I have one question does the word count include the title, name, e-mail address and word count:xxx or just body of work?
I have one question does the word count include the title, name, e-mail address and word count:xxx or just body of work?Word count counts just the body of work.
Got it. Thanks.
PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
|
Is a story that's a sequel to an open-ended adventure module permitted?
Regards
Kaushik
Are we talking about a epilogue to a Paizo module?
We sort of have/had this kind of fiction, based on a Paizo adventure, in the past. It was called "Tales from the Front". Some were good. Others just turned out to be entries from campaign journals, which were not necessarily as new and creative as the other fiction pieces. After a time, we just stopped getting these.
However, doing a fiction piece that deals with AFTER the adventure, that sounds cool.
And, importantly, it works with the Community Use policy for the most part.
Tim
Ugh. Disemboweled prophet template and sample statblock grew to 748 words already. And I need to add at least two or three sentences of description...Drejk, go ahead and add the descriptive text, then let it sit for a day. When you go back to revise it, I'm willing to bet that you can trim at least 75 words. I can usually count on cutting out at least 10% of my current word count when I make the first couple of editorial passes. That's true even when I'm writing rules text.
I cut away one ability and replaced it with off the shelf entrap, saving 40 words and rewrote a few things. Still 49 words for description is a bit low...
I believe this monster type was in your list of possible types, but just want to make sure before I dive into story...how do you feel about
Contributor
|
I believe this monster type was in your list of possible types, but just want to make sure before I dive into story...how do you feel about ** spoiler omitted ** theme-wise?
Hi, there!
Tim's mention of golems specifically related to flesh golems and how they were mentioned in Classic Horrors Revisited.
What we are really looking for with the monsters theme is more along the lines of what Paizo did with the Monster Codex and what they will be doing with the Inner Sea Monster Codex. Working with monsters as cultures, examining how they fit into the setting, and using the results of that examination to develop rules, "fluff", and fiction. We especially want folks to focus on monsters that don't get a lot of attention in other Campaign Setting books.
Golems are really just animated objects, so doing an article on them as standalone monsters isn't exactly what we're hoping for. However, you might consider writing an article that examines how golems are used by certain monster cultures and talk about how certain races create golems with peculiar or interesting features, providing some variant traits for existing golems or something. That could be something that players and GMs might find useful and fun to read.
I hope that clarifies the distinction we are making with respect to the this issue's theme. Issue #14 is not intended to be a bestiary (although it will certainly contain the usual bestiary pages). The idea is to expand on the idea of "monsters" and help these creatures become a more vibrant part of the setting.
Right, let's see...I think I currently have two ideas, including a rewrite of something submitted last issue. Is there any particular objection to fairly comedic entries?
|
Contributor
|
It depends on what you mean by "comedic", KC.
If you mean an entry that includes the use of humor, we have no objection to that. Humor is a good aspect of RPGs and the Pathfinder setting. (As a matter of fact, I was just listening to the Pathfinder Legends: Sins of the Saviors, today, and a few lines from that audio drama had me laughing out loud in my car on the way to work. ;) )
If, on the other hand, you mean an entry that is primarily silly and that doesn't really build on or enhance established Golarion lore, then that's not what we're looking for.
Make sense?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I think mine probably falls on the latter end, then. It's an "owl-" template, explaining the origin of the most well-known iteration, the "owlbears". :P
Possibly with some stuff about their history, but yeah, it's hard to make that super serious. I'll probably go with ettercaps or phase spiders or something. Love those guys.
|
PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I think Paris's explanation is good...hopefully that is helping further clarify how we are envisioning the Monster theme. If you are attending PaizoCon, though, please consider stopping by our table to talk more. We would be happy to chat, and explain it more!
Generally, consider it this way.....our themes have dealt with places up to this point. Everything in the issue relates to that place....for Ustalav, articles are all dealing with that region, and expand on content that Paizo has provided on Ustalav in their various products, However, we don't have articles that rehash that content. It takes the pieces, and creates something new!
Now, just apply that to a concept, instead of a region. That concept is monsters. The material to expand from? Monster Codex. The Advanced Race Guide. All the various snippets Paizo has dropped in the Inner Sea Guide, and in other Campaign Setting products and even in the APs. Magic and magic items used by particular monsterous races. New feats, spells, archetypes for those races. But....races that have not been fully developed by Paizo already. There is no need to go against canon here, and no need to redo what Paizo has already done.
Hope that helps more. If not, stop by at PaizoCon and let's discuss!
Tim
I'm fairly new to Wayfinder, but after reading up on it, it seems like a wonderful place for the community. I had some ideas for illustrations, but I didn't see that illustrations were needed on the original post. Does Wayfinder already have a set number of illustrators for the artwork?
If illustrations are allowed in the call for submissions, are we allowed to depict actual inhabitants of Golarion (i.e. Iconics, named Monsters, named NPC's) or do they need to be original/generic characters? For some reason in the back of my head, I read somewhere that because Wayfinder is Community Use, Golarion-specific things could be used.
Thanks in advance for your help.
|
PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
|
I'm fairly new to Wayfinder, but after reading up on it, it seems like a wonderful place for the community. I had some ideas for illustrations, but I didn't see that illustrations were needed on the original post. Does Wayfinder already have a set number of illustrators for the artwork?
If illustrations are allowed in the call for submissions, are we allowed to depict actual inhabitants of Golarion (i.e. Iconics, named Monsters, named NPC's) or do they need to be original/generic characters? For some reason in the back of my head, I read somewhere that because Wayfinder is Community Use, Golarion-specific things could be used.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Thanks for the kind words on Wayfinder! I am glad you are liking it!
As for art, we use an artist roster to make assignments for illustrations for the submissions we accept as articles. If you are interested in illustrating for Wayfinder, then point me towards your online gallery or website, so that I can look over your work. If I like what I see, and I think the styles are a good match for the issue or certain articles, then I will add you to the roster. We currently have a list of 20-30 artists right now. I am always looking for new talent.
I don't usually have the open call for submissions for ART. We did do that back around issue 6 or 7, where we did a separate call for art submissions to create a gallery article in the issue. That was OK, but the response was limited. Also, we are scaling back our efforts on these issues now....we can't always crank out 120 page issues....... It would kill us!
|
Contributor
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hi, Michael! The way we typically bring people into our editorial team is to have them start out as proofreaders for one issue, so we can get a sense of their editorial chops. If you're interested in helping out, please send us an e-mail. If you've already got some editing experience, you can tell us about it in the e-mail. We can probably add you to the proofreaders list for Wayfinder #14.
Cheers!
Paris
Wayfinder Assistant Editor-in-Chief
|
PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
DEADLINE: June 30, 2015, 11:59 Pacific.
Just wanting to put this friendly reminder out there for everyone.
To date, haven't received much for #14.....nine articles total so far.
Also, we will have a table at PaizoCon, and welcome everyone interested in Wayfinder to come on over to chat with us. If you've got an idea for an article that you want to discuss, we can do that!
|
|
Tim this will be my first Paizo Con and I am definitely stopping by that table. (I just joined PFS can you believe it? and GM'd my first session for the Portland club last night.)
I have an idea for a Tales from the Front article from a monsters perspective I shall pitch to you at the con. PS my fiction tale for Wafinder 13 that did't make the cut, was expanded, and will feature in Pathfinder Cronicler Vol 4 also coming out at the con!
With the last RL duties I'll have to surrender since I'll not be able to submit the 2 articles left... Hope the first submission will be chosen!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I wish I could go to Paizo-Con, and maybe I can make it next year...but for now I am still working/focusing on my monster-parasites article. It may again be the only article I submit this time around, but it will be the best darn article I can write, otherwise I won't submit it!
=)
Sorry for my lack of posts recently...haven't had much time for writing. I'll throw this idea out there, since if it's totally going in the wrong direction I'd rather put my energy into another story...but if you like the vague sound of it, I'll keep working at this.
If this sounds like it could be in line with the issue's theme, I'll keep working on it; but if it sounds totally out of whack, I'd appreciate some idea. I don't mean to be picking your brains for advance info--it's just that I'd hate to invest too much time in something that focuses on the wrong sort of monster!
I have about two submissions in mind, I just need to set aside time to write them up.
|
PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
|
Sorry for my lack of posts recently...haven't had much time for writing. I'll throw this idea out there, since if it's totally going in the wrong direction I'd rather put my energy into another story...but if you like the vague sound of it, I'll keep working at this.
** spoiler omitted **
If this sounds like it could be in line with the issue's theme, I'll keep working on it; but if it sounds totally out of whack, I'd appreciate some idea. I don't mean to be picking your brains for advance info--it's just that I'd hate to invest too much time in something that focuses on the wrong sort of monster!
Color me intrigued.....question is: can you do it in 1500 words?
I saw earlier someone asked about doing a monster as a PC race, and Timitius said that would be fine. What type of article category would that fall under? I've made the maftet as a PC class and was thinking of submitting that.
|
PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
|
I saw earlier someone asked about doing a monster as a PC race, and Timitius said that would be fine. What type of article category would that fall under? I've made the maftet as a PC class and was thinking of submitting that.
Not a specific category. (Hmmmm, we might need a new clever article series name now), but you'll need to pull it off in 750 or 1500 words. Go for it!
Awesome. I'll just mark it as "Monster PC Race" or something like that.
How did the table at PaizoCon go? get a lot of traffic?
One fiction sent! (two non-fictions in line :)
New playable races would be a cool :)
Racefinder? Way-people? FanFolk? (sub-type humanoid)? Playable(s)?
When we email something, what should we expect in terms of notification and/or feedback? Is there an acceptance/rejection email that gets sent out? Just curious.
|
PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
|
When we email something, what should we expect in terms of notification and/or feedback? Is there an acceptance/rejection email that gets sent out? Just curious.
So, we've been struggling on how exactly to do this. As we've grown, we have received more and more submissions. Sending out 120+ emails takes a lot of time, and often more time than we have. Moving forward, we are going to send out acceptance letters/email, and will likely continue to post here in the thread the names of all those who got something in. If you don't see your name on the list, and don't get an email....sorry, not this time.
I have offered in the past to reply to those who did not make it in, and provide feedback as to why, if I am asked to by the author. The problem becomes that many who get that feedback.....well, they don't take it very well. As a result, it leaves me soured to wanting to continue with feedback. I do want to try and figure out a way to give feedback, though....just without the arguments and insults.
Tim
|
PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
How did the table at PaizoCon go? get a lot of traffic?
One fiction sent! (two non-fictions in line :)
New playable races would be a cool :)
Racefinder? Way-people? FanFolk? (sub-type humanoid)? Playable(s)?
The first two days we really didn't have a table, so we hung out around the table when we could. The last two days, they moved us to a table and we camped out a bit more.
Honestly, I didn't spend as much time there as I should have. Garrett lived there, I think!
Not a lot of traffic, but we did have good conversations all through the con about Wayfinder! Live and learn.
|
|
I'm thinking about trying to get involved with Wayfinder sometime soon.
Is there a specific article category that it's hard to get articles for? If one wanted to help out with the scarcer categories?
Also, is the Inner Sea region preferred, as opposed to Distant Worlds, Distant Shores or Great Beyond? Because it would be easy to find untrodden ground on something like Arcadia, but is that something where Wayfinder doesn't generally go?
|
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
I have offered in the past to reply to those who did not make it in, and provide feedback as to why, if I am asked to by the author. The problem becomes that many who get that feedback.....well, they don't take it very well.
Bah, wimps! I've gotten rejected twelve times for a single issue!
And by Dragon magazine. And Super-Genius Games. I'm at least level 3 in Reject. It's all good. I write stuff to quiet the voices in my head so that I can sleep. :)
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
*sigh* Really, what is the point of asking for feedback if one is unprepared or unwilling to actually hear it?
I'm thinking about trying to get involved with Wayfinder sometime soon.
Is there a specific article category that it's hard to get articles for? If one wanted to help out with the scarcer categories?
Also, is the Inner Sea region preferred, as opposed to Distant Worlds, Distant Shores or Great Beyond? Because it would be easy to find untrodden ground on something like Arcadia, but is that something where Wayfinder doesn't generally go?
Arcadia and Distant Shores are still big unknowns. At the moment Distant Worlds and Great Beyond are better described than either of the former - and IIRC in the past Tim and the rest of the team expressed preference for expanding on existing regions/concepts than introducing completely new ones that will be invalidated once the Paizo finally goes there.
|
|
Arcadia and Distant Shores are still big unknowns. At the moment Distant Worlds and Great Beyond are better described than either of the former - and IIRC in the past Tim and the rest of the team expressed preference for expanding on existing regions/concepts than introducing completely new ones that will be invalidated once the Paizo finally goes there.
I guess I'm not really clear on where the line between the two goes. Aren't Distant Shores existing regions rather than completely new ones?
*sigh* Really, what is the point of asking for feedback if one is unprepared or unwilling to actually hear it?
Rejection and feedback are tough for the average person to take, especially with creative works.
You might think you will take feedback well but then emotion takes over.
I had a teacher that gave the whole class the brutal truth about our writing (hint: not very good) and since then I have been very receptive to feedback because we had it tough that semester. Rejection still hurts no matter how many times you've felt that twinge of discouragement.
That said, I don't think Wayfinder should get in the business of feedback. Let folks form a critique group or something.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
No, wait, see, my submission is genius. The problem is you didn't understand my submission.
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
No, wait, see, my submission is genius. The problem is you didn't understand my submission.
Clearly my rejected submission was too beautiful for this world, so sublime that it can only be understood by advanced celestial beings!
There is the whole 'words I used were not words I meant' thing, 'though, where you find out after the fact that what was perfectly clear in your head turned into indecipherable gibberish in the translation to the written word...
And, like a joke, once you have to explain it, the magic is gone.
|
Contributor
|
Arcadia and Distant Shores are still big unknowns. At the moment Distant Worlds and Great Beyond are better described than either of the former - and IIRC in the past Tim and the rest of the team expressed preference for expanding on existing regions/concepts than introducing completely new ones that will be invalidated once the Paizo finally goes there.I guess I'm not really clear on where the line between the two goes. Aren't Distant Shores existing regions rather than completely new ones?
Hi, Samy.
What we try to do with Wayfinder is focus our articles on material that have been covered in enough products that there is much less risk of contradicting canon that will be published in the future. That's why we usually do themes that connect to adventure paths that have been out for a good while. These precautions don't completely prevent us from treading on ground that Paizo decides to revisit (example: Council of Thieves --> Cheliax [Wayfinder #11] --> Hell's Rebels), but usually we rely on published books to provide our writers with seeds that they can build on without creating totally new concepts that are likely to be contradicted by something Paizo will be putting out in the future.
Distant Worlds and the Great Beyond have had books and some mentions in a few other sources, but they are huge areas and aren't likely to get much more in the way of specific treatment. As such, you're on slightly safer ground than you would be for Distant Shores, which is a book that we haven't even seen, yet. With so little information published, it's far too likely that something you pick to work on will be overridden in an official source.
Cheers!
Paris
Wayfinder Assistant Editor-in-Chief
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have offered in the past to reply to those who did not make it in, and provide feedback as to why, if I am asked to by the author. The problem becomes that many who get that feedback.....well, they don't take it very well. As a result, it leaves me soured to wanting to continue with feedback. I do want to try and figure out a way to give feedback, though....just without the arguments and insults.
One other thing for folks to keep in mind when making submissions (and when requesting feedback) is that while Wayfinder is a fan created product, we do treat it as any commercial product when it comes to dealing with article selection, editing, and layout.
If you request feedback and it is given, before you click that send button in reply, think to yourself "if this was a submission to a commercial product do I really want to send this to the person who will determine if my work gets accepted for this and future projects and, more importantly, determines if I get paid for my creation?" If you answer "yes" and send back an insulting or condescending reply, then freelance work (of any type, not just writing RPG material) is probably not your best choice of career move.
Rejection and feedback are tough for the average person to take, especially with creative works.You might think you will take feedback well but then emotion takes over.
True, but emotion taking over and attacking the person who gave the feedback are two separate things. Rant and rave as much as you want - elsewhere.
And being able to take feedback without immediately blowing up is an important skill. Think about the RPG Superstar contest. Folk that get through have to take the feedback and say nothing for at least the duration of the voting round, on pain of disqualification.
I actually think they should relax that rule a bit. It's intended to keep the author from "explaining" the work, right? So they should still allow nonspecific insults. If I want to call the judge a "dumb poophead", I should be able to without creating a dummy account! >:O