Netbooks

1. Netbooks

   #1

   http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/08/short-on-campaign-ideas-here-are-501-adventure-plots/
   
   Was a huge, "Duh, we could so do that" moment for me and it annoyed the hell out of me.  My new job is going to be AWESOME and I should have time to play editor, especially through gmail docs and such. I doubt I will be able to access the site but shouldn't need it once we compile some stuff.
   
   So the link above and the demo file is pretty good to me, much like what we can very easily accomplish. Muro said it well here http://strolen.com/guild/index.php/topic,3008.msg58711.html#msg58711 and we discussed it a little
   
   

   
   WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY ARE WE NOT DOING A FREAKING EZINE OURSELVES???!!!
   
   WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY????!!!
   
   I know why. We have all the necessary talent, but we are all Mathom worshippers.
   

   
   
   Requests for you:
   1) Think of some themes that we can use for different ebook versions.
   2) If  you have any graphics that we can use in the book or know somebody we can hire for cheap.
   3) If you have a list of submissions that are awesome and they can be put together, go for it.
   4) Any thoughts on pdf template/design
   
   
   I can do a lot of the editing and putting together in ebook format but especially need help gathering it all together. Once we start working on it there will obviously be many fingers in the pie to get it going and we will figure out as we go.
   
   
   Hardest part might be putting together a good cover and some decent graphics to be filler in the middle. We don't necessarily need fancy people type graphics but can maybe use one of the versions of the Citadel as a template. We are creative, anybody with ideas on that are welcome to put in some examples. Maybe hold a Quest for some cover art.
   
   
   I don't actually start work for a couple weeks but it may take us that long to get to the point of actually compiling something. Figured I would start some serious discussion.

2. Re: Netbooks

   #2

   Muro is so, so right on that.
   
   We had discussions on that nature a couple of years back, that died at Mathom's hand.
   
   However, maybe we can pull together enough drive to get this going this time. I am definitely interested!
   
   Themes?
   
   Strolen guide's to Horror - Strolen's Scariest Submissions
   Armory Arcane - Strolen's guide to magic weapons
   Lord SoAndSo's Travels - a plane-hoppers guide to the lands of Strolen - this would be a collection of the interesting worlds, with a 'narrator'.
   Thirty 30's - 900 kernels of goodness from Strolens
   Musing on Magic - Collection of articles on magic (Schools), theory and
   Adventurecraft - Campaign/RPG advice.
   Strolen's Beastomicon - Collection of the best and badass creatures of Strolens
   The Golden Collection - Golden subs, enhanced by graphics and a forward written by someone other then original author.
   
   Ideally, any submissions for the the above will get a second 'round' of comments/editing to spruce them up where needed.
   
   The above can be stand-alone books, or standard offerings in a periodical.
   
   Strolen Modules - Take a larger submission, and detail it out ala Dungeon magazine. Use an open-source RPG system or 'generic stats' to add something above our current stat-less offerings.
   
   Graphics?  Look at DeviantArt.  Maybe a contest providing publication in the Ezine might be prize enough to get submissions, maybe not.  If we can figure out what art we need, then we may have many options on how to accomplish this (e.g. photoshopped photos)
   
   For submission to collect, perhaps we can use Regions for that, or can we make communal Favorites lists?
   
   I'll add more as I think of them.
   
   
   
   
   
   

3. Re: Netbooks

   #3

   Strolen's Space Atlas - Upgunned 101 world entries, with more details.
   
   

4. Re: Netbooks

   #4

   No comment? :)

5. Re: Netbooks

   #5

   No comments other than those are perfect ideas to get us started. This will be a slowly germinating idea that will slowly get momentum. I wanted to start the thoughts now so we would start thinking about them as we move on. Ideally, we should probably choose our inaugural issue and create a thread for it. Then start gathering what submissions we want, double check that we have permissions to reprint. Site isn't very explicit on rights and reprinting with attribution really shouldn't be a big deal. Might be more so that the author has first dibs to do some editing if they wish and so that if we do some editing ourselves then that will really have to be coordinated with the author.
   
   Then the graphic hunt which will be one of the more difficult things. Did some deviantart looking and ended up looking at llama art for some of it. But if you browse and see something you like, post a link over here to the artist and then we can discuss which ones we all like and may ask if they are interested. That is how I got KateD with the first few iterations of the site after all. She actually might be interested as well but haven't talked to her about that sort of thing for awhile. She does some great, intricate border work too that would work well in a pdf I think. kate.strolen.com Maybe that should be an obvious first step?

6. Re: Netbooks

   #6

   From my perspective I see two needs right now.
   
   1) Graphics
   
   2) An initial netbook idea and the deciding on what subs we want to use.
   
   Any thoughts on what to use in the inaugural netbook?

7. Re: Netbooks

   #7

   I CAN DOODLE!
   
   All of my art is up for grabs, it's not the best but it does have some style to it. The good stuff is all old, I was cracked out on Adderall when I drew it, but still possess a moderate amount of innate talent.
   
   http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/TheMightyPieh/
   
   Take what you will and feel free to make a few requests. As much as I hate commissioned art, as an artist, I am willing to doodle for the citadel (And I posted a few banner-style darwings to the Strolenati Facebook page, as well as my forum profile on here). Let me know what you think/need/want/popcorn?
   
   EDIT: This is my collection of my take of the Final Fantasy Black Mage class, some of my best but probably not too useful. http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/TheMightyPieh/Black%20Mages/
   
   Also, any editing you want to do to them is fine, as long as I'm credited for me work. Thanks.

8. Re: Netbooks

   #8

   When I was looking for my artwork for my gaming system I did a few hired artists for certain specific models I needed but as for filler work, there are tons of it available. As a matter of face I have two or three that I purchased the rights to reprint for. Ill look for them but its about 100 or so images.

9. Re: Netbooks

   #9

   Good starts, thanks for the offers!! Haven't had much 'puter time lately so will get back to this!

10. Re: Netbooks

    #10

    What illustrations are required? I know it depends on the theme we pick for our first netbook(Strolen guide's to Horror - Strolen's Scariest Submissions sounds awesome by the way). But my guess is that there are some basic ones we need as well. Like border ornaments, a dragon and the strolen font, etc etc.
    
    So; What kind of basic illustrations do we need? And what illustrations do we want for the netbook text/content?
    
    That last question is probably easier to answer once we have picked a theme and the subs we want to use for that theme. But we can start discussing basic illustrations.
    
    In my mind we need a "banner" that we can use for all netbooks, one that gives the differently themed netbooks continuity and makes it recognisable as a Strolen Productions©. That banner has to reflect the main page theme, but also expand it a bit to make it grander. It seems like a dragon in black ink and sepia tones and a ragged banner that says "Strolen Netbooks" or something like that, might be suitable, ideas any?
    
    The proposed banner can be stamped/incorporated with the differently themed front pages we will need as the ball starts to roll.
    
    

11. Re: Netbooks

    #11

    Okay - I'm building a list of favorites for a horror sub collection. Feel free to PM me with suggestions - yours or others - to add to the list for consideration.
    
    

12. Re: Netbooks

    #12

    Maybe start a different forum thread " Horror Selection" or something to track it? Or are you doing a favorite list?
    
    I agree with all the graphic suggestions by MJS. Need a unified set way to put each book together yet allow personalization to the theme.

13. Re: Netbooks

    #13

    Maybe start a different forum thread " Horror Selection" or something to track it? Or are you doing a favorite list?

    
    
    I agree, this would make it easier to track progress, discuss subs, ideas, track art, etc, during the creation of this specific e-book. Any ideas for a cover page theme??
    
    ...
    
    Just thought of this, how about: A table with gamers seated around, sheets and dice are spread out, the light is low and they are all mesmerised by the game(obviously horror), all around them, peering over their shoulders are the creatures in the game. Everebody is paying attention to the game..               
    
    I think that might work, it looks good, and it gets the point across.
    
    Any thoughts?                     

14. Re: Netbooks

    #14

    I was doing a favorite list - but a forum entry would be good as well for discussion. 
    
    http://strolen.com/favorites/view/24
    
    Don't really care about the implementation - I think the actual 'book' should be a google docs effort, at least for draft work.

15. Citadel ebooks

    #15

    May not have said much lately but I am still completely serious about getting behind this and making it work. We definitely have the content and I see myself having plenty of time after the holidays. Still adjusting to the new job and we are still living in a hotel. Hopefully be in the house by Christmas.
    
    
    I have no problem with a shared google doc either. Not sure how perfect it will be for formatting the graphics for use in the pdf but definitely for polishing the content.
    
    
    My silence is not lack of thought on this. I think I found a copy of Adobe publisher lying around too which I think I can get to be installed so I can maybe do the final pdf editing and share the pdfs in google docs as well.
    
    
    Away, still very much on my mind. Need to come up with some ideas for the name of the publishing house we are starting. :)

16. Re: Netbooks

    #16

    Somewhat random but not really:
    
    http://www.copyblogger.com/scannable-content/
    
    Might have something to do with the ebook.

17. Re: Netbooks

    #17

    I can format and comprise the project. 
    
    Well, you knew I would help... even though I wonder... do we have something that people really want?
    
    Putting together a project, not a problem.  Anyone with a passable word processor cand do that. Will it be worth the time to someone outside our community is all I ask.

18. Re: Netbooks

    #18

    That was almost rhetorical but I think you are fishing for a discussion. ;)
    
    It will be about presentation and how we put it together. The 5 dungeon netbook with roleplaying tips continues to bring people in and be useful and that was just a goof off attempt.
    
    Some of my favorite books are the City books and such from the Flying Buffalo. Useful generic locations, people and items with stories around them and plot ideas for games. That is all this site is and we are huge with tons of stuff. We just have to bring it together and edit them to work together a little more specifically and/or add more ways to use them.
    
    It will be some work initially to get our style and setup together but we have WAAAAY too many talented people for this not to work.
    
    I am not too worried about content quite honestly. If we don't have it and we know what we want...hell, we spend a week and the awesomeness that is Strolenites will come up with it.
    
    The most important thing right now, IMHO, is a professional graphic template and way to setup and display the content in a useful way.
    
    http://www.enginepublishing.com/files/Eureka-501-Adventure-Plots-Excerpt.pdf
    
    Honestly, like we couldn't do that?
    
    And if we start with a few free ebooks, you know how quickly they proliferate throughout the net. roleplayingtips would post and put it in his ezine for us not to mention if we sent it to other sites to take a look at as a free resource. If we had at least 2 or 3 done with an expected publishing schedule and an email notification when it was done etc. We will get the return views. Hardest part of the Citadel is finding us. Once they find us many spend a lot of time coming back. We continue with the smaller ebooks for free and then come up with the whopper that we charge for if/when we have the following to make it worth it.
    
    But just spurting the dreams right now. Step one is coming up with a modest, useable ebook.
    
    

19. Re: Netbooks

    #19

    I think, for the prevention of issues down the line, that permission for use of all subs so published be obtained from the authors.
    
    At least, thats my opinion on this matter. I grant use of my submissions to this purpose :)
    

20. Re: Netbooks

    #20

    Especially if they require editing/additions. Creates a slippery slope if we don't get permission.
    
    I agree!

21. Re: Netbooks

    #21

    My fantasy subs are up for grabs, but I would prefer to keep the not-Shadowrun sci-fi stuff restricted to just the site.

22. Re: Netbooks

    #22

    2) If  you have any graphics that we can use in the book or know somebody we can hire for cheap.

    
    
    My significant other Rosella is something of an accomplished artist, and would be happy to aid in this endeavorer for cheap. If her services are needed let me know and I'll ask her to get in contact with teh appropriate parties. (Strolen I assume)

23. Re: Netbooks

    #23

    Outstanding. Are there some samples online somewhere we can take a look at?

24. Re: Netbooks

    #24

    Aye, I'll see about getting a link to her photobucket account within the next few days.

25. Re: Netbooks

    #25

    Ask and ye shall receive. (Click on the images for full sized versions.)
    
    [img width=400 height=165]http://www.deviantart.com/download/193664046/sergie__s_hammer_by_silveressa-d37aw4u.jpg
    
    [img width=400 height=316]http://www.deviantart.com/download/193675463/m_series_firearms_by_silveressa-d37b4xz.jpg
    

26. Re: Netbooks

    #26

    So... Is this quality of artwork acceptable? Some feedback one way or another would be appreciated at your earliest convenience. :up:

27. Re: Netbooks

    #27

    Quality is Great! Era is off by a couple 6 centuries though. ;)
    
    It is excellent. Much will depend on the content and style we develop as to what we will need graphic wise. We haven't gotten off to a rising start on the book yet, but I will finally move into my actual house this week after 4 months living out of a suitcase so intend to really jump into this around Groundhog Day setting some goals and a timeline and really getting to work on it. Once we decide on a theme we will see what the artists are able/willing to do for us and start working in earnest.
    
    Thanks for the samples and hope that answer helps a little.

28. Re: Netbooks

    #28

    Think we can get a horror issue put together by Halloween?

29. Re: Netbooks

    #29

    Finding suitable material - shooting fish in the barrel.
    Editing and presentation - maybe :)
    

30. Re: Netbooks

    #30

    I may be slow, but I am serious. I just got a intro to the graphic artist Johnn is using for his books and will be talking to them about designing the ebook for us. Also discussing some logo design and branding to see if we can finally get a little more consistency throughout the site and ebooks.
    
    So more to come on that as it progresses!

31. Re: Netbooks

    #31

    Alright. A lot of talk. Time for some action!
    
    I think I like the horror idea as a first ebook. At the rate we go we can have it done by Halloween. First one is always the most difficult as we slowly figure out what we are doing. If we finish early, hell yeah, start on the next, otherwise we have a very doable goal that isn't rushed and we have plenty of time to develop more content if we decide we need it.
    
    Will start creating some threads with in the front and will start things rolling on this finally!
    
    Valadaar's list is an awesome start!

32. Re: Netbooks

    #32

    To echo Pieh, all my drawings are up for grabs, and I may well draw something on request.
    http://kremik.deviantart.com/

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