This is a call for ideas. As you know, we at the FoS are discussing many projects to develop the setting from here, and we would like your input too.
So my questions are:
What are the ideas / theme you would like to see expanded in futur fan-made products ?
How do you see this future work done and distributed ? written by the FoS only ? By a call to fan author ? Do you think close monitoring by the FoS is needed? in QtR/USS netbooks ?
Other ideas to get cool and useful stuff out ?
Joël
PS: do not hesitate to quote an idea you like and say you also support this idea, as it will give us an idea of the popular support of a specific project / theme.
PS2: do not worry about what WotC will enable us to do - we will hopefully get an answer to this soo. But stay realistic!
"A full set of (game) rules is so massively complicated that the only time they were all bound together in a single volume, they underwent gravitational collapse and became a black hole" (Adams)
I would like to see a fan made Alak Ray's case book. The fans write up Ravenloft versons of infamious serial killers and bizzare murderers that Alak Ray would have encountered during his carrer.
Personaly I think it would cover two very needed nitches- Something using Alak Ray (who has been sorely overlooked even with his blurb in Walking Dead) and some Human killers for those who like to play a less monster filled adventure.
"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings."
Anais Nin
I would like to see things continue in the direction of the Kargatane. Thus, more Gazeteers, possibly another Van Richten's Arsenal or Guides as well.
I think these should be done with a call for authors from the fans, but the content should be of high quality, like the Karagatane did with their netbooks.
I second both Jasper and Mort's ideas. If we are going to continue producing gazeteers, netbooks, etc. we need to take every caution that they are high quality. This isn't to say that they need be publishable, but certainly the standards should be similar to that in the Books of S_ series.
Something I would like to see is a board set up so people with varied tallents can discuss potential collaboration on upcoming works. For example, an individual with a good grasp of atmosphere, story building and a plethora of new ideas but with little tallent in writing periodicals could begin threads asking for the aid of someone with the later tallent but not so much of the former. Or people with skills in writing but none in art could post a request for artists. This would allow for a good melding of tallents with the result of producing superior material.
As an extension of this idea, perhaps when a new project is announced the Frat could ask for submissions in important areas and then build a team for each work based on the quality of said submissions. (Some people are skilled in different areas, after all ... some might be excellent for a book detailing items/feats/prcs but not so good in others, thus making them a worthy addition to projects revolving around those topics.) In this way they might also have multiple teams designing works simultaneously, thus reducing the time between releases. (you could also send out a call for proofreaders, editors, etc. distributing the burden as effectively as possible) I'm sure you'd find many interested parties.
As for the Alanik Ray suggestion, while I've never been fond of the character, I do see the need for expanded information on human villainy in the setting.
Something else I'd like to see is detail work. Short books detailing such elements as popular foods, beverages and other flavorful elements of core life. Details to help bring the world alive.
I personally would like to see some more VR guides (sea monsters and abominations comes to mind), abeit setting them as unfinished manuscripts writen by colleagues and friends of VR and the twins, sent to the twins at their request, so that later when the line is restarted we don't interfere with the twins "official" development. i think a similar approach to the Gaz in in order as well, i mean it is prudent not to put all your eggs in one basket so Azalin might have more than "S" out there, she's just the most sucessful.
I also think a Legacy of Blood 2 would be a good idea, but one that moves some what away from the darklords, perhaps Legacy of Blood II: Blue Bloods detailing the nobles of the core
All great movements require a few martyrs... -Moebius (soulreaver 2)
1) To echo the Alanik Ray idea: wasn't there an idea floating around awhile ago for a Dr. Illhousen's Guide to Madmen? We could do something along those lines, either combining it with an Alanik Ray's Guide to Serial Killers or as a separate project, doing all kinds of details about different kinds of human villains and the things they do. I would love to see something like this.
2) I also agree with Mortavius: more gazetteers! More gazetteers!
3) Mods? If WotC doesn't do anything to further the metaplot ideas set out in the current projects, it could be interesting to come up with unofficial mods suggesting what happens when Hazlik tries to trigger his giant Mulan-killing spell, or what Azalin's plans for Malocchio are and what comes of them, or whether Jacqueline Renier's schemes come to fruition. These mods would probably have to be pretty heavily reviewed, but could be really cool, especially if we could convince members of the Kargatane to help us out with them . . .
"I'd really love a cup of tea, but it would be, like, blood or death or evil or something."
~Matteo Brazi, Borcan thief, Day 3 of Bleak House
I like Jacks idea of a brainstorming forum so we can share ideas and skills. I 've been told I have excelent ideas but I get major brain lock when I try to write it down and flesh it out.
It we had a brainstorming forum I could throw my ideas and someone who is better at writting can run with it while yet another can off his/her skills with maps and another can do the art.
"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings."
Anais Nin
I second almost everybody's ideas. But let me put my 2cp on the table:
Quoth the Raven: Please do continue this one.
Alanik Ray's Case Book: Pretty nice one. If this goes further, I may contribute with some brazillian murderers.
I ask myself if would be nice to always have three different murderers for every case. To give more options to the DM and also show a little about plot twists.
Gazetteers: I agree with the idea. And I would rather see the new gazetteers being written by other authors than S. The idea of several researchers being assigned for diferent places is quite nice, IMO.
But what about those other gazetteers being lost texts? Maybe S was the only one who survived for time enought to send her texts back to Azalin. This could be a good way to avoid stepping on other people toes.
Details: Jack of Tears said it all. We need fluff. And short articles could be a nice way to present this fluff. Just like Kargatane's lists. They were short, simple and pretty useful.
VR Guides: More VR Guides, please! Specially mini-guides. Small portions of text that coleagues and acquaintances of the good doctor or the Olsen... I mean, the Weathermay twins might have sent but never ended up published (yet).
Mods: I really don't like mods. But I second the idea anyway. At least they might give us pretty good ideas on how to deal with the setting in our campaigns.
Brainstorming Forum: I second the idea and add the suggestion on having some kind of wishlist. A place were people coud shoot some ideas that they for some reason cannot accomplish.
Well, this got somewhat long. I should now return to my rest with the dead.
I'd love to see a full workup of John Mangrum's ideas for Death Undaunted. We have already been given the outline and most of the key events, but it would be nice to see it all fleshed out.
I'll cast a supporting vote for the casebook project, which I think should also include something about law enforcement in the major domains of the Core. S touched on this issue in passing, but it'd be nice to see more of the gritty side of police work in the more civilized domains ... including how (and if) the RL police manage to cope with monsters, dopplegangers, magic, etc.
As for the Gazetteers, I think it might be a good idea to switch formats a bit, rather than continue the theme of Azalin's agents (S or otherwise) collecting information and sending it in. Given that the published line got cut off right before S took to the seas, perhaps we could concoct a ship captain's logbook of places he's visited on the eastern sea ... and then on the western, if his vessel gets Mist-napped and dropped off on the other side of the Core. Realizing he's got no other choice if he wants to get his vessel back to its home port, he reluctantly braves the Mists in hopes he can find his way back to where he came from....
Oh, and somebody suggested a fan-fiction advice board not long ago. I believe that this would help to generate more Ravenloft tales unconnected to specific products, which the setting's been rather short of lately.
I hope that everyone remembers that there is already a forum where people can brainstorm their ideas in the shape of the Ravenloft Projects forum. That's as good a place as any for brainstorming and building your project ideas
I have written a lovely book about how different vicsera smells funny, and how you could make doll clothes out of skin from different creatures. There was lots of how to make different paper dollie chains. Oh, it was marvellous, but they would not let me publish it, so I tortured them for ours with hot pokers on their feet. Their screams were quite pleasant.
My mummy used to sing me to sleep at night. 'Run and catch....the lamb-is-caught in the blackberry-patch...' She had the sweetest voice.... What will your mummy sing when they find your body?"
