What Polaris Needs

[Ben Lehman]

Hi everyone!

I'm getting very close to done with Polaris, my strange little game that has been described as "beautiful horror, emphasis on the beautiful, emphaisis on the horror" and inspired the line "I have a hard time understanding how this can produced by an RPG process, and not some crazed poet on opium."

Now is the time when I need other people.

First and foremost, I need a layout guy.  The first version of the game is going to be almost entirely text (there will only be one image off the cover, it will be page-sized and not share any space with text) and probably in the 8.5 x 11 folded over format.  I'm going for a punk-rock, stylized sort of look, like if KPFS was a sophmore art school.

Ideally, layout guy will also be cover-guy, who will help me assemble a decent looking cover (which will be black and white printed on color paper).

Layout guy gets paid money.

also

I need around two groups committed which don't involve me to commit to serious, long-term playtesting (as in, at least 4-6 sessions, weekly or faster) and reporting the events of every session to me, particularly with regard to the story-arc mechanics.  At least one of these groups, preferably, would be entirely folks who haven't read the game before.

Don't e-mail me until you have talked to your group, please.  Polaris requires 3-5 people, and doesn't work with any more or less.  Ideal is 4.

Playtesters don't get money, but I'll put their names in the back of the book.

also

I need a couple of readers to do a serious reading of the text, and tell me what makes sense and what is missing.  This isn't so much editing (I already have Rich Forest on that, yay!) but rather just making sure that it is complete.  These *must* be people who haven't read any form of the text before.  Sorry!

Readers get thanks, of course.

lastly

I want to do ad-swap!  Who wants to put a Polaris ad in their book?  I totally want ads for cool Forge games.  I'll probably have 2-4 pages of ads in the back of the book, depending on layout.

yrs--
--ben

[Ben Lehman]

To summarize:

Layout Guy: Does book, cover, (ad?).  Paid.

Playtesters.  Groupsof 3-5 people.  Long-term play.  Reports.  Credited.

Readers: In-depth reading of text.  Credited.

Ads: Mutual.

Contact me by PM here or by e-mail at benlehman with the domain name gmail and the suffix .com

yrs--
--Ben

[Matt Snyder]

Ben, how long is the text? I'm interested as a layout guy, but I need to know how much I'll have to commit. PM me if you like.

[Ben Lehman]

Attention perspective layout guys:

The text is roughly 20,000 words long.  Most of that is blocks of prose.  Some of it, at the end, is a list of names, and some of it is a list of traits, with defined effects.

yrs--
--Ben

[Eero Tuovinen]

I can do layout. Take Matt if you can, though, he kicks ass in that department.

I'll ask my teenage hoodlums if they'd be interested in a playtest. Will report back if affirmative.

If there's a lack of readers, I can do that, too.

In a word, whatever gets Polaris published.

[pete_darby]

Ben, count me in for a reader; if I had a FtF group, I'd playtest...

[Rob MacDougall]

Ben:

I'd read, if you need readers. I'm a good reader.

Rob

[rantipole]

Hi Ben,

This sounds cool. I would love to give it a read, and although you say you don't need an editor, I'm a professional editor. Also, I know some freelance designers who might be able to help you with layout. Drop me a line at rantipole6@verizon.net

Cheers,
Tom M.

[Ben Lehman]

For the curious --

I have too many people who want to do adswaps.  It is getting complicated in my head.  Hence, I present my new advert policy:

1) Anyone is free to run adverts for Polaris, if they want.

2) Likewise, I'll run whatever adverts I want in the space I have.  If you want me to run your advert, and haven't written to me yet, please do so.  Clearly, reciprocity in some form would be appreciated, but it is not demanded or even expected.

3) I will also run a page or two of text ads with brief descriptions and URLs.  Pretty much any game can have space in here, provided that it rocks.  By rocks, I mean I've read the text and like it, or it has bitching Actual Play posted up somewhere.

yrs--
--Ben

[Kirk Mitchell]

I'd love to read it. I can promise some very in-depth analysis too. How in-depth do you want?

Kirk

[Kirk Mitchell]

Sorry. I am a Bad Man. I slap myself for posting in an old thread and for forgetting the status of the game.

Please accept my humbles apologies.

Kirk