D&D 5E DM's Guild: The Advice You Didn't Ask For

[Bawylie]

I've reviewed a lot of 5E products from 3PP, and I expect I'll be reviewing a bunch more. And followers of my reviews will be very aware that I come down pretty hard on the editing of adventures. Quite simply, being able to communicate your ideas is important. I'm fine with one or two mistakes, but not when they begin to interfere with my comprehension of the product.

And then there's the level of incompetence that Mouseferatu is talking about.

When your product description or front page is incoherent, that really doesn't say "Buy me!"

Cheers!

I am completely behind honest constructive critique and criticism. It's vital.

But it's also my sincere hope that we, collectively, avoid snobbery in our reviews. It tends to be easier to pick something apart and kick it down than it is to build it in the 1st place.

(Not saying Merric is a snob).

 

[Sacrosanct]

Not yet. Actually, it's going to be tricky because you have to buy the art outright to put it up on the DM's Guild - you can't use art you don't own all the rights to. (Although I'm sure that will be a thing...)

BTW, here's my review of the adventure I linked to above...
http://merricb.com/2016/01/16/dd-adventure-review-goblin-slavemaster/

Cheers!

Honestly, I think that was written by a 12 year old. I don't mean that as insulting, I mean quite literally a 12 year old. I don't think there's any way to prove that publishers are at least 18 years old on One Book Shelf, right? It's the honor system?

 

[Reynard]

They answered the art question:

What kinds of artwork and maps can I use in my DMs Guild titles?

We updated the Community Content Agreement sections 2c and 8c to clarify the use of artwork. The artwork (illustrations and maps) that you include in your title do not become part of the DMs Guild content which other DMs Guild contributor can freely use. So generally speaking for these types of artwork:
Art and Maps provided by Wizards of the Coast: The art you find in the Resources for DMs Guild Creators category are owned by Wizards and can be freely used in your DMs Guild titles.
Public Domain Art: Art that you are certain is in the public domain can be used.
Stock Art: Usage of stock art depends on the license associated with that stock art. Most of the stock art sold under the Publisher Resources category on DriveThruRPG includes a license that would allow it to be used in your DMs Guild titles.
Commissioned Art: Usage of art that you commission from artist depends upon your terms with the artist. You must have the rights or license to use the art in your title. The artwork does not become owned by OneBookShelf or Wizards; you simply must have rights to use it in your commercial work.
Creative Commons: This depends on the type of creative commons license. Some allow commerical use, others do not.

 

[Eltab]

Appearance matters, and editing matters.

Take your time and do it right. You're not getting a leg-up on the competition by rushing things; you're shooting yourself in the foot.

This is pretty much the reason I'm not going to try to post anything there until after I finish my seasonal second job. I've got some neat ideas (if I do say so myself), but they're still in 'notes' condition.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

well I did the best I could. I posted my first attempt...it's basically formatted like a college report not like a professional layed out PDF and has 0 art in it, but I'm trying.

if any of you think that my next attempt should be done better let me know... (I hope a lot of people like Robocop and say "I';d buy that for a dollar..."

http://www.dmsguild.com/product/171070/Martial-Options?term=Martial+optio&filters=45469_0_0_0_0_0

 

[BoldItalic]

There is an adventure just published in the DMsG http://www.dmsguild.com/product/171272/Temple-of-the-Nightbringers that has read-aloud text boxes broken up by column breaks. I find it rather annoying and I've said so in my review. It's otherwise quite well presented with only one grammatical error that I have spotted (in two places, "it's" is used where it should be "its"). It's free, though, so one shouldn't be too harsh.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Do people not do previews anymore? As a consumer, I at least want the flash preview option so I have an idea as to what I'm paying for. As a publisher, I think it's the least you should do.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Do people not do previews anymore? As a consumer, I at least want the flash preview option so I have an idea as to what I'm paying for. As a publisher, I think it's the least you should do.

how do you make a preview of a 5 page document?

 

[Sacrosanct]

how do you make a preview of a 5 page document?

When you're doing your initial title set up, there are two boxes for previews. One for pdf, and one for flash. You can manually enter in which pages you want to included in your preview. If you go to edit your title, you can do the same thing.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

When you're doing your initial title set up, there are two boxes for previews. One for pdf, and one for flash. You can manually enter in which pages you want to included in your preview. If you go to edit your title, you can do the same thing.

View attachment 73241

thank you very much, I will keep that in mind... I totally would have previewed one of my prestige classes if I had this idea a day or two ago... I xped as a thank you...