Fanzine?

[calithena]

This thread is to discuss whether we should make a fanzine, perhaps under the title "Revenant Runes", and what should be in it if so.

Cons: What do we need a fanzine for when we have the internet? We already post our ideas on here and talk to each other in real time, don't we? I've gotten several cool dungeons and gobs of house rules off here already, some of which would go into any prospective fanzine. So if we can get the stuff straight from the middleman, why go the extra step of having a magazine?

There's very little money in it, if any, so that's not the reason.

We have a community already, and it's not likely that the fanzine will grow the community especially, because it's not a commercial product. (Though it may grow it a little, a few gamers at a time.)


Pros: It's cool, and getting more stuff for the old-school family of games out there might make them seem more viable to people who might be on the fence ("well, I love those old games, but they're all dead, right? nobody plays them any more" We can bury our +3 Bastard Sword of Trollslaying in the heart of that one.)

It's something we could do for us. Often we don't polish our ideas for the internet. The fanzine could be a place where we take the stuff we've cooked a while, or had threads and got feedback on, and turned it into 'considered articles' for others to digest.

It would be a record of this period, which might last for months or decades, when a bunch of us (some who were there, some who weren't) came home to where it all began, and tried to make a renaissance for ourselves at least of classic roleplaying.

It could promote a DIY philosophy of gaming more broadly, which I feel is very important right now.

It could give us a platform to talk about our games, campaigns, etc. I'd like also to have a small fiction/reviews section not for the purpose of discovering new products but so that if we write stories or discover music/fiction/film/video games/even (shudder) current gaming products that we feel can enhance our own fantastic creation we can put that stuff in there.



If I were to do it, I'd think

(a) quarterly

(b) I want text to be submitted as word or rtf documents, as ready-to-go as people can make them. I have Adobe Publisher and I can make PDFs for sale/lulu.

(c) I'm sorely tempted to do print-only, though maybe that's foolish. After all, if hundreds of people download a pdf and none of them read it, that's still hundreds of pdfs sold.

(d) No mention of anyone else's commercial trademarks, and people are encouraged to stat things out the way they do in their home game, even if that varies somewhat from article to article.


What do you all think about these various ideas? Is this worth doing or has the internet made the time of the fanzine something in the past?

[jrients]

I think with the advent of places like lulu the fanzine concept is once again viable. I know that I for one would love to buy a print edition that collects the best thought from folks at this site, especially one that is digest-sized and beige!

If part of the point of the zine is evangelical, then I think cheap or free PDFs need to be part of the program. Let the hardcore fans buy their shiny new books and let the downloads recruit some new hardcore fans.

[calithena]

Or maybe release the print three months before the PDF. So, RR1 comes out in June, RR2 print and RR1 PDF in September, etc.

One thing I like about doing it as a 'zine, if we get good art, great, if not, great, I just make sure things are edited into shape and we take it to press. Whereas, with the supplement idea, Rengate is a great layout guy, but I just felt like I had to find artists, etc. etc. and negotiate way too much stuff.

[jrients]

calithena said:

Or maybe release the print three months before the PDF. So, RR1 comes out in June, RR2 print and RR1 PDF in September, etc.

That sounds pretty cool. Starting with issue 2 there should always be a free PDF that serves to promote the newest print issue.

One thing I like about doing it as a 'zine, if we get good art, great, if not, great, I just make sure things are edited into shape and we take it to press. Whereas, with the supplement idea, Rengate is a great layout guy, but I just felt like I had to find artists, etc. etc. and negotiate way too much stuff.

Can anybody on the board draw? Enthusiatic fan art is what we really need, I think.

[Zulgyan]

I wholly support this movement. I'll write my thoughts about later. I'm quite busy right now.

Just one thing: I would like a PDF option, cause it would be easier to get it here in Argentina. Shipment costs for a single little magazine would be absurdly expensive.

[James Maliszewski]

I like this idea and would gladly contribute, both in terms of actual writing, but also in any other way I can. I have a fair bit of experience in the game publishing field and, while not all of it is directly applicable, quite a lot of it is.

I think this would be a blast. Count me in.

[calithena]

d**n contagious enthusiasm.

I think this would be so much fun. That's the key, to keep it fun.

We'll just put our stuff out there, promote it a little, and let what happens happens.

I think in terms of content selection and text editing I would be an excellent editor for such a product, and in fact I've gotten paid to do both of these things before.

Finding art for it is not something I want to put the time into so that will be on the community to make and/or contribute.

I think we should charge $1 for the PDF because people don't pay as much attention to free things, and maybe charge a similar $1 markup over lulu's base price. I would use this money to pay for stuff for the 'zine as needed, like maybe if we needed a good map guy to make maps or wanted to license a cool cover for one issue or something. If it's not needed, I guess I'll use it to buy wine.

So, I feel I should email Rengate and run this thread by him, see if he wants to be on board for the 'fanzine' version of the product, since we started out working on the supplement together. Let me get in touch with him, but I'm thinking this is worth doing.

[Zulgyan]

A lot of stuff here at the boards can be really cleaned up and edited for good articles and stuff.

[Wothbora]

You all may count me in. I think that it would be an excellent medium to not only share materials and concepts, it would be a means to promote our enthusiasm and love of the game!!! I would also recommend always having a free PDF with the offer of print. I know I've purchased print based on free PDF's and now tend to be very wary of PDF's that cost (I've been burned too many times).

I know that the ODDities Journals caught my eye (sadly they claimed the name and are only the children and not the grandparent) and through a round-about journey here I am with OD&D as my One-and-Only...

[jrients]

May I suggest that Revenant Runes be subtitled "for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures"?

[Zulgyan]

;D I second that.

[Gynsburghe]

Yup, I third that subtitle!

I vote for PDF, despite the fact that "old school publication" = "snail mail fanzine". Lulu could solve a problem like this, but RPGNow and Paizo have very good distribution numbers for PDFs - and I'm willing to bet that the numbers downloaded there would beat the physically published (I, for one, would pay a subscription cost - but would it reach ALL the right people?).

The issue of charging for publication might create an issue with WotC, and I'm not sure of the legalities of publishing "above ground". I like quarterly issues, because it keeps quality higher - although a yearly annual style would produce a jam-packed mega-issue, and would probably be a focal point for a lot of us. Just a thought...

I'm especially behind this because when I discovered OD&Ditties, I thought it was based on the 1974 books - obviously I was mistaken. That was a disappointment

Great Idea!

Gynsburghe

Afterthought: This would give a number of us a method of sharing our "house campaigns" in an organized formats - which I really like. I'd love to see those bits of flavor and crunch from the homebrew worlds in a consistent and edited format!!

[korgoth]

I would be happy to submit written contributions to such an enterprise.

I think now is a great time for something like this. I think the hobby is in a transitional phase. The wind of change is blowing through this hobby!

[calithena]

In some form or another, this is on. I'll start a new thread when I have a few more details.

I will not be using Wizards' or anyone else's trademarks in this fanzine. I'd also challenge the notion that at this is a magazine for the Tactical Studies Rules/TSR/WotC-owned Original Dungeons & Dragons property, though there will be lots of content in it usable for players of that game (and EPT, and Holmes Basic, and Arduin, and Warlock, and Thieves' Guild, and early AD&D, and a ton of other games that have some rough similarities running across them). It's a record of the practice of fantasy roleplayers, running their games according to their own rules and procedures. Where abbreviations, tables, etc. run too close to established precedent we'll come up with in-house substitutes - the legalities of using 'hp' for hit points etc. are unclear at best, but there's nothing wrong with using 'htk' or any of the other customary alternatives if people feel that should be done instead.

Anyway, I'll be editor and publisher, so if they come after anyone it will be me. I will edit all submissions so as not to be claiming compatibility or supplementarity to the published products of any game company. This is just a fanzine for people who like to fantasy roleplay with their own rules, in the old-school tradition.

As to the subtitle, I think I might go with "for Fantasy Roleplaying Campaigns playable with Pencil, Paper, Miniature Figures, and Your Imagination."

More soon. I'll start a new thread on submissions, format, etc.

[Zulgyan]

Some ideas for the zine:

It should include a section, in each issue, dedicated to "why is OD&D so cool" - the kind of stuff that usually pops in the philosophy forum. For example: "In defense of the original HD", "OD&D had the best take on monsters", "The freedom of OD&D", etc.

Then, I would divide the mayor sections of the magazine this way:

Men & Magic - class discussion, new classes, spells, combat, misc. rules, etc.
Monsters & Treasure - new creatures & items. Or ways of handling them. All M&T topics.
The Wilderness & Underground Adventures - short modules, tricks and traps, etc.

Other sections will obviously pop up, but I think it will be cool to have the core of the magazine organized in the supplement style.

[Deleted]

zulgyan said:

Then, I would divide the major sections of the magazine this way:

Men & Magic - class discussion, new classes, spells, combat, misc. rules, etc.
Monsters & Treasure - new creatures & items. Or ways of handling them. All M&T topics.
The Wilderness & Underground Adventures - short modules, tricks and traps, etc.

That would be perfect! I would love to help out in this project in any way possible.

[coffee]

Me, too!

I'm not sure what I could contribute, but I'd love to be involved.

[Zulgyan]

What we really need is a true B&W old-school artist.

Or just make pics ourselves, even though we have no skill at all...

[casey777]

Some quick jots:

while I think forums are great for hashing out ideas they're not as nice to read or print out info and an article would have the meat of a thread, minus the +1 posts etc.

offhand if someone contacted Prof. Barker et al I don't see why articles with EPT content wouldn't be ok (& to be labeled as such) as long as he's aware of the info and proper attribution is noted. There's also several Tekumel fanzines around that either could be used to put other Tekumel content in or could just be worked with in conjunction with a OD&D zine.

[calithena]

Any Tekumel material with the MARB seal of approval, or even just his blessing to creatively use his IP, would be automatically accepted. This won't be a Tekumel or even EPT-specific fanzine, but one EPT/Tekumel article per issue would be welcome and wonderful.

[Finarvyn]

jrients said:

Can anybody on the board draw? Enthusiatic fan art is what we really need, I think.

I was a cartoonist in college (5-day-per-week cartoon strip) but have zero talent in drawing anything realistic.

For a sample of my style, look in The Crusader magazine -- issue #2 (I think) and then later (I forget the issue number).

[jrients]

I don't think realism is required. Tom Wham continues to be a favorite fantasy artist of mine.

[calithena]

Hi Fin -

We'd gladly take some of your cartoons for illustration, if you'd like to submit any!

[calithena]

Oh, and for all the offers of help - we're delighted to accept them! The main help we need is just content for the magazine, so get writing!

The thing I feel we need most currently would be adventures - dungeons, encounter areas, fraught political situations, whatever, just gameable content that people can throw down and use, with your own funky imaginative contributions wherever you can make them.

[Zulgyan]

You should give us a deadline.

[James Maliszewski]

zulgyan said:

You should give us a deadline.

Yes, agreed. Without a solid deadline, I know I won't be motivated to submit anything in a timely fashion.

[James Maliszewski]

Here's a wacky idea I had for a recurring "column" -- short (500-2000 word) overviews of wilderness/campaign areas based on the Outdoor Survival map. Perhaps we could even get permission to reprint this version of the map that Jeff Rients linked to in another thread. The idea would be to use a common frame of reference, in this case a simple wilderness map, with which to construct different types of very "tool kit-y" campaign settings that people can either use as the basis for their own games or from which they can draw inspiration.

One of the things I love about OD&D and that, ideally, this fanzine should highlight is the do-it-yourself ethic of taking minimal "canned" ideas and running with them in exciting directions. I think it'd be a blast to see a bunch of different writers each tackle the same map and use it to describe briefly a different setting.

But I might be crazy

[coffee]

Jamesm, that sparks another idea in my mind.

Once we publish a dungeon/wilderness/scenario, we could have a regular 'feedback' column, where DMs who actually ran the thing can let the rest of us know how it went and how they handled specific parts of the thing.

If nothing else, it would highlight the different ways people put the same material to use (much like we do with OD&D itself.)

[calithena]

OK!

If you want to be in issue #1, try to get something in by March 31. (I'll put an official submissions announcement up in various places once we get the details sorted out.)

Jamesm, I like that idea both specifically and in general. I thought it would be cool to have a 'gm challenge' column like Zulgyan's in the other thread, sort of 'how do you rule?', with reader responses and a new question in the next issue.

"Fill in this map" could be another one, that would be a total blast. Anyone wants to send a cool, evocative map I'll consider it.

In general, encounter areas and plug-n-play situations are welcome submissions as well.

[Zulgyan]

Jamesm, I like that idea both specifically and in general. I thought it would be cool to have a 'gm challenge' column like Zulgyan's in the other thread, sort of 'how do you rule?', with reader responses and a new question in the next issue.

I think that would be wonderful!