Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

We are seeking playtesters for GURPS Realm Management, by Christopher R. Rice. This is a mid-length (~50 pages) supplement offering a semi-abstract system for creating and running "realms" – fiefs, colonies, states, countries, etc. – in GURPS.

We are primarily seeking applicants familiar with the related systems in GURPS Boardroom and Curia, GURPS City Stats, and GURPS Mass Combat. Knowledge of GURPS Low-Tech Companion 1, 2, and 3 – and of the GURPS Social Engineering series – would be a bonus. However, fresh eyes may be useful, so please feel free to apply if you think you have something to contribute. The level of abstraction is fairly high, but if you have experience in such areas as economics, political science, or urban planning, please let us know!

The playtest is currently scheduled to run for three weeks, from December 20, 2019 to January 9, 2020. As we're fast approaching the start date, please submit your application ASAP.

Preferential playtest slots will be given to those who have spent at least $50 on PDFs from Warehouse 23 in the past calendar year, though this is not a requirement. For more, see the general playtest information page.

Prospective playtesters should email Roger Burton West at pt-realmmanagement@firedrake.org with [playtest] in the subject. Include your preferred email address for the closed playtest mailing list, your name as you wish it to appear in the published supplement, your Warehouse 23 login name, and a few words on why we should pick you: qualifications, experience, current gaming group(s), etc. Please submit in this format:

We look forward to hearing from you!

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I also want to add that knowledge of history and nations is a huge plus for me. If you've ever worked in gov't at all that's going to be useful. I'm hoping I get at least a few folks who are familiar with the above and GURPS, but knowledge of one is fine. Also, if you're new to GURPS please consider putting your name into the hat.

I look forward to hearing from folks!

Edit: We're looking for folks to play with the material as well as those who can simply read and comment. I'm noting this because I've had a half dozen folks message me saying they'd love to apply but don't have groups to play in. Keep this in mind when applying.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I for one have been waiting for this book for a long time... at least five years that I've been pushing numbers around tinkering with a Kingmaker system of my own... so I welcome a professional version.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Apply for the playtest! :-)

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

As I generally only GM play by post these days, I haven't felt like I could apply to be a playtester for this very reason as it's difficult to involve my group in playtesting when our campaign is moving so much slower than a face to face campaign would.

And as I repeatedly find myself needing a Realm Management system this is good news indeed!

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Good, good. :-)

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Thanks, Palpatine. I suppose I'll see you in the next few weeks.

I will apply to this as well; I need to make time for things other than my own stuff and now is as good a time as any!

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Why, Master Cole, what a delightful surprise! :-)

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Always two there are.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Gosh, this very exciting. Wish I had the time to take part. Best of luck to everyone involved!

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Yeah, this is what it's coming down to for me. I'd love to be in on it (indeed, I wrote or collaborated on some of the cited works in the call for playtesters), but I just don't have adequate free time.

That said, I'm confident Christopher's got this and it'll be just fine without me.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

This is very exciting, something I have wanted for a long time. Good luck with the playtest!

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Thanks! I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations. I spent a lot of time on this project to try and do it right.

:-) Thanks, Matt. I hope so.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

The time frame is too short for me to commit to anything but I have the kind of background you are looking for. If you want to send me a copy on spec, PM me. I would try to give you comments. If not, I will be a buyer anyway.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I just tried sending a follow-up email to the listed email address for Roger Burton West, pt-realmmanagement@firedrake.org. I had [playtest] in the subject. I got this message:

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

pt-realmmanagement@firedrake.org
Unrouteable address

I tried it again, and got the same message. Anybody know what's going on?

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

The playtesters for GURPS Realm Management have been chosen. If you didn't get an email you were not chosen.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Thanks for letting me know. I've had problems lately with emails getting through, so wanted to make sure it hadn't somehow been mistakenly blocked. For example, I have a story set in one of my GURPS worlds that's scheduled to be published in an anthology in February. But the accepted story almost got dropped because, while I signed and returned the contract the day I got it, my response got lost somewhere in Internet space.

To avoid confusion, I think it would be helpful if Steve Jackson Games let those who weren't chosen know, even if with a generic email. It could be something like, "We appreciate your interest in our playtest. Unfortunately, we sometimes have more applicants than we have slots to fill," etc.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Just a brief note to say that I'm excited about this project! Can't wait to see what comes out the other side...

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Yeah, we need something to bridge the gap between Cities and Planets.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

That's not my call. Generally, as far as I can remember for public playtests they've never done that. If you don't get a welcome message you're not in.

:-)

It actually (as of the pre-playtest draft) can cover those too. The goal is to be able to cover Game of Thrones as much as Dune. At least that's what I went into it trying to do.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Eggsellent... yes, yes, this will do nicely once added to my collection...

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Any news on release date? Is playtest over?

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Yes it was over, but hasnt been announced as in the editing stage yet.
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=166780

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

The playtest is over and I'm still in the process of doing final checks at the moment. I'll be submitting it at the end of next month some time unless something goes really wrong.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Thanks. Good to know. :)

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Hey guys, any news about this great expansion?

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Kromm had this to say about it in his recent LiveJournal update:

https://dr-kromm.livejournal.com/236219.html

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Hate to tell you, but January 2020 was not recent.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Must admit champing at the bit for this one

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Crap. Wrong link. I just Googled it and didn't check the date.

I guess I really meant this one:

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=171774

*mumble mumble* dang'nam'it *mumble mumble*

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

It's still in production as far as I know.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Sorry, but with in production means that has been released?

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Production means it's getting layout, art, final checks, etc. Believe me, I want to get it to you guys, but there is a proper sequence of things and this is a mostly mechanical book. Those ALWAYS take longer. Pay attention to my blog, I'll likely talk about it there when I get it back in my hands.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

OK thanks for your work!

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Thanks. Hopefully it'll be out soon enough and hopefully folks like it. :-)

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

As an outsider to the process (albeit one who has paid attention in the past), I've observed that "in production" means "the author's work is 95% done, Kromm's work is 95% done, and now they're doing the hard part to make the product look like an SJG GURPS product". This includes making sure the tables are laid out properly; aligning the artwork, line quotes, and sideboxes so they don't overlap the text; and making sure the artwork matches the book. It can also mean commissioning of new artwork.

And Christopher has said this is a very crunch-heavy book; I'm expecting several tables and plenty of side-boxes.

This is stuff that takes time by a layout professional to get it looking just right; it's not the same as a self-published fan-book made by exporting a Word doc to PDF. (Also, December is terrible for such things, due to the holidays. Everyone but the bandits slack off the last two weeks of the month, and even the bandits relax between Christmas and New Year.) Be thankful SJG has a very good staff who prize quality over rushing the job; I'm looking forward to the final product, whenever it shows up.

(The last 5% from both the author and Kromm in these cases is usually a final proof of the finished product before it goes out the door, at least from what I can tell.)

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I have to admit I follow Krom's blog amd every week my.heart sinks a little when I see it's still im production

I guess you just can't rush a good thing lol

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

A thousand manuscripts, only one Kromm.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Or in this case, "only one Nikki."

"Development" is shorthand for what our editors do: Handle queries, proposals, questions that arise during writing, draft reviews, questions that arise from playtesting, and editing. It can include the game design and writing itself. All of the hands-on work this implies is done in unformatted text or using Microsoft Word.

"Production" describes what our production artists do: Lay out the text; design the pages, including headers, footers, fills, bleeds, and page numbers; insert art and diagrams; create a title page (and sometimes a cover), table of contents, and index; and finally turn it all into a PDF. Stuff you'd do in, say, InDesign, or QuarkXPress.

"Production" follows "development," with the exception of last-minute changes made when the writer and editor look at the near-final work of the production artist.

Anyway, I handle "development" but Nikki handles "production." Once I start talking about something being "in production," it's totally out of my hands except from a possible last review of the product ("production review") before we upload it for you to buy.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

And making more Nikkis is nearly as problematic as making more Kromms, not least because it would really complicate things for the only one Steven Marsh.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

So we create several more Stevens, too.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

SJGames is in Texas and Texas A&M cloned the first cat so you may be on to something

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Oh I fully respect what everyone does, was more trying to imply how much I am salivating at the prospect of the product.

I appreciate how much work you and Nikki do esp in the current difficult situation, the conistant quality of gurps is testament to it.

If I can wait for Cyberpunk 2077 I can wait for this

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Since Steven's name has come up:

"Project management" is assigning writers, editors, illustrators, and production artists to projects, and making sure these people communicate; setting up playtests; facilitating project handoffs from development to production; making sure that developers review the resulting production output; and establishing timelines for all of the above, as well as release dates. Most of this is done via email. It's concurrent with all of development and production.

That's Steven's job. So for every Kromm and Nikki you add, you need at least one Steven and possibly two.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I should add that I handled both development and project management from 1995-2002. I put project management on hold in 2002 to develop Fourth Edition. Since that time, I've drifted more and more solidly into a pure development role. But I can still hack project management, and sometimes do. I'm just useless at production.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Maybe this stuff needs to be in the FAQ :P

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I think it's largely "boring corporate structure stuff" that has nothing specifically to do with anything gamers need to care about, but if one of the various FAQ-keepers wants to tag it, flag it, or quote it, that would be fine. I'm writing a lot about it here because I'm a full-disclosure kind of guy . . . and I suppose also because one of my pet peeves is people thinking that editors are production artists.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Yes.

I am, professionally, a copy editor (meaning I make sure the language is correct, check the format against house style, and ask questions to clarify passages I find hard to follow) and a developmental editor (more asking questions, and suggesting ways to improve a document), but not an editor (the staff member who decides whether a work should be published, or at least recommends its publication). I know enough about things like page layout and table format to make suggestions to the people who actually do the work, but I don't use any of the software that's essential to that sort of work.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Whoa... holy crap how did I miss that this product was in development? Obviously, a LOT of people have been clamoring for it, me among them. Hopefully (COVID) it will be released soon!

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

That's the plan. It took me a long time to write it to get the right balance of crunch to abstraction. It's not a bean-counting system - I know folks are tired of me saying that but I like to manage expectations when possible about my work. You aren't counting pigs and seeing how many survive the winter. You instead have resources like "Agriculture Points" that you can spend to feed your people or perform other actions. It *does* come with its own task resolution system which is it's own chapter and I'm pretty proud of it. One thing that system should also allow is "fights" between groups like those presented in Boardrooms and Curia. At least that was the plan.

I sincerely hope folks like it because it tested me sorely at every turn and I think it's some of my best work.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Its more like GURPS Spaceships than GURPS Vehicles in this regard. Some would love more details like the variations in growing cycles of various grans and the effect of a single degree change in weather. However I suspect most would not and if it were it would get similar complaints. But as a playtester I found enough detail to let me build kingdoms and provinces with defining characteristics that have some plausibility. Plus considerations for unrealistic elements.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Incidentally, having worked with her on a lot of books, I want to say that I often think "So, how great is Nikki, anyway?"

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I always tell her how much I appreciate her. She does some damn heavy lifting and she does it well.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Indeed. Nikki does excellent work and has pulled off significant improvements for my stuff more than once.

(I mean, everybody I've worked with at SJ Games has been great, but Nikki tends to be very much behind the scenes, so it's worth emphasizing.)

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I agree.

Customers mostly know about and praise writers, because their name is right there in large type on covers and title pages. To some extent that goes for artists, too . . . though that feels a little strange to those of us who know that just about all of our art is either reused from forever ago or bought from generic services like Shutterstock.

Line developers like me are spokespeople for their lines and therefore have platforms. In that capacity, I'm not exactly unknown. People often thank me. (People often curse me, too, but I have thick skin.)

Project managers . . . well, that varies, but it's a high-profile role. Steven is the person you hear from when there's a playtest, a new product, or just about anything else that's news. Writers love him because he's the one who sets up the contracts that get them paid. He's also pretty famous as the Pyramid editor.

Editors tend to be unsung. After more than 25 years, I've yet to be named in a history of the games industry – much less nominated for any kind of award – on the strength of my editing. It's pretty much "technical support" that's invisible when it goes well and harshly attacked when it goes poorly. But the latter means it's noticed at least some of the time. (Plus there's the secret smile when people like something I know is really my effort, not the writer's.)

Production artists are really unsung. Yet they do at least as much of the work as all of the people above. As a line developer, I count on Nikki to support me with a consistent look and feel for my product line. As an editor and writer, I count on her to follow my directions on translating specific projects from my mind's eye to reality, especially in supplements with lots of formatted text (like tables and templates). And while I can't speak for Steven, I'm pretty sure that being a project manager is a lot easier when you have a production artist who can handle requests to "get this done yesterday."

So please give Nikki a round of applause!

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

So what is the optimal Kromm:Nikki:Steven ratio?

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

It's less a ratio and more a coordinate in three-dimensional space. Different projects require different values of (k, n, s), though √(k² + n² + s²) is relatively invariant.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Is that suicide by Kromm?

But you have been deified and have your own church and worshippers all over the globe

Three hoorays for her

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I actually realised how good SJG production was when playing a different game, was trying to find a rule and just couldn't, normally would have gone straight to the index and be on my way 30secs later

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

Pretty much. Like I've said elsewhere, she's made me a better technical writer. Her patience is seemingly endless at times.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

It was an exciting day when it dawned on me that Steve Jackson Games Nikola Vrtis and Steven Marsh were related to the West End Games people of the same names

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

The real people we need to clone are, of course, people who buy GURPS products. There are other people out there who can do Marsh's, Vrtis's and Sean's job... but the trouble is that they want to be paid. And unless GURPS suddenly increases its sale by a couple of 100 percent, SJG can't afford them. That's the sad truth.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I note that there are a huge list of things I could do, including focus entirely on Gaming Ballistic as my real job (a goal of mine for 2021) if I could get exactly this: about 2-3× my usual backer count.

At 2×, that would be (on the low end) 840 and on the high end 1200 backers instead of my usual. That turns things around, and enables me to pay not just my own bills, but I can pay my collaborators more.

At 3x the typical sales count (so 1260 to 1800 backers), publishing large hardbacks (300-400 pages if that's what the subject matter requires) becomes not just affordable but profitable, and one project very much subsidizes the production of the next in a virtuous circle.

Re: Call for Playtesters: GURPS Realm Management
 

I think it is a kind of Catch-22. GURPS needs better exposure to get more people interested but it needs the sales numbers to get the better exposure.

It doesn't help that GUPRS is viewed as overly complex when in reality it is, at least IMHO, saner then better known games like Champions/Heroes.