[UA] What You Want

[Markleford Friedman]

Gregory Paul Stolze wrote:
>         Okay, UA fans: you've probably heard that there are a number of UA books
> basically written and in the pipe for development.  However, once those get
> extruded into your waiting hands, which of the following do you think you'd
> most want to see?

Unfortunately, I think a lot of the world background and cosmology from the
main book needs to be filled in more.  These holes should be priority.  From
earlier release schedules, I see some of these were already slated, but how
many of those are still being worked on?  I've just joined the list, so this
might've been mentioned already, but is there a new "official-yet-tentative
release schedule" posted somewhere?

>         "Mature Audiences" - The Pornomancer sourcebook.
>         "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" - The Dipsomancer sourcebook.
>         "Flesh for Fantasy" - The Epideromancer sourcebook.

Splatbooks are fine, if practitioners have the same ideology, but from what
I gather these "Schools" of magick draw no political lines.  To echo others,
some splatbooks are more logical: Pornomancers are on the same path (mostly
*), so it works in this case.  An obvious tack to take would be to disclose
the filmography and personal history of the Naked Goddess.

(* see related post: "The Problem With Magick")

Non-magick splatbooks would be better: New Inquisition, Mak Attax, Sleepers,
Goonies of Saint-Germain.  Maybe combine of few into one book.  And for
goodness sakes, fill in the gaping maw which is the House of Renunciation!

>         "Godwalker" - A UA novel

I would warn you away from a novel and steer you towards a short story
collection; a shared-universe anthology sort of thing.  This allows you to
dispense information in bite-sized chunks to both players and GMs.  Often
times, participants feel that they're "missing" the vibe of a game, and
that's where color-fiction fits in.  I enjoyed the "Course of Winter" short
on the site, which got me psyched for the game.

Another suggestion is to "rate" these stories for how much the reveal.  I'd
like to start my characters out in the dark, so I'd give them a few
"street-level" stories to read to get the vibe of the world outlook.  After
that, when they learn more, they can step up to the "magick is real"
material.  As such, you go through progressive layers of disclosure,
possibly even up to a look into the Statosphere.  (though that might be
taking it a bit far: we have to have *some* mysteries!)  This progression
can be over one volume, or perhaps several volumes.

Just my personal tastes.

Otherwise, if you're hellbent on doing a novel, make it based upon the Naked
Goddess; put your filmography and biography in story or pseudo-academic
form, so that it's both entertaining and useful a game material for
Pronomancers after new ways to make charges.

>         One (or more) of a series of small, cheap books on individual cities.

City sourcebooks have dubious appeal.  Some people like them because they're
based on their hometown, sometimes (LA, Chicago, NYC being obvious: I was
tickled purple when Poland, Ohio showed up on the Gamma World revised map). 
Some people hate them because they're based on their hometown, and either
present it incorrectly or omit the coolest stuff.  Some people are
indifferent, as it's not based on their hometown, so the players are still
mostly in the dark because they've never been there, and most of the
material is written for the GM's benefit anyway.

My suggestion is to create a sourcebook for a fictitious city (*).  That
way, everything that's printed is canon, and you need not worry about making
it "true to life".  Then you fill it in with your new groups or "branch
offices" of previously mentioned groups.  Then add a few short, related
scenarios based on them.

(* see related post: "This is The City")

Another suggestion; use the "progressive disclosure" concept mentioned
earlier when doing a city sourcebook.  This gets around the bit about
players not gaining benefit from the book if it's not their own town. 
Commit the first few chapters to what your average joe knows, then the next
few to what joe-occultist is aware of.  After that, spew forth the tasty
bits for GM-eyes only.

The "Sanctuary/ThievesWorld" supplement from years back did this to the
extent that there were separate city books for the GM and players.  Then
again, that forces a box-set or shrink-wrap pack, both which discourage
in-store browsing.

> A book with a long, integrated campaign that has serious
> repercussions for the UnAverse.

So long as careful effort is made to be able to "hook" all conceivable
player/character combinations.  You don't want to be forcing
players/characters down paths that don't follow their passions.

If you can design a "carrot" to dangle in front of *everyone's* nose, I
applaud you.  But if it doesn't fit everyone's agenda (both in and out of
character), it's not going to work.  This is why characters should typically
be generated before the plot comes to focus, as mentioned in the "A Time for
Everything" sidebar (chpt 9, p 117).  If you put the cart before the ox, the
ox is gonna get frustrated.  Pregen campaigns generally require pregen
characters with pregen agendas and passions, and the players I know who are
interested in UA are *very* much character-centric gamers; they like to play
their *own* creations.

Short scenerios, on the other hand, can generally be fit into your homebrew
campaigns, and can make a nice change of pace in the middle of a longer
agenda.  Just like our real lives, we pursue our long-term goals, but have
to contend with potholes and speedbumps along the way.

>         "One Shots 2" - More unconnected short adventures.  ("One Shots" is in
> development.)

Amen.  But I'd like to see how "One Shots (1)" turns out.  "Pinfeathers" and
"Bill in Three Persons" are both promising, though I would've made
"Pinfeathers" the one that appears in the main book.

>         "Grand Secrets" - A bunch of red herring adventures and material.

This is my #1 choice, behind books that fill in the holes.

>         Just curious.

And intelligent, for using your most potent resource.  Keep it up, baby!

- m