Module Submission Guidelines

Module Submission Guidelines by Rick Loomis

Due to the latest technologies of print on demand, and eBooks, Flying Buffalo would like to publish more adventures, (both solitaire, and GM ones) for Tunnels & Trolls. That means we will be accepting outside submissions. Email your submission to Rick Loomis with a subject line of "T&T adventure submission". If my editor likes it, I will contact you for payment terms and contracts. (Don't expect a lot - we aren't getting rich from this!)

I'm looking for adventures for either T&T 5.5 or 7.5, but ideally your adventure should work for either. I'm also willing to accept adventures written for Mercenaries Spies, & Private Eyes, or Monsters! Monsters!

You should indicate the number of characters, what type and kin are allowed, and what level character, (and rough number of adds), is appropriate for your adventure.

Adventures for low-level characters are perfectly reasonable, and in fact we'd like to have more of those.

Solo design Do's and Don'ts.

• If you are going to be writing a solo adventure, you should have read at least one of them, to see how they work. You can find one online at www.flyingbuffalo.com/bcintro.htm, or you can buy one from us.
• If you are going to allow magic spells in your solo adventure, you should probably include a Magic Matrix, as in Captif d'Yvoire, Amulet of the Salkti, Caravan to Tiern, or When the Cat's Away.
• Don't jumble the paragraphs (we'll do that). This makes it easier for us to edit it. That is, paragraph 1 should lead to 2, 3, and 4. Paragraph 2 should lead to 5, 6, and 7. Or even better, paragraph 2 could lead to 2a, 2b, and 2c. An example of this numbering style can be found at: Gristlegrim: Khosht.
• Put double brackets [[ ]] around your paragraph numbers, so we can easily do a "search and replace" when we jumble them.
• Don't have a paragraph that leads to only one other paragraph, unless really necessary for continuity.
• Try not to have any "instant death" choices. Allow the player a saving roll to escape, even if it is a tough one, if he made a particularly bad choice.
• It is possible to write an adventure that is completely linear, (there is only one way to win), but it is more likely to be popular if there are a lot of possible ways to go, and possibly completely different outcomes if you make different choices. (See "The Case of the Pacific Clipper" by Dave Arneson for a good example.)

General design advice.

• It is better if your adventure has a theme of some kind, (Buffalo Castle is just a lot of random encounters thrown together - but after all, it was our first one, back in 1975.) But if you have a theme, please try to stick to it. Don't throw Norse Gods into your Egyptian themed adventure.
• Also please try to avoid anachronisms. If your characters are using swords and bows, they shouldn't be attacked with submachine guns or lasers.
• Humor is very tricky - use it sparingly unless you are really good at it!
• We are not interested in adventures (or jokes) that are offensive to any religion, race, disability, or sexual persuasion.
• Also do not use any characters or references to popular TV shows, movies, or comics. Some people get very possessive of their intellectual properties, and I just as soon not get sued. Please create your own specific monsters, places, sidekicks, and so forth. A troll or a goblin can be however you describe it, but a Nazgul or Wookie is something specific, and not ours!

If your adventure is really long, you can put it on a CD and mail it to T&T Adventures, c/o Flying Buffalo, PO Box 8467, Scottsdale, AZ 85252. But I really don't want just a printed manuscript. If it isn't already in computer format, it has two strikes against it.

Download this article: Module Submission Guidelines - PDF

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