Making Something on the Jonstown Compedium. How do I Get Started?

[Anlúan]

The title says it all really. I've been tempted to write something for CoC for a long time, and as I'm planning my campaign (see the Starting my First game thread) I've been curious about maybe taking that creativity to the Jonstown Compedium instead.

I'm only thinking small for the time being, and I'd probably have it centered around Alda-Chur.

[Brian Duguid]

Some general tips:

• Use what's already there as a model for layout, style, content, copyright, logos etc
• Join either the Jonstown Compendium Creators Circle on Facebook and/or the JC channel on Chaosium's discord server if you want to meet others for advice or assistance
• Find and follow the JC guidelines
• Write about something you are really interested in - the vast majority of community creators are doing this for personal satisfaction, not for fame or fortune
• If you are thinking of writing a scenario, then consider the Storytelling Collective's Write Your First Adventure course, which has a specific RuneQuest "path"

[Nick Brooke]

A few thoughts I'll add to the mix:

• Brian's given you the best links already; there's a JC FAQ, too.
• To maximise readership, write for an already-established setting (in both time and place). If it's post-Dragonrise RQG, ask yourself how Vasana & Co. (or perhaps another bunch of Starter Set pregens?) might turn up and get involved. (I use "What Would Yanioth Do?" as a prompt myself when I'm writing scenarios).
• If you write for an exotic setting where Chaosium has never supported RuneQuest campaigns, fewer people will read and play your stuff. If you write a highly-specific niche product, many established RuneQuest groups won't be able to use it. Consider providing pregens and making a one-shot or self-contained experience.
• Get somebody you trust to read through what you've written and tell you what's missing.
• Ask for help, recruit experts who can do stuff you couldn't do yourself (art, maps, stat blocks, diagrams, layout, editing, proof-reading, playtesting), build an all-conquering team and then assail the heavens themselves to dethrone the Old Gods. (It's what Sedenya did, after all.) The Facebook group is full of helpful people.
• Anticipate 100 sales in the first couple of months. That lets you budget for art. (Most products get there.)
• Your Glorantha Will Vary, and that's what makes it great! We want to read stuff set in your Glorantha, the one you're excited about. (You can't write for somebody else's Glorantha, as it varies, and it's best to get used to the idea.)
• Value what you create: free products don't earn best-seller medals, and they never appear on "Best-Seller" or "Hottest Products" lists, so they drop out of sight quickly. If you make a product "Pay What You Want," you'll learn that most people want to pay $0.
• Pricing is a funny old game (and I can offer lots of advice if you're interested, just email me). A book priced at $4.95 or $4.99 will sell more copies than a book priced at $5.00; sales of digital products seem to drop off a cliff above $20 (but if you read what I just wrote you'll price it at $19.95 or $19.99 instead).
• If you're creating a series, each new release may "bump" sales of older products, but will sell fewer copies overall. Don't be too disappointed when you notice this, it's only natural (when you think about it).
• There's a half-page street plan of Alda-Chur in Lands of RuneQuest: Dragon Pass (on page 86). You are warmly encouraged to make a nicer version of this and include it in your JC product. There's four paragraphs describing the city, too: don't simply copy those, but you can certainly start writing by expanding on the details found in published Chaosium books. (Only, you know, adding loads of your own original stuff - places and characters and colour and life - to create something that's cool and interesting: compare the bland map of Furthest and the short description on p.106-7 of the Dragon Pass book to Simon Bray's superb poster map and detailed gazetteer of the city.)

Edited November 13 by Nick Brooke

[Anlúan]

1 hour ago, Brian Duguid said:

Write about something you are really interested in - the vast majority of community creators are doing this for personal satisfaction, not for fame or fortune

5 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

To maximise readership, write for an already-established setting (in both time and place). If it's post-Dragonrise RQG, ask yourself how Vasana & Co. (or perhaps another bunch of Starter Set pregens?) might turn up get involved. (I use "What Would Yanioth Do?" as a prompt myself when I'm writing scenarios).

As I mentioned, I've been thinking about writing a short selection of adventures for people to do in Alda-Chur / Alone. I really like the social dynamics I can build in The Far Point, and I have so many ideas!

 

7 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

There's a half-page street plan of Alda-Chur in Lands of RuneQuest: Dragon Pass (on page 86). You are warmly encouraged to make a nicer version of this and include it in your JC product. There's four paragraphs describing the city, too: don't simply copy those, but you can certainly start writing by expanding on the details found in published Chaosium books. (Only, you know, adding loads of your own original stuff - places and characters and colour and life - to create something that's cool and interesting: compare the bland map of Furthest and the short description on p.106-7 of the Dragon Pass book to Simon Bray's superb poster map and detailed gazetteer of the city.)

Of course, this is only a jumping-off point. I'll check the guidelines, but from this (and WF15) I'd only want to take the list of tribes names and general vibe, the population figures, and the list of shrines.

10 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

Ask for help, recruit experts who can do stuff you couldn't do yourself (art, maps, stat blocks, diagrams, layout, editing, proof-reading, playtesting), build an all-conquering team and then assail the heavens themselves to dethrone the Old Gods. (It's what Sedenya did, after all.) The Facebook group is full of helpful people.

And thanks for pointing this out. I hadn't really considered if I'd get help. At the moment it only feels like it'd be a short write-up, but I suppose these things can grow!

11 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

Get somebody you trust to read through what you've written and tell you what's missing.

This is a problem for way later, but I may need to find people for that. I'm the local RQ fan in my friend group and they're yet to play.

 

Thank you both for your help! I'll get cracking on an outline after I read the guidelindes, and then check out those groups.

[Squaredeal Sten]

For a reference on pricing. get Nick's Jonstown Compendium Catalog.  He is evidently too modest (!) to mention it himself.

And plan your artwork acquisition early, even if it's just the cover art.  The artist(s) need time to produce, you need time to find them. and other people may be in line before you. so beginning that early will help you publish sooner rather than later.

 

 

[soltakss]

On 11/12/2024 at 3:17 PM, Anlúan said:

Making Something on the Jonstown Compedium. How do I Get Started?

Start by writing down ideas then flesh them out. There is a Jonstown Compendium Word Template that works well, as long as you don't want headers as PDF bookmarks. Use that and a supplement will look reasonably good. Add in some artwork, use free artwork where possible if it fits, I have seen good covers that are freely available paintings for example.

On 11/12/2024 at 3:17 PM, Anlúan said:

I'm only thinking small for the time being, and I'd probably have it centered around Alda-Chur.

Scenarios are always good, so including scenarios will help sales. Look at the map of the area and expand on descriptions of places. Make up new places if you want to. Look at the current named personalities and write them up, or add new personalities. That kind of thing normally works well.

But, the most important thing is to write something that you are going to enjoy writing.