tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post9130089265111817022..comments2024-03-12T22:45:16.936+01:00Comments on The Disoriented Ranger: How about a Style Guide to write adventures?Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-22363635643454485152019-11-24T22:06:49.672+01:002019-11-24T22:06:49.672+01:00Thanks! Every industry does it somewhat differentl...Thanks! Every industry does it somewhat differently, I think. I haven't heard it described as Context Matrix, for instance :) I will look into that, though. It's always interesting to check out how others are doing stuff. From what I gathered after a quick little research, it's a somewhat different perspective on content and seems to assume you are doing it right enough to achieve what is necessary in a content strategy (goal not process oriented, maybe?). The above tackles the content production a little before that, I think. Interesting, though. Thanks for the pointer!<br /><br />They all seem to have an idea what they want their content to look like, at least they have as soon as they can afford to pay an editor. The OSR (the whole scene in general, actually) seems to be a bit tight-lipped about the whole process. I'd say there are no standards others than the ones that already exist (AP Stylebook and such) and those you can agree upon (like I tried above). If you consider that role playing games are a new form of media, it's apparent that we still have some ways to go. In the stuff I do, I try to orient my designs on how non fiction and children's books are done (maybe comic books, too, to some extent). There's a lot of inspiration to be found, and given the topics we seem to end up working with, it's hard to come up with anything but a very general outline how to convey information in PDF or print media. I know, that's a lot of 'maybe'. Hope it helps a bit anyway ...<br /><br />Jens D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-59016337578801428272019-11-24T15:26:43.744+01:002019-11-24T15:26:43.744+01:00Firstly, thank you for writing this. I am fairly w...Firstly, thank you for writing this. I am fairly well along into creating content for a 'mega city' that is feeling less like a locate for an adventure or three and more like a source book. I'm at a point where I want to do some serious editing and a simple search on duck duck go lead me to your site top of the page in search results - kudos!<br />But when looking back on my days as a tech writer progressing into QA for web design, what I am reading in this post seems to me to be more of a Content Matrix and less a Style Guide - both important and both vital for publishing. Style Guide in that world was more about fonts, placement, colors, image size, hierarchy of headers, etc - stuff you would tailor the css to. Content Matrix was the actual content, and where it would be placed on a web site - alot of what you have created here. <br />Have you taken this any further? And more generally, do you know if some of the mid to larger companies have templates for Content Matrix and Style Guides? I'm focusing on any OSR at the moment that I can begin to leverage.<br />Thanks again!<br />SteveStevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14988929595319927984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-41649453867704089562018-04-07T18:37:46.441+02:002018-04-07T18:37:46.441+02:00Thanks, Shane! Means a lot to hear something like ...Thanks, Shane! Means a lot to hear something like this from a fellow blogger and successful DIYer :)<br /><br />The idea with the appendices is to allow some flow for the reader when reading it. If you have huge blocks of "something entirely different", it throws the reader off ... at least it's like that with all kinds of texts, so it should apply for modules, right? That said, there is a huge variety possible, you just need a structure to abstract from.Jens D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-83051161266822597162018-04-07T18:01:44.063+02:002018-04-07T18:01:44.063+02:00I think you hit the nail on the head honestly. The...I think you hit the nail on the head honestly. The idea of putting large tables in the back is smart. I always overthink world things and then to write too much. Ex a mystical island set in a magical portal, how does the portal work. That kinda stuff. Obviously that's a writing issue and not style thing. The few big modules I started working on I followed basically what you have laid out here, background, factions, important NPCs events etc. shanepatrickwardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09779728578574223142noreply@blogger.com