With Adventure Quarterly #4 set to go to print here soon (we are just waiting on a good printing proof at this point). I thought I would ask what kind of adventures folks would like to see.
The two articles are going to be locked up for a while with a series on wide-open sandbox adventuring I will be writing and the other by Creighton Broadhurst of Raging Swan Press.
The low level adventures will be tied up for a at least the next 3 issues with The Ruins Perilous (we are doing a piece of this in every issue).
This however leaves mid and high level adventures wide open.
(also if you want to pitch to Adventure Quarterly you can find its open submission guidelines HEREWe are currently only looking for 7,000 word adventures and a sketch of any maps will be required for your final submission.
An adventure by that awesome Christina Stiles in 2014. The weirder, the better.
An adventure by that awesome Christina Stiles in 2014. The weirder, the better.
Pitch something!
If it doesn't feature hamsters wearing laser-death-ray helmets as the BBEGs, I'm sure Steve will be happy to put you on the schedule. :)
I'll start with a confession that I haven't gotten any issues of Adventure Quarterly yet, but it's on my wishlist. You can decide whether that's sufficient for giving my opinion any heed.
I don't go for high-level adventures. I would never run anything higher than 12th level, and I'd prefer 6th or below.
But as for what I'd like to see for low- and mid-level adventures, one big selling point for me is an intriguing back story or hook. In the days of AD&D, I was a big fan of "Dungeon" magazine, because some of those back stories made me want to run those adventures to find out what would happen.
And I'd like to see a good 1st-level adventure designed to introduce newbie players to the hobby.
And while I'm on the subject of what I'd like to see, I feel the need to mention what I DON'T want. I hate naval adventures (although I could live with a shipboard encounter or two), and I've never even considered running an underwater adventure.
Also, I don't want anything too difficult for players. Some adventures give puzzles and problems for the players to solve, or might force the PCs into some awkward situation, like having to infiltrate an enemy base and bluff their way through it. My players and I don't like that.
And if an adventure is for an unusual campaign setting, I'd consider that a major drawback.
An adventure by that awesome Christina Stiles in 2014. The weirder, the better.Pitch something!
If it doesn't feature hamsters wearing laser-death-ray helmets as the BBEGs, I'm sure Steve will be happy to put you on the schedule. :)
Now why you have to go and hate on hamsters wearing laster-death-ray helmets, Mike? ;-)
I WILL pitch something to Mr. Russell's crew when I get some writing off my plate.
I don't go for high-level adventures. I would never run anything higher than 12th level, and I'd prefer 6th or below.
Yep everyone has their own playstyle which is why we have the range, and we strive to create works for all levels of play.
But as for what I'd like to see for low- and mid-level adventures, one big selling point for me is an intriguing back story or hook. In the days of AD&D, I was a big fan of "Dungeon" magazine, because some of those back stories made me want to run those adventures to find out hat would happen.
I agree with this, I want intriguing backstories, what I don't want though is useless backstory, if players can't find out the backstory as well, then I consider it useless (you will often find in my personal designs that I use lore checks, handouts, sometimes even Mr. Exposition to convey backstory to PCs not just the GM; Sometimes we even show you the back story (which is always best).
And I'd like to see a good 1st-level adventure designed to introduce newbie players to the hobby.
I would like to see this as well, the best one I have seen is Up From Darkness (PFRPG) though it uses mid level pregens, and introduces new players to the Kaidan setting, and I have a plan for something similar for Questhaven. (we have done something exactly like this for the Fate system, but it takes the right author).
And while I'm on the subject of what I'd like to see, I feel the need to mention what I DON'T want. I hate naval adventures (although I could live with a shipboard encounter or two), and I've never even considered running an underwater adventure.
I understand this feeling because either I want to play a minitures wargame or I want to play a fantasy roleplaying game. I would not dismiss a good pirate adventure without ship to ship combat, I would not dismiss a underwater adventure, as some of the best ones I have played and run in were just that.
Saying you don't want something you have never tried is not the most damning reason for me not to include it. Many people give Cerulean Seas exceptional reviews a lot of folks love Razor Coast, and Owen K.C. Stephens one of the best (if not The Best) designers in our little pond did exactly this for Frog God Games razor coast, and I would be a fool to reject it if I got something like this for AQ.
Also, I don't want anything too difficult for players. Some adventures give puzzles and problems for the players to solve, or might force the PCs into some awkward situation, like having to infiltrate an enemy base and bluff their way through it. My players and I don't like that.
Again this is playstyle and why we offer multiple adventures, but I tend to do challenging adventure at the high level of play, but what I don't like is shoehorning an awkward situation, it should flow naturally or not at all..
And if an adventure is for an unusual campaign setting, I'd consider that a major drawback.
We tend to be pretty usual with our default adventures though I would never reject a high level adventure for Coliseum Morpheuon on the plane of dream. So far we have done one psionics adventure (by Tim Hitchcock no less) and that was about as unusual as we got.
I've been jumping back into more freelancing of late and can say that working with Steve and Robert has been an easy and fun experience. I wrote the high-level adventure for AQ4 and was asked for another high-level for AQ5. Honestly, I do love low-level stuff but it's nice to be forced out of one's comfort zone once in awhile. Hopefully, AQ's fanbase will enjoy what they see in my stuff and want to try more high-level adventures out!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
LIkewise, my experience working with Steve and Robert has been great. I wrote the AQ3 high-level adventure, which also forced me out of my comfort zone, and I ended up having a terrific time with it.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
An adventure by that awesome Christina Stiles in 2014. The weirder, the better.Pitch something!
If it doesn't feature hamsters wearing laser-death-ray helmets as the BBEGs, I'm sure Steve will be happy to put you on the schedule. :)
Not all of us can write as fast/be as prolific as you! :)
Not all of us can write as fast/be as prolific as you! :)An adventure by that awesome Christina Stiles in 2014. The weirder, the better.Pitch something!
If it doesn't feature hamsters wearing laser-death-ray helmets as the BBEGs, I'm sure Steve will be happy to put you on the schedule. :)
Me? I'm not a fast writer. I just get involved in a lot of things. I have a hard time not writing or editing something every week. My mind has a hard time shutting down. I really need a clone to output all my ideas. :)
Me? I'm not a fast writer. I just get involved in a lot of things. I have a hard time not writing or editing something every week. My mind has a hard time shutting down. I really need a clone to output all my ideas. :)Not all of us can write as fast/be as prolific as you! :)An adventure by that awesome Christina Stiles in 2014. The weirder, the better.Pitch something!
If it doesn't feature hamsters wearing laser-death-ray helmets as the BBEGs, I'm sure Steve will be happy to put you on the schedule. :)
I just finished grad school after 3 years and I've been freelancing for 2, so I've done a lot of writing, however, I can research and write a school paper faster than my freelance stuff. Probably because I put more effort into my freelance stuff...which also much more fun than writing about Chinese labor unions or Walmart employee benefits. I need a clone myself, one to write, and one to catch up on playing video games and reading all my game books :).
I will third this clone proposal. Where do I send my money?
'Mid-level adventures' meaning something like 7th-14th level? Or do you have another definition? :-)
I genrealy view 6th to 14th to be mid level. but its semantics :)
Okay, thanks. So, just to be clear: will you flat out reject proposals for low-level adventures (because you have several in the pipeline) or would you be willing to consider them in a longer perspective?
I have a couple of ideas in mind but scaling them to mid-level would be difficult because access to magic spells at that level suddenly can make a great different on the challenge the adventurers face.
I would say right now we are looking for mid and high level pitches, and that if you pitch a low level, its going to be probably a year before we look at it, and we might miss it in the shuffle, so if you do, just remember to remind us a year from now :)
I tried to make this as concise as possible and leave as many open hooks as possible for writers to fill in. If you like the idea, please let me know, as I love positive feedback from people about my ideas!
I would say right now we are looking for mid and high level pitches, and that if you pitch a low level, its going to be probably a year before we look at it, and we might miss it in the shuffle, so if you do, just remember to remind us a year from now :)
Fair enough! ;-)