Penumbra Styleguide Updated 2 October, 2001 This document serves as a set of guidelines you should abide by when writing Penumbra D20 game material for Atlas Games. This Styleguide is broken into three sections. First, the “Your Submission” section outlines the format in which you should submit your work. Second, the “Grammar and Usage” section concerns itself with the intricacies of spelling, punctuation, and grammar that are specific to Penumbra and the D20 system. Finally, the “D20 Issues” section outlines writing concerns stemming from the D20 license. If a specific point of style is not covered in this Styleguide, refer to the most recent Penumbra release, the Dungeons & DragonsTM Third Edition core rulebooks, or the current edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. PLEASE use the System Reference Document (SRD) rather than copying sections of the D&D books into your manuscript. The SRD can be found at www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd.html Your Submission Manuscript Submission If you have an idea for an adventure or other Penumbra project, please send us a printed copy of your proposal and we will ask you for a full manuscript if we’re interested in your idea. If the completed manuscript is accepted for publication, then we will send you a contract. All proposals should be one page or less in length, include a cover letter, and list your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address at the top of the proposal sheet. You must also include a copy of our release form located at the bottom of Penumbra submissions page on the www.atlas-games.com web site. The envelope you send your proposal in should have the words “RELEASE FORM ENCLOSED” prominently written on the front. We can not open proposals that do not have this written on the front. Also, proposals that include an e-mail address will be notified when they reach our office; if you don’t have an e-mail address, send a stamped, self-addressed postcard with your proposal for us to mail back to you as confirmation of receipt, if you wish. Direct proposals to the attention of “Penumbra Proposal” at the following address: Atlas Games Attn: Penumbra Proposal PO Box 131233 Roseville, MN 55113 USA All completed Penumbra manuscript submissions must include an electronic submission. Your electronic manuscript should be on 3.5 inch PC- or Macintosh-formatted floppy disk, CD-ROM/CD-Rewritable, 100 MB Zip disk, or 128 MB magneto-optical disk (Macintosh only). Alternatively, we may allow you to transmit your submission via the Internet, in which case you should contact us directly about the best transfer method (i.e. e-mail, FTP, etc.). In every case, we must eventually receive an electronic copy of your submission. We will not re-type or OCR hard copy submissions. We prefer Microsoft Word for Macintosh formatting in your electronic submission. If you know how to use style sheets, please use our Word template located on the www.atlas-games.com web site instead of using the headers listed below. If you are not using Word, our second preference is Rich Text Format (.rtf), and writers should always include a backup of their submission as a .rtf file. If you cannot manage either of these, ASCII text should be sent. A complete manuscript submission has the following components: • The manuscript file in both Word and .rtf file formats, if possible. Be sure that the first page of your manuscript lists the title of your submission, your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and word count. • A release form must be mailed to us if not previously sent with your proposal —1— • Playtester list. Manuscripts should be playtested before they are sent to us, and submissions should include the names of the playtesters, spelled as they should be on the credits page of your book. • You can send in a page of descriptive sell text (50 to 100 words) for the back cover of the book and in promotional materials, if you’d like. • You can also send in a description of your preferred cover art. • Selections for interior cover art. You are allowed one illustration or map for every five pages of the finished book (that’s approximately every 2500 words). Be sure to include action in your descriptions, rather than making them stiff character portraits. If you don’t specify your choices for art, we’ll do it for you. • A dedication and author biography. The dedication should be a sentence or two long. The bio can be up to 100 words long, and will be put in an “About the Author” box on the credits page of your book. • Finally, include sketches of any maps or diagrams you’d like us to create for the adventure. (See section on Art & Maps for more on this.) Organization The RPGA Network offers a fairly comprehensive outline for a standard adventure at www.wizards.com/rpga/tournaments_apf.asp . If you’re having trouble organizing your ideas, following their structure may be a good idea. Books on writing screenplays may also offer valuable guidance. If you’re writing an adventure, remember that the introduction is your most important chapter. Adventure introductions should have the following things: Flavor Text: 1/2 to one page of in-character narrative prose; make it action-oriented so it grabs the attention of GMs browsing through the book. It should set the atmosphere and draw in the casual reader. Synopsis: a quick description of what’s going to happen in the adventure Adventure Overview: • setting for the adventure; where does it take place? • number of players and range of levels the adventure is intended for • alignments and classes it’s geared for, if relevant • discuss the emphasis of the adventure: combat? exploration? diplomacy & negotiation? thought puzzles? magic-use? interaction with NPCs? infiltration? Is the module more free-form (lots of work for the GM) or extremely plot-driven? Are there any other peculiarities of the module? • give the length of time it’ll take to play the module, and in how many sessions; mention where a good breaking point is between sessions, if applicable • list things the GM should do before running the game: check player character sheets for certain things, familiarize oneself with the NPCs, copy maps onto dry-erase mats, use minis in combat, make photocopies, etc. Customizing: suggest ways to adjust the challenge rating of the adventure higher or lower for different character levels, and how to work different elements of the adventure (setting, NPCs, background history, etc.) into an existing campaign Enter the Characters: give at least three bulleted hooks for getting the PCs into the scenario, between 50 and 100 words each; PLEASE make them more interesting than “You’re in a tavern …” OGC Intro Text: we’ll insert the standard boxed text in editing The resolution of an adventure is almost as important as the introduction. Don’t just stop writing! Make sure your resolution includes the following things: Wrap-Up: tell the end of the story Loose Ends: what things still need to be resolved by the characters? Are there NPCs who are holding a grudge? Have the characters unleashed some greater evil on the world? Will their actions have repercussions in a larger context? —2— Rewards: how much gold and other tangible rewards do the PCs get? Also, in addition to XP for monsters and traps, are there any other XP bonuses? The most comprehensive way to present XP is to make a chart giving the obstacle or monster, the CR (or EL if there are multiple monsters in one encounter, for example), and the XP awarded for each character level in the range specified for the adventure. Also think about ways PCs can earn XP for OVERCOMING an obstacle, other than just by killing it. (See page 46 of The Tide of Years for an example of a chart like this.) Finally, what untraditional or intangible rewards are there? land? titles? good or bad reputation? Further Adventures: give some ideas for ways to extend the module, or involve elements from it (monsters, NPCs, setting, etc.) later on in other adventures. Headers If you’re using our Word template, ignore this section; go look at the Penumbra Word template instead. Those submitting .rtf files, use four levels of section headings in your submission, labeling them [[Chapter Head:]], [[A:]], [[B:]], and [[C:]], from most-emphasized to least-emphasized. Do not use [[D:]] or smaller headers. Headers should be initial capped (save minor words). For example: [[B:]] The Horde of Goblins A fifth section heading, [[I:]], is reserved for D20 inserts ONLY. See example in the Creature Inserts section below. After you use a header, be sure to put text underneath it, rather than having a subheader follow it immediately. This goes double for Chapter Headers. Our layout makes having two headers right next to each other very awkward; you can see an example of the correct way to start a chapter in the sample below: —3— Writers not using the Word template should set paragraph spacing to zero and place two hard returns between paragraphs (this should leave exactly one blank line between paragraphs). Do not place a tab at the beginning of each paragraph — align them flush left with the margin. Do not format your text any more than is absolutely necessary. If you feel that special formatting will be required when your submission is laid out, include a printed example, but do not format your electronic submission. Inserts Every Penumbra submission has two essential parts: closed content and open content.