Topic: That would be cool to have an offical zine again. [Poll]

[5th Knight of Xar]

Quote:
"1. Core Law = published
2. Spell Law = published
3. Creature Law 1
4. Treasure Law
5. Creature Law 2 (if they are still publishing the creature creation material separate)
6. The companion book that jdale mentioned that is written."
End quote

Treasure Law is next out, not Creature Law 1, unless I've been deceived.

[pastaav]

I think there is a lot of meta-talk here about IP and the label as official material but less about what people really want. The Rolemaster Quartly issues, for instance, had only optional material in them and were written by people like Cory and Robert. I liked them but must admit that I seldom have used them at the gaming table. Going hunting through an RMQ hunting for a random magic item, monster etc is a possibility but if I am looking for something premade then the Guild Adventurer has often been of more interest.

If I get the choice between new RMQ material or an update of Channeling Companion for RMU the choice is very easy. If a new zine had content like the Guild Adventurer, I would be much more interested. Provided the target level is not too high. Avoiding the DnD trap of adventure targeting level 1 characters but having a narrative like the players are great heroes is good, but with Guild Adventurer you had level 16 adventures and it is too high in my opinion. If player characters are approaching level 20 in my experience you don't need filler episodes but are looking at ways to wrap the campaign.

[Cory Magel]

The Rolemaster Quartly issues, for instance, had only optional material in them and were written by people like Cory and Robert. I liked them but must admit that I seldom have used them at the gaming table. Going hunting through an RMQ hunting for a random magic item, monster etc is a possibility but if I am looking for something premade then the Guild Adventurer has often been of more interest.

That's likely good feedback. I wonder if gathering up a group of writers each for quarter and giving them each a small portion of a larger quarterly project would work. You could even change this up each time so that they have longer to come up with material and so that you don't keep getting on person's angle on those things. This way no one person has the burden of trying to write the whole thing. ICE could ask for specific things (a fully fleshed out NPC, magical items, small plot hooks, etc). Not sure if that would complicate payment or not though, but I suspect the way it works now it should be easy enough to automate that even though multiple people might be involved.

If I get the choice between new RMQ material or an update of Channeling Companion for RMU the choice is very easy.

My suspicion is we're going to see the various expansions revamped or updated first. That makes far more sense for ICE than trying to come up with frequent smaller projects. Not entirely sure how that would work. I have no qualms at all about doing that for the Channeling Companion, but I wouldn't be able to do it on my own at this point. I'm pretty sure I'd want one of the ICE guys to go over it to see what might need to change from an RMU viewpoint. Of course there's always the chance we might be able to include material that didn't make it into the last one. I had a Channeling Monk variant written up (that went into the Guild Companion). Of course that might make more sense to go into a Martial Arts Companion revamp (and then at that point might not fit what ICE would want the three various realm Monks to look like). The nice thing about the more recent companions is they were written by a much small number of people and, therefore, are likely easier to work about agreements again.

As an aside, that Channeling Monk variant ending up going into the Guild Companion at the time of the Channeling Companion's creation is a good example of why using material from 'unofficial' publications like that it a good side source for RM users. For the most part, the only thing 'unofficial' about it is there wasn't enough space to include it (and there really wasn't any time to to see if we wanted to juggle content). It didn't go through an editing pass on the old ICE's end, but then I can't think of anything they had us change from that standpoint anyhow.

If a new zine had content like the Guild Adventurer, I would be much more interested. Provided the target level is not too high. Avoiding the DnD trap of adventure targeting level 1 characters but having a narrative like the players are great heroes is good, but with Guild Adventurer you had level 16 adventures and it is too high in my opinion. If player characters are approaching level 20 in my experience you don't need filler episodes but are looking at ways to wrap the campaign.

For more full on adventures I wonder if having whoever writes it stat it out for multiple levels would be feasible in certain cases. Create foes that have stats included for starting levels, mid levels, and high level if the adventure is suited to it.

[GrumpyOldFart]

If player characters are approaching level 20 in my experience you don't need filler episodes but are looking at ways to wrap the campaign.

Even if not, by that time they all have immense backstories that need to be taken into account. They're likely to all be famous nationwide, if not worldwide. In other words, they are the kind of people who provide the setting for an adventure. You can't really take a setting generated at random and have it fit in the world they are part of, because it leaves out some major movers and shakers, i.e. the party members themselves.

[B Hanson]

Our high level "Legends of Shadow World" worked great and play tested well. 50th level PCs with adventures that were significant but didn't really alter any canon issues.

[jdale]

At least, in my own opinion, writers will hopefully have less concerns now that the IP is in the hands of people who I believe can be trusted to act ethically and professionally.

Also, for anyone who wants royalties rather than a flat upfront rate (you can pick either), they can be paid automatically by Drivethrurpg so you aren't even depending on ICE for that.

[Cory Magel]

Also, for anyone who wants royalties rather than a flat upfront rate (you can pick either), they can be paid automatically by Drivethrurpg so you aren't even depending on ICE for that.

Yep, this is how the Channeling Companion is setup.  I'd rather earn based on the popularity of my work.  Less risk for ICE if it's not, more reward for me if it is.
Also, you can transfer your balance to PayPal if you don't want to spend it at DriveThru.

[pastaav]

Some ideas from me:
* Sample rooms with some challenges that players need to overcome
* Sample encounters that give a scenario for using some RMU mechanics in a ready-to-run fashion
* Sample rooms/locations that feature some unique/interesting that you can drop into your own adventure.

This is material that I find very useful at the gaming table without somebody having to commit to making a full adventure. It is also material I could imagine contributing to myself if Ironcrown start to make a zine.

[kwickham]

I see a some "who is going to write the magazine". Maybe one section of a zine is already written.

Here is one small idea for a section.

I don't know how many people who bought Core Law and Spell Law come to this forum.

It would be nice in an issue or section of a magazine that has answers to important answers to GM and player questions that the development team already posted on this forum, except in PDF format organized and categorized.

Sure, that stuff might already be here, but often it's buried. Some of that stuff could be added to a magazine. The work for this type of content is already being done and or already exists. The developer could receive at least a little royalty for responding to some questions and creating more official content.

I suppose the developer replies are official commentary. Instead of posting the person who asked the question's  or statement's post, you could write your own title that introduces your reply or commentary—in that way there is no royalty issue for publishing other's posts.

This is just for example. I wrote a post a few days ago "The prime requisites are not in the game anymore?" https://ironcrown.co.uk/ICEforums/index.php?topic=20961.0

If someone posted an official reply, they could reuse the answer of the that reply in a magazine, expand upon, or  elaborate upon their reply. Turn that reply into a magazine paragraph or article, here is an example of how a article title might replace a question. The Latin filler is used for where text might explain an official response.

Just pick out some important replies that already exist.

Cite the forum, of course, as the source.

Why there is not longer any prime requisites?
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