Volunteers Needed for Secret Santicore 2015!

This is not a solicitation for regular participation or entries, but for background organizational help. I am not directly involved this year, so please ask questions at the link, not in comments here.

http://santicore.blogspot.com/2015/10/volunteers-needed-for-2015-secret.html

Whose hooves and paws are on the roof?
Santicore's come for your front tooth!
He has many roles for you to fill...
Santicore, Santicore, what a thrill!

(note: this terrible rhyme was not approved by the Secret Santicore 2015 team)

Santicore 2014 Requests Are Open!

As a humble requestor this year, I'm delighted to see the crack team of Hellves and Paindeer get things rolling.

Go request stuff!

The Shadow of...SANTICORE!

Secret Santicore 2014 wants you!

http://santicore.blogspot.com/2014/08/secret-santicore-2014-needs-you.html

Go read that post!

In case there is any confusion: I will not be running it or compiling the PDF this year. I have been playing fairy godmother to get things started, but after another week or so I simply won't have time to participate. I might make and fulfill a request, depending. If some other things I'm working on go swimmingly, I might pitch in again in November, but I can't guarantee that and I don't want people relying on me to get the thing done.

If you'd like to help make a PDF, compile many PDFs, be a Handler, or help move the whole project along from a mile-high "project manager" type of view, send an email to the contacts in the blog entry linked above!

If you are confused or curious about Secret Santicore, read this FAQ I wrote when I oversaw it last year.

SANTICORE VOBISCUM

Secret Santicore 2013 PDFs Back Up

Dropbox disabled all shared links due to a security thing (people worried about a file's security shouldn't be using Dropbox anyway, but I digress...)
Eventually, I'll get my own website for art stuff and put Santicore in the back door, but for now, here are new links.

Secret Santicore 2013 Volume 1: Advice, Character Generation, Spells, Rules, Deities

Secret Santicore 2013 Volume 2: Treasure & Magic items, NPCs, Places, Encounters

 
Secret Santicore 2013 Volume 3: Adventures & Monsters

Secret Santicore 2013 Illustrated Cover by Scrap Princess.

SANTICORE VOBISCUM

Secret Santicore 2014 Kickstarter is up!

EDIT: Higher res screen shot uploaded below.

CLICK THIS TEXT TO DONATE!!

Secret Santicore 2013: Volume 3 PDF

Click Santicore above to get the Secret Santicore 2013 Volume 3 PDF! 

Click the thumbnail below to get an illustrated Secret Santicore 2013 cover by Scrap Princess!

Volume 1 is here
Volume 2 is here

Edits, corrections, etc can be emailed to metalvsskin at gmail dot com

Santicore 2013 vol 2 updates/edits

There have been edits and updates since uploading yesterday...

Trash your current file of the PDF and re-download by clicking

Santicore's dread visage up above (or in the last post, link there updated) and keep on enjoying all this wonderful madness!

Namely: some name order issues fixed in the Table of Contents and updates/edits to the entries on pages 105-107, 148-152, 160-161, and minor edits elsewhere.

SECRET SANTICORE 2013 Volume 2 PDF is HERE!

by Jeremy Duncan

Click Santicore's aching head above to get the PDF of Volume 2!

There are so many awesome and useful entries here, and so much wonderful art!

Again, the PDF is fully bookmarked and the ToC entries are clickable to go to the page of each entry. The ToC list at the bottom of each page is clickable, too.

There may be a few lingering mistakes I didn't catch in how I put things together, so feel free to contact me with corrections and suggestions at metalvsskin at geemale dot calm. I'll get to those when time allows.

ENJOY! I'd love to hear what people are digging as you find time to go through this.

Secret Santicore 2013 Volume 1: Now with BOOKMARKS

Click the Santicore above to get the updated PDF of 

Secret Santicore 2013: Volume 1

Bookmarks to sections added, with each entry as a child bookmark so you can collapse sections!

I also changed the link in yesterday's post to the new pdf.
Some notes on PDF interactivity:

-Each line in the Table of Contents, both in the document itself and the Bookmarks bar, is a link to the relevant entry.

-Clicking the section heads at the bottom of any page takes you to that section of the Table of Contents in the document (IE clicking "Character Generation" at the bottom of any page takes you to page 3, Table of Contents 1)

-any website address in the PDF should be clickable and take you to that website in your default browser.  (as a side effect, all emails in the PDF are clickable to create a new email to that address in your default email client.)

A general note:
-if your entry is in Volume 1, feel free to also publish it on your blog! Santicore humbly requests a link to this blog entry, and it would be cool if you added a little extra kick to your entry (Here's a color map! Here's a new twist!) - BUT I AIN'T THE BOSS OF YOU!

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SECRET SANTICORE 2013 PDF: VOLUME 1

Click on Santicore above to get the PDF of 
Secret Santicore 2013 Volume 1: Advice, Character Generation, Spells, Rules, Deities
EDIT: link above directed to new version with bookmarks.

InDesign chose today to be a fuckwad, but I think I made everything good again. Let me know if there are any problems or things to fix, and input on things I could improve for Volume 2!

Again, the release schedule for Volumes 2 and 3:

February 24th, 2014:
Volume 2: Treasure & Magic Items, NPCs, Places, Encounters


March 24th, 2014:
Volume 3: Adventures, Monsters
Illustrated Cover

SECRET SANTICORE 2013: PDF Release Schedule

January 27th, 2014:

Volume 1: Advice, Character Generation, Spells, Rules, Deities

February 24th, 2014:

Volume 2: Treasure & Magic Items, NPCs, Places, Encounters

March 24th, 2014: 

Volume 3: Adventures, Monsters

Illustrated Cover

Shortly Thereafter:

Santicore's Ultimate Form 2013: A Compilation of All Three Volumes

Each will have a Table of Contents with clickable links to each entry, and a link to the ToC on each page, making document navigation a snap.

Your patience thus far is deeply appreciated. I have made nearly every mistake possible and learned a lot through blood and toil. AND YET, we shall ALL have an amazing compilation of old school RPG stuff to use afterward. I pitched a lot of dates that I missed for various reasons, but the above are ironclad. I can see the end, I know how to use all the tools I need to get there, and I know (finally) what kind of time I have to work on it each week.

OSR, I love you.

SECRET SANTICORE 2013 2-Page Preview: The Savage

Here's a 2-page preview of the Secret Santicore 2013 PDF, featuring the Savage Class for DCC RPG by +Edgar Johnson , illustrated by +Jeremy Duncan , with illustrated borders on page 2 by +Scrap Princess .
The categories at the bottom (and top) will be links within the PDF to get from any page to any section of the Table of Contents with just a click.
Let me know if anyone has trouble downloading it.
Enjoy!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cqoc39ym1l44pzk/SanticoreSavagex.pdf

State of the Santicore

Someone was worried about this year's Secret Santicore since I hadn't said anything in awhile, and I'm like WTF man I just didn't want to bore everyone, but maybe I should give a quick update.

I haven't been talking about it as much, since the only exciting thing going on is how awesome all the entries are. We're still getting in a few entries from people who had extenuating circumstances delay them. The Handlers are awesome. I've gotten some great advice and offers of help for making the whole thing a PDF.

* Basically: Santicore is rolling on, doing great, still on schedule to be released before December 23rd. Hopefully more like December 15th, but I can't say that for sure. *

There are a few people who've dropped off the face of the Earth, and attempts to contact them are coming up short, but I think it's best to deal with that privately. 

If you haven't been in touch with anyone and haven't turned in your Secret Santicore submission, please contact me or a Handler ASAP and let us know what's up.

The Handlers and I will fulfill any orphaned requests if we haven't heard from the people fulfilling them starting Friday.

Minor updates will be shared by me to my gaming circles and +Santi Core publicly, except this one. Major updates will be on my blog, like this one! Except this is a minor update. Sometimes one of Santicore's Elves may share an update, which is totally cool.

SECRET SANTICORE 2013: REQUESTS OPEN!

Jeremy Duncan made this new color logo! (oh yeah- Santa + Manticore = Santicore!)

Secret Santicore 2013 is here!
From now til midnight Friday October 4th, we shall collect your unfulfilled desires so that Santicore may feed on your longing!

Everybody who wants in click on the link below and fill out your request for some specific brand new campaign material--a new race, a location, a one-shot adventure outline, a random table, whatever. The idea is to be as specific as you need to be, but not too greedy (1/2 a page to two pages of material).

One request per person.

Then, with the help of various elves, I'll mix all the requests up and send them back out to the people who entered. You'll get your assigned request some time that weekend of the 5th-6th, then have until Friday, October 25th to fulfill that request. That deadline is firm. So firm. Do not test the Santicore.

Starting October 26th, the elves and I will collect the entries all into a central location before December 23rd, hopefully.

-Panicked everything-went-wrong result: An easily-navigable indexed website, Santicore feasts upon our souls.

-There-were-a-lot-of-parties-but-we-did-it-anyway result: the above plus a PDF version, Santicore's yearly slumber is disturbed by dreams of the mortal world.

-Everyone-gets-laid result: website, PDF with some color, index, and full features, plus "lite" PDF for phones and ereaders. Santicore slumbers under great depths of ice, his fetid blessing upon us all.

We'll hit as many of those above goals as possible.

__________________________________________________________________

Requests for Secret Santicore 2013 are now closed. 
__________________________________________________________________


• Be as specific as you need to be, but don't get greedy. Asking for a d20 table is cool, and a d100 table if you're lucky. but a d1000?--better let your Secret Santicore know that going that extra 900 miles is optional. Asking for a structure is cool, a whole mega-dungeon isn't.

• If you just want art or a map, that's cool too.

• The original requester's name and e-mail address will be on the request unless s/he specifically asks otherwise.

• One request per person. Santicore likes the taste of people who break this rule.

• All human undertakings involving interactions between strangers involve a capacity for misunderstanding and idiocy. Secret Santicore is a gift horse. Do not look it in the mouth. No bad-mouthing people for what they ask for or provide. Serious and simulatory requests may get gonzo answers, gonzo requests may get serious answers, c'est la vie. If you're worried, try to be specific in your request so you get something you can really use.

• If you commit to something - a request, or helping out behind the scenes - then find you can't come through with the goods that's perfectly okay, life happens, as long as you let me know as soon as you know.

• None of this stuff should get used commercially unless the person who wrote it gets paid.

• While Secret Santicore sprang from the loins of the OSR DIY movement, there's zero reason you can't request something for your sci-fi/supers/horror/whatever-game. You don't have to request D&D-specific stuff. I bet anybody could handle a sci-fi or super request--but just be aware that the pool of people responding to your request will be the pool of people who read Playing D&D with Pornstars and act accordingly.

• This is Open Content.

• I reserve the right to completely fuck this up, but will try very hard not to. If I get swamped with requests, it might be a little late. I'll do my best.

• After the first 69* requests are in, I'm going to distribute those, assign Handlers, then take stock of our time and resources. We will try to get every request that comes in before October 4th fulfilled, but may have to cap it or distribute unfulfilled requests after the holidays to be put on blogs if there's a huge number. If we actually get a ton of requests good and done, the PDF may be split thematically or otherwise into several parts. Don't let this statement dissuade you from making a request - the goal is to get every single damn one finished and up before December 23rd.

• Don't post your request in the comments below or email it to me. Use the form. Or you will feel the spiny poisonous caress of Santicore's ball stinger.

• Still got questions? Those you can ask on G+/comment here/email metalvsskin at geemale dotcalm and put something SANTICORE-ISH in the subject line.



*I told Santicore that was a silly and immature number to pick, then...I awoke some time later, in a field, with these strange scars...


Last year's logo for nostalgia's sake!

HUGE THANKS to Jez of GIBLET BLIZZARD, most of this is copy+pasted from his call for entries from last year.

SECRET SANTICORE 2013: FAQ and Call for Handlers

as Jez says: "AWESOMELY NIFTY SS LOGO by the unestimable Jeremy Duncan. HE WHO NOW SITS BY SANTICORE'S TREMBLING KNEE. FEAR HIM."

A quick Q&A up front to get people going, then more detail and history at the bottom.

THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR REQUESTS. That's coming in a bit. This is an informational post to get your juices quivering.

If you're just looking for info on being a Handler, look for * HANDLERS *
If you're looking for the history of Santicore, look for * History *

What is Secret Santicore?
Speed Round:
1. request something for your tabletop RPG game,
2. get someone else's request and write (or draw) it up,
3. someone else is randomly assigned your request and makes it,
4. then all requests are collected on a website and a nice PDF, hopefully by Christmas.

Longer description of Santicore:
People in the DIY RPG community send in requests for campaign content they'd like - a table, monster, entire encounter, or even a whole (short) adventure. Maybe an item, puzzle, or trap. Maybe an illustration of something. Whatever you want!

THEN: the requests get mixed up and randomly assigned to everyone who made a request.
So - you request a puzzle that changes the rooms of a dungeon around depending on how the PCs solve it. Maybe you're more specific, or leave it at that!
THEN, you get someone else's request - they want a short encounter with a good-aligned Frog King and retinue who has motivations that will likely bring him into conflict with PCs, maybe with variations to conflict with different types of PCs.

You don't find out who got your request, and you don't tell what you are working on, to keep with the spirit of the thing. You write up the short encounter however you like. Just text? With pictures? You'd like someone else to draw a picture?
You have a Handler to offer advice, keep you on schedule, possibly edit, and help with coordinating illustrations. We all understand this is for fun, and no one's getting paid in dollars.

So you write the thing as two lines of setup text, four tables, and three blocks of stats. OR you write a few paragraphs of flavor text, draw a terrain map with weather details, and some loose stats. Or a million other ways.
However you think the request is best fulfilled by you!

Being efficient with page space is a virtue, but part of the fun of the project is capturing everyone's unique voice and skills.

And we all get every request on a webpage and/or cool PDF for Christmas! (or Kwanza, or Winter Solstice, or whatever)

Them's the basics. Tons of surprise free RPG content for all to use!


* HANDLERS *

What does a Handler do? Why would I want to be one?

A Handler keeps in contact with me and a number of Secret Santicore participants, distributing requests, answering questions, checking in and keeping them on schedule, and getting their final product to the person making the PDF/Website.
If a Santicore participant is very very naughty and it doesn't look like they'll have their thing done in time, the Handlers can step in and make the thing themselves if they so desire, or take another request that hasn't been distributed yet, or help the person along to post it on their blog if it gets completed after the PDF deadline has passed. Or handle it in a way they think is best.

My goal will be that every decision in the Santicore process is made by consensus of the Handlers (of which I'll be one.) However, to make sure the thing gets done, sometimes I'll have to just make a decision and go with it. The Handlers and I will have a few threads over email and G+ to get Santicore the sweet sweet nectar of unfulfilled desires that sustain His Eldritch Horrible Jollyness.

You want to be a Handler to bring joy and wonder to RPGers everywhere. To make sure this happens. To appease the Great Santicore so that he may slumber for another year and not destroy us.

Who the fuck are you, Joey? What will you be doing?
I'll be overseeing the project and handling the Handlers, as well as pitching in art and text. If someone more qualified isn't able to, I'll be compiling the PDF at the end.

How many participants can there be? How many will each Handler...uh, handle?
I'm asking each Handler to estimate how many participants they can handle, and assigning them that many. Then, if a Handler gets overwhelmed, I'll take on their load or distribute it or find a new Handler.
The number of requests that get fulfilled will just be how many we can get to. 69 is the goal, anything past that is gravy.
Unfulfilled requests will go in the back of the PDF, unless the requester does not want it to. Then maybe some kind soul(s) will fulfill it on their blogs after!

HOW DO I BECOME A HANDLER?
email metalvsskin at geemale dot calm :
-title of the email should say SANTICORE HANDLER somewhere
-your name
-how many people you're willing to handle
-if you want to be a text wrangler or art czar

* HISTORY *
A short history of Santicore, cause I'm running outa time to Blog today...
 +Zak Smith had a great idea to celebrate the lives of Gygax and Arneson back in 2010 with the Secret Arneson Gift Exchange.
Then the next year +Jez Gordon renamed it and did it again for the holidays -and released it as an awesome PDF.
In 2012, Jez nobly tried to do it again, first putting out a call for helpers, then submissions. Then, sadly, life did what it does and Jez had to bow out. Some rad folks stepped up, and most of the content made it on to one blog or another.
HUGE THANKS to Zak S, Jez Gordon, Jeremy Duncan, and all the guys who helped out in 2012 (Erik, Trey, Rolang, Mike, and Dallas.)
also THANKS to all the participants from past years for making and finishing requests!