Gnome: Outline

Well so far Gnome has at least one fan.  Probably fortunate someone had spoken up because I was considering dumping that idea for a game  of intrigue involving gods and their convoluted plots to stay alive and come on top.  The idea still intrigues me so I'll save it for later.  In the meantime I've made a rough outline on how gnome is going to play out in the pdf.  As time goes on I'll fill in more of the outline to give a better idea of how the game functions.  My only concern, and my usual concern when going into any project, is finding an artist with the right kind of quality and style for the game.  I lucked out last time with Pol in that he did very good work to specifications and for free.  Good art is important to my work as I tend to think very visually and intend to write to inspire.  A good piece of artwork doesn't just fill space and looks pretty.  Good art can amplify the inspirational power of the writing and thus they enhance one another.  This kind of visual/textual symbiosis is important in my opinion to rpgs.  By nature rpg works need to inspire their reader to make characters within the setting let alone bother playing the game.  Too often I look inside an rpg book and the art practically has no real relevance to the text.  Wizards is good at achieving this step, White Wolf is hit and miss depending on the work and illustrators involved.

Anyway if anyone feels like drawing a bunch of gnomes drop me a line in my email box.  Don't expect any money because theirs no money to be made.  However, it is a way to get your name out there and I tend to be very generous in regards to compliments and website whoring if I feel the work justifies getting someone else to pay you.

So, here's the outline:

1. What is a Gnome?

• The Small, The Quick, The Brutal:  Physical description and explanation
• Origins: Star Wanderers, Creationists, Humanism, Valhallans, Reincarnists
• Through the lens of history: From the stone age to 2001

2. Character Creation.

• Name, Concept, Personality
• Attribute Combo (Essentially a stat is represented by a die, higher die are better then lower die, a player can select the combination of dice  to spread among his stats.  Higher combinations increase the number of Failings a Gnome must selects and decreases the number of traits he must select and vice versa.)
• Traits and Failings

 3. The Small Life(Cultures)

• Dwellers in the Ceiling(A day in the life, from baby to adult, government, culture, all entries in this cahpter will be in the same format for ease of writing and organization.)
• Nomads
• The Cloud People
• Tunnelers
• Wild Gnomes

4. Running Gnome

• Challenge Resolution
• Combat
• Character Growth
• GM Characters
• Stuff and Things
• Enemies and Allies

5. Sample Adventure and Sample Characters(I have no idea so far but I think I'm going  to just rip the plot out of Secret of NIMH and work from there.  There's plenty of intrigue and adventure in that book and the rats and mice beg to be gnomified.)

6. Glossary and Index:  Works this big need an index.

Also if you've come this far I've just realized that honestly, I don't mind working with other writers and considering my mad layout skillz (in other words my layouts will drive you mad in frustration) I'd love to have someone who knows what they're doing work on the layout.