Time for the next wish list?

[Mgellis]

Hmmm...

Only a couple of issues left on the Wish List as of April 19, 2012. Is it time for a new wish list?

Here's my wish list for the wish list...

Adventure Design <-- An issue dedicated to the "how to..." of building a setting, coming up with a plot, coming up with a bad guy, putting it all together, matching it all to what your players want, etc.

Swashbucklers! <-- Pirates (including Elizabeth's sea dogs) and musketeers, mostly, but the genre includes Regency highwaymen, Scottish rebellions, and everything else from TL 4 and TL 5 worlds that involves swordplay and rapier wit. Lots of room also for articles of historical background. Maybe magic, ghosts, and weird science, too. Oh, and don't forget Dr. Dee...

Urban Fantasy <-- I don't know how well the first Urban Fantasy issue did, but perhaps it is time for another one. Vampires and other strange beings walk among us, hiding in plain sight. Secret wizards use subtle magic to twist the world to their own purposes. Plots, monsters, bad guys. But perhaps not so much angst...what we need is some cheerful monsters...

People Will Say We're in Love <-- Role-playing romance. How to work a romance into an existing plot. How to run a "soap opera" campaign where the relationships are the plot. Don Juan characters and how they can make a campaign more interesting. How to turn the romantic tables on your players with lovers who are not what they seem, humor, and so on.

Dinosaurs! <-- Well, obviously, a lot of this would be bestiary articles, but it can include not only dinosaurs, but other prehistoric creatures like extinct giant mammals, giant sea scorpions, etc. But also adventures where one fits dinosaurs into the story--time travel, cloning gone wrong, survivors lurking in isolated places like islands in the Pacific that somehow got cut off from evolution, using dinosaurs as the basis of alien or mythological beasts (i.e., file off the serial numbers, change a few details, and boom!, your T-rex is now a desert dragon from Altair V)

Mexico <-- Some countries are just made for adventures. Between its wild west and Aztec history, current day drug wars, pulp era wrestling superheroes, ancient ruins filled with who knows what, and just some really cool culture and a lot of really interesting people from the past and the present, Mexico is not just a great country, but a great country for rpgs. The same approach could be taken with many other countries or regions, too.

Whew...that's all I've got for now. What do folks think? And what else should be on the next list and why?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

Is it time for a new wish list?

Yes. Yes, it is.

Originally Posted by Mgellis

Swashbucklers!

I'd buy that.

Originally Posted by Mgellis

Urban Fantasy <-- I don't know how well the first Urban Fantasy issue did

Pretty well. See for yourself.

Originally Posted by Mgellis

Mexico

Probably a bit over-specific. "South of the Border" might be easier to fill an issue with. Similar issues might focus on the Far East, Africa, and the subcontinent.

Judging by prior sales, a Low-Tech II issue might be in order. Perhaps there's a math-heavy article about slings just waiting to be written.

[Michele]

Well,... War! Self-explanatory, I think.
But I like most of what goes on the official wish list; and I liked most of your proposals, too. Dinosaurs don't work for me; Mexico would be nice, but I wonder if Pyramid issues dealing with individual countries wouldn't be a little too narrowly focused.
But your other ideas are fine!

Edit: Oh, I see now that the previous post seems to agree with me about Mexico being a bit too specific. But "continental" issues... nifty.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Michele

Well,... War!

War? Huh. What is that good for? Absolutely nothing! I'll say it again...

Originally Posted by Michele

Dinosaurs don't work for me

I'm not wildly excited by dinosaurs either, but I'd think it'd sell pretty well.

I don't think there's been a Western issue, but I don't know how popular that would be. A straight-up spy issue (as opposed to "horror and spies," which didn't to terribly well) might be good.

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

Adventure Design

This seems awfully specific for an issue theme -- sounds like it might work better as a smaller e23 product written by a single author.

Swashbucklers!

I'd buy that within seconds of seeing the release announcement.

Urban Fantasy
People Will Say We're in Love

These both register at first as "Meh" for me, though I could be influenced more positively by a couple of good article titles or authors.

Dinosaurs!

Sounds fun, though a more generic title ("Life Along the Timeline"?) might allow both the scope you describe, along with things like the killer bats from After Man or "future predators" from Primeval. I'd be strongly tempted by such an issue.

Mexico

I agree with generifying the title and scope to "South of the Border" or some such -- and following up with other geographical issues like "Darkest Africa," "Near-Eastern Adventure," "Asian Intrigue," or whatever.

Whew...that's all I've got for now. What do folks think? And what else should be on the next list and why?

"Modern Locations" (for present-day) -- with individual articles smaller and less detailed than stand-alone e23 pieces. An oil platform, a band's touring bus, a custom yacht or plane, etc.

"Fortifications" (for historical/fantasy) -- kind of like the book Dan Howard is working on, perhaps, but obviously with an opening to more fantastic venues.

"Worlds and More" (for future): settings, adventures, ideas, rules, etc. for planet-hopping campaigns.

"Action!" (for present-day): more goodies in the same vein as the "Dungeon Fantasy" or "Monster Hunters" issues.

"After the End" (for future): same thing, but for that upcoming product line (and revisiting territory fallow since issue #3 in January 2009).

"Ancient Empires" (for historical/fantasy) -- everything from the Sumerians to the Byzantines, both real-world, alternate-universe, and fantasy-inspiring.

"Tools of the Trade: Rogues" (for historical/fantasy) -- like the Wizards and Clerics issues, but for the thievish side of the street.

"Infinite Worlds II" (for present-day): a follow-up to issue #20.

"Gun Fun" (for present day): we had #14 "Martial Arts," so how about something to follow up Tactical Shooting, Gun Fu, and the like?

"Clockpunk" (for historical/fantasy) -- like "Steampunk," but older and springier.

"Atomic Intrigue" (for either historical/fantasy or present-day) -- an issue which could include "Atomic Horror" hijinks, or actual Cold War espionage, or alternate-universe exploration, and so on.

"Superheroes Return!" (for present-day): return to a genre not viewed since issue #2 in December 2008.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

War? Huh. What is that good for?

It gives you what's best in life:

"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women"
- Conan the Barbarian

[nondescript handle]

"fantasy cultures" (small kingdoms, tribes, cities/settlements, races/racial enclaves, etc ready to be dropped into existing fantasy campaigns)
"low magic" (the companion of Epic Magic, how to have subtle and/or "secret" magic)
"racial templates" (both ready build, and advice how to build them, could revisit 3rd ed templates: "Fantasy Folk," "Spirits," "Blood Types," "Aliens," or "Faerie")
"role-playing romance"
"setting update" (Will to Live/Changing Times like articles for 3rd ed settings, e.g. "T.o.t. Lost Gods", "Meridian", or "Cybermech Damocles")
"Staple Locations" (taverns, night clubs, space ports, hotel rooms...,but not just a catalog)
Technomancer
Low-Tech II
Psionics II
Space World-Building (the companion of Fantasy World-Building)
Tech and Toys III
Thaumatology III (It vanished form the wish list, what happened to it?)
Urban Fantasy II
Transhuman Space II

I guess there is no license for a "Traveller" issue, no?

OT: I would love to see a series (like the "Roma Universalis" stuff) on the city-state of Aquaclaro (form Vehicles). In General, I would like to see articles which can (of course: optionally) be linked to form a bigger picture.

edit: Oh, and a "dragon" issue. You know, big, fire breathing, flying lizards?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by nondescript handle

I guess there is no license for a "Traveller" issue, no?

That might be seen as the province of the JTAS.

Originally Posted by nondescript handle

OT: I would love to see a series (like the "Roma Universalis" stuff) on the city-state of Aquaclaro

I'd like to see more about that, too.




What?

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

Judging by prior sales, a Low-Tech II issue might be in order. Perhaps there's a math-heavy article about slings just waiting to be written.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Just for that, if I can put the one I'm writing (not math heavy) to bed, maybe I'll try this on just to see if I can make Steven twitch.

(actually, slings should be relatively easy)







(of course, my original draft for The Deadly Spring was supposed to be 2,500 words, too. So one never knows.)

[Mgellis]

And a few more...

Cabal <-- New conspiracies and thousand-year-old plots. New quests and magical objects. New grand masters. How to create and run a lodge of your own. And more about their foes and quasi-allies: Parisian vampires and snake people and everything else. It is time to dare, and to no longer be silent!

Enemies <-- From the mundane to the magnificent, this is the issue about the bad guys. The high school bully. The serial killer. The corrupt small town sheriff. The mustache-twirling streampunk or swashbuckler villain. The witch who eats children. The angry, angry thing in the lake.

Colonial Cool <-- From realistic historical settings to alternate world madness, it's America, from 1600 to 1800. Read the dark grimoire of the Salem Witches! Learn the stats of the firearms of the French and Indian War and the tactics of its generals! See the lightning-powered clockwork armor of Benjamin Franklin! Thrill to the Social Engineering of the Founding Fathers! And marvel at the adventures of America's first girl detective: Young Dolly Madison!

(Yes, I know that one will probably never get done, but it was fun to think about.)