WotC Seeking Your Setting Proposals (was "Big Wizard announcement")

[Leopold]

well ENWorld's been /.'d so for all you geeks out there this is a great thing!

 

[RobNJ]

i think WotC may have missed the boat in some respects. they should have charged $5 per submission, payable in check or money order. that would have weeded out the lowest rung and made the next rung think hard whether it will be worth it or not. plus it would have put money in their pockets.

All this would've done is ensure that people who know about the writing biz wouldn't enter, and many, many more people would've assumed it was a hoax. You never pay to get someone to look at your stuff.

 

[Tolen Mar]

Here's my question for Zulkir:

When you say it has to be compatible with the core rulebooks, does that mean we can't do one that relies heavily on the Psionics Handbook?

 

[Galen]

This isn't 100 pages of text.

This is 100 pages of techinical details, such as weather systems, industry types, dieties, classes, races, histories, heroes, pictures etc.

This stuff has to be very well thought out, and proofed. If you dont have the time and the team for that dont submit.

I fully expect it would take a team of several people to get all this stuff together and organized in a professional manner within the time frame. Not many people have that kind of detailed ability to do all these things.

On top of all that, it would have to be loose enough to leave plenty of hooks for adventures and story lines.

The ecosystem alone could take weeks to set up even in a small area. What does that pack of hungry werewolfs live on? At 65 people per square mile wouldn't be long before starvation sets in. How many deer? Get the point, they aren't buying a story, they are buying a campaign setting.

For 130k they should expect the kitchen sink also.

I just hope they have the time to shuffle thru 30000 entries. Hmm, How many beta signups did bioware get? Sounds like a job for temp workers.

 

[Zulkir]

Re: Art in one-page?

Greetings all-

I'll be submitting an idea, too, but here is my question to Zulkir: If it fits on the one page of the submission, is some eycatching art acceptable? I am a graphic designer and I have created a simple but effective logo for my setting and placed it at the top of the page as if it were a letterhead. Is this okay, or discouraged?

Thanks for your time, and for making yourself available to answer our questions.

-Exar

This is fine.

AV

 

[Zulkir]

Here's my question for Zulkir:

When you say it has to be compatible with the core rulebooks, does that mean we can't do one that relies heavily on the Psionics Handbook?

Alternate magic systems (we would count PsiH as an alternate magic system) are acceptable. When we say comaptible we are more concerned about subtraction or revision then addition.

AV

 

[Umbran]

A world of half-orc dominatrixes and gnome love slaves ... (sigh) ...

Go read Grunts by Mary Gentle. The half orcs aren't the ones you need to worry about...

 

[Strider The Ranger]

A word of caution...

While this announcement is surely a great start for people to get their worlds published and what-not, I must caution you all: once you give your hard work to the company, THEY own it. Sure, you will receive like 120,000 bucks (nothing to shake a stick at, that's for sure) but you will not receive royalties. If your world becomes as popular as, say, Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms, you end up getting screwed. Just make sure this is something you really want to do and that you aren't too attached to the world you create. Once it's theirs, the butchering may commence to this place you have designed...
Good luck to you all....this is something I cannot bring myself to do, but for all of you who are competing, I wish you the best.

 

[mythusmage]

Strider, you'll get royalties. Not for the setting bible (which won't get published anyway) but for whatever you write for the setting.

You're good enough to write the setting bible, believe me you're good enough to write setting material.

Wizards pick my setting you'd better believe I will do my damndest to get named as setting guru. Acting to keep the setting consistent and coherent.In addition, writing additional material both for publication and the bible (to cover situations not handled by the first edition thereof).

So I fully intend to be involved even after the beast is adopted. (Being optimistic here.)

 

[Zappo]

Ok, I'm about sure this has already been asked, but I can't find the answer. When the template says "who are the heroes" and "what they do", do you want individual heroes who are central to the setting (like 'Elminster' in the FR), or what kind of people are the heroes of the setting (like 'heroes who battle monsters with magic' in the FR)?