More Dungeons in Fiction

So back here, I asked the question, "Does anyone know of any megadungeons in modern fantasy literature?"  I received a few answers (thanks for those, guys) and that gave me some food for thought.

I have a follow-up question, although it is only slightly different from the original, so the same answers might apply.  Does anyone know of any works of fiction that include a "Campaign Dungeon"?  In case you aren't familiar, the term basically means a dungeon that is the main (perhaps only) adventuring locale for an entire campaign of play.

You may be wondering--or perhaps you aren't--why I'm asking questions about dungeons in fiction.  The short reason is because I am actually in the process of writing a story (goal length 60-75k words) that is basically just that--a big old dungeon with a small group of adventurers going into it looking for riches.  My reason for asking is to help me determine if the idea is as unique (in fiction) as I think it is, or is it trite and old.  I have to admit that I haven't read any fantasy is a LONG time and may not know about something that is out there.

So, if you know of something, please speak up.  Thanks.

"Thanks!" and "WTF Blogger?!?"

So I asked a question in my last post about dungeons in fiction and I received some replies and I wanted to say thanks to those guys for answering my question.  They definitely provided some things for me to look into.

Now you may be asking yourself, "Why is he thanking them in a new post?  Wouldn't it make more sense to just throw a comment and thank them there?"

The answer to the second question is, yes, of course it would.

But that brings me to part 2 of this post.

WTF Blogger?!?

You see, for some reason that I am unable to fathom, I cannot see any specific Blogger blog post with comments.  I can read a blog and read the last X number of posts, but if I try to click on a specific post to read the comments associated with it, nothing.  My IE opens a new tab and then refuses to put anything into it.  That goes for any blog post, my own included.

(Now I know that many of you scoff at the fact that I use Internet Explorer, but I do.  It's never really bothered me before now.)

I guess the question is, is this an issue with Blogger, an issue with IE, or some other issue?

Can anyone help me?!

What is that?!

So while I was writing my last post earlier today, I glanced at the 'Stats' tab for this blog, and I noticed a huge spike in readership a few days ago.  I also noticed that most of the spike came from a website that I had never heard of before, by the name of Gothise.

Anybody know that this place is or what it is about?  I suppose that I could sign up for an account, and then I would see, but I am past the stage of signing up for every website out there just because.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

$$ $$ $$

It is a topic that many people love to discuss--sometimes related to their desires to make money in our little hobby.

I recently ran across two short articles by Monte Cook regarding the topic.  (I know that, to some, he is the devil, but I typically find his thoughts to be insightful and interesting.)

Here he writes about the highest paid authors in 2010.

Here he talks about rpg designers and money.

I do have to admit, however, that when he discusses money, I am left with the feeling that his words would be more meaningful if he would inform us of how well he does in his writing.  Obviously, well.  But numbers would be interesting.  I realize that it is personal, and that it is truly none of my business, but it would be informative nonetheless.

I also know that the vast majority of people in this world (that I have ever met) do not like to discuss money issues--at least their own personal money issues.  I suppose it makes people uncomfortable.  Emotions get involved, etc, etc.  I, on the other hand, don't feel that way.

To be fair, as an officer in the US Navy, my pay is fully public knowledge.  With a few pieces of information, such as where I live, how long I've been in the services, etc., any one of you could google some numbers and determine EXACTLY what the Navy pays me.  I guess in a way, that is liberating.

But I would still be interested in knowing what Monte Cook makes in a given year.



...



This post is also a little experiment to determine if the title leads to increased traffic over my typical posts.  Apologies if my experiment offends.

"Our EPT?"

Interesting post from the Windy City Wiz, but I'm wondering if I agree with him.

I think that there are new and original things being done that haven't been done before.  The Wiz claims that Raggi is an ass but respects him for what he is doing with his products.

How about Al's Warriors of the Red Planet?  (Yes, I know I linked to the blog, but, in case you are not aware, that blog is supporting a game that Al will be releasing (hopefully) this spring.)

I know that there are others out there, and a few are mentioned in the comments following the Wiz's post.

My feeling is that there is a lot of stuff going on that is interesting.

Questions of Legality and Recourse

So by no means do I fancy The Fantasy Cartographic anything more than a hobbyist venture.  As much as I would love to devote more time to my little rpg publishing experiment, family and career ensure that it will remain something to do on the side, something that, since I began, has made me only enough money to basically partake of this hobby for free.  For the foreseeable future, that will remain the case.

With that being said, I was over at RPGNow.com the other day, and I ran across this.  For those of you who choose not to click, the link leads to a product page at RPGNow for a Pathfinder rpg supplement detailing a new character class called 'The Martialist Base Class' from a company called Little Red Goblin Games.

This caused me to raise my eyebrows a little bit, as I put out a product back in the summer of 2009 for 4E (which I realize most readers around here do not play) called Fantasy Class: Martialist and, before that, a free preview, called Fantasy Class Preview: The Martialist Heroic.  I was extremely proud of these products; not only do I believe that they are visually on par with a lot of the 'professional' products being produced, it was the one product to this day that I had an art budget for.  (For the record, I highly recommend VShane for your illustration needs.)

The Martialist class that I had developed was an unarmed fighter that was not a monk.  There is no mysticism or Eastern philosophy in its conception.

Anyway, I know that 'martialist' is not a common title.  Frankly, if the nice people at Little Red Goblin Games had read some of the reviews of my product, they might have chosen a different name for the class, as it wasn't much appreciated.  But what is the chance that those little goblins came up with the name on their own and also attached it to an unarmed combatant class?

So the questions are this:  Is there anything to do?  Should I just let it go?  Am I being a buffoon for even getting upset about this?

I think that the answers to these questions may be 'No', 'Yes', and 'Possibly', but I'm interested in hearing what others think.

Magazines for Give-Away

As a member of the US Armed Forces, I am expected to pick up everything and move myself every two to three years.  With one exception, I have not lived anywhere for longer than three years in the last fourteen, and in some cases, I lived someplace for as little as three months.

I enjoy this lifestyle.  I get to move alot; I get to see new places; I get to experience new people and things.  Luckily, my wife also enjoys the lifestyle.  Just as important, my kids seem okay with it.

One aspect of this lifestyle is that I get to sort through all of my belongings every few years.  (For someone with packrat tendencies, this is a good thing.)  To be honest, nothing forces me to look through my stuff, but when you watch a mountain of boxes being packed onto a moving truck and then unpacked a few weeks (or months) later every few years, you get the idea that that mountain should occasionally be downsized.

Today, as I was looking through boxes, I came across a stash of Dragon magazines that I completely forget that I owned.  In the same box, I also came across some classic Golden Age D&D modules.  Ka-ching!

But now we get to the meat of this post:  I also came across a vast quantity of old magazines that I have no desire to own anymore.  Having had subscriptions to many, I am now at a loss for what to do with them.  Frankly, just chucking them in the trash (or recycling bin) seems like a colossal waste.  In some cases, I've been holding on to them and carrything them around for 20+ years.

I have a fairly large collection of OMNI magazine, described on its wikipedia page as follows: "OMNI was launched by Kathy Keeton, long-time companion and later wife of Penthouse magazine publisher Bob Guccione, who described the magazine in its first issue as "an original if not controversial mixture of science fact, fiction, fantasy and the paranormal."

I also have a large collections of Family Computing magazine (and its later incarnations, "Family & Home Office Computing" and "Home Office Computing").  If you were into computers in the 1980's, you might remember this little gem.

(Not really science fiction, fantasy, or geek related, but I also have a massive collection of Boy's Life magazine, if anyone is interested.  Any Boy Scouts out there feeling a bit nostalgic?  Huh?)

All of the issues that I have are from the late 1970's through the early 1990's.

So, here is the question: What should I do with these?

I have some ideas, but here is my offer:  I will give them away to anyone who wants them from me, for free.  The only thing that you'll have to pay for is the postage.  If anyone is interested in them, please let me know.  Also, for those of you who have blogs of your own, please throw up a quick post and advertise this.  I don't want to dump them in the trash, but that is where they will end up sometime before Christmas.

If anyone is interested, please drop a comment below, or send me an email at fantasy.cartographic@gmail.com.

One Map Dungeon Contest?

I'm sure that most of the readers here have heard of the One Page Dungeon Contest, wherein a nice template for outlining a dungeon on one page was used as the basis for designing dungeons.  It started off as an idea (Sorry--I can't remember whose idea it originally was.) to free the DM from overly-detailed settings and the prep time necessary and to force a different experience in gaming.  The concept then grew into a contest in 2009 and then a second one in 2010.

Brilliant idea, and a lot of people executed it brilliantly.

I'm wondering if there is any interest in a slightly different kind of contest?  As the title implies, I am talking about a One Map Dungeon Contest.  How would it work?  Basically, I would draw a map of a dungeon--you know, some passageways, some doors, perhaps some rooms and caverns and some other stuff.  Then, YOU the reader would write the text for it to turn it into an actual dungeon.  (Obviously, the map would have to be really good to inspire people to write something for it.  THAT burden would be on me.)

Everybody would have the exact same map to work with.  I'd have to think of some other criteria for the text--either a word or page limit.  Or not--maybe it's best to leave it completely wide open.  Also, I'd have to decide if any modifications would be allowed to be made to the map.

Similar to the original concept, I'd gather some people together to judge all of the entries and then we could announce the winners, etc, etc.

This idea came to me as I was thinking back on my gaming experiences.  I've purchased many modules in my day.  There were quite a few times when I was more inspired by the map included in the module than the written adventure itself.  Am I the only person that that has happened to?

Anyway, what do you think?  Is this an idea worth pursuing?

What Am I?

Am I a hobbyist who has sold a few copies of some stuff that I put together or am I a publisher who just hasn't hit my stride?

At one possible point on the spectrum, you have Fred.  At another point on the spectrum, you have this guy in Oz.

Of course, those are only two points on a very broad spectrum.  If you are reading here, you undoubtedly read other places that represent some of those other points.  But the question comes back to haunt me.  What am I?  I mean, I know where on that spectrum I fall.  Not too hard to figure it out, really.  But where do I want to be?  Do I still aspire to be where I used to aspire to be?

Any ideas, anyone?

Making a Living in the OSR

Much has been said about James Mishler's recent decision to close up shop at Adventure Games Publishing.  I think that I agree with everyone when I say that it is a sad thing whenever any gaming company decides to close its doors.  It is obvious from his announcement that he has given it a lot of thought and is doing the right thing for himself--as he most certainly must.  I wish him luck in his future endeavors and look forward to seeing his name on gaming material in the future.

As I've been pondering this development over the past few days, I've reread his post several times.  On the fourth or fifth reading, something jumped out at me that I hadn't noticed previously.  He writes:

Were this simply a sideline to a full-time job, that would truly be a nice result. As this is supposed to be my "day job," that result is, as we call it, a "reason to quit."

I have to admit that those two sentences shocked me.  Much has been written all over the internet about the feasibility of making a living solely based on rpg-related income.  I believe that the general consensus is that, outside of employees of a few of the larger gaming companies and a few invididuals (who can probably be counted on two hands), no one makes a living solely from rpg work.  I know that there are artists who derive a good bit of their income from their gaming work, but I believe that most of them also do art work for other industries.

I might be wrong on this count, but I have always viewed AGP as an OSR entity.  The idea that one could even conceive of making a living from our "niche within a niche" completely blew me away.  Perhaps this has been a topic across the blogosphere and, new to the OSR as I am, I missed it, but does anyone think that this is possible?  Is it?

Is there anyone out there who produces mostly "old-school" material who is making a full time living from it?  I would love to know.

Writing for Publication

James Raagi makes an interesting point here about his writing process. It seems that he is a perfectionist even before he writes a single word—someone who doesn’t like the concept of drafts and feels that if his thoughts are not fully formed, then he probably isn’t ready to sit down and type them. He believes (rightly or wrongly depending on how you may choose to look at it) that this is a weakness in his writing.  [I hope that I am not mischaracterizing what he said here--if so, I apologize.]

The comments from his post (twelve as I type this) concentrate on the specific writing piece that he included to illustrate his point; they offer recommendations and their thoughts on improving it.  But none of the comments really dealt with the point that he was making--at least as I see it.  The real topic is not the piece that he posted but his process.  As someone who is trying my hand at rpg publishing, I find this intensely interesting.

That got me to thinking about my own writing process.

I'm not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm not very good at drafts (in the traditional sense) either.  While I don't (think I) share James' self-professed views, I find in my own writing that from first to final draft, my material doesn't change all that much.  Some other personal observations:

- I write incredibly slowly.
- What editing that does occur to my writing usually involves removing extra words, clauses, and phrases.
- I believe that I am a good editor of other people's work but am not a very good editor of my own.

Now all of this begs the question: How do the rest of you write?  [Yes, I'm typing directly at the nine followers that this blog currently has (THANK YOU GUYS!!!) and the other five people who pop in occasionally.]  Lots of drafts and editing?  Few drafts and LOTS of editing?  For those of you who also publish work in the rpg realm (whether for sale or for free), is your writing style different for your own personal use than what it is for your 'professional' pursuits?

I'm very interested in this, so please leave a comment and fill me in.  Thank you.

Females. Have you seen any?

I was writing a post earlier today about bloggers within the OSR, and I was typing and came across a sentence where I was about to type "he or she".  Why?  Because while it might be clumsy, I was assuming that it would be applicable.  But then I stopped and thought about it. 
Are there any female bloggers in the OSR?

Frankly, I can only think of one female blogger who writes about rpgs--and she does so only tangentially. That is Geek's Dream Girl. And based upon everything that I can gather, she is definitely into the new school.

I'll ask one more time:  Any females blogging in the OSR?  Does anyone know of any? Anyone?