NickMiddleton Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) Dear All, Finally, I am delighted to announce that Uncounted Worlds is available - see here. At present it's available for free download or at cost print price from Lulu, but only in A4 layout I'm afraid (there may be a US letter version at some point). I hope people like what they see and I'd be delighted to receive contributions for future issues. Cheers, Nick Edited January 25, 2009 by NickMiddleton Quote
skarl Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 I downloaded this a couple of days ago and I am glad that you brought this up here, it is a very interesting publication. I was just able to skim through and read over the basic idea, but I can say that the format is outstanding. Quote **************************************** But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum, silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall cease to rest......Lord Dunsany Responsible for: https://ancientvaults.wordpress.com/
rust Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 A very nice fanzine. :thumb: I especially liked the lifepath character generation article. Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan)
Sunwolfe Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 Nick...M'Man! Well done. I d/led the issue a couple days ago and have been enjoying the articles at a measured pace. I particularly dug going over the final version of the Simple Life Paths for BRP Character Generation. We don't roll up characters very often--the gang learned long ago to be vewy-vewy-cewful when playing RQ and have transfered the same survival skills over to BRP, but as fate would have it, we rolled up a newbie a few weeks ago--days before I d/led the present issue. Coulda used that bad boy of an article. There's hope, however, that the newb will probably get wacked and need another character soon, and then I plan to use you's plan. :thumb: I also got a kick out of Ulfland, a lot o' work there. I started a thread earlier asking folks how they might be treating magical concerns in the area of priests and holy men. The Ulfland treatment and renaming of sorcery--like your suggestion on the thread--for divine magic is sick and I plan on doing something similar in some of my game-world cultures. I'm writing a lot for my home-brew game...mostly specific to the mileu, but if I think any of it applicable for use in a generic fashion, I'll flash it your way to see what you think. Great mag...hope peeps contribute and it's a success! Cheers, Sunwolfe Quote Present home-port: home-brew BRP/OQ SRD variant; past ports-of-call: SB '81, RQIII '84, BGB '08, RQIV(Mythras) '12, MW '15, and OQ '17 BGB BRP: 0 edition: 20/420; .pdf edition: 06/11/08; 1st edition: 06/13/08
RosenMcStern Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 Wow, such a fanzine was really needed! If and when I have a good BRP adventure that I don't want to self-publish I'll submit it to you, Nick. Just one suggestion: readability is not perfect because you made little use of boldface for chapters, paragraphs, etc. You could also use less spacing in stats blocks. I know it is a pain in hit location 09 to make a good layout with limited resources, but I bet your next issues will be even better than this one. :thumb: Quote Proud member of the Evil CompetitionTM
NickMiddleton Posted January 25, 2009 Author Posted January 25, 2009 Wow, such a fanzine was really needed! If and when I have a good BRP adventure that I don't want to self-publish I'll submit it to you, Nick. Thanks. The more contributions I can get the better! Just one suggestion: readability is not perfect because you made little use of boldface for chapters, paragraphs, etc. Can you tell I'm very conservative with layout? Duly noted for issue two and beyond. You could also use less spacing in stats blocks. I know it is a pain in hit location 09 to make a good layout with limited resources, but I bet your next issues will be even better than this one. :thumb: I hope so. And BRP stat blocks are quite complex. I modelled the ones in UW1 on the work that was done here by Shaira and others - but it's another area noted on my list to look at again for UW2. I've also invested in some more clip art and am hoping to break up the layout a bit more in future - it was a deliberate decision to NOT tangle with the complexities of art too much this time round, but I always knew that was going to make the text seem quite dense. So I'm hoping I can address that next time round. Thanks for everyones comments so far and please keep them coming! Cheers, Nick Quote
skarl Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 Clip art! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Quote **************************************** But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum, silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall cease to rest......Lord Dunsany Responsible for: https://ancientvaults.wordpress.com/
soltakss Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 It looks pretty good and the price for a Free Download is excellent - even £2.45 for a printed copy is reasonable for a 50+ page fanzine. I skipped through the articles and they look fine to me. I'm surprised you haven't anything linked to your BRP SciFi Monograph, perhaps in Issue 2. Personally, I've no problems with the artwork - I am more interested in the text. There were some nice-looking maps, which is always good. I'd have preferred the pictures/maps to be with a white background, but that's because I like a simple, clean style. It even has a paraphrased speech by Londo Molari, perhaps the best character in any SciFi TV series, so that can't be bad either. So, well done. It's good to see some support for BRP. When is Issue 2 coming out? Quote Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. www.soltakss.com/index.html Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here.
soltakss Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 As a matter of interest, Nick, how much does it cost to set something up at Lulu? I glanced at the costs for self-publication but I couldn't work out how they worked. So, for example, roughly what was the ballpark cost of setting up Uncounted Worlds # 1? Presumably, the cost included the ISSN Numbers and the online store entry. The reason I am asking is that I am vaguely thinking of doing something for RQM that is BRP compatible, but I can't afford to spend much on setup. Quote Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. www.soltakss.com/index.html Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here.
NickMiddleton Posted January 25, 2009 Author Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) As a matter of interest, Nick, how much does it cost to set something up at Lulu? I glanced at the costs for self-publication but I couldn't work out how they worked. Nothing. I assume Lulu get something from their print partners who actually physically produce a printed volume if the seller has chosen to print it at cost, and if I were adding a "profit" element to UW, Lulu would take a cut. But Lulu don't directly charge me anything for the services they provide. So, for example, roughly what was the ballpark cost of setting up Uncounted Worlds # 1? Presumably, the cost included the ISSN Numbers and the online store entry. The only costs associated with UW have been the domain uncounted-worlds.org, the clip-art library I'm building up, and the physical cost of posting a reference copy of UW1 to the British Library ISSN Centre at Wetherby (a requirement of the ISSN registration), and a copy to Bo Rosen in Sweden as he contributed to that issue. ISSN's (International Standard Serial Numbers) are free, simply contact the ISSN Centre at the British Library - but they ONLY apply to "serial publications" i.e. magazines, newsletters, yearly produced proceedings etc. ISBN's (International Standard Book Numbers) will cost money and apply to non-serial / unique publications - books. Lulu DO do a service where by they will sort out an ISBN for a publication, but that costs: I only looked in to it briefly a year or so back, so the details will have changed. And the Lulu storefront Lulu provide for free - note that I've done nothing in the way of enhancing it - again, there may be "pay for snazzy feature" options, but I didn't bother exploring them. The reason I am asking is that I am vaguely thinking of doing something for RQM that is BRP compatible, but I can't afford to spend much on setup. Lulu is ideal, but check their FAQ's to make sure it suits, and bear in mind tat shipping costs on printed editions from Lulu can be high - they print at partner printers (paperbacks for the UK are I believe printed in the UK, but all other European destinations are I think sourced from a printer in Spain) and this produces do quirks - at present for example I believe they can only print hardbacks in the US, which makes they an expensive buy for purchasers in the EU or Australasia. You could also look at Amazon's PoD / Self-publishing arm, Booksurge who provide a similar service to Lulu. Cheers, Nick Edited January 25, 2009 by NickMiddleton Quote
skarl Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 Lulu is ideal, but check their FAQ's to make sure it suits, and bear in mind that shipping costs on printed editions from Lulu can be high - they print at partner printers (paperbacks for the UK are I believe printed in the UK, but all other European destinations are I think sourced from a printer in Spain) and this produces do quirks - at present for example I believe they can only print hardbacks in the US, which makes they an expensive buy for purchasers in the EU or Australasia. You could also look at Amazon's PoD / Self-publishing arm, Booksurge who provide a similar service to Lulu. Cheers, Nick I am in the US and I have only purchased softbound books from LuLu (all of the retro-clone books), however I believe that they charge a lot for shipping to other countries, which can be pesky. Yet, LuLu delivers very promptly from my experience. Quote **************************************** But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum, silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall cease to rest......Lord Dunsany Responsible for: https://ancientvaults.wordpress.com/
soltakss Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 Thanks for the quick reply. Nothing. I assume Lulu get something from their print partners who actually physically produce a printed volume if the seller has chosen to print it at cost, and if I were adding a "profit" element to UW, Lulu would take a cut. But Lulu don't directly charge me anything for the services they provide. That's interesting. The only costs associated with UW have been the domain uncounted-worlds.org, the clip-art library I'm building up, and the physical cost of posting a reference copy of UW1 to the British Library ISSN Centre at Wetherby (a requirement of the ISSN registration), and a copy to Bo Rosen in Sweden as he contributed to that issue. That's the way to go with fanzines, then. ISSN's (International Standard Serial Numbers) are free, simply contact the ISSN Centre at the British Library - but they ONLY apply to "serial publications" i.e. magazines, newsletters, yearly produced proceedings etc. ISBN's (International Standard Book Numbers) will cost money and apply to non-serial / unique publications - books. Lulu DO do a service where by they will sort out an ISBN for a publication, but that costs: I only looked in to it briefly a year or so back, so the details will have changed. That's what I was looking at, then. It looks like a fanzine is the easiest way to do things. And the Lulu storefront Lulu provide for free - note that I've done nothing in the way of enhancing it - again, there may be "pay for snazzy feature" options, but I didn't bother exploring them. Sounds good to me, I prefer things plain as well, so that wouldn't be a problem. Lulu is ideal, but check their FAQ's to make sure it suits, and bear in mind tat shipping costs on printed editions from Lulu can be high - they print at partner printers (paperbacks for the UK are I believe printed in the UK, but all other European destinations are I think sourced from a printer in Spain) and this produces do quirks - at present for example I believe they can only print hardbacks in the US, which makes they an expensive buy for purchasers in the EU or Australasia. Hmmm, that's not ideal, but if people want hard-copy that wouldn't be my problem. You could also look at Amazon's PoD / Self-publishing arm, Booksurge who provide a similar service to Lulu. Thanks for all the info. It makes producing something a lot easier than I first thought. Now, all I need to do is to learn how to write, how to do layout and where to get some half-decent artwork. Quote Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. www.soltakss.com/index.html Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here.
RosenMcStern Posted January 26, 2009 Posted January 26, 2009 How to write I cannot teach you (it's an art, not a science). And I could add that you don't need any lessons from me or anyone, as hundreds of people have been using your RPG materials for years. Layout and artwork I can provide for you, that's certain. And I bet that I'm not the only one. So just knock and the doors will open, Simon. Aaahhh, self-publishing facilities are a refreshing breeeze for RPGs, aren't they? Quote Proud member of the Evil CompetitionTM
pulpcitizen Posted January 27, 2009 Posted January 27, 2009 Dear All, Finally, I am delighted to announce that Uncounted Worlds is available - see here. At present it's available for free download or at cost print price from Lulu, but only in A4 layout I'm afraid (there may be a US letter version at some point). I hope people like what they see and I'd be delighted to receive contributions for future issues. Cheers, Nick I have ordered a physical copy through Lulu, Nick, and I look forward to that arriving sometime next week. :thumb: Quote Very slowly working towards completing my monograph.
pulpcitizen Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 (edited) The quickest Lulu turnaround I have yet experienced meant this arrived yesterday. I look forwards to having a good look through next week, Nick, but it is looking like an attarcitive proposition thus far. :thumb: Edited January 30, 2009 by leonmallett Quote Very slowly working towards completing my monograph.
Solardog Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 I have now read Uncounted Worlds. Good work Mr NickMiddleton. Are you planning to do an Sci Fi issue perhaps? Quote It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.
NickMiddleton Posted February 1, 2009 Author Posted February 1, 2009 (edited) I have now read Uncounted Worlds. Good work Mr Nick Middleton. Thank you. Are you planning to do an Sci Fi issue perhaps? I'm definitely keen to include a wider spread of genres in future issues. I don't have definite plans for specifically 'themed' issues per se, but since issue one was predominantly fantasy material (and fairly conventional fantasy at that), I would like to include more varied material in future issues - and since I'm very fond of SF I'd definitely like to see more SF content. Cheers, Nick Edited February 1, 2009 by NickMiddleton Quote
Jarulf Posted February 2, 2009 Posted February 2, 2009 I got my copy on Friday and had a few very enjoyable hours reading it. I really liked the Lifepath system and Ulfland sounds like an interesting place I'd love to read more about. A good first issue, and with slightly more varied content from more authors I think this could become just the sort of thing I like to read. One thing that I wouldn't mind seeing, is material to complement the BRP Monographs. I'm sure those of you who have written, or are in the process of writing one, have something on your hard drives you could tidy up and submit? Good job Nick! Quote
Atgxtg Posted February 2, 2009 Posted February 2, 2009 Say Nick, DO you have any guidelines for submissions? Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.
NickMiddleton Posted February 2, 2009 Author Posted February 2, 2009 Say Nick, DO you have any guidelines for submissions? Yep - here . Cheers, Nick Quote
Trifletraxor Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 Can I read your submission guide line to mean that a jelmre article would not fit in as it's gloranthan, or could that be interesting too? SGL. Quote Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub! 116/420. High Priest.
NickMiddleton Posted February 3, 2009 Author Posted February 3, 2009 Can I read your submission guide line to mean that a jelmre article would not fit in as it's gloranthan, or could that be interesting too? Correct - there are other venues for Gloranthan material, and, being Gloranthan, it's not strictly all your own work, but in part a derivative work of Greg Stafford's Glorantha. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but in general (so ANY pre-exisitng published setting, not just Glorantah), it's an added complication I've chosen not to deal with.# Something like this I would recommend you send Newt's way for Hearts in Glorantha - it seems a natural fit subject-wise and HiG is a great 'zine. Cheers, Nick # If for example Gloranthan material is included in Uncounted Worlds I have to wrap my head around the Issaries Inc Fan Policy and possibly the MRQ STL, and how both interact with my exisitng permission from Chaosium and maybe even the OGL and... Lifes too short and I'm more intersted in new ideas, about new worlds. But mostly, lifes too short... Quote
jasonw1239 Posted April 10, 2009 Posted April 10, 2009 Hi Nick, I just downloaded Uncounted Worlds from the Chaosium website. Chaosium Inc. Just started reading through it. Well done! Looks like you put a lot of effort into it. Good timing on the release along with BRP Quickstart. Quote
Newt Posted April 12, 2009 Posted April 12, 2009 Something like this I would recommend you send Newt's way for Hearts in Glorantha - it seems a natural fit subject-wise and HiG is a great 'zine. Opps just noticed this. Can I jump up and down and say, YES YES YES! Send it my way. I'll take this as an opportunity to re-emphasize that I am more than happy to publish any BRP/RQ/MRQ stuff alongside all the HeroQuest submissions I get. In fact so far each issue so far has had RQ 3 material. Nick Davison's Monsters of Magasta in the upcoming issue 3 has RQ 3 stats. Issue 2 even has a full RQ3 adventure Quote Head Honcho of D101 GamesPublisher of Crypts and Things/Monkey/OpenQuest/River of HeavenThe Sorcerer Under the Mountain
pulpcitizen Posted July 26, 2009 Posted July 26, 2009 Nick - are you still aiming to publish more Uncounted Worlds? Quote Very slowly working towards completing my monograph.
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