Blazing 9! (season 10 prep)


RPG Superstar™ General Discussion

551 to 595 of 595 << first < prev | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | next > last >>
Marathon Voter Season 9

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Kobold Cleaver wrote:

Let's see...I've sent them three emails since they accepted the pitch.

The first was some questions about the project. I never heard back from them on it, so I assumed they were dumb questions to be asking (they probably were). That was August 13th.

The second was the finished project. That was August 26th.

And then the confirmation email was sent September 12th, asking, "Are there any problems in the adventure that you'd like me to revise, or is it just not what you're looking for right now?" I haven't heard from them since.

It's only been eleven days since that email, so I guess I might just be getting antsy. If I still haven't heard anything in another week or so, I might shoot them another message.

Update: I never shot them another message, and it's a good thing, because I finally heard from them! Apparently things were hectic. That's cool. I'm just glad to know that my submission didn't make them quit the field and abandon their email address. ;D

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka motteditor

Hey Shodaw,

It's great to see people still posting items here. I know I haven't given as much feedback as I've wanted to...

Your templating looks pretty good, though I do see a few mistakes:
* the aura ("faint") should be lowercase.
* It looks like you're missing a space between the semicolon and CL.
* Your CL should probably be 1st as the three spells you're basing this on are all first level.
* In your price and cost, you want a comma before the first number (5,200 and 2,600); gp should be lowercase; and you want a space between the number and gp.
* You can't do superscripts on the message boards. I would either do UM in parentheses or you probably don't need to bother at all for the contest (man, it's been so long, I'm blanking -- I would go back and look at the most recent Top 32 and see what they did with non-CRB spells).
* I'm never really a fan of including skills in my magic items. Yes, sometimes they are there and are needed, but I think that's more the exception to the rule.
* You capitalized Knowledge correctly in the requirements, but then have it lowercase under the adviser power.

As for the item itself, I like the visual aspects you've included. It's based on a neat-looking item, and I like that the dropped scrolls turn to dust, as that's cinematic.

The powers seem fine, though I think this would be considered a bit of a "spell in a can" and a "Swiss army knife" in competition -- it doesn't really alter any of the basic spells very much and has four mostly unrelated abilities in the same item -- though I think you do a good job making them NOT feel that way. Now, obviously this is practice (as much for formatting and game language as anything else) and you don't want to give out your best ideas, so you don't necessarily want to give out your best ideas here...

As someone who's not a native English speaker, I think that's the area you're going to have to work on the most. I have a lot of respect for your efforts, since I certainly couldn't do game design in a foreign language, but unfortunately, some of it is really difficult to read. I'm not sure what "Not more than an exotic scroll which hold one chapter from a historical annal per seen" means, for example. I'd encourage you to find a friend/family member who writes English well (even if they're not a gamer) and have them look over your stuff. Plenty of non-native speakers do well in this industry, but unfortunately they really have to master English to do so.

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16 , Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Rusty Ironpants

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I posted an open call for writers over the 3PP forums if anyone is interested.

Grand Lodge

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

Hey Shodaw,

It's great to see people still posting items here. I know I haven't given as much feedback as I've wanted to...

Your templating looks pretty good, though I do see a few mistakes:
* the aura ("faint") should be lowercase.
* It looks like you're missing a space between the semicolon and CL.
* Your CL should probably be 1st as the three spells you're basing this on are all first level.
* In your price and cost, you want a comma before the first number (5,200 and 2,600); gp should be lowercase; and you want a space between the number and gp.
* You can't do superscripts on the message boards. I would either do UM in parentheses or you probably don't need to bother at all for the contest (man, it's been so long, I'm blanking -- I would go back and look at the most recent Top 32 and see what they did with non-CRB spells).
* I'm never really a fan of including skills in my magic items. Yes, sometimes they are there and are needed, but I think that's more the exception to the rule.
* You capitalized Knowledge correctly in the requirements, but then have it lowercase under the adviser power.

As for the item itself, I like the visual aspects you've included. It's based on a neat-looking item, and I like that the dropped scrolls turn to dust, as that's cinematic.

The powers seem fine, though I think this would be considered a bit of a "spell in a can" and a "Swiss army knife" in competition -- it doesn't really alter any of the basic spells very much and has four mostly unrelated abilities in the same item -- though I think you do a good job making them NOT feel that way. Now, obviously this is practice (as much for formatting and game language as anything else) and you don't want to give out your best ideas, so you don't necessarily want to give out your best ideas here...

As someone who's not a native English speaker, I think that's the area you're going to have to work on the most. I have a lot of respect for your efforts, since I certainly couldn't do game design in a foreign...

Thank you for your opinions and corrections! Yeah got to say I put down this item in a hurry (which I directly translate into English from the original languages, definitely need more polishes), for next time I will be more carefully on words and format of my writing. Thanks again for your comments!

Marathon Voter Season 9

Hey, guys, is it okay if I post a spell here? I feel like I've neglected this place. My duergar wizard is tired of dealing with the weather, and she's trying to concoct some way to avoid it while traveling through hot savannas.

The Grisgol's Highly Practical Wagon:

School conjuration (creation); Level bard 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, summoner 5, witch 4

Casting Time 10 minutes

Components V, S, F (a physical wagon or carriage and either a bag of holding, handy haversack, or portable hole, see text)

Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)

Effect extradimensional haven, up to one 5-ft. cube/level (up to 10-ft. wide) (S)

Duration 2 hours/level (D)

Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no

You infuse an ordinary wagon or carriage with extradimensional space. The wagon itself changes, as subtly as possible, to resemble a closed mobile residence wagon. There is a single door at the front, and a trapdoor in the roof, both plainly visible.

The interior of the wagon resembles the inside of a well-supplied carriage. The floor is level and clean. Those inside the wagon are not immune to what happens outside the wagon—they can hear events on the outside, albeit somewhat muffled by the walls, and bumps in the road shake those inside equivalently. There is a small woodstove, an icebox, four bunks, a trestle table, and eight stools. The front of the wagon has a reclining chair, a window, and a pair of levers that magically manipulate the reins outside.

The woodstove produces no smoke. The icebox generates food and drink ever day as if the caster had cast create food and water at CL -4. The temperature inside the hut is 70° F if the exterior temperature is between 0° and 100° F. An exterior temperature below 0° or above 100° lowers or raises the interior temperature on a 1-degree-for-1 basis. The hut also provides protection against the elements, such as rain, dust, and sandstorms, but any force that would destroy the external wagon ends the spell and expels all occupants.

The spell does not create horses. The exterior wagon gains 1 point of Hardness per 3 caster levels and is not otherwise modified. The windows in the front are not visible to the outside—to those looking on, the reins appear unattended, and the horses are steering themselves.

Casting this spell requires you to use an existing extradimensional object as a "foundation"—anyone inside the wagon is technically inside the object for the purposes of utilizing other extradimensional items. This means that bringing a portable hole inside a wagon space created with a bag of holding is as dangerous as it would be to simply place the portable hole inside the bag itself. If a rift to the Astral Plane is created through such interactions, those inside the wagon are never harmed, though they are still sent to the Astral Plane.

Marathon Voter Season 9

Shodaw wrote:
So this is my first item, originally designed as a oriental magical trinket for my Mage the ascension character.
Kobold Cleaver wrote:

I'll get to this within a day or so!

So it was "so". So sue me.

Well, motteditor pretty much said everything that needed to be said, but I'll add my grammatical nitpicking to the mix. I will repeat motteditor's statement that you're doing really well for a non-native English speaker, and I have huge regard for anyone who learns a creative craft in another language. Many of these problems I'm about to point out could easily be made by a native speaker.

Critique:
* "aide" is different from "aid", and specifically refers to an assistant (as opposed to something helpful). That would make some sense here, but I wanted to be sure that's what you meant.

* I would say "as a handy aide", or even just "as an aide". The "their" feels slightly out-of-place—a bit more specific than it needs to be. I think a nonspecific determiner is better here. But that's a huge personal nitpick.

* "is made by dozens of" should be "is made of dozens of", or "is made up of dozens of". "Made by" more implies the process of creation than the composition. For example, a McDonald's chicken nugget isn't made by plastic, it's made of plastic.

* "Not more than an exotic scroll which hold one chapter from a historical annal per seen." I'm not sure what you were trying to say here, and my suggestion is to simplify the sentence. It looks like you're getting at two points: It looks ordinary, and it contains historical annals. You probably don't need the first, though, so I would just cut the sentence down to the second.

* I think "pull off one piece of slip" could be shortened. I would just say "one slip". Also, if you can, try more specific language—in this case, it sounds like you're ripping, tearing or breaking the slip away, so use one of those verbs.

Shodaw wrote:
and cast it on the ground,.

Some basic changes recommended—the sentence should end there.

Shodaw wrote:
The bamboo slips will turn into fine dust once it dropped, but they immediately manifest one of the following effects as user`s wish of the user's choice.

I would flip this sentence. "When dropped, the bamboo slips immediately manifest one of the following effects of the user's choice, turning into fine dust after."

I fiddled some with the structure of that sentence to suit my own preferences, of course, but that's the basic idea. I think the "turns into dust" part is less important and should be put behind the main point.

Shodaw wrote:
Advisor: a[ooc]An ethereal scholar whispersing obscure knowledge to the user, allowing him to make a single kKnowledge (history, nobility or geography) check with a +5 bonus within 3 minute. The scholar will leave after once it provided help.

I think the scholar's leaving is redundant, since you stated a clear duration and one-time-only effect. The main changes I made to the first sentence were because, "A scholar whispering obscure knowledge to the user," doesn't have a verb and can't form a complete clause.

Now, you could edit the sentence to work if you eliminated the comma and connected the two clauses. "An ethereal scholar whispering obscure knowledge to the user allows him to make [a Knowledge check.]" But I think that turns out a bit clunky.

Shodaw wrote:
Servant: An invisible force emerges and helps the user with minor tasks, as per the unseen servant spell, for 3 hours.
Shodaw wrote:
Soldier: A ghostly warrior clad in ancient armor (with the abilities and gears of a superstitious mercenary, NPC Codex) comes forth to the user, and will loyally serve him for 1 minute before disappearing. it disappears after 1 minute

So I've noticed a major recurring grammatical error you're making. If a verb has a single subject doing the thing, there's always an "s" at the end. A dog barks. The dogs bark. The soldier disappears. The soldiers disappear. The servant emerge[/b]s[/b]. The servants emerge. You aren't getting it wrong every time, but I did notice it popping back up every now and then and thought I'd call attention to it.

Shodaw wrote:
Weapon: An antique-looking masterwork longsword appears in the hand of the user., which will It is swiftly worn into the useless scraps after 3 minutes of use.

Pretty much whenever you use a noun, you need an article like "the" or "a", except when you don't, like with "useless scraps", because English is a loose cannon that doesn't play by the rules. Here's a guide to article usage.

The reason I edited out the "which will" is that it actually appeared to be referring to the user's hand. "The dog bit the man, which barked." That sentence makes it look like the man is barking. "The sword appeared in the hand of the user, which quickly wore away into dust." Oh no! What a bad sword! :P

"Which", when added after a noun or statement, is generally taken to be referring to that noun or statement, which is pretty hard to keep track of sometimes in more complex sentences.

Shodaw wrote:
After 10 bamboo slips were have been* pulled out from it, the bamboo chronicles will** lose its their*** magical propertiesy and are rendered generally unreadable.

*This is the "present perfect". I would avoid past tense entirely in magic item writing.

**And when you're using past or present perfect tense, you don't need to use future tense.
***There are multiple chronicles, so I'd say treat them like a plural noun.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Liberty's Edge Star Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9

I would like some of this thread's honored readers to review a creature of mine before I send it to Wayfinder

If you feel like sinking your teeth in it, please PM me. I will send you the critter for harsh truth :-)

Scarab Sages

1 person marked this as a favorite.

If you want to PM me I can read over it next week Raven, but I'm honestly a lot stronger on the Flavor side than the Crunch side.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Curtisin

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Time for a bit of self-promotion here. My blogpost on Illusion magic is now up on the Fat Goblin Games website: Fat Goblin Games

Liberty's Edge

Seeing as how I have not posted any items on this thread for a while, here is a new item that I would not mind having critiqued:

Scentless Bundle
Aura faint abjuration; CL 1st
Slot none; Price 100 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
This small bundle of moist, odorless green moss is wrapped in damp cloth to protect it. Whenever the bundle is consumed as a full-round action, the creature that consumed the bundle produces no odors. This provides a +10 circumstance bonus to stealth versus tracking attempts, and an additional +5 circumstance bonus versus creatures that have the scent ability. In addition, creatures with the scent universal monster quality do not automatically detect creatures with their scent ability. Instead, they will detect residual odors hanging around the person within 1d4+1 rounds. These effects lasts for 10 minutes. If the bundle is left out of its wrappings for more than two hours, it crumbles to dust and is destroyed.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, hide from animals; Cost 50 gp

Contributor

Hi Jace! I'm a novice, so have some grains of salt on hand for this feedback.

Spoiler:

Name: It fits once I read the description, but doesn't immediately inform me of the item's purpose. Rather than scentless, an adjective, perhaps a portmanteau of scent plus a verb - something to play up the item's active effect a bit more. Potentially switch the more generic "bundle" for something about the moss, and leave the bundle part for the description below.

Description: This is a cool, weird little item, and I think eating moss is an interesting way to produce this effect. Similar to the name, I think you could do more to play up how unique this is in the first sentence. Maybe strengthen the strangeness of the "odorless" part.

Syntax: A few things to tighten up.
Second sentence: Some iteration of "A creature who consumes the bundle as a full-round action produces no odors" gets the same message across but uses fewer words.
Third/fourth sentences: These are a little murky. The third sentence seems to indicate that monsters with scent totally lose that ability entirely; the fourth sentence clarifies a bit, but references "the person." It's fairly obvious you mean "the person who ate the bundle," but it could be more explicit. That's something I struggle with in my writing - concisely differentiating between creatures benefiting or being negatively impacted by an effect in a way that feels like the Official Paizo Writing Style.

Mechanics:
Bonuses: Looking at Stealth, there's no mention of tracking attempts, but the scent universal monster ability does call out tracking by scent; this would probably be better phrased as "the DC of Wisdom or Survival checks made to track the creature..." Also, the descriptive text as-is doesn't support the blanket bonus against being tracked - the bundle doesn't seem like it would prevent snapping twigs, leaving tracks, etc. I'd change the description or cut the bonuses not related to scent.

Fourth sentence: "Instead, they will detect residual odors hanging around the person within 1d4+1 rounds." I'm unclear from the text how this would work in-game. My assumption is that once a creature with scent nears the bundle consumer (using distances called out in the scent ability: 30ft, 60ft if downwind, etc), they'll detect the bundle consumer in 1d4+1 rounds.

General mechanics: Mechanical finesse is not my forte, but here's some gut reactions. This might be too big a bonus for such an inexpensive item, although it does have a limited duration. Might be better as a smaller, longer-lasting bonus. Also not sure if the "residual odors" text needs to be tightened up, or if this should be a circumstance or alchemical bonus. The latter probably depends on whether it's made via Craft Wondrous Item or Craft Alchemy - that distinction could be another way to add pizazz to the description.


Overall: I quite like the idea of this item! I immediately pictured someone being stalked through a maze, Jurassic Park kitchen style, then pulling out one of these bundles and chowing down while the monster's nostrils flare in confusion. I think the execution of it needs tweaking; unfortunately I don't feel skilled enough myself to offer many concrete solutions.
Hopefully someone more experienced can offer further feedback!

The Exchange

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I really want to create something unique for the contest so here's something I hope gets me out of round 1:

Necklace of Abadar's Justice or "A Gift for Thieves"
Aurastrong Transmutation; CL 1st
Slot neck or wrist; Price 200 gp; Weight.5lb.
Description
A long precious metal necklace that has the vague appearance of a braided rope, these necklaces are often placed within treasure chests or in loot piles that contain much more expensive items. At first glance this seems like a simple magical item and when worn the necklace does grant a +1 bonus to a single random physical attribute. In reality, this is an insidious ruse. Once worn on the neck or wrapped around the wrist, the necklace slowly begins to tighten until it either strangles the wearer or amputates the limb that it's wrapped around. This process occurs so slowly, usually over 12 hours, that some wearers only realize what's happening until it's too late. The necklace can only be removed by destroying it, either by cutting or tearing it off the wearer. The difficulty of removing the necklace depends on the strength of material used to create it. The damage caused by this item is lethal and after 12 Hours of continuous wear, it causes 1d3 damage per round.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, mage hand; Cost 150 gp

Scarab Sages

Nasty. In the past I think cursed items have been frowned upon, but that is certainly a quality one.

The Exchange

Belabras wrote:
Nasty. In the past I think cursed items have been frowned upon, but that is certainly a quality one.

I don't consider it cursed, lol. Merely...offensive.

Marathon Voter Season 9

The major problem I see is that this item already exists. It's a necklace of strangulation. Another issue is that "anti-thief" items are a fairly common idea in the contest—that's not your fault, but I don't know if this would stand out how you want it to. I'd look to the Necklace of Strangulation for tips on how to write the strangulation effects, though.

RPG Superstar tries to stay fairly setting-neutral, so I would avoid the name and go for something more specific (or just stick with A Gift For Thieves). There are also some grammatical errors, which I'll go into because they're what I'm good at spotting.

Daniel Monaco wrote:
A long precious metal necklace that has the vague appearance of a braided rope, these necklaces are often placed within treasure chests or in loot piles that contain much more expensive items.

While I've never been good at explaining grammatical errors, I'll try to do it via an example:

A handsome kobold with a knack for cleaving, these kobolds are deadly creatures. The first clause refers to a single thing—this necklace—and the second refers to many things—these necklaces. The two pronouns should agree. The first three sentences are sort of messy, and I would consider merging a few of them. They're also contradictory—you repeatedly call the Gift a necklace, even though it can also be a bracelet.

I would just cut "In reality, this is an insidious ruse." It doesn't add anything. This is definitely a cursed item, so we can work out that it's not a good thing to wear.

Daniel Monaco wrote:
The difficulty of removing the necklace depends on the strength of material used to create it.

We were told it's made of metal, so I would scrap this and give us a real value.

The Exchange

Hey thanks for the tips, I was unaware of the Necklace of Strangulation. Much appreciated.

The Exchange

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Well that does it for the idea I had last year, here's me moving on to a new idea:
The Gourmet's Band
Aura strong Transmutation; CL5th
Slot waist Price 1,500GP; Weight 2 lbs
Description
Invented by a famous mage who was also a well known glutton, it allows it's wearer to consume a substance, any substance, endlessly for two hours with no ill effects. Once per day, the wearer of a Gourmet's Band can activate the belt and then gains the ability to eat, swallow, and digest any substance they can fit in their mouth. While this protects the wearer from the ill effects of toxins or poisons, it will not save them from the will saves required to eat very disgusting or foul smelling substances
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, purify food and drink; Cost 900

The Exchange

Ring of the Hidden Predator
Aura strong Transmutation; CL7th
Slot ring Price 90,000 GP; Weight .5 lbs
Description
Originating in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings and in other places where Ulfen is the predominant human culture, these rings allow a werewolf to pass undetected and to avoid the horrific physical changes that come from their affliction but at a terrible price. When worn, the afflicted never suffers from the horrors of lycanthropy and they will always be detected as fully human. However, as long as the ring is equipped they will also have a -3 to all Will saves.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, beast shape IV; Cost 85,000 GP

The Exchange

Here's an idea, an item that is also a ghostly haunt:
The Haunted Aria of Lady Greer
Aura strong Enchantment; CL5th
Slot none Price 2,000 gp; Weight .5 lbs
Description
Despite appearing to be nothing but a simple set of sheet music, it is in fact a cursed item of terrible power. Written nearly a century ago, the aria was the last surviving artifact of a famed Taldoran composer who died during it's first performance. Now the song itself is haunted and all known copies of it's sheet music contain a powerful haunt. Singing the song in it's entirety can afflict all those who hear it with a powerful haunt.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, charm person mass; Cost 1,500GP

The Haunted Aria CR5
Alignment NE, Persistant Item Bound Haunt (up to 35 feet)
Caster Level 5th
NoticePerception or Spellcraft DC 15
hp 22
Trigger Use of haunted item
Reset: 1 week

Effect Those afflicted by this haunt suddenly feel the terrible desire to harm themselves, causing 1d6 of dmg every round that the song is active. This damage also harms the singer but only at 1d3 per round.
Destruction Stop the singer from performing or burn his sheet music.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka motteditor

Hey Daniel,

A few thoughts for you on your items.

As far as your use of the template goes:
* The names of the schools of magic in the aura should be lowercase.
* It looks like you're missing a space between CL and the number.
* You want a period after lbs.; however if you're doing 1/2 lb., it should be singular (and a fraction, not .5).
* You're inconsistent with your gp presentations. You want a space between the number and gp and gp should be lowercase.
* "Requirements" and "Cost" should both be bold.
* The cost is one-half the price (with weapons and armor an exception, as that adds in the price of the masterwork item as well, and that's not halved).

Now, some general thoughts. These are focused toward the Superstar contest (even though I don't think it's going to come back), and not necessarily all magic item design, though they're rules I continue to adhere to in my own design. I'd recommend looking at Sean's Consolidated Advice, which remains useful for almost all design.

While you don't take it to extremes, you do include some back story in your items. Certainly some items do have stories, such as where they were first made -- even some of Paizo's do this, though those are more often in campaign setting books and AP entries -- but the classic magic items (such as you'd find in the Core Rulebook) tend to be a quick description of the item and then what it does. Which is what most players and GMs care about.

You seem to like to have drawbacks in your items. That's OK, but again if you're considering Superstar items, I'd steer away from that. Advancement was based on popular vote, and people are less likely to vote for an item that will hurt their character somehow. There are exceptions, but I would avoid drawbacks almost all the time.

With your final post, cursed items aren't considered wondrous items, and thus it would have been disqualified. I would be careful not to design something that isn't being sought -- most of the design work seems to be in the new haunt, which isn't what the Round 1 of Superstar was measuring. I like the idea of playing off a haunting tune, but I would look to have it be an instrument or something that makes those who hear it more susceptible to haunts or perhaps makes it so any haunt someone enters after listening to the instrument because bound to them (or something along those lines). Perhaps it could block the effects of bardic performances, because you can't get the haunting tune out of your head. Also, as far as naming it goes, as one of the contest's former judges opined: "If your character was not in one of Gary Gygax's campaigns you can't name things after them." Even then, names like Nystul and Bigby have been dropped from the game, so adding in new names won't get much favor from Superstar voters.


On the naming thing, so you can understand some of the thinking behind not naming people/places etc.

When you add a name of a person/thing/place which is part of a world lore (Golarion's or even just a generic name), you are unintentionally doing two things...

a) potentially adding extra work on the GM plate to look up who/what the named thing is and to incorporate that lore into their game, and, sublimily saying to GM/players - "Unless your campaign consumes the lore of this thing, you are not encouraged to use this in your game".

b) You will find that the voters tend to get very tired of names of the form "The X of Y" and "X of the Y", so lose from the name of your item the last three words, leaving the cleaner and simpler item name "The Haunted Aria".

THAT name makes me go "ohh, what does that do?",

"The Haunted Aria of Lady Greer" makes me go "who is that? and... oh god alliterative/rhyming naming!"

So by adding the who/what/where to the name, you are actually taking the focus away from the item itself.

I hope that makes sense.

Marathon Voter Season 9

Hey, it's my favorite crowd of game-designers-who-I-don't-have-to-pay-for-advice! Still prepping for "season 10"? If you think about it, life is one big preparation for a "season 10" that will never come. Well, that's enough chitchat. I need advice on something.

I, among several others, have submitted our queries to a publisher and been accepted. I then submitted my work, and over the last couple weeks, completed it. However, no deadline for the work completion was ever given. Because of that, I don't know when to expect, well, payment to come in. IRL, we're at a "can we afford toilet paper" place right now, so it'd be really nice to have some idea of when the money is coming—it's not a ton, but it's enough that it might make a difference. Is it seen as impolite to ask the publisher for a rough timeframe?

Scarab Sages

Kobold - I've certainly struggled with the same thing. The one time I got to the point where I was really worried about payment I sent the client a paypal invoice only to receive a reply that they always pay freelancers at the end of the month. I was pretty green so I ended up feeling like a heel for having been worried and sending a nag invoice.

Honestly, it is easier for art. I just ask for half on approval of roughs, and the final payment for receipt of the finished work. I don't worry about it so much with trusted clients, but for new, that has always worked out for me.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka motteditor

I would ask the publisher (ideally you should have a contract that spells it out before you submit your work, though I realize that doesn't always happen).

I've had people pay me shortly after turnover (sometimes within a matter of days); at the start of the month the piece is published; or sometimes after publication (for ones where I'm getting a percentage of sales, which typically pay monthly).

I obviously can't speak for everybody but -- while I'm usually on the payee end -- I know I certainly wouldn't have been upset had someone asked me for an expected payment time with our Villain Codex projects, for which I was doling out money (as you know).

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Curtisin

Daniel Moncao - One quick thing to note as well, because this is something that people will call out is on your "Ring of the Hidden Predator ". It's a ring, but you're using "Craft Wondrous Item" - You should use "Forge ring".

Kobold Cleaver - I'd ask, since it depends on the publisher. Some pay right away, some pay after it's been published and some a month after it's been published (assuming it's not just royalties). If in doubt, check the contract, if it's not there, ask them.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Tothric

Yay this forum isn't dead, despite the fact that I don't' troll these webpages too often anymore. I need to get back into that habit.

Here is a question for you all. how do you find the time among all your demanding projects and time frames and schedules and real-life demands to troll forums?

Because I know you are ALL busy. And once I started working pretty seriously with this publisher, My free-time disappeared like candy on Halloween!

Grand Lodge Contributor , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

I like to maintain a presence here on the boards and stay in touch with people I know from RPGSS and Swords for Hire projects, but I don't have time to post as much as I used to. I still read discussions and blog posts on here whenever I have the time, though.

Who's going to PaizoCon, by the way? (*raises hand*)

Scarab Sages

First time going for me. Hope to meet y'all!

Marathon Voter Season 9

I sure hope I can! Money's been tight. It's in May, right?

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16 , Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Rusty Ironpants

@Mikko, I will be at PaizoCon.

@Kobold, when agreeing to do work for a publisher, I recommend determining up front when and how payment should be made. Upon turnover or upon publication are the two most common terms I have seen.

Liberty's Edge

Could anybody give advice for designing powerful/expensive magic items? Advice for both Superstar and otherwise would be useful.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16 , Dedicated Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka Petty Alchemy

1 person marked this as a favorite.

@Jace: Always keep in mind what your item is competing against, particularly by comparing against similarly priced staple items.

Ex. Is your item ~36k? That's +6 to a main stat. It's okay if the main stat item is more attractive for the first purchase, so long as your item doesn't compete for the same slot (and thus is always passed on). As such it's very difficult to make a Headband for a caster type character that would see use over the +6 to caster stat headbands.

So for high level gear, come up with powerful unique effects that money can't normally buy. And if you are competing for a popular item slot, recognize that, and maybe include some of the flat bonus people normally use that slot for.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Curtisin

4 people marked this as a favorite.

Just popping in for a quick check. Still keeping the forum open, and still sad about no RPG Superstar. :(

If any of you are interested, I know that John Reyst from D20 Publishing (the ones with the d20pfsrd website) has put up a post looking for authors, on Facebook

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Curtisin

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Open call from D20Pfsrd Publishing is up!

Go check it out HERE!

Scarab Sages

Do the folks going to Paizocon have a slot Sat or Sun afternoon they'd like to meet up?

Scarab Sages

It was great to meet Russ, Kobold, and Mikko and finally put faces to names. Hope y'all had as great a time as I did!

Grand Lodge Contributor , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Belabras wrote:
It was great to meet Russ, Kobold, and Mikko and finally put faces to names. Hope y'all had as great a time as I did!

It was great to meet you too! I'm sorry I was pretty tired at the time (and no longer very articulate), but it was great to put a face to a name. Mike W, Jacob, and I talked a bit about Here Be Monsters (or whatever the name of the contest will be), and will be doing quite a bit of brainstorming in the near future, and I'll try to remember to keep people still reading this thread updated on what we're planning. :)

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka motteditor

Belabras wrote:
It was great to meet Russ, Kobold, and Mikko and finally put faces to names. Hope y'all had as great a time as I did!

I guess I'm just chopped liver ... :p

Scarab Sages

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:
Belabras wrote:
It was great to meet Russ, Kobold, and Mikko and finally put faces to names. Hope y'all had as great a time as I did!
I guess I'm just chopped liver ... :p

Hardly! Blame the omission on my sleep deprived brain. My memory hasn't been the same since that Mi-Go in the delve.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka motteditor

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Ha. I don't recall what you're talking about there. Must've failed a save or something.

Marathon Voter Season 9

It was great seeing you guys! Sorry that I didn't manage to encounter Mikko (unless my memory, too, has failed me as the result of some Cosmo-inflicted trauma block).

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16 , Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Rusty Ironpants

Yes, It was nice to meet you guys in person.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Curtisin

1 person marked this as a favorite.

For anyone still keeping an eye on this particular thread, and hoping for RPGSSuperstar, you should check out the Designfinder Contest 2018! It can be found here Designfinder Contest

Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

It's been a long time BUT...

RPG SuperStar 2020

Seems to be licensed by Paizo (i.e. Paizo is onboard but not "running it" per se).

1 to 50 of 595 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Archive / Paizo / RPG Superstar™ / General Discussion / Blazing 9! (season 10 prep) All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.