Content Packs Overview/Outline - Part 1

Originally posted on my blog HERE

Today in what could be thought of as a rough outline, I'm going to be covering what my plans are for the "Content Packs". This might end up being a longer-than-normal post as I'm doing it in a "stream of thought" style, adding to it as I think about things. As this is longer than my typical posts, I'll split it into two parts (maybe three) with part two coming tomorrow.

Introduction to the Content Packs concept

Originally I had the idea for my R.I.G.S. (Random Item Generation System) line of PDFs a few years ago, where I would make/use my generators to make content. For various reasons, this fell by the wayside. Then when last year I brought out the "Content Pack 100 x d100" and I was working on what could be made into POD next, I started putting some of the PDFs into groups themes, such as creatures, dungeons and so on. This is when the RIGS idea popped back into my head. Themed-related packs of pre-rolled content.

By this point, I had published a lot more generators, enough that a revised form of RIGS was now viable. In hindsight, I didn't have enough content to make RIGS viable, but now I do.

The Basics

Content Packs, as mentioned above, has one core concept: Using my existing generators to pre-roll or make themed collections of ready-to-use system-free material.  Each Content Pack would have the following guidelines to adhere to:

• The goal is to have at least 10 entries (the number of entries decided by how large they are) per pack
• Each pack entry needs to have at least 3 things, such as, for NPCs, there would be Names, Class/Profession and Character details
• Each entry to, where possible, fit on one page - No having two entries on the same page, to allow for ease of printing etc
• Name/mention the generators used to make the content pack - So the reader, if they don't have the generator PDF or want more of the same, knows where it came from.
• [Gens used] are not needed to use these packs - This is an important one. The creating generators should NOT be required to use these.  A small one or two lines of explanation to cover things that might not be obvious, sure, but that's it.
• Each Content Pack would be named something like "Content Pack - [main type] - [sub type as appropriate] - [Volume]" E.G "Content Pack - Fantasy NPCs - Volume 2". The formatting may change slightly with each volume or theme, but that is the basic concept.
• Cover Images - This is something I'm debating on, but am leaning towards a simple cover system for each of the pack themes, such as green for NPCs, grey for dungeons etc. This is not fixed yet and I may even go with a simple colouration for the genre, such as blue for sci-fi, red for horror etc.
• Internal Images - This is a tricky one. To help keep costs down I probably won't be including any internal images unless I already have them, as I 100% believe artists should get paid for their work. This has the downside of needing to put prices up if art is commissioned, especially in a rush.  For some packs, like those with maps or tiles, I'll be doing the art myself using appropriate tools. So it will be simple and probably limited to map tiles and so on, but not for items etc. As this, for me, would be the most time-consuming internal art would probably not feature that often.
• Price - This is probably the last thing I'll be deciding on as it will reflect the amount of work etc I have to do with converting, formatting and so on. I'm aiming to keep it the same for the entire range, but packs with larger page counts will be more.
• Release schedule - This is probably going to supplement the Quick Gen series as the second publication for each month. Larger ones *might* become the 1st release, but like anything else I do, I have to allow for my health etc when making them. I am hoping to have the first Pack released next month with any luck!
• POD - When I have enough packs, to cover at least 50+ pages of content I do plan on making them POD/Print on demand. This is a fiddly process though and time-consuming, but like the original Content Pack that inspired this will be worth doing, I just have to have the time/health etc to do it.

What type of Content Packs are planned?

At this moment, I have planned the following basic concepts/themes for the Content Packs:

• Adventures
• Corporate
• Cult Pack
• Creature
• Dungeon Feature
• Empire/Kingdom
• Equipment/item
• Fortification
• NPC/Character
• Settlement
• Spells
• Starship
• System
• Tavern
• World/Campaign

Some of these pack themes will have sub-themes, such as equipment having weapons, books and so on. I'll go into more detail on each of these tomorrow, but these are the starting pack ideas. More will be added as and when appropriate. As I bring out more generators, more can be added to Content Packs or new themes created, so later Packs might have more details when compared to earlier volumes.

That's it for now, I'll be covering the themes for the Packs tomorrow and going into more details so folks have an idea about what I have planned.