|
I've mentioned before that article ideas should not be what's keeping you
from being published. The trick is to come up with a basic idea and then
make it desirable somehow. A good way to make even plain articles
attractive is to blend fluff and crunch.
These topics are not necessarily fully developed as pitches. Querying
Dragon Magazine with an article on "racial substation levels for dwarves"
probably won't get you to the submission stage. You need to add a hook that
lets them know you have something worth reading.
My magic number for a crunch article is three distinct ideas on a similar
topic. If I can come up with three different directions for a bit of
crunch, I can probably come up with the seven or 12 or 20 necessary specific
items for a fully-developed article. For each of the three, create two
different power levels. That gives at least six crunch items.
If you only have one or two crunch ideas, then your focus might be too
narrow. Try to expand it and see if that helps generate more material. If
not, set it aside for later.
Characters
Races:
- Racial substitution levels for a single race, different classes (11 classes)
- Racial substitution levels for a single class, multiple races (7 races)
- Regional variations within a campaign setting
- An advice article on how to fill the vacuum of removing one race from your
campaign by modifying or expanding the other races
Classes:
- Variant ability progressions, grouped by theme (African-inspired classes,
for example, or adapting a work of myth or fiction)
- A new core class balanced with the existing classes
- Choose a particular role (like ranged attacker or diplomat) and describe how
to build that character with different classes
Prestige Classes:
- High-level prestige classes.
Most prestige classes allow a character entry at around 6th level, although
some require the character to be as high as 12th. The reason that most
allow entry at relatively low level is simple: most game play takes place
at 12th level or lower. However, some groups continue playing beyond that
point. A selection of prestige classes designed for entry beyond 15th level
could be very interesting.
- Prestige classes suited to a particular race (7 races)
- Prestige classes that require a monster ability as a prerequisite and work
to enhance or modify the ability: The most interesting options include gaze
attacks, breath weapons, ability drain, spawning, and poison (5 articles)
Feats:
- Non-combat feats
- Racial feats for any of the core races (7 races)
- Epic feats
- Monster feats
- Environmental feats for surviving and fighting in a particular setting
(different articles might cover marine, desert, underground, arctic or swamp
settings)
Skill-focusing Feats:
I love the mechanic implicit in the Track feat. It grants a character a
specific ability (following tracks) based on the use of a general skill
(Survival). Similarly, the druidic ability animal empathy allows the use of
Diplomacy with animals. What other skills might allow something similar?
Sleight of Hand, which is very open-ended already, is an appealing choice
for exploring several different directions. Concentration might allow for
characters to ignore enemies, removing the enemy's flank benefit.
Metamagic "Splicing" Feats:
These feats splice a condition other than hit point damage into a damaging
spell. One feat stuns targets that take damage. Another feat slows targets
that take damage. One knocks targets prone. Browse through the condition
summary section for ideas and consider two or more similar feats of
different power (usually measured in the duration of the condition or
allowance of a save) for each one.
Spells:
- Force effects
- Low-level power words
- Magic Item spell components
As mentioned before, some of my favorite article ideas come from finding
something unique and fleshing it out so that it's not unique anymore. For
example, the spell mage's sword from the d20 system requires the
caster to drink a potion of bull's strength as the material
component. Why should that be the only spell to require consuming a
single-use magic item?
One article could describe new spells that require potions as material
components. A different article could focus on the use of other items, like
scrolls or even wands. Yet another article could feature spells that use
magic items as a material focus. You might even create a collection of epic
spells that require artifacts as a focus.
- Permanent duration spells
- Personal-effect spells
- ream-based magic, based on mechanics similar to the 5th level arcane spell
nightmare
- New symbols
- A variety of illusionary attackers inspired by phantasmal killer,
both lower and higher in level. These spells all use the dual saving throw
mechanic found in [i]phantasmal killer[/i]: a Will save for disbelief and
then a Fortitude save for partial effects.
- Nonlethal spells: list the current spells that are good for capturing enemies
alive and create new ones. Another approach broadens the topic to include
non-magic ways of capturing enemies, including nonlethal melee damage,
traps, equipment and cooperative strategies for the party to use. This idea
would combine fluff and crunch well, allowing a variety of new feat,
equipment and spell options.
Treasure and Equipment
Weapons & Armor:
Truly new non-magical weapons and armor are hard to create, but you might
gather specific detail about weapons from a specific historical culture to
define the weapons and armor used for a particular game setting.
Magic Items:
- One-shot magic items
- Evil magic items
- Large and stationary magic items (altars, thrones, statues, church bells,
gates, etc.)
- Cheap magic items (a small bonus to a skill and a small bonus to a save, for
example)
- Class ability-enhancing magic items (extra uses/day of smite evil or turn
undead, for example)
- Racial ability-enhancing magic items
- Useful-about-town magic items
- New ioun stones
- Cursed magic items
- Intelligent magic items (stat them out and provide background and
characterization)
A good source for new magic item articles is any magic item with two or more
options already identified. Besides the ioun stones, figurines of wondrous
power and feather tokens are good candidates for more new items.
Other Equipment:
- New alchemical equipment
- New poisons (I personally think the existing poison list is unsatisfactory)
- Additional adventuring equipment
- Alternate monies (using real-world models and fictional examples)
- New special materials usable for armor or weapons
- Non-magical religious artifacts or items important for their history and
tradition
- A list of books that might be found in a library. You could list a few
hundred titles and then assemble some "batches" for different character
archetypes (historian, necromancer, theologian, etc.). Instead you might
describe a smaller list and summarize each book's content. You might also
compile the longer list and then prune the shorter list with descriptions
for another market.
Combat
- New combat options based on the aid another combat action
- An article that takes an in-depth look at one element of combat, such as
attacks of opportunity or mounted combat. Discuss the impact of the basic
rules and offer insight on how to take advantage of the rule and how to
fight against it.
- A primer on how to gain and take advantage of situational bonuses (like
flanking or higher ground) would be good for many new players and could be
good idea-fodder for veteran players.
NPCs
- Pregenerated shopkeepers, police, city officials, guards, soldiers, thieves,
beggars, etc. This sort of mundane stat-generation is very useful.
- Aristocracy, including naming and providing stats for nobles of different
rank from different real-world cultures
Monsters
- Additional real-world animals
I don't think the fossa or the hyrax have been statted out yet for d20, and that's a crying shame.
Someone should redress this oversight immediately! If you organize your
articles by geographic area, you could write one for each continent and
several for marine life, getting 10 articles out of this idea.
Likewise, a huge selection of real-world prehistoric animals is available
for adaptation with a little research. The most obvious choice for
organization is to divide this article into several articles by era
(Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic, for example).
- New constructs that aren't golems
- Multiple variants of popular monsters like the rakshasa, medusa or ogre
mage. A good way to adapt monsters like these is to either add or subtract
the level of magic use. One ogre mage might have less natural armor and
Strength and more spell-like abilities. Another, going in the opposite
direction, might have fewer abilities but gain an innate rage ability.
Going back to the original source material (the Japanese oni for the ogre
mage, or Hindu belief for the rakshasa) can provide many examples that you
can extrapolate from.
- Choose a special ability and create new monsters that make use of it (gaze
attacks or breath weapons are good themes)
- Unique demons
- Monster variants for common animals like dogs or horses. Change the feats,
change the skills, vary the stats a little and describe a dozen or two
different breeds.
- Stat out animated household, city street or dungeon objects, like chairs,
rugs, canopy beds, lamp posts, carriages, iron maidens, etc. The more
special abilities you can give your items, the better.
Miscellaneous
- Expand the list of suggested alternate uses of positive energy in the turn
undead description
- Magical storms and their effects (reducing visibility, spell failure,
hampering movement, etc.)
- Traps centered on a theme (pit traps, outdoors traps, traps from a movie)
- Adapt a historical or folkloric setting, such as Heorot (from Beowulf),
Charlemagne's court, or Renaissance Venice
- The concealment, delivery, and decryption of secret messages
- Magical locations
If you have more ideas that you'd like to share, including approaches to
developing article ideas, please contribute to the forum. |
