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Post by apeloverage on Mar 16, 2008 6:13:24 GMT -5
I've been thinking of making a print version of my tables collection ( www.apolitical.info/webgame/tables ) to sell. If I did it, I'd alter it for Tunnels & Trolls rules, rather than being systemless as it is now (for those tables which needed altering). I'd distribute it myself, rather than through Lulu or a similar company (because they don't do recycled paper). Perhaps through my eBay account as well. I'd put a pdf of the text on the site for download, so there wouldn't be any 'extra material' in it other than such things as illustrations, the index and contents page etc. Feedback? |
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Post by mahrundl on Mar 16, 2008 8:15:45 GMT -5
It'd be a very useful book, for those who like tables. I do, although I prefer to make up my own for many things within my games. Also, many people prefer hardcopy to electronic format, so there's certainly potential for it to be very popular.
Would I buy a hardcopy? If money were (effectively) no object, then yes, without a doubt. Right now? No, but not because I don't think that it would be a worthwhile purchase.
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Fenris
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Post by Fenris on Mar 16, 2008 9:22:57 GMT -5
I'm not sure how much call there is for a collection of tables for use with T&T. I'd think you'd be more likely to increase sales of the tables if they were formatted for use with the d20 system... as has been noted, us T&T'ers like to tinker with the system to suit our personal ideas of "how things work." D20 players might be more inclined to use 3rd party charts and tables, I would think. Alternatively, perhaps all of these charts and tables combined implies it's own system? Perhaps you have "your own game" in there somewhere, and in a year we'll all be posting at "Vin's Apeloverage RPG Forum Board."  |
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Post by apeloverage on Mar 16, 2008 10:29:24 GMT -5
I thought about making my own, very chart-driven game...but there are a lot of homebrewed fantasy rules out there!
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Fenris
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Post by Fenris on Mar 16, 2008 11:19:35 GMT -5
Yeah, but you know you love the Hackmaster and the Rolemaster. The idea of contributing your own game of that type is almost intoxicating. Okay, maybe I'm projecting , but I know the idea of creating my own rules-heavy-chart-heavy system sometimes keeps me awake at nights. The only reason I don't bother actually trying to do it is because I'm a much more freeform gamer... creating a game I wouldn't want to play seems a bit silly. How could I playtest it?  EDIT: Ya know, I don't think items of this type ever do very well: considering how individualistic we gamers purport to be, we do tend to follow established lines fairly closely, BUT...Perhaps you could sell the charts and tables as "Usuable with any roleplaying system" and avoid tying it to any system. As mentioned, "universality" generally doesn't go over well with gamers (I wonder if that's why Citybook never did that well?), but in this particular case, perhaps it may be an option to consider (since the tables were derived from different systems, it makes sense that they remain system-less/mult-system). Just more to think about, I hope. |
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Post by mahrundl on Mar 16, 2008 14:07:42 GMT -5
Or you could turn it into the most detailed random generator of all time! That is something that might be marketable, especially amongst T & T players, since we seem to like the solo adventures. I suspect that it would require a fair amount of rework though.
One thing that you'd need to do would be to put some serious thought into the organisation. Not that I think that you haven't done so already, but to be properly useful, this sort of thing needs to be really well organised.
Food for thought, I hope. Speaking of which, I only had time to skim quickly, but I didn't see and don't recall any food-related tables in there - meals available at an inn, what the monsters were eating, that sort of thing.
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Post by apeloverage on Mar 16, 2008 15:27:22 GMT -5
Yeah, but you know you love the Hackmaster and the Rolemaster. The idea of contributing your own game of that type is almost intoxicating. Okay, maybe I'm projecting Maybe a tiny bit ;D I don't really think of my page as being like Hackmaster etc, because most of the tables are meant to be used by the GM when creating the adventure, rather than during play. |
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Post by apeloverage on Mar 16, 2008 15:30:00 GMT -5
Or you could turn it into the most detailed random generator of all time! That is something that might be marketable, especially amongst T & T players, since we seem to like the solo adventures. I suspect that it would require a fair amount of rework though. OK, this is a good idea...you're right, all the steps would need to be written, with instructions on where to go from each chart. I'll think about doing one, thanks. |
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Fenris
5th Level Troll
Weapon Hand Severed!
Posts: 614
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Post by Fenris on Mar 16, 2008 16:35:52 GMT -5
That is a good idea, mahrundl! That I would buy!
Ape, do you think this should be done with T&T, d20, another system entirely, or For Any RPG?
I'm too lazy to go back and look; you do already have a chart that gives Purpose of the Adventure already? You know, 1) Rescue Royalty, 2) Retrieve Mystic Artifact, 3) Kill Monster before destroys city, 4) etc.... Then it likely would go to sub-menus for further details (Which Royalty, What the Mystic Artifact is and what it does, etc.).
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order99
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Post by order99 on Mar 16, 2008 17:30:55 GMT -5
Interesting question. Your Tables may work just fine as is, especially since it's mainly a springboard like you suggested-in which case Lulu would work just fine. If you want to adapt Tables into a T&T format, i'd suggest contacting "that company" for the printing, since mr. "that guy": A) publishes for T&T and has a built-in(and hopefully expanding consumer base), and B) has evinced a great interest in publishing T&T products-check his Submission Guidelines for terms. Yet another option-if you have any programming experience, or know anybody with same, you could always create a GM's Assistant program in either the Open or T&T format, allowing GMs to just click the mouse and have fairly detailed Adventures ready to go! Using a common universal format such as Java or Flash would allow you to easily create Multi-platform versions (Windows/Mac/Linux) or a direct Browser Plug-in for IE, Opera or Firefox...furthermore you could easily code it as Shareware-free download, works for about 25 days or so and then they Paypal you money for the Codekey to permanently activate... And NO, I can't program, I can barely Type...  I just learned from an IT guy I used to room with that it can be done. It IS an option though. |
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Post by mahrundl on Mar 16, 2008 23:41:45 GMT -5
That is a good idea, mahrundl! Is it? Oh, good! <pats self on head> |
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Post by mahrundl on Mar 17, 2008 0:03:52 GMT -5
Interesting question. Your Tables may work just fine as is, especially since it's mainly a springboard like you suggested-in which case Lulu would work just fine. If you want to adapt Tables into a T&T format, i'd suggest contacting "that company" for the printing, since mr. "that guy": A) publishes for T&T and has a built-in(and hopefully expanding consumer base), and B) has evinced a great interest in publishing T&T products-check his Submission Guidelines for terms. I'm not sure if he does recycled paper though - I think that he goes through a Lulu-esque publisher, although I'm not privy to all of the details of his enterprise. A good idea, but a *LOT* of work! I'd be pleased to see something like this, but less pleased if I had to write it. Unless I was being paid by the hour...  If you do decide to go this way, Apeloverage, another possibility is RealBasic. Last I checked, it was fairly easy to write, multi-platform (Windows, Linux and Mac at the very least), and reasonably speedy (although with this sort of app, speed is rarely an issue on today's machines). There's also something to be said for writing it for the Palm / Blackberry market. This would be a great way to pass long, boring journeys. I'd still rather see it as a book though, probably spiral bound. For one, all that you need is this, a notepad, pencil and a few dice and you're golden. And two, doing it as software requires you to do much of the work that you'd have to do for the physical book anyway, so the software would take that much longer. Certainly it's an option, and not a bad one either, despite my somewhat negative comments above. I'd just be happier to see it on recycled paper than recycled electrons. I can program to an extent (well, I'd better be able to - that's what I get paid for!), and I've recently discovered that I can almost touch-type; thanks to my endeavours to not wake the Trollwife when working late or early, I've been just working from the light of the screen, and I noticed that I was making about the same number of errors when I could see the keyboard as when I couldn't. I've always been a hunt-'n'-peck typist (ranging from two to eight fingered in no real pattern); odd how we pick these things up without realising... That said, I wouldn't take on such a project at this point. Too many other things going on has me spread a bit thin (although you wouldn't know it to look at me). |
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Post by apeloverage on Mar 17, 2008 1:05:16 GMT -5
That is a good idea, mahrundl! That I would buy! Ape, do you think this should be done with T&T, d20, another system entirely, or For Any RPG? I'd probably do it for Tunnels & Trolls, because I'd be a bit worried of doing it 'wrong' with d20. I have some along those lines. I have one which is 'campaign ideas' (for example "The heroes are in search of a powerful magic artifact, because it will help the rightful ruler recover their throne."), one which is 'major dungeon locations' (for example "the throne room of a sorcerer"), and one which is "fantasy plots" (for example "Unexpectedly, a mummified king has teamed up with a lion immune to magic. Now they're trying to lead an army through the mountains"). I've also got these - www.apolitical.info/webgame/ideas , and www.apolitical.info/webgame/plots - although all of them would need stats etc. |
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Post by apeloverage on Mar 17, 2008 1:33:40 GMT -5
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Post by mahrundl on Mar 17, 2008 6:38:08 GMT -5
I believe that you'll find that the site belongs to none other than our very own Lionrampant. I haven't actually used the generator, but I've read through it (quite some time ago) and I thought that it had heaps of potential. Having few other people willing to play T & T nearby, I spend proportionately more of my gaming time looking at solo items than I'd prefer. I'd modify it (of course) to fit my own ideas, but it's an excellent basis from which to build. What do I like? Most of the tables have a good range of options. Even if I don't use any of them, the more options I'm given, the more likely one of them is to trigger an idea that I do like. What's missing? This is harder to pick. Perhaps more variety in the non-essentials: there is little or nothing about room dressing, but plenty about room contents. Again, it's easy to make up your own, but that's one thing that could usefully be included. A side note for anyone doing dungeon dressing: Dave Hargrave's Arduin adventures almost all have one item of dungeon dressing that generally gets forgotten - smell! I seem to recall a room that smelled like 'cinnamon and hot iron', or something similar. Including scent descriptions not only makes the scene more real for the players, it means that when they smell something meaningful, it's not nearly so much of a giveaway... |
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I just learned from an IT guy I used to room with that it can be done. It IS an option though.