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Open Design: A New Campaign

  • Feb. 1st, 2007 at 10:55 AM
Open Design Logo 2
In the past, Open Design projects have been chosen by the patrons who fund them. This time, I figured, what the hell, why not let everyone vote for fun? The votes won't determine which project wins (donations do that), but they do determine what project gets cut from the roster first.

Here are the three possible projects; vote for your favorite below, then donate to watch the design unfold.

The Black Prince
EDIT: Removed, did not win enough donations and support from patrons. Down to two!

The City-State of Zobeck: All Levels of Play
EDIT: Removed, did not win enough donations and support from patrons. Down to just one!

The Empire of the Ghouls: Suggested Levels 8-12
This Underdark adventure pits the party against a civilization of intelligent, shadow-powered, hideously strong ghouls who dominate the Underdark and have enslaved gnomes, dwarves, and even the drow. They are now ready to seize a city of cloakers, a place of hanging stalagtites and elder cloakers who control an ancient artifact. If the ghouls seize it, their power will double, and shadow-walking assassins will soon become commonplace on the surface world. The party must enter the Underdark, survive, and destroy the ghoul empire at its heart.
    Probably at least 60,000 words long, "Empire" will take a minimum five months to write.

To commission your choice and watch it being designed, join as a patron today! The memberships start at $30, and if the commission is not met by March 31st, you get a full refund. Click the button below for the standard membership, or review the Senior Patron memberships after the poll.
As a standard member you receive:
  • The complete adventure written with your influence, delivered as a PDF, plus all updates and errata.
  • Access to private posts discussing the design.
  • You influence the design from outline to final form, with polls and comments.
  • Read in-depth design essays on topics chosen by patrons.
  • The adventure will not be sold to the public.

Poll #918685 Open Design 3 Public Straw Poll
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

The next Open Design project should be....

View Answers

The Black Prince
16 (13.6%)

The City-State of Zobeck
36 (30.5%)

The Empire of the Ghouls
51 (43.2%)

The Gates of Mal
10 (8.5%)

Gah! I can't decide!
1 (0.8%)

None of the above.
4 (3.4%)




Senior Patron of the Arts
This is the inside track, with access to the manuscript, art sketches, maps, and commentary and Q&A not available with the standard membership. I'd recommend a minimum $75 donation. There is no upper limit.



You gain all the standard privileges listed above, plus:
  • Acknowledgment in the credits
  • Direct access to the project manuscript
  • Access to design Q&A sessions
  • Ability to suggest design essay topics
  • Review sketches, art, maps, handouts, and other graphic elements

For those donating $100 or more, the following additional perks of patronage:
  • A private game in Seattle
  • An in-person or online chat about your own adventures or game designs
  • A prominent listing in the project dedication and credits
  • Suggest a concept for Open Design #4: your pitch may become the next Open Design!

Comments

[info]bulette wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 09:21 pm (UTC)
I completely suprizsed myself. Last time I was all about The Black Prince, but this time it didn't seem as alluring.

Bulette
[info]open_design wrote:
Feb. 1st, 2007 09:53 pm (UTC)
I had to edit down the descriptions to keep the length reasonable. The Shadowcrag patrons got to read more detailed versions than I'd want to share with the public.

But hey, nothing wrong with changing your mind!
(Anonymous) wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 12:13 am (UTC)
Essays
Wolfgang,

Do new patrons get access to all the gaming essays and advice that you have written to date during the production of the 3 projects that you have made? Or is it only the essays that you write on this project?

Olaf the Stout
[info]open_design wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 12:19 am (UTC)
Re: Essays
Depends. The senior patrons get access to all the essays; standard patrons get the new ones.
[info]caesarslaad wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 12:15 am (UTC)
Mâl?
The Mâl you describe sounds just like the one featured in Mongoose's Classic Play: Book of the Planes. What's the relation here?

I voted for it, having already used Mâl in my game.
[info]open_design wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 12:18 am (UTC)
Re: Mâl?
Yep, it's Mâl from the Mongoose source. One of my patrons for Castle Shadowcrag swears that we can get permission to use that piece of closed content (with attribution).

Worst case, I have to change some names around.

Love your icon, btw. Is there a thumbs-up version as well?
[info]caesarslaad wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 12:28 am (UTC)
Re: Mâl?
Heh... no, this is the only one I had. Perhaps I'll have to get the artist (Claudio Pozas) to make me a thumbs up version, but somehow, I don't think he'll give me another one this cheap.
[info]open_design wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 12:34 am (UTC)
Re: Mâl?
On the internet, thumbs-down is all you need anyway. :)
[info]chefseehund wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 04:03 pm (UTC)
...for me it's still Zobeck! (c:

It would have an additional advantage (compared to the other projects) for Open Design: There's always room for a follow-up, like new regional sourcebook (many interesting neighbours!) or adventures set in this world.

Granted, you could do sequels for "The Gates of Mâl" as well, but in a new campaign world there's more elbow-room, more possibilities, more everything! (c:


[whispers to himself] "...maybe he'll write something connecting Zobeck to Spelljammer!" *g*

Daniel
[info]open_design wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 04:59 pm (UTC)
Funny you should mention Spelljammer: I'll be playing Cthulhu with the author of the setting in a week. :)

Mr. Grubb has been a patron of the first two projects, and I'll certainly ask him for a guest post for the third one, the way Mr. Greenwood and others have done in the past.
[info]taurren wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 04:51 pm (UTC)
The Black Prince
A Black Prince of the Fey ... the plane of Shadows ... vengence for past misdeeds and an army of grimbold dwarves and clockwork soldiers?

Oh heck yes!
[info]open_design wrote:
Feb. 2nd, 2007 05:00 pm (UTC)
Re: The Black Prince
Glad you like it! I'm kind of a fan of the grim, ruthless side of the fey.
[info]black_kestrel wrote:
Feb. 4th, 2007 06:06 am (UTC)
Ghouls and the Underdark!
I was going to vote for Zobeck, but I have such fond memories of running Kingdom of the Ghouls from Dungeon that I had to vote for Empire of the Ghouls. I also second chefseehund's desire to see a Spelljammer connection (more fond memories).
[info]open_design wrote:
Feb. 5th, 2007 05:33 am (UTC)
Re: Ghouls and the Underdark!
Well, I certainly can't buy the Spelljammer rights, but guest posts are definitely an option, from Jeff Grubb certainly and maybe Roger Moore.

I played a lot of Spelljammer in college (nice change from being the DM for Greyhawk and Al-Qadim). I have absolutely no idea how the Ghoul Empire would fit into the SJ cosmology, but it might be fun to try. Most of Ghouls will be a lot more traditional fantasy, though.
[info]black_kestrel wrote:
Feb. 5th, 2007 02:38 pm (UTC)
Re: Ghouls and the Underdark!
Oops, that what I get for typing while half asleep. The Spelljammer remark was directed at The City-Sate of Zobeck if it wins the voting.
[info]open_design wrote:
Feb. 5th, 2007 05:20 pm (UTC)
Re: Ghouls and the Underdark!
Yeah, ok, that makes a lot more sense.
[info]entil_zha wrote:
Feb. 7th, 2007 08:03 pm (UTC)
Re: Ghouls and the Underdark!
Yeah! I'd love to see a Spelljammer connection too!
[info]crowroadaw wrote:
Feb. 5th, 2007 04:19 am (UTC)
Zobeck would be my choice. The other two both sound OK, but I would want to hear more than just the short blurb before I committed to buying them. Zobeck on the other hand sounds like it would be lots of fun to read and very useful for games.
[info]open_design wrote:
Feb. 5th, 2007 05:30 am (UTC)
Yes, I think taking a break from adventure writing to focus on world design might be a good way to keep the experiment new, showing more than one side of design.
[info]grodog wrote:
Mar. 23rd, 2007 05:52 am (UTC)
printed version for patrons?
Wolfgang---

Do senior patrons get a the printed copy of the POD version as part of their sponsorship, or is that separate?

Will you be tying the Empire of the Ghouls together with your previous Greyhawk-based ghoul adventures?

Thanks!

Allan.
[info]open_design wrote:
Mar. 23rd, 2007 03:17 pm (UTC)
Re: printed version for patrons?
Well, it was separate for Shadowcrag; the cost was about $6+shipping.

The core idea behind the two adventures is the same, but of course I don't have any rights to the Greyhawk setting. So, I can't tie them together explicitly. Shouldn't be tough to do, though. "Empire" could be considered to advance the timeline of "Kingdoms", or be a deeper, more dangerous region of ghoul conquest.
[info]grodog wrote:
Mar. 23rd, 2007 07:54 pm (UTC)
Re: printed version for patrons?
Thanks. What about the printed copy---are they included with senior patronage, or not? If not, do you have any idea how much they will cost?

Allan
[info]open_design wrote:
Mar. 23rd, 2007 08:04 pm (UTC)
Re: printed version for patrons?
I can't include them, because I have no idea who wants them and what shipping is to them all. Because only a minority want printed copies from Lulu, it's just not fair to charge everyone for it.

For Ghouls, it'll be slightly more expensive than the price I quoted you for Shadowcrag, because Ghouls will have a higher page count. At a guess, I'd say somewhere around $8 plus shipping for a B&W interior. Note that the cost is set by lulu.com, and so I have limited insight into what they'll charge when it's ready.
[info]grodog wrote:
Mar. 23rd, 2007 08:37 pm (UTC)
Re: printed version for patrons?
Thanks muchly, Wolfgang :D

Allan.
[info]grodog wrote:
Mar. 27th, 2007 02:44 am (UTC)
Re: printed version for patrons?
Thanks for the quick-responses, Wolfgang, I sponsored the project :D ...Allan.
(Anonymous) wrote:
Mar. 24th, 2007 06:55 am (UTC)
Upgrading
Wolfgang,

If I did the $30 initially, can I upgrade later?
[info]open_design wrote:
Mar. 24th, 2007 02:43 pm (UTC)
Re: Upgrading
Yes, you can always upgrade using the Patron of the Arts button (which allows you to input any donation), and mention in the notes field that it's an upgrade. I'll take it from there.
(Anonymous) wrote:
Apr. 27th, 2007 03:42 pm (UTC)
great ideas!!
you have great adventure idas
[info]open_design wrote:
Apr. 27th, 2007 04:30 pm (UTC)
Re: great ideas!!
Thanks, I've been doing them for a while. Practice, practice, practice. :)