Quote:
Originally Posted by Pollution
Yeah but some of these requirements are wild and arbitrary.
Put stat blocks for creatures at the bottom of a topic under Additional Details???
No. I put it under the mechanics section (or NPCs go under Individuals) and reference it with a link. Short blocks go under the adversary section. Like the text suggests.
The guide is nice, but I'll be ignoring a majority of it for my 3PP client. With 30 modules a bestiary and 2 full APs ready to go, I'm not rewritting all of the completely a few weeks before Content Market launch.
I have a full time job and these took a year to get in as is.
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They are definitely NOT wild and arbitrary. It sounds like you just scanned things and leapt to conclusions. Perhaps asking for clarification would be a better tactic next time. I'm happy to provide it...
If you look at the guidelines, there are multiple places where statblocks are expected to be provided. Those places exactly parallel where the statblocks are found within print/PDF resources. If you purchase a book of monsters, you'll find statblocks with all of them. If you purchase a module, you'll find statblocks for each standalone NPC with that NPC. If you purchase a module and there is an encounter, the statblocks for the NPCs and monsters that appear in the encounter are provided in the encounter. That way, it's all right there for the GM.
We do the exact same thing in the content we've developed for RW, as that's what users will both expect and find useful. The guidelines simply codify that as a requirement, but it's nothing new or different from how things are done today in the print/PDF space. This approach is neither "wild" nor "arbitrary", and it certainly would not require a complete rewrite if something needs to be added somewhere - most likely, just a copy and paste of some statblocks.
You are welcome to ignore whatever you want in the guidelines. However, content that gets distributed through the CM needs to be consistent and maintain a high level of quality and utility for users. That's the whole purpose behind the guidelines. There is no requirement that a 3PP follow any of the guidelines if they are eschewing the CM and directly distributing the material themselves, but I'm pretty sure at least some users won't be keen on the material if it's wildly different from everything else in RW, and that may have undesired ramifications. However, that's a subject that can only be assessed by the 3PP.
If there are other specific items in the guidelines that you have questions about, please post them and I'll do my best to explain the rationale for instituting them the way we have. I can assure you that a heck of a lot of thought and consideration when into establishing these guidelines, and it's based on working through lots of different material.