbages forevar!
By the way, I love those disgusting Berttie Bott's Every Flavor Beans jelly belly makes now. Most disgusting by far - earthworm...ewww.
My gaming group eats these often...we love it!
Back when those first came out (around the time when the first Harry Potter movie hit the theaters) my best friend and I bought a big bag of regular Jelly Belly jellybeans and several boxes of Berttie Bott's jellybeans right before a game. We mixed in the Berttie Bott's with the regular jellybeans, careful to leave a layer of the regulars on top (so we could eat some and make it look like they were all just normal beans), then we set them on the gaming table. My best friend and I presented the jellybeans and took a couple of handfuls (of the safe jellybeans on top) and encouraged the rest of our group to do the same.
Ah yes... I can still see their reactions in my mind to this day. One of the guys got a vomit-flavored bean. He tossed it innocently into his mouth and two seconds later spit it out. My best friend and I laughed and laughed, and our gaming buddies never again let us bring jellybeans to the game. ;D
/tangent
MUUUUUAAAAHAAAHAAA! This is excellent!
I just made the players eat the disgusting ones when I was running a D&D game, your method is so much more insidious! I like it.
Play Bloodlines Mike, Play it or pay!!!
Based on Monday's submission meeting, what themes, settings, and/or monsters should queries try to avoid in the near future? Conversely, what specifically are you on the look out for? Thanks.
Well- I received my "thanks but no thanks" letter last night and while I wasn't given any real theme critiques (other than saying that my query laked focus-which it did). I can tell you that a quick way to annoy the submission committee is excessive use of the letter "Y".
I'm a special person. I even get rejected in weird ways.
To the staff reading this- Keep up the great work. I will mind my vowels in future queries. :)
Thanks a lot, guys....let's hope I can write a worthy manuscript.
Steve--thank you for the offer--I will certainly take you up on it, because we all know how important a second set of eyes is.
You know I'm always available as a third set of eyes also, should you need it. You know how to reach me.
- Ashavan
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Contributor
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MUUUUUAAAAHAAAHAAA! This is excellent!
I just made the players eat the disgusting ones when I was running a D&D game, your method is so much more insidious! I like it.
You should try it sometime. Except your group might be suspicious of any jellybeans you bring to the table, now. ;)
Play Bloodlines Mike, Play it or pay!!!
Bloodlines? The Vampire game? *confused*
For what it's worth, since most folks already know this, I'll share one tip I got from a query that failed to make the final cut.
(paraphrasing Jeremy's comment :) )
Even evil, "village of the damnned"esque children with strange powers and glowing red eyes are still kids,and heroes don't fight them.
Makes sense to me :) Should have thought of that myself.