Call for 1 on 1 Adventure Manuscripts!

Expeditious Retreat Press is looking for authors for three 1 on 1 Adventures for the Pathfinder rpg.
Project Length: 10k-14k words, with target of 12k words.
Pay Rate: $0.01 cent/edited word. Pay on acceptance via PayPal or USD check.
Additional details: I'm looking for three new adventures in our line of 1 on 1 Adventures. We've put out 16, I've one in manuscript form right now, and I'm looking for #'s 18, 19, and 20. 1 on 1 Adventures are for one player and one GM. Any expressing serious interest will be provided examples of published adventures for guidelines in terms of format and style.

1 on 1 Adventures require a different creative hand than standard adventures. For example, any magic that paralyzes is effectively a death sentence when there is only one player (barring the intent to capture, of course.) Prospective authors should take this difference into consideration.

I prefer site-based adventures over plot-based adventures (but any type of good adventure is desired), and am particularly looking for adventures for the more martial classes.

Respond by: I would prefer responses occur prior to May 1, 2015 to josephbrowning@gmail.com with title "Call for 1 on 1 Adventure Manuscripts!" If you're interested, please contact me.
 
Sincerely,
Joseph Browning
Expeditious Retreat Press
josephbrowning@gmail.com

Complete Advanced Adventures Submission Guidelines

I was asked to sum up the submission guidelines for the Advanced Adventures line. Below is information/guidelines for the modules. These are just guidelines. I'll happily take a good adventure in a different format, but that means I have to do a lot more work to get it into shape for the line's publishing pattern. I'd prefer to avoid that if possible.

1. We pay $0.01 a word for all rights.

2. We pay upon acceptance of the manuscript (preferably in Word format) via USD check or PayPal.

3. It can take 6 months to a year for something to be published. Please be patient, but feel free to send me an e-mail inquirying about the publishing schedule at any time. Hell, send me any e-mail you think important - I forget things just like the next guy and always appreciate a well-timed nudge.

4. Manuscripts should be no longer than 16k words and (preferably) no shorter than 10k. I'm more of a stickler on the high end here than the low end here.

5. Manuscripts should include all needed maps or illustrative devices (to show how a complex trap works or some such).

6. If you don't have a manuscript written, please send a short summary to me at josephbrowning@gmail.com of your idea. We may have already published something similar and there's no need to waste your time.

7. Please look at one of our published Advanced Adventures to get an idea of what the line is. We don't use boxed text and rarely do we have "canned text" that is designed for the GM to read to the players. If we do, it's usually a brief introductory paragraph or two to set the stage.

8. If you don't own one of our adventures, the early modules such as the Giants series or the Drow series are good examples of what we prefer.

9. Magic items are bolded, spells are bolded.

10. Please don't worry about mimicking the tabs that we use. A simple document is easier for me to rip and re-format than one that has been designed to be pleasing to the eye in Word.

11. For formatting of monsters we prefer the following:


Critters & NPCs: From the fairly simple to the more complex - these examples should cover most of the various options.

Ghouls (4) (SZ: M; AC 6; MV 90 ft.; HD 2; HP 8, 9, 12, 13; #AT 3; Dmg 1-3, 1-3, 1-6; SA Paralyzation; AL CE).

Stirges (5) (SZ: S; AC 8; MV 30 ft., flying 180 ft.; HD 1+1; HP 2, 4, 6, 7, 8; #AT 1; Dmg 1-2; SA Blood drain; AL CE).

Galblag, goblin leader: (SZ: S; AC 6; MV 60 ft.; HD 1; HP 8; #AT 1; Dmg 2-7 (pick) or 1-4 (sling); AL LE). Possessions: Footman’s pick, sling, 20 sling stones, two day’s goblin rations, waterskin, 6 gp, 12 sp.

Guardian Statue, hasted stone golem: (SZ: L; AC 5; MV 120 ft.; HD 60 hp; HP 60; #AT 2; Dmg 3-24, 3-24; SA slow; SD damaged only by +2 or better weapons, immune to most spells; AL NG)

Planatars (2): (SZ: L; AC -7; MV 150 ft., flying 480 ft., swimming 240 ft.; HD 144 hp; HP 144 each; #AT 3; Dmg by weapon +7; SA see monster description; SD see monster description; AL CG)

Chryseothrax, ancient red dragon: (SZ L, AC -1; MV 90 ft., 240 ft. flying, HD 11, HP 88, #AT: 3 Dmg 1-8, 1-8, 3-30; SA: Breath weapon and spell use, AL CE)

First: detect invisibility, phantasmal force
Second: blur, mirror image
Third: non-detection, spectral force
Fourth: improved invisibility, phantasmal killer

Drimmal Stonefist, 3rd-level dwarf Fighter: (SZ: S; AC 1; MV 60 ft.; HD 3, HP 26; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8 +1; AL LG). He has a +1 to hit and +1 to damage due his strength. Possessions: battle axe +1, plate mail armor +1, potion of healing, shield, light crossbow, 20 quarrels, and 95 gp.

Momoko Yosida, female ogre 3rd-level Shaman (SZ L; AC 6; MV 120 ft.; HD 6; HP 30; #AT 2/1; Dmg ; 1-6; SA spells, ki speed (+3 to initiative for one round), ki maximization (1 spell at maximum effect), kung-fu; S 9, I 17, W 13, D 14, C 12, Ch 14; AL CE). Possessions: greatclub, harp of the white whale (see new magic items), ice cleats, ice ring, keys to area 12, area 15, and area 16, 112 gp. She has been granted the following spells:

First: cure light wounds, protection from good
Second: resist fire

Chief Flemin Ironfoot, 4th-level dwarf Fighter/ 3rd-level Cleric : (SZ: S; AC -2; MV 60 ft.; HD 6/3, HP 31; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8 +1; AL LG). He has a +1 to hit to damage due his strength. Possessions: battle axe +1, plate mail armor +3, shield +1, potion of heroism, light crossbow, 20 quarrels, a golden chief necklace worth 450 gp and 65 gp. He has prayed for the following spells:

First: bless, command, cure light wounds, protection from evil
Second: hold person, slow poison, silence 15 ft. radius



New Monsters: This is the format I use - it is the same as that found in Malevolent & Benign.

MONSTER NAME

SIZE: Small (3 ft. wide)
MOVE: 60 ft., flying 240 ft. (AA: level II), climbing 120 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 7
HIT DICE: 2+2
ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE: 1
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Poison
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None
MAGIC RESISTANCE: None
RARITY: Rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 2-20
LAIR PROBABILITY: 35%
TREASURE: In Lair: 1-12k cp (20%), 1-6k sp (30%), 1-4k ep (10%), 1-6 gems (25%), 1-3 jewelry (20%), any 2 magic items (10%)
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
LEVEL/X.P.: 4 / 230 + 2/hp

General information:

Languages:

Physical description:

Variants:

Which PDF OSR Adventures Sell The Best?

So today I've spent quite a bit of time analyzing the PDF sales data I've gathered over the years on the Advanced Adventures line. Unsurprisingly, lower-level adventures tend to sell better and the worst sellers are high level adventures. It's nice to see the commonly-held belief reinforced by several years of sales records - at least for our line of OSR modules.

5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons is Here

From the NY Times...

Unsurprising, IMO. I've also received confirmation that the announcement could have happened up to a year ago which is, according to my memory, when rumors really started among fellow publishers.

And Dungeons & Dragons’ designers are also planning to undertake an exceedingly rare effort for the gaming industry over the next few months: asking hundreds of thousands of fans to tell them how exactly they should reboot the franchise

In other words, WotC is taking a page from Paizo's playbook. Paizo's taken the reins away from WotC. And honestly, good on them. WotC's development of a new game expressly for the reason of IP protection (because of the OGL) was ill-advised, ill-planned, and ill-executed, IMO.

Finally, the plug (which is what it is - there is no article-based reason for the mention) for the other gaming system mentioned in the article is transparent when you know that the developer of that game and the author are friends and shared the same booth with yours truly last year.


UPDATE:
According to WotC there will be a first-draft of the new rules available for attendees of the Jan 2012 D&D Experience. Another point of confirmation regarding the duration of 5e development.

Of Halflings and Dreadlocks

I’m going to go behind the publisher screen for a while here. Normally I don’t much discuss my ideas behind why I do what I do for Expeditious Retreat Press, but I suspect that there are people who would like to know a bit about what I do and for what reasons. I believe that I am a leading publisher in the OSR and I think I may the least-outspoken of us all.

So two days ago I was editing an Advanced Adventure called Stonepick Crossing. It’s a 1-3rd leveler that takes place in a thorp called Stonepick Crossing. It takes place in a human settlement that is atop and within a 500 year-old dam built by dwarves. The dwarves have moved on. It was submitted to us under the name “Eltoran’s Crossing” but I changed that to Stonepick. The dwarf that had the dam built was named Eltoran Stonepick, so I think my name change is totally acceptable to authorial intent. I think the word “Stonepick” has a more accessible and visceral impact than “Eltoran.”

Authorial intent is something I value highly. Each of the Advanced Adventures is the work of a single author (beside the few I have personally co-wrote). Each is a reflection of what the author believes as First Edition Gaming. I value the opinions of those who write for us and believe that the primary goal of a good editor for the AA line is the one that mucks about with the manuscript the least when dealing with authors who have been playing this game as long as we have. Put simply, if the manuscript is something I have to muck about with significantly, I usually pass on it. This is not always true, of course (The Frozen Wave Satsuma is very different than what was originally submitted), but I think the exception only proves the rule.

Anyway, back to Stonepick Crossing. One of the halflings in the town was described as unique and with dreadlocks. I excised that out and replaced it with “Milo is a unique halfling with long hair dyed various colors.” Why?

First, why did the author want dreadlocks? I believe it’s because author wanted a unique character and wanted the hair to broadcast that uniqueness visually. A halfling with dreadlocks is certainly unique. I think that multi-colored hair is equally unique, so I feel I honored the authorial intent here.

Now, why the change? Because dreadlocks have a meaning which I don’t think the author intended when viewed from the history of the Advanced Adventures line. The line has traditionally been “vanilla” fantasy. I *love* vanilla fantasy. Vanilla is easy to add to anyone’s game. It’s easy to customize. It is, IMO, the best tool for a GM to have when crafting his game.

Dreadlocks are not vanilla. In the real world, dreadlocks are indicative of particular culture, or group of cultures. A character with dreadlocks means to me the same thing that a character with a top knot or a long mandarin hair braid, or a tonsure means. I wouldn’t want someone to have a tonsure that wasn’t associated with religion in some way, or have someone have a top knot that wasn’t from an “exotic” culture. Although dreadlocks are now very common throughout many different non-historical cultures, the Advanced Adventures line postulates a pretend world more in tune with the middle ages than the modern. It’s a world that is more about the historical than the modern.

But in the end, this change is utterly immaterial. The adventure reads the same, the game plays the same. What has changed is that the character of Milo the unique halfling is now demonstrating his uniqueness without any other potential message beyond being an individualistic sort. It’s a matter of line control, direction, and artistic view - something that individual authors have no real reason to care about.