Trawling for developers for open systemless rpg project

[Khuxan]

I got your example and I think it's very cool. One thought I had, which you can take or leave: what about presenting it as a Wiki? That way someone could click on "Dacs" when reading the Akavar entry and learn about the Dacs at the same time.

 

[Ry]

This actually sounds a lot like the old Spherewalker Sourcebook for Everway. A campaign supplement composed of small vignettes rather than large blocks of text. Hints instead of explicit stats.

I didn't like the game much, but that book rocked.

You're the second person that's made that comparison. I need to find a copy of that book...

 

[Ry]

I got your example and I think it's very cool. One thought I had, which you can take or leave: what about presenting it as a Wiki? That way someone could click on "Dacs" when reading the Akavar entry and learn about the Dacs at the same time.

Yeah, it looks like that's the way we're going, at least for development. I'm chasing a webgod friend of mine and trying to get some hosting out of him. Right now we're considering a mediawiki for development, and doing the occasional .pdf "release" when we have 120 locked, edited, finalized entries. I'd have to do a lot of moderating I think to make that work but I've been thinking about this project in various forms for almost five years now, I think I can spare the effort.

 

[Ry]

Webgod friend bestowed hosting and setup. Project begins!

http://www.greathundred.org

 

[fusangite]

I'm working on a new project; it's called the Great Hundred. This has been in the works for a long time, but its parameters have finally been nailed down and I want to give people a chance to join me in this. This is a system-free open content project.

The Great Hundred is:

Small in scope,
Systemless,
Containing single-page
Interrelated entries
With Distinctive flavor
In a pre-agreed format and context,
Containing Capital "S" Situations
That can be explored in multiple game systems,
Is filtered through a central authority,
With veto power,
Then edited extensively, and finally
Released under the OGL listing it as 100% OGL material, then
Released again at the same moment with a Creative Commons Attribution license,
For free.

We're talking about digestible, 400 to 500 word entries hung off of a distinctive core that blends elements from many different real-world cultures and regions. To established authors: This is a 100% OGL project, so nothing here would be incompatible with later projects, and you might find the creative environment working with others stimulating.

Edit: The project has begun!
http://www.greathundred.org

Judging by your writing style, it seems like Edena of Neith would be a compatible contributor.

 

[barrowwight]

The project is like a campaign setting, but done as 120 single-page entries. No more, no less. No room for filler, no place for stubs.

Southeast Asian geography refers to primarily India, Vietnam, the Koreas, Thailand, Indonesia and Thailand. Think monsoon rains, bamboo forests, and so on.

"Crocodile Island" would need some development but you'd see that once you had more context. For example, we could change the crocodiles to komodo dragons for the sake of flavor, relate the demon to schemes of other spirits in the setting, have some lost treasure from a destroyed city hidden on the island, mention a legend, and so forth. You really can do a lot in 500 words, I've found.

India has crocs, Thailand used to have crocs, China has an alligator. Philippine's even have a crocodile.

 

[Ry]

India has crocs, Thailand used to have crocs, China has an alligator. Philippine's even have a crocodile.

Thanks! I admit my knowledge of geography is more "Bob down at the grocery store, he went to England once, right?"-esque rather than say, Michael Palin-esque.

 

[GlassJaw]

I'm still not really clear on what this is about. From what I've gathered, it's basically just an open source campaign setting right?

 

[Ry]

It's close to an open source campaign setting, but not exactly. There's a bit more focus on a specific outcome.

The end product will be 120 encyclopedia-style entries. Each entry has to meet several criteria:

Describe a single topic
Stand on their own *
Relate to other entries
Are 400 to 500 words in length **
Suggest Situations ***
Have distinctive flavor

* & ** These two combine to produce things that can be lifted out and used on their own. While the contributors will work in a consistent setting, that setting doesn't have to be used wholesale. Lots of people read settings and pick and choose what they want - this is designing around that use.

*** Situation is the way Setting and Character interact to produce change and conflict. Each entry has to be something that you can see using in a way that makes a game go. This means that while it's a setting, everything that isn't interesting will be either spiced up or cut out of the final .pdf

One last thing that makes it different: The "Open Source"-ness isn't viral. Someone else can come along and use these ideas in their own project by doing nothing more than crediting the original project. That means none of the contributions get "tied up" - if you contribute an idea, I develop it, someone else adds to it, and then you decide you like the idea so much you'll make a game product about it, you don't need to seek permission from the other contributors. That's the deal going in.

That was a much more involved answer than you were probably looking for.

 

[Ry]

One thing I could really use help on: Abbreviating the pitch. Right now it's long and more complex than it should be to really hook potential contributors. I know how to pitch the setting itself, but the idea of contributing is a whole different kettle of fish.