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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BiggusGeekus" data-source="post: 2202973" data-attributes="member: 1014">I'm kicking around the idea of formally writing up my experiences.  I'm gonna pitch it to Dragon first on the off chance I can get some money out of it, but it'll probably end up on ENWorld or RPG.net sometime in the next month or so.My quick advice:1) Write a 16 page core rules adventure before you do any of this.  Don't print it, just leave it as a PDF. You'll go through the exact same process as writing up your book, but it will be fewer pages and a more manageable project.  You will have a much better idea of what you need to do and all the mistakes you will have made will be for a module that you will have less emotional attachment to than your setting.  If you can make the module compatible with your setting, so much the better, but for now just stick to the core rules. 2) When budgeting how much you want to sink into the project, assume you'll sell 20 copies.  Yes.  20.  Not 200.  20.3) PDF995 is a free PDF maker.  It also isn't that great.  But it's free.  4) Breathe in.  Breathe out.  They call books like the ones you plan to write "fantasy heartbreakers".  Hey, that's what mine was.  Just have fun with it and treat the money you spend on the project as money lost.  5) Art is expensive.  That said people like to see around 15% of a book be art and maps.  Do not use crappy art.  Avoid average art.  No art is better than crappy art.You'll have to talk to WotC.Personally?  I wouldn't do it.  They'll likely want money and -- believe me -- you'll be spending more than you think and earning less than you hope.  If I think it is cool I put it in.  The advantage of a small publisher is that you can do this.  I think the only thing I didn't use that I thought was cool was psionic dolphins and that's because my main parnter explained to me -- at length -- how completely stupid he thought that was.Free ones are fine.  Again, if you do a 16 page module, you'll figure out what you really need without risking anything important or costly.You don't need a lawyer.  Here's a quick way to end your worries:  1) Burn your books.  They're a hinderance at this point.2) Find a really good up-to-date System Reference Document.  Creative Mountain Games has a nice one.3) Use the SRD and the SRD alone.  Remember, you're not allowed to tell people how to generate characters or level up.  4) READ the Open Gaming License!  Now you can actually get a little fancier than that.  There's a lot of stuff out there that is open gaming content.  For example *cough* my book *cough*.Most of us deal with it by screwing up until we get it right.  I imagine that once you do this a few times, it gets easier.If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!</blockquote>

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