http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=89824&affiliate_id=1168

I really love that picture John, where’d you find it? I think the most important thing in bringing a new player into an RPG is to be patient. The noob has likely never seen or been exposed to an RPG and it will be a totally new experience… for them. The next thing I think is important is to use lots of examples of more mainstream entertainment that have RPG elements in them and then draw parallels to help show the noob how they are similar. For example, “Playing an RPG is very similar to making a movie. The GM is similar to the director and the players are similar to the actors. The difference is that the GM provides a “Script outline” and then the GM and players working together provide the dialog and actions in order to tell their collective story.

Re: Editing. Thanks for the GREAT advice! Do you know any good books on editing? Editing for Dummies? Is there such a thing?

Thanks again!
John T>

PS I have your email address from your spiffy Evil Hat business card.

Thanks for the kind words! I’d love to check out your notes from my GM panel sometime, if you’re interested. Always curious to see what sticks with people.

“I’m not a traditional editor but I read lots of technical documents as part of my job and game books for reviews so I think I can spot issues and inconsistencies pretty well.”

So you know, there’s a lot more to editing than just inconsistencies. When I edit books, information flow and organization, from page one to final.

I say that to say it’s something to keep in mind while you’re editing, as many books are written in the wrong order because that’s how writers think. And that’s good for making a draft, but often they then need to be reordered for the final product to make it something a reader can put into his or her brain. As long as you keep that in mind, you’ll rock it out of the park.

- Ryan