Universalis Third Printing

[Valamir]

Thanks to a fairly significant volume of stock moved by Key 20 into distribution (including 2 subsequent sizeable reorders by Alliance) I find myself running lower on Universalis than I'd expected.

This causes me to move up my planned third printing of Universalis, possibly as early as before year end.

Now that Uni is in distribution, I have the opportunity to make some distributor friendly changes like ISBNs and bar codes, but there is also the opportunity to make some content changes as well.

So I'm throwing it open to you to offer suggestions.  Issues that are under discussion.

1) A new cover?
Is it time for Universalis to get a new cover?  If yes, lets hear some suggestions on what would make the game more eye catching on a store shelf.  While I really like the illustration in the current cover, it was never meant to be the cover image.  It just got pressed into service when the artist ran out of time to do a full fledged cover.


2) Inclusion of popular Gimmicks and Add-ons?
I'm pretty sure I want to add a note about the free Control gimmick that lots of folks seem to enjoy and many wind up intuitively playing with, without even making it official.  I'm also figuring on adding a note about using d6s instead of d10s if desired.  Are there any other gimmicks that you find a) very common among play groups, b) you'd never imagine ever playing without it again, or c) that really illustrates the variety and power of the gimmick that ought to be included?

I'm specifically not interested in adding any of the traditional GM or Player Character Gimmicks to the rules.  While those are great for the web site I think they'd wind up really confusing things in the book, especially as far as presenting to non gamers who don't know what those things are anyway.


3) Rules changes and clarifications?
I'm pretty sold on changing the Edge Die rule to simply adding an extra die to the side with the higher sum and rerolling and eliminating all the extra stuff about using a different color and adding the bonus Coins differently.  See this thread for details.

Are there any other rules that you've found in the book are too clunky and could be streamlined?  Places where the rules just aren't clear and need to be rewritten?  Places where you've found contradictory rules (like something left over from an earlier version that wasn't updated)?


4) General editing?
I'm planning on going through the text again and looking for general spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and useage errors.  If you've found examples yourself, please feel free to PM them to me.  Anyone wanting to volunteer to actually give the text a good editing pass is welcome to get in touch with me as well.


5) Additional Essays?
I'm planning on including a (much edited) version of the How to get started essay from the website as an actual chapter at the end of the book.  I think distilling down lessons I've learned over the last couple years of playing and demoing would be a valuable addition to the book.  Anyone with tips or tricks for getting started that I didn't touch upon in that essay feel free to share them.

Are there any of the other essays from the site that are essential that should be included in the actual game rules?  Any other discussions not on the site that should be?


6) Any other suggestions not mentioned above.  I don't want to make this a second edition, but more of a Universalis, revised and updated.  Now's the time to chime in.

[rafial]

My two cents on the cover...  I find the current cover quite clean, attractive and striking, which is rare in this field, and by sticking with a similar cover to the current printing, you make it easy to spot on the shelf or dealers table for someone who may have seen the book once at a con game or demo.

[Christopher Weeks]

I don't have the book here at work so this is going to be a little rough.  But there is one image, maybe around the 1/4 or 1/3 of the way through, the layout of which interferes with the page number.  Fix it.  It bothers me.  :-)

Also, I just posted a note about an alternate edge dice rule.

Include the "Bob McNamee" free dialog tenet.

Make the page a square and leave a big-ass margin (preferably on the gutter only) for annotation.  (I realize this is probably cost-prohibitive, but I sure wish games would do this.  MLwM is good that way.)

Chris

[Jonathan Walton]

The only real content weakness that I feel Uni has is the example of play, not that it's bad, as such, but because it seems to imply that the game is meant to be played in a hodge-podge setting created by the whims of the players.  The example game (space age people riding forest creatures vs. the lizards) and the other illustrations (robots that are pirates!) have this kind of feel.  I just think the nature of the examples might be a barrier for some people, who are looking for a game like Uni, but don't want to end up playing post-apocalyptic warrior nuns who do kung fu.

Maybe you could include at least one example of Uni play that didn't seem to involve jamming a bunch of kewl genre elements together?

[Mike Holmes]

As for the cover, I agree the current one is striking.

But I've also always wanted to see John Harper's cover on the book. Now that would be really cool. I think it would still stand out in a whole different, way. In one way, I think it would make the game seem more mainstream in that it's not the fantasy art you see in everything else.

I agree with Jonathan about the example. I know that a new example would require new art. But it would be well worth it, IMO. Again, make the example story more mainstream. Completely mainstream, actually. I think that would blow people's minds, ironically. Keep the other example of play as an alternate example in the book, perhaps. Or just have it on the website.

With that cover, and a mainstream example, I'm seeing Borders and B&N, etc, ordering the book.

Mike

[komradebob]

Uni could be the next big gamer culture phenomenon. It could be the game that breaks open the hobby for non-gamers. I hope it does so, especially now that you're getting distribution beyond your website.

I look forward to the day when I can tell younger gamers stories about the era when giant, 300 page game books roamed the hobby, but went extinct when the crashing meteor known as Universalis came crashing into the hobbyshops and bookstores.

Joking aside, I thought a lot about the whole mainstreaming of Uni idea. I think it goes beyond artwork and play examples. I don't have the impression that you're making a play for the non-gamer market right now. You know, that possibly mythical market of creative folks that would jump into the hobby, if only someone were to target them.

If you were to do so some day, however, ( hint: I really think you should), there are a couple of things you might want to ponder:

Dice:
d10s scream gamer culture, with all the possibly negative connotations that has in the mainstream, non-gamer world.

d6s are everywhere. Most any board game has a few, and you can pick more up for next to nothing at almost any department store and many quickie-robs. They don't have any particular rpg connection in the minds of the non-gamer world.

"Roleplaying Game":
I recall old posts that posited that Uni was so different from other rpg designs that perhaps it wasn't really an rpg at all.
Cool.
That dodges the whole issue of non-gamer qualms with a simple descriptive word change.

Artwork and Play examples:
I think this is a tricky one where it comes to apealling to a "mainstream" audience. I mean, Uni is still going to appeal to creative, imaginative folks, many of whom will like fantastical stories- they just aren't gamers. Is the real trick to get play examples/artwork that dodges both the sf and fantasy genres? That would be my guess.

On a sort of related note, I don't mean to imply that a non-sf, non-swords-and-sorcery example needs to be mundane. I recall many converstaions over the years with fellow gamers that pondered why a game that reminded us of a Twilight Zone or Amazing Stories episode had never been made. I think the final conclusion was that it would be impossible. But then, I hadn't encountered Uni at that point...

Grab 'em by the throat on page one:
Well, okay, maybe the page after the intro. I think that a combo-play example/ how to get started piece in the first couple of pages might be a better ordering than placing it in the back.

I also think that your comparison from the website between a Uni session and a screenplay/ tv series pitch is extremely accessible to non-gamers and a whole helluvalot better than the tired old "rpgs are cops'n'robbers with rules" schlock that you find in most rpg intros. It should definitely go in the first couple pages.

Suggestions for Endgame:
A short piece on ending a Uni session near the front of the book might be nice also. Why? Non-gamers expect a story to conclude ( may times). Gamers often have experience with the concept of campaign style play. Why not have the one session concept and related techniques be the suggested norm for Uni, and campaign play/recurring characters or setting/ ongoing play/etc be a cool suggestion for a style variant?

Anyway, thanks for creating a truly interesting and usable game.

k-Bob

PS- B&N or Borders would be great places to see Uni. But it's when I see Uni in my daughter's Scholastic Books flier that I'll know you've really succeeded (here's hoping!).

[Bob McNamee]

Congratulations Ralph!

I like the old cover just fine.

But John's image is just so nice. If  the artwork for the new printing revolved around images of that style and quality it would kick serious butt!!!

(and the Bob McNamee : "Engaging in Dialogue is free, but Facts mentioned must be paid for"  Gimmick is free for the taking)

I'd also recommend putting in the d6 variant right in the main rules, for the reasons mentioned above.

Great game!

Bob McNamee

[OnyxFlame]

Given that I don't have the book yet, I can't say much on that issue. I can, however, go through and correct all the typos/spelling errors when I get it. I was born to be a proofreader. :P

As for increasing the game's popularity, I've already told a bunch of my online friends about it. These include: players of a RP-oriented MUD, people who make AI chatbots, video game designers, and writers. So far, the AI freaks seem to be the most interested in it, for some reason. I haven't gotten a response from the writers yet, but I imagine they'll love it too.

I wonder if you could get an ad put in Writer's Digest or something. You could reach a HUGE non-gamer audience that way.

Oh and in case you wondered, the way I found out about it is this. I was piddling around on gamedev.net and saw a post by some bigwig at gametunnel.com who wanted people to do paid indie game reviews for the site. So I looked around at some stuff on gametunnel.com and one of the articles about indie games had a link to this site, so I decided to take a look. I read Rob Whatshisface's review, and there you have it. :)

[Andrew Morris]

Is there any news in this area? I looked online, but couldn't find if a third printing of Universalis was available.

If there's still time to make suggestions, please, please, please change the rules to use d6 instead of d10. About a dozen times, I've almost covinced a non-gamer to give Universalis a try. These are creative folks who I'm sure would "get it," but the moment they read about the "weird dice," they lose interest.

[Andrew Morris]

Is there any news in this area? I looked online, but couldn't find if a third printing of Universalis was available.

If there's still time to make suggestions, please, please, please change the rules to use d6 instead of d10. About a dozen times, I've almost covinced a non-gamer to give Universalis a try. These are creative folks who I'm sure would "get it," but the moment they read about the "weird dice," they lose interest.

[Bankuei]

Hi guys,

Seeing how I left my copy in Detroit :(, I was thinking about buying a new one anyway!  I can't reference to make much comments about content addition, but I can say the cover art does make a big difference in selling fellow players to the game(judging a book by the cover...sigh).  Anyway, aside from some really nifty artwork, the next best option is a simple cover, one color(such as black) with the title.  If you can't go for uber-cool, go for class.  That's my personal opinion anyway.

Chris

[Valamir]

The third printing is being assembled.  Stock is getting low on the second printing but I won't actually be doing the reprint until its gone.

A new cover is a possibility.  I'm working on the details for that.