Is Palladium healthy enough for a new idea for rpg's?,

LWhitehead · Unread post by **LWhitehead** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 1:10 am

Hi first off I've got Asbergers and I like rpg more of collector then a player, and a proud Canadian.

I want to know if Palladium books is healthy enough for some ideas for new RPG's?,

I will tell you I'm fan of Alt History, Secret History and Retro Tech in the future as well.

LW

Shark_Force · Unread post by **Shark_Force** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 2:28 am

you mean new settings? if it's awesome enough, palladium will probably gladly publish it... eventually. but seriously, emphasis on that "eventually" bit. if you submitted it today, unless it jumps way ahead in the queue you probably wouldn't see it reach the start of editing for several years at the earliest (and more on the high end of several than the low end). of course, if it jumps ahead there's no telling whether it would be the next book kevin focuses on or if it would just skip one book.

which is not to say that kevin wouldn't announce that it would come out next year. just be advised that what palladium books announces in terms of what they will release is consistently wildly different from what actually gets released... they may have 20+ books planned to release in a year, but they're generally likely to finish 3-5 of them. kevin is *very* optimistic when it comes to how long it will take to finish a book.

LWhitehead · Unread post by **LWhitehead** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 5:35 am

You mean Kevin works on them?, not me did I get the right?.

I was hoping that I would get published, and I don't do One Shots.

LW

jaymz · Unread post by **jaymz** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 9:19 am

Short answer? No.

Kevin "writes/edits/rewrites" everything to some degree and is not a traditional publisher in that he publishes other peoples books/games.

jaymz · Unread post by **jaymz** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 10:10 am

Yet oddly enough, to play the non MDC games, one by and large needs some real history or to create alternate history in order to set up campaigns and such :lol:

Giant2005 · Unread post by **Giant2005** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 11:28 am

Go ahead and contact Kevin, if you are serious about it he will probably recommend you write up a dimension book and submit it. That is his general M.O. for writers he is unfamiliar with and a dimension book is basically a setting of its own anyway.

Jorel · Unread post by **Jorel** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 11:42 am

Actually he usually suggests submitting things to the Rifter 1st. I've never seen him suggest that people should submit anything as a Dimension book.

Tinker Dragoon · Sun Jul 20, 2014 12:21 pm

That's usually how it goes, but there are occasional exceptions (e.g. Splicers).

Still, the company only publicly endorses Rifter submissions, but if they like your work, other opportunities may follow.

Prince Artemis · Sun Jul 20, 2014 3:46 pm

Also, this kind of thing has come up before and generally speaking alternate history games don't really sell all that well according to Kevin. That's not to say that they can't sell well, but the ones that do usually have more of a hook than just being an alternate history.

drewkitty ~..~ · Sun Jul 20, 2014 4:58 pm

The company can't get hits like the cash MOOOOOOO!!! Rifts if they don't try things out.

LWhitehead · Unread post by **LWhitehead** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 9:28 pm

Sounds like Kevin is bias against Alt history and secret history, hey I like Cyberpunk as well.

Now Alt history does sell look at Deadlands, also look ta Wolfenstein the New Order.

My hook is this the players are out gunned, dealing with large forces like in that Homefront

LW

Chronicler · Unread post by **Chronicler** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 10:11 pm

What about near future stuff?

MADMANMIKE · Unread post by **MADMANMIKE** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 10:50 pm

LWhitehead wrote:Hi first off I've got Asbergers and I like rpg more of collector then a player, and a proud Canadian.

I want to know if Palladium books is healthy enough for some ideas for new RPG's?,

I will tell you I'm fan of Alt History, Secret History and Retro Tech in the future as well.

LW

First off, welcome to the boards! I see quite a bit of enthusiasm in your posts, nice to see.

Second, I too have Asperger's Syndrome and I can completely relate to your love of RPGs. Through playing them I taught myself to study "normal" human behavior so that I could mimic it and thus play my characters better. In short, I feel that Palladium's RPGs are at the heart of my overcoming my differences and becoming the person I am today.

Alternate history is one of my favorite genre's as well, I'm a huge fan of the works of S.M. Stirling. That said, they are a very hard sell to Kev. I know it's difficult, but think about the aspects of the particular alternate history you're fond of and consider putting together a pitch of those elements as a sourcebook/worldbook/dimension book for one of Palladium's existing games.

The best advice I can give you as a writer is to start small. Write a few adventures to submit to Wayne in The Rifter to get yourself started.

Good luck!

Tiree · Unread post by **Tiree** » Mon Jul 21, 2014 9:46 am

ItsmeYo wrote:Hi I have dissociative identity disorder. I love rpg. And am a proud Narragansett Indian.
Welcome to the forums.

I think unless its guaranteed to generate revenue they will most likely say no thank you. Then steal your noncopyrighted ideas.

Technically it's not stealing when you sign an NDA and give your manuscript to them. Once it hits their hands, it is theirs, and they can do anything they want with it. Even if it never gets published in pieces or parts. It could even just give inspiration - and it's all theirs.

If you think it's a golden idea, best thing to do is shop around. Kick Start it, or do something else with it. Possibly even write a novel. But most of all - don't sign yourself out from under it. You get a lawyer when you start doing this, and make sure your on the up and up. It is after all your idea.

Bill · Unread post by **Bill** » Mon Jul 21, 2014 3:17 pm

Autism spectrum disorders seem pretty common among RPG collectors and fans. I have plenty of autistic traits myself, though no diagnosis, and I run RPGs as part of the social skills development programming for the college I work at. I highly recommend them to everyone with social skill challenges.

Have you considered self-publishing via print-on-demand? If you're not interested in writing rules you can adapt one of the open-source rule sets that are available, or try to write it as a system neutral sourcebook.

LWhitehead · Unread post by **LWhitehead** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 3:39 pm

Well first off it was Harry Tuttledove that turn me onto Alt History, on a alt history it's the little details that hook people like in Wolfenstein New Order how they recorded famous 60's songs in German an creating a fake record company to get around the royalties problem, that a major problem when working a project like this how do you prevent from being sued?.

I like old fashion tech in the future, such as Vacuum tubes and analogue tech, Wolfenstien New Order shown that the Third Reich was using robots that were slowly being introduced so they could go on killing the inferior races.

LW

The Dark Elf · Unread post by **The Dark Elf** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 3:54 am

I am feeling left out as I dont have any disorders but I am British (so Im like half Monty Python).

I dont think theres room for new RPGs in PB's range from the viewpoint of there (currently) limited capabilities/resources and also from my selfish fan view that I dont want anymore I just want the ones we've got to continue.

MADMANMIKE · Unread post by **MADMANMIKE** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 11:55 am

LWhitehead wrote:Well first off it was Harry Tuttledove that turn me onto Alt History, on a alt history it's the little details that hook people like in Wolfenstein New Order how they recorded famous 60's songs in German an creating a fake record company to get around the royalties problem, that a major problem when working a project like this how do you prevent from being sued?.

I like old fashion tech in the future, such as Vacuum tubes and analogue tech, Wolfenstien New Order shown that the Third Reich was using robots that were slowly being introduced so they could go on killing the inferior races.

LW

Yes! The Guns of the South got me started on Turtledove. I don't play video games, but I love to watch RhinoCRUNCH playthrough videos on Youtube and he did Wolfenstein all the way through. Good stuff.

LWhitehead · Unread post by **LWhitehead** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:21 pm

Well I half British too on my mother side living here in Victoria BC is like being in the UK,

Fatherland by Robert Harris is set in same timeframe, BTW does anyone have his E-Mail address?.

It's just I don't want anyone messing with my work,

LW

The Galactus Kid · Sat Jul 26, 2014 9:12 pm

LWhitehead wrote:It's just I don't want anyone messing with my work,

If this is the case then the only real way to go about this is to self-publish. I have a number of publications and each and every one of them has gone through an editing and revision process. If you are serious about writing, YOUR STUFF WILL GET MESSED WITH.

Carl Gleba · Unread post by **Carl Gleba** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 10:59 am

The Galactus Kid wrote:
LWhitehead wrote:It's just I don't want anyone messing with my work,

If this is the case then the only real way to go about this is to self-publish. I have a number of publications and each and every one of them has gone through an editing and revision process. If you are serious about writing, YOUR STUFF WILL GET MESSED WITH.

Exactly, all of the writers can expect to see editing on their work. Kevin will often enhance the work with the right combination of cutting, adding and expanding. I've always been pleased with the final results for my stuff. Plus anything that gets cut and I can reuse in some way or another.

I go in with the attitude that I am playing in Kevin's sandbox and he has the final say. Because role playing is so personal we tend to get very attached to our work. However if you want to get your work published, in a way you have to give it over and trust that the final result will still be what you envisioned.

My experience is that Kevin always tries to stay true to my ideas and I can see this with the end product. Kevin only makes changes for game continuity and balance as far as I can see. It may be different for other writers, but Kevin will often tell me why certain changes were made. He can see the bigger picture in how the product will be used and you either need to accept that or self publish if you can't.

I highly suggest the Rifter. Starting small is always a good idea. You won't know until you try. Hopefully with me and Galactus Kid you can make an informed decision.

Good luck.

Shark_Force · Unread post by **Shark_Force** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 1:28 pm

honestly, the vast majority of the time you will be much better off letting someone else make changes.

there's a reason publishing companies employ editors. even the authors that consistently produce quality work have editors. in fact, probably a large part of the reason authors that consistently produce quality work do that is because of their editor.

The Galactus Kid · Sun Jul 27, 2014 2:53 pm

I agree 100% with the previous two posts.

bielmic · Unread post by **bielmic** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 4:27 pm

LWhitehead wrote:I want to know if Palladium books is healthy enough for some ideas for new RPG's?,

After the recent cash infusion and press from the Robotech game, I suspect they are "healthy enough". I don't think paying their rent and bills is an issue any more like it was after the Crisis of TreacheryTM. What I don't think is the case is that they have the manpower to make anything of any new ideas. They don't have the time to fully support their existing RPG lines like HU and PFRPG for the past few years let alone put out yet another separate RPG line that only has a single book and then is left alone for a decade or more (barring fan submitted rifter articles).

Prince Artemis · Mon Jul 28, 2014 4:11 am

It's also not just the prose either that editors deal with. When your write something big, like a book, sometimes there will be parts to it (possibly entire sections) that don't make any sense or are in fact bad for the book itself, or put things in the wrong light. You won't notice it because you wrote it. To you it makes perfect sense because your head has your ideas and you're able to fill the gaps that aren't filled by what's actually on the page.

If you ever read the book or listened to the audio version of 'on writing' by Steven King (which is pretty much required reading/listening if you ever want to write anything), before you submit anything you should put it away for a few months without thinking about it after you finish the draft. Then after you've completely forgotten about it, go back and re-read it and see what sections no longer made sense. After all, if they don't make sense to you anymore, what hope does anyone else have? That is what an editor does. They cut the chaff out that really isn't needed or doesn't make sense. The sad part is, sometimes (actually a lot of times), you have to 'kill your babies'.

Also, someone suggested self publishing, which is fine. However, if you think no one will mess with your work even if you self publish, you don't know what the internet is. The comment sections alone will rip you to shreds if you don't edit your own work properly (lets face it, they will even if you do). You're going to face feedback whether you like it or not.

A great film example of someone who went without an editor or anyone else looking over the work, to see just where it will get you? Look up 'The room'.

Shark_Force · Unread post by **Shark_Force** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 10:47 am

as another example of how much it can help to have someone who can tell you "no, we're not doing that", although in a slightly different industry, consider the star wars movies. episodes IV-VI were done when george lucas had to listen to someone else. episodes I-III were not, and we got frankenvader and jar-jar stinks.

Spinachcat · Unread post by **Spinachcat** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 11:57 pm

The Galactus Kid wrote: If you are serious about writing, YOUR STUFF WILL GET MESSED WITH.

I've heard a quote from Larry Kasdan (go imdb him if you don't know him) about why he charges $1M per screenplay. "You pay me $500,000 for my ideas and $500,000 for the right to do whatever you want to them."

As a writer, you have to decide what you are willing to sell (and thus lose the rights) and what you will not sell, and thus keep all the control.

The Galactus Kid · Tue Jul 29, 2014 3:11 pm

Spinachcat wrote:
The Galactus Kid wrote: If you are serious about writing, YOUR STUFF WILL GET MESSED WITH.

I've heard a quote from Larry Kasdan (go imdb him if you don't know him) about why he charges $1M per screenplay. "You pay me $500,000 for my ideas and $500,000 for the right to do whatever you want to them."

As a writer, you have to decide what you are willing to sell (and thus lose the rights) and what you will not sell, and thus keep all the control.

Exactly. Well said.

LWhitehead · Unread post by **LWhitehead** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 2:01 am

Well my main idea behind my rpg ideas is that the players are out numbered and out gunned, It's good idea in itself but I know K is still against alt history, I'm just trying figure out why the world is so screwed up.

LW

Warshield73 · Unread post by **Warshield73** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 6:30 pm

Shark_Force wrote:as another example of how much it can help to have someone who can tell you "no, we're not doing that", although in a slightly different industry, consider the star wars movies. episodes IV-VI were done when george lucas had to listen to someone else. episodes I-III were not, and we got frankenvader and jar-jar stinks.

I agree 100%

Speaking as someone who has never submitted a single thing to PB, but owns almost every book they have ever made, I have to say that my least favorite books do not suffer from too much editing. As near as I can tell, the suffer from far too little. Power creep, ignoring continuity, making items in previous books completely obsolete, are all signs to me that it needed a lot more editing then it got.

Chronicler · Unread post by **Chronicler** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:19 pm

A thought has occurred to me. If I were to submit a new idea for an rpg line, and if it gets picked up, how much creative control do I have with said line and future works? Like say I have ideas for future books that cover more stuff from the initial book (world guides, races, culture, big old tech manual, that sort of thing), would Kevin allow it, or would he get other people on it too?

Carl Gleba · Unread post by **Carl Gleba** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:30 pm

Chronicler wrote:A thought has occurred to me. If I were to submit a new idea for an rpg line, and if it gets picked up, how much creative control do I have with said line and future works? Like say I have ideas for future books that cover more stuff from the initial book (world guides, races, culture, big old tech manual, that sort of thing), would Kevin allow it, or would he get other people on it too?

The best answer is look at Splicers. Great game created by Carmen Bellaire. The property is now in Palladium's hands. To the best of my knowledge Carmen has no creative control over what additional material gets created.

It is also really not pratical for Palladium to share this creative control. To many hands in the pot make it a mess and then what if there is a creative difference between Palladium and the author? Who wins if no one wants to compromise?

So my opinion is that you would have no creative control.

Josh Hilden · Unread post by **Josh Hilden** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:31 pm

Chronicler wrote:A thought has occurred to me. If I were to submit a new idea for an rpg line, and if it gets picked up, how much creative control do I have with said line and future works? Like say I have ideas for future books that cover more stuff from the initial book (world guides, races, culture, big old tech manual, that sort of thing), would Kevin allow it, or would he get other people on it too?

UNLESS policy has changed only what Kevin allows you. Which is pretty typical in the freelance community. Unless you are licensing something to them Palladium effectively owns it.

Chronicler · Unread post by **Chronicler** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:31 pm

Carl Gleba wrote:
The best answer is look at Splicers. Great game created by Carmen Bellaire. The property is now in Palladium's hands. To the best of my knowledge Carmen has no creative control over what additional material gets created.

It is also really not pratical for Palladium to share this creative control. To many hands in the pot make it a mess and then what if there is a creative difference between Palladium and the author? Who wins if no one wants to compromise?

So my opinion is that you would have no creative control.

Josh Hilden wrote:
UNLESS policy has changed only what Kevin allows you. Which is pretty typical in the freelance community. Unless you are licensing something to them Palladium effectively owns it.

So I take it there are no negotiations about it then? Not even if I make my own rule system and ask if they can help publish it, cause I heard self publishing is not that great for a one man start up.

Josh Hilden · Unread post by **Josh Hilden** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:35 pm

Chronicler wrote:I heard self publishing is not that great for a one man start up.

http://www.thirdeyegames.net

Eloy Lasanta started his company as one guys and now he is growing by leaps and bounds.

EDIT: My advice will always be self publish before reaching out to publishers. Build a product and a track record.

Carl Gleba · Unread post by **Carl Gleba** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:43 pm

Chronicler wrote:So I take it there are no negotiations about it then? Not even if I make my own rule system and ask if they can help publish it, cause I heard self publishing is not that great for a one man start up.

I can't speak for Palladium with respect to this. I will say what Kevin has told me many times. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Palladium needs someone who can execute their ideas, not just give Palladium a pitch.

The best way to proceed is to get something published in the Rifter. That will get you noticed and get your foot in the door. Once Palladium sees that you have good ideas that you can execute then you pitch your big ideas.

BTW self publishing is pretty easy these days fro what I can see. You have options like DriveThruRPG, as well as some of the different E-books apps that are out there. If you do your research there are ways of doing it.

I also suggest you check out Palladium Freelancer Jason Richards. He recently had a successful Kick Starter for his Breach World project and to my knowledge other than the rules he is publishing this all himself thanks to the KS.

Chronicler · Unread post by **Chronicler** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 8:07 pm

Carl Gleba wrote:
Chronicler wrote:So I take it there are no negotiations about it then? Not even if I make my own rule system and ask if they can help publish it, cause I heard self publishing is not that great for a one man start up.

I can't speak for Palladium with respect to this. I will say what Kevin has told me many times. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Palladium needs someone who can execute their ideas, not just give Palladium a pitch.

The best way to proceed is to get something published in the Rifter. That will get you noticed and get your foot in the door. Once Palladium sees that you have good ideas that you can execute then you pitch your big ideas.

BTW self publishing is pretty easy these days fro what I can see. You have options like DriveThruRPG, as well as some of the different E-books apps that are out there. If you do your research there are ways of doing it.

I also suggest you check out Palladium Freelancer Jason Richards. He recently had a successful Kick Starter for his Breach World project and to my knowledge other than the rules he is publishing this all himself thanks to the KS.

Funny how I had ideas for the Rifter, but never had the courage to actually submit the idea. I'd think I'll do that first.

LWhitehead · Unread post by **LWhitehead** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 11:27 pm

Yeah I'm planning to submit for the Rifter, I want to create an official hero character like Lord Coake who will effect Rifts.

I heard before Lord Coake became an official plot character he was play tested, um would I have to do that?.

LW

Shark_Force · Unread post by **Shark_Force** » Sat Aug 09, 2014 9:24 am

LWhitehead wrote:Yeah I'm planning to submit for the Rifter, I want to create an official hero character like Lord Coake who will effect Rifts.

I heard before Lord Coake became an official plot character he was play tested, um would I have to do that?.

LW

i'm not 100% sure, but i think Coake was mostly playtested in the sense that he was a PC from kevin's gaming group, the Defilers or something like that... but i could be completely wrong.

Carl Gleba · Unread post by **Carl Gleba** » Sat Aug 09, 2014 9:33 am

Shark_Force wrote:
LWhitehead wrote:Yeah I'm planning to submit for the Rifter, I want to create an official hero character like Lord Coake who will effect Rifts.

I heard before Lord Coake became an official plot character he was play tested, um would I have to do that?.

LW

i'm not 100% sure, but i think Coake was mostly playtested in the sense that he was a PC from kevin's gaming group, the Defilers or something like that... but i could be completely wrong.

That's how I remember it.

Warshield73 · Unread post by **Warshield73** » Tue Aug 12, 2014 1:54 am

Shark_Force wrote:
LWhitehead wrote:Yeah I'm planning to submit for the Rifter, I want to create an official hero character like Lord Coake who will effect Rifts.

I heard before Lord Coake became an official plot character he was play tested, um would I have to do that?.

LW

i'm not 100% sure, but i think Coake was mostly playtested in the sense that he was a PC from kevin's gaming group, the Defilers or something like that... but i could be completely wrong.

You are correct, this is how KS explained it to me.

quertas · Unread post by **quertas** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 4:19 pm

Getting the rights for the necoscope series by brian lumely would be good.. psionics and superspies... its rpg has been sitting in teh dark for a long time.

An updated ninjas and superspies would be great to.. updated for all the new tech out there.

LWhitehead · Unread post by **LWhitehead** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 7:09 am

How about 21th Century version of Red Dawn or Homefront video game setting, America is occupied by an Invasion force, the players are rebels out gunned and have to use what they find to strike back, this isn't an one shot RPG book idea.

LW

Zer0 Kay · Unread post by **Zer0 Kay** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 10:24 am

Jorel wrote:Actually he usually suggests submitting things to the Rifter 1st. I've never seen him suggest that people should submit anything as a Dimension book.

No but he has suggested submission of work with the unsolicited form for world books.

LWhitehead · Unread post by **LWhitehead** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 7:44 pm

Ok Rifter then for this idea for original rpg book series, I get it.

not a World book for Rifts,

LW

Unread post by **AlexM** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 8:29 pm

Me and Kevin grew up with Secret History. I've got a lot of material about forces working behind the scenes, and tech that doesn't or shouldn't exist. Good spelling and grammar is fine but presenting the ideas well and in a "I really want to turn the page" fashion is not easy for most people to do. When the dinosaurs roamed... I mean, in those pre-internet days, you had to shell out your own money and find some way to sell your books, perhaps through a distributor. Or just (try to) sell your manuscript to an established publishing company.

Alex Marciniszyn

Josh Hilden · Unread post by **Josh Hilden** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 12:15 pm

Or self publish. Get an editor and do the grunt work yourself.

The Galactus Kid · Mon Jul 27, 2015 3:35 pm

Josh Hilden wrote:Or self publish. Get an editor and do the grunt work yourself.

You've been pretty succesful with this route, as has jason Richards.

Josh Hilden · Unread post by **Josh Hilden** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 3:54 pm

The Galactus Kid wrote:
Josh Hilden wrote:Or self publish. Get an editor and do the grunt work yourself.

You've been pretty succesful with this route, as has jason Richards.

There's a lot to do when you take the reigns but it never feels like work.