Wanted - RPG Writer (Roman)

[ArcaneEarth]

I'm looking for one freelance writer to join my team for a Pathfinder compatible Campaign Setting. The CS is a historical fantasy. The writer will be responsible for creating approximately 50,000 words of Roman material including NPCs. Someone else will be doing the mechanics, but you should have enough knowledge of Pathfinder Mechanics to understand Challenge Rating (CR), as your only mechanic responsibility will be to assign a CR to the NPCs you create.

Price structure is per word, price per word is competitive for the industry

If interested, please email me your;

- Cover Letter
- Resume
- An essay on Roman culture not less than 600 words and not more than 1000 words. You should seek to capture the heart and soul of the Roman culture in the essay, in addition to demonstrating your writing skill, creativity, and knowledge of the subject.
- A statement identifying you, and stating that I may use the essay in the manner of my choosing.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

You'll want to detail which time period of Roman culture you are looking towards. Roman culture changed drastically over the course of time. Rome started off as one city run by a group of elders and a worship centered around Janus, and had a more Etruscan culture. Then it turned into a more aggressive state when it took over several surrounding Italian cities, admittedly after some of those same cities pillaged Rome. With the incorporation of new cities, Rome also had an influx of other localized deities, in a similar fashion as what happened to Greek city-states and their localized deities when they began to trade more extensively between each other after the Mycenaean Collapse. Also, with the inclusion of other cities, the Senate became more important because they were able to incorporate more people through Senatorial representatives. The equestrian class also came into its own during this time, giving early Rome a strong cavalry force in contrast to its later Imperial military. Republican Rome came to be as the city dominated Italy and its surroundings, and really became quite cosmopolitan with a flexible religious system that believed that foreign deities were just incarnations of Roman ones. They also learned seamanship because of their wars with Carthage, which required them to develop naval tactics quickly. Their victory over Carthage also brought the seeds of their destruction, for land became important for status and wealth in Republic, leading to Senators using their power to destroy the farming middle class in order to increase their estate holdings, something that led to mini-revolts like those from the Gracchi brothers and eventually crushed by Sulla. The destruction of Republican law by Sulla for the benefit of the elite eventually led to the further destruction of Republican law by Caesar for the benefit of himself, but in the name of the disenfranchised. This led to Imperial Rome, and its incredible foot soldiers, military-dominated culture, and the dwindling of the equestrian class and the horse cavalry. This also led to a more domineering religious control that was connected to the Imperial seat, so that opposition to Roman religious dictates were equated to opposition to the Emperor. Finally, we have the period of Rome dominated by a failing Imperial government, bankrupted financial accounts, a poorly maintained military, cities impoverished due to continuous sacking by Rome's own armies seeking to seat warring generals on the Imperial throne, and cultural collapse.

My whole point is that you should specify which period of Rome you are seeking writers to emulate.

 

[enrious]

I'd say you'll have the same issues with freelancers as over in your Celtic writer recruiting post, i.e. carte blanche rights to the submitted essay for nothing in return, guarantee of pay, and clearly defined payscale.

Additionally, as was pointed out in that thread and this one, you need to provide more specificity. Just as the Celts covered a vast and diverse time and geographical space , the Romans of antiquity covered a vast and diverse time and geographical space - the pre-Republic, Republic, Imperial, and Late Imperial Roman periods are quite different from each other.

 

[nedjer]

How much homework you got?

 

[ArcaneEarth]

You'll want to detail which time period of Roman culture you are looking towards. Roman culture changed drastically over the course of time. Rome started off as one city run by a group of elders and a worship centered around Janus, and had a more Etruscan culture. Then it turned into a more aggressive state when it took over several surrounding Italian cities, admittedly after some of those same cities pillaged Rome. With the incorporation of new cities, Rome also had an influx of other localized deities, in a similar fashion as what happened to Greek city-states and their localized deities when they began to trade more extensively between each other after the Mycenaean Collapse. Also, with the inclusion of other cities, the Senate became more important because they were able to incorporate more people through Senatorial representatives. The equestrian class also came into its own during this time, giving early Rome a strong cavalry force in contrast to its later Imperial military. Republican Rome came to be as the city dominated Italy and its surroundings, and really became quite cosmopolitan with a flexible religious system that believed that foreign deities were just incarnations of Roman ones. They also learned seamanship because of their wars with Carthage, which required them to develop naval tactics quickly. Their victory over Carthage also brought the seeds of their destruction, for land became important for status and wealth in Republic, leading to Senators using their power to destroy the farming middle class in order to increase their estate holdings, something that led to mini-revolts like those from the Gracchi brothers and eventually crushed by Sulla. The destruction of Republican law by Sulla for the benefit of the elite eventually led to the further destruction of Republican law by Caesar for the benefit of himself, but in the name of the disenfranchised. This led to Imperial Rome, and its incredible foot soldiers, military-dominated culture, and the dwindling of the equestrian class and the horse cavalry. This also led to a more domineering religious control that was connected to the Imperial seat, so that opposition to Roman religious dictates were equated to opposition to the Emperor. Finally, we have the period of Rome dominated by a failing Imperial government, bankrupted financial accounts, a poorly maintained military, cities impoverished due to continuous sacking by Rome's own armies seeking to seat warring generals on the Imperial throne, and cultural collapse.

My whole point is that you should specify which period of Rome you are seeking writers to emulate.

Hi Deuce Traveler,

The freelance author should at least be familiar with the History of the Roman Empire through the 2nd Century C.E., though as your post demonstrates I would expect any author applying for this job to be familiar with the entire history of the Roman Empire.

Like the Celts, the introduction of Magic to the Roman empire is going to necessitate a lot of changes - is the phalanx really still the premier military formation with the introduction of Fireball? I need someone who can integrate those changes into the Roman Empire and end up with something that still feels very Roman.

Hi enrious,

On the Celtic writer thread, I noted that if you apply for the job on RPGfreelancer.com, and are hired on by my company, the funds can be held by the Neutral Party RPG Freelancer until the work is completed; in total that provides the freelance author with a legally binding contract that will specify the author gets paid when the work is completed (as opposed to when it is published) and your compensation held by a neutral third party until that occurs.

I've also been pretty specific about what I'm willing to pay. The actual price per word within the range I've described is something that I will discuss further with individual candidates after 1) they have applied and 2) have been selected for an interview.

That takes care of guarantee of pay and a defined payscale. If providing a relevant sample of your work is going to stand between you and applying for this job, then I bid you good day and wish you the best of luck in your freelance writing career.

 

[ArcaneEarth]

How much homework you got?

About 150,000 words.

 

[terraleon]

You haven't mentioned the timeline intended for this project-- start, finish, touchstones along the way.

You have said you're looking at primarily NPCs, but don't need other mechanical aspects written; however, does this mean the author will not be writing anything like spells, incantations, etc?

-Ben.

 

[ArcaneEarth]

You haven't mentioned the timeline intended for this project-- start, finish, touchstones along the way.

You have said you're looking at primarily NPCs, but don't need other mechanical aspects written; however, does this mean the author will not be writing anything like spells, incantations, etc?

-Ben.

Hi Ben,

While the amount of NPC work will be substantial, I think "primarily" is a little misleading as much non-NPC work is needed as well.

Timeline is a topic of discussion for the interview.

The applicant's mechanical aptitude will not be factored beyond their ability to understand and assign CR. I'm not ruling out mechanics for this position, but I have no plans at the moment for the Roman (or Celtic) writer to create mechanics.