Little Changes with Big Flavor

[Buttercup]

Just bumping so I can easily find this later. I have to go to work, and I'm not finished copying all the crunchy bits to my EN World folder o' Goodness!

 

[Katerek]

For a title how about "Brain food for the Starving GM"

I don't think the plan here would be to get rich selling it as a PDF, but mmadsen certainly wants to be rewarded for time spent.

Under normal circumstances, I would have paid $2 for the list alone, as a 64 PDF I would pay more. The one thing that bothers me about PDF's though is for some reason I cannot bring myself to pay the full price of what a printed book of the same size would cost.

As for rules expansions, there are of course certain aspects of the list that couldn't be covered in depth, but I think a very nice approach could still be taken.

Treat it like a series of dragon magazine articles, each one covering one of the master topics.

And for my idea...

Every magic item has a name. No more generic plus one long swords, why that sword over there is known as Balric's Blade (It has a magical +1 to damage, and grants the user a +2 synergy bonus to wilderness lore.)

 

[mmadsen]

Under normal circumstances, I would have paid $2 for the list alone...

Got Paypal, Katerek?

...as a 64 PDF I would pay more. The one thing that bothers me about PDF's though is for some reason I cannot bring myself to pay the full price of what a printed book of the same size would cost.

How much would a 64-page printed book cost? $8 to $12?

Treat it like a series of dragon magazine articles, each one covering one of the master topics.

Sounds like the way to go. The project certainly is easy to divide up into smaller pieces.

 

[Katerek]

8-12 seems reasonable for a book of that size in paper back or perfect bound. I am hardly an expert however. From what I have seen, you will be hard pressed to keep it under 64 pages. Of course, interior art work would be minimal I suspect. soem of those ideas could be written about with such great depth ttey would make entire books all unto themselves.

 

[Rune]

I'd much rather see it in print, at some point, personally. I don't have my own computer.

This is a crazy idea, but you could maybe pitch it to Bad Axe Games. I can't swear that Wulf would be interested, but it seems like the type of thing that he would be interested in, especially as they are currently still in the "making a name for themselves" stage.

They publish through Osseum.

 

[Conaill]

Is this a book people want to see? More importantly, is this a book people might buy? What in particular would you like to see in such a book?

I might not buy it myself, but only because I don't buy that much RPG stuff to begin with. However, I would most strongly recommend it to my DM's. (Actually, I might even consider buying it for them as a present.)

What would I like to see in such a book? Some simple mechanisms for scaling the magic level would be nice. Something along the lines of "Spellcasters have to multiclass such that they have no more caster levels than other class levels, and all magic prices are doubled."

Title... I agree that you should keep "Little Changes with Big Flavor". If not as the main title, then at least as the subtitle. Maybe something like "Campaign Options: Little Changes with Big Flavor"?

 

[mmadsen]

Every magic item has a name. No more generic plus one long swords, why that sword over there is known as Balric's Blade (It has a magical +1 to damage, and grants the user a +2 synergy bonus to wilderness lore.)

That's closely related to:

• Have magic items' powers reveal themselves to the characters gradually, based on their actions and what they learn about them. Rather than having a Fighter find a +2 sword and ditch his "worthless" +1 sword, he can discover new powers in his original sword with the help of the wizard (or ancient elf, or crotchety dwarf, or talking animal) he rescued.
• Provide treasure with a place in the world: armor once worn by the current king in his youth, works of art by a now-mad mage, historical documents, etc.

 

[mmadsen]

let monsters have characteristic behaviors. ex: Trolls hunch over and stomp their feet like sumo wrestlers before they attack. or Orcs beat great drums before they go on a raid. These drums can be heard over a very long distance. Making the villagers panicing days in advance.

I like it, Maldur. I like it enough to think it deserves its own thread: Three Characteristic Behaviors Per Monster (in the style of Three Plot Hooks Per Monster).

 

[ForceUser@Home]

Little change, big flavor: Oriental Adventures

*nudge**nudge*

 

[Maldur]

your vietnamese story is a perfect example.
Small change from the "standard" OA, and it makes a great story (and game )

And you can describe it in a few words: Campaign set in another location than "normal".

Its some work for the DM, but the rewards are great.


mmadsen:

your other "three plothooks per monster" thread can find a place in this book as well, its also about ideas for DM's (there is some really good stuff there as well). I dont mean full adventures, only these seeds/hooks. Even ideas from the "boring combat"thread can find their place.