Re: OT: RPGs (was Re: Conlangs in RPGs...)

>On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Eruanno none wrote:
>
> > >it's actually pretty damn difficult.  At one short story sale per year
> > >for the past four years for ~$400-$500 per story, I'm *way* below the
> > >poverty level...unless you're Harlan Ellison in sf/f, novels are where
> > >it's at.
> >
> > Wow, that much for a short story?  Cool ^_^
> > I make a webpage in a day for that much money tho...
>
>But you see, even really prolific writers don't *write* more than one
>good, polished, publishable (at a professional rather than semipro
>market) story a month, or even very generously, once every two weeks.
>Add to that the fact that magazine response times can be anywhere from 2
>weeks (highly uncommon) to 6 mos.--and you never know *exactly* how long
>it'll take them to get to your story, let alone respond to it.  Add to
>that the fact that unless you're already established, your percentage of
>sales is probably *way* under 100%, and for a newcomer probably will be
>0% for the first several years as you learn how to write better.  Even
>writers who seem to get out 10-12 stories published a year, probably at
>higher rates (professional magazines start at around 5 cents/word, but
>generally only publish things up to 10,000 words or so long)--say 10-20
>cents a word.  You do the math.  :-p  It's such a bloody unreliable way
>of trying to make a living it's not even funny.  With novels at least you
>can hope for the novel to outsell its advance and start getting you
>royalties.  And even *then,* Orson Scott Card himself recommends keeping
>a extra year's income's worth of money in the bank....
*shudders*  I am glad I learned how to program!  ^_^



>I don't mean to be unnecessarily discouraging, but $500/year honestly
>doesn't pay the bills.  There are a lot of helpful writing articles at
>http://www.sfwa.org (yes, I'm a SFWA member) if you're curious.
>
> > >Sounds good to me.  :-)  Another thing y'all could do is split the $20
> > >cost of a RPG you want to try (the basic set--most systems have insane
> > >numbers of supplements) and go at it.  Everyone has to start somewhere.
> > >I would tend to advise that someone who's good at storytelling and
> > >mediating, as well as recordkeeping, try being gamemaster, though y'all
> > >can always rotate.
> >
> > Game master is the same as dungeon master, correct?
>
>Gamemaster is probably the most common term across systems.  Dungeon
>master is rather xD&D-ish; I've also seen storyteller, game judge, game
>guide, story guide, etc.  Anything to avoid getting sued by T$R....
I see, lol.


> > I wanted to put together a PbEM based off of D&D so that I could learn
>how
> > to do it, but then nobody wanted to do it, and they were expecting me to
>be
> > an expert, even tho on the invite I said it was for me to learn!
> > Lol, anyways...
>
><wry look>  Generally the GM should be the *most* knowledgable person in
>the group about rules, or at least comfortable with them.  I can see why
>you didn't get many potential players.  In a L5R tabletop campaign I
>co-GM so Joe deals with mechanics and rules, and I deal with storyline.
>Most things I run tend to veer toward freeform, but the numbers make
>people feel more secure or something.  =^)  The Black Wall
>(http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/blackwall/) was nominally xD&D, but in
>practice the thing was run as freeform.
Well, I was starting it, not gonna be the GM of it tho...


> > What would be the chances of all of us CONLANGers getting together and
> > forming an RPG, with little pieces of everybody's land in them...
>
><shudder>  I'd hate figuring out how to integrate all that stuff.  I also
>tend to want to keep my stuff out of circulation because I intend to
>submit Origami Souls to publishers.  <shrug>
I see.  It was just a thought...


>Also, I'm co-GMing one PbEM and participating in another (a hilarious
>Pern-based PbEM called Far Jordan, which seems to be the only other PbEM
>Alioqui could find other than mine that has *good writing skills* as a
>*prerequisite* for potential players), so I'm not likely to participate.
>I'd sure love to lurk if something like that did come up, though.
Yuppers!
Maybe just a tavern ( a web forum ) where we can play our characters and
such ( like I did quite often at www.kamikazegames.com/dominion, an online
strategy game, quite a good one I might add ).

Namaarie,
Eruanno
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