Stuff I'd like to see in Pyramid

[griffin]

Here are some things I'd like to see in Pyramid:

Supporting Cast: Non-supers, at least for a while. I'd like to see some high-powered cinematic foes (or allies depending on the game perspective) for GURPS Cabal. I'd like to see some mana-punk characters. Perhaps a character or two for GURPS Transhuman Space (with stats in 4e and optionally 3e also).

Adventures: GURPS Adventures I'd like to see: Banestorm, Cabal, Cyberpunk, Transhuman Space, Technomancer. Dungeon Fantasy is fine also, but give it a rest for a couple of months (running one in late July/early August would be good). Adventures which include maps are always welcomed, especially high-quality ones. I'd like to also see GURPS Space adventures using a setting from GURPS Space Atlas IV. A fantasy adventure for Banestorm would also be nice.

Terra Incognita: I'd like to see a setting or two that's not an Inifinite Worlds setting. I'd like to see something described mainly in genre terms. A good fantasy one would be nice. One that is a SF Space setting would be good.

Reviews: The inevitable D&D 4e.

I'd love to see a series on using off the shelf products integrating them into game settings. Something like Off-the-Shelf Gaming (OSG). My first selection I'd like to see covered is Ronin's Freeport series. Several of the products have received favorable reviews. Perhaps a follow up to Tim Emricks White Ships and Black Hearts Pyramid article.

Suppressed Transmission: These are always welcomed.

That's all I can think of at present.

[darksaba]

I dunno, I don't really like suppressed transmission, I feel they often start well, sometimes even with an interesting premise, but then I feel they get stupidly complicated and uninteresting, I rarely ever read more than the first paragraph. After all I read Pyramid for enjoyment, and Suppressed Transmission feels too much like hard work.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by darksaba

After all I read Pyramid for enjoyment, and Suppressed Transmission feels too much like hard work.

Isn't hobby gaming supposed to be enjoyable hard work?

[GoodGame]

I think the Suppressed Transmission articles are decent. They work well when they suggest a solid conspiracy theory that is more than a simple what if.

The only thing I regularly ignore in Pyramid is the Random Thought Table (sorry editor!). Usually feels like a space-filler that's not worth reading past the first paragraph.

I'd like more GURPS-centric stuff, and more RPG-centric overall. I appreciate the occasional board game review, but I much prefer reviews of other RPG systems for perspective. Otherwise more rules, add-ons, settings characters, with characters the least wanted, though more fully fleshed one are prefered. Adventures would be nice. It seems that other than the recent DF one, they've been a long time coming. Support for recent GURPS releases is a good idea and free advertising; I wish there was more of it.

The reality check articles (forgot the title) where someone asks a serious question and the ramifications are explained somewhat in generic terms. Kind of esosteric, but the kind of stuff that is perfect for a GM that regularly tries to push the margin.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by GoodGame

I think the Suppressed Transmission articles are decent. They work well when they suggest a solid conspiracy theory that is more than a simple what if.

I generally don't read ST because I'm violently allergic to conspiracy and "high weirdness." I'm doing a terrible disservice to Hite's impressive breadth of knowledge and skills as an author, but there it is.

That said, I quite enjoyed the recent McGuffin article, particularly part I. I'm a sucker for things which are essentially about old movies.

Originally Posted by GoodGame

I'd like more GURPS-centric stuff, and more RPG-centric overall. I appreciate the occasional board game review, but I much prefer reviews of other RPG systems for perspective.

I assume you're talking purely about reviews here, because when it comes to the regular articles, I doubt it could be more RPG-centric. A quick check of the last dozen issues or so indicated not a single non-RPG-related article, and the vast majority of them were for GURPS.

Originally Posted by GoodGame

Support for recent GURPS releases is a good idea and free advertising; I wish there was more of it.

Practical concerns may prevent that. To write support articles, you need authors. Authors need the books, which are available to most potential authors no earlier than they are to anybody else. So the book needs to come out, people need to buy the book, get an idea for an article, write it, send it in, and we all wait for it to go through the editorial process to be published. They come in time (vis the recent wave of MA and DF articles), but there'd need to be wider dissemination of pre-publication files than currently exists to speed that up appreciably.

Originally Posted by GoodGame

The reality check articles (forgot the title) where someone asks a serious question and the ramifications are explained somewhat in generic terms.

Omniscient Eye. To judge by the ratings, it's been one of Steven's better ideas.

[b-dog]

How about some good villians like liches, vampires, and other nasties so that they can be used in campaigns along with some ideas for adventures. Also, how about some non-silly DF articles, the Nutrinomicon is only good for Munchkin style DF and would not work well with anyone wanting something more serious. Just my two cents.

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

To write support articles, you need authors. Authors need the books, which are available to most potential authors no earlier than they are to anybody else. So the book needs to come out, people need to buy the book, get an idea for an article, write it, send it in, and we all wait for it to go through the editorial process to be published. They come in time (vis the recent wave of MA and DF articles), but there'd need to be wider dissemination of pre-publication files than currently exists to speed that up appreciably.

This is true. Plus, a support article for a technical book may require more checking. If HANS writes an article on guns based on High-Tech, Steven only has to see "Hans" and "High-Tech" and he knows it's going to hit a minimum yet high standard. Same with me writing Martial Arts articles.

You can bypass this more easily if you're a good writer - Phil Masters has cranked out a couple of Martial Arts-based articles since the book came out - but it's a slower process. I'd hesitate to write an article based on High-Tech without running it past Hans first, and even if I did Steven would probably nudge Hans to see what he thought about it. That'll eat time up as well.

Not saying support material needs the approval of the authors, but there is a reason it's heavily dominated early by the authors and by other known authors.

***

That said, I sent Steven another Martial Arts article recently, we'll see if he likes it.

[griffin]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

I generally don't read ST because I'm violently allergic to conspiracy and "high weirdness." I'm doing a terrible disservice to Hite's impressive breadth of knowledge and skills as an author, but there it is.

I admit, there was a period where I went through that phase. However, his article on gryphons (and I can't recall the beast that he covered right before that) drew me back in. I'll skip ST's that just are too weird or esoteric for my tastes.

Regarding writing articles for recent releases you state:

Practical concerns may prevent that. To write support articles, you need authors. Authors need the books, which are available to most potential authors no earlier than they are to anybody else. So the book needs to come out, people need to buy the book, get an idea for an article, write it, send it in, and we all wait for it to go through the editorial process to be published. They come in time (vis the recent wave of MA and DF articles), but there'd need to be wider dissemination of pre-publication files than currently exists to speed that up appreciably.

Those who write the early articles are bound to have been playtesters. Some get credited, but there are many more playtesters than those who make significant enough contributions to get credited. I'd really love to see a Pyramid article made from one of the characters that was written up by one of the High-Tech playtesters. It was a vampire enforcer/hit-man for the Cabal. The cool thing about the write up with respect to the HT playtest was all the gear the character used.

The authors of GURPS books have material that isn't used but there is also material in the playtest that doesn't make it in for some reason or other. Stuff like character write ups can make for good Pyramid articles, even if they don't make the cut due to space limitations, being to similar to other items already in use, etc.

[darksaba]

Originally Posted by GoodGame

The only thing I regularly ignore in Pyramid is the Random Thought Table (sorry editor!). Usually feels like a space-filler that's not worth reading past the first paragraph.

I on the other hand, rather like Random Thought Table. I guess you can't please everyone all the time.

[capnq]

The only articles in Pyramid that I don't read are reviews of products for which I can tell from the title that I wouldn't be interested in buying it. And there are fewer of those than I'd expect.