Tobril Contributor Guidelines v1.4 This document describes the terms and conditions under which contributors agree to submit material to the Tobril magazine. Ownership and Standards of Content The following notes are relevant to contributors considering writing material for the magazine: 1. Once an article has been published, as a derivative work you share copyright with both the Tobril and Wizards of the Coast. 2. Once an article has been published, you share ownership of the work with the Tobril and cannot ask for the article to be removed from the magazine. You have the right to refuse us permission to publish the article at any point up to the release of the issue in which it is contained. 3. We use the Wizards of the Coast standard of content rules which govern what can and cannot be posted to official web-sites as the minimum standard of content for submissions. These rules include passages on nudity, sexually explicit acts, excessive gore, etc.. When in doubt, we tend to err on the side of caution, but anything problematic will be discussed after the first draft. A copy of these standards can be found at: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=rpga/membership/writingsoc The Submissions Process 1. Submissions go through up to two proofing and editorial passes in which we'll correct minor mistakes and may ask for other changes as we see fit. We may decide not to publish the article at any time therefore acceptance of a first or second draft does not guarantee publication in the magazine. 2. Contributors will be notified of deadlines where appropriate. In general, the Tobril is published on the first Monday of every other month; the first draft deadline is 15 days before that date; the second draft and artwork deadline is 10 days before that date. 3. In general, we do not return articles for approval after layout is complete. However, for articles with more complicated content (for example, lots of sidebars, maps, or other inserts), we will usually give authors the opportunity to comment on the final layout. 4. We accept submissions with content from any of the Ages of Krynn, including those which have not yet been documented in products from Sovereign Press. However, submissions should be compatible with the following products where relevant:
D&D Player s Handbook 3.5 (PHB) D&D Dungeon Master s Guide 3.5 (DMG) D&D Monster Manual 3.5 (MM) The Dragonlance Campaign Setting (DLCS) Age of Mortals (AoM) The Dragonlance DM s Screen Rules Supplement (DMS) The Bestiary of Krynn (BoK) For more details on the kinds of articles we re looking for, see the Submission Options section later in the document. 5. We may commission artwork for articles which are not submitted with artwork attached, and will discuss options with the author before any work gets underway. 6. Article proposals may be accepted as the basis for a future submission, however we ll normally only commission an article based off a proposal if the author has already submitted (and had published) at least one complete article in the magazine.
Submissions and Formatting General Guidelines DO: 1. If you re submitting multiple files (for example, an article with additional maps or illustrations), please zip them (using WinZip or similar) into one file before sending them. DON T: 1. Send any one e-mail with file attachments exceeding 1 megabyte in size. If you need to submit several files which amount to more than this size limit (even when zipped), then use separate e-mails. Text Submissions DO: 1. Submit articles in a rich text (.rtf), Word (.doc), or plain text (.txt) format (zipped if you like). Any other formats will be returned with a polite reminder to re-read the Tobril Contributor Guidelines. 2. Use whatever text formatting (bold, italic, heading styles, etc.) that you feel is most appropriate for your article. We ll use your headings to indicate where we should break your article up when it s laid out in the magazine. 3. Use the following annotations: <<BEGIN SIDEBAR>>.. <<END SIDEBAR>>. This annotation should be placed around text you would like to see as a box out, and set apart from the main body of the article. These sections normally include additional, incidental or optional rules and comments. The placement of the text in your submission will determine the general placement of the sidebar in the final layout. For an example check out the DLCS page 27. <<INSERT MAP/ILLO/OTHER>> If you ve included maps, artwork, or anything other than text which you would like to see placed in the final article, then use this annotation to specify the point at which it should be included. Include the exact name of the accompanying file in the insert - for example <<INSERT ILLO illo1.jpg>>. 4. Suggest interesting ideas on the presentation or layout of your article, if they occur to you. You should add these as a separate document or as part of the covering e-mail, and we ll do our best to accommodate you. 5. If possible, run a spelling checker over your article before submitting.
6. Read your complete article start to finish before submitting you d be surprised what a few small changes at this stage can do to the overall quality of the piece. DON T: 1. Add word wrapping to plain text submissions every paragraph in your article should appear as one punctuated line of text in the file. 2. Add unnecessary beauty formatting to your article. This includes adding columns, embedding illustrations or maps in the text, word-wrapping around embedded items (which shouldn t be there anyway), or anything else which complicates our job. We ll only have to take such formatting out before handing the article over to layout so we d much rather it wasn t there in the first place. 3. Worry too much about length. Write whatever you think is appropriate to do justice to your idea, and we ll worry about how to fit it into the magazine (though we may have to split the article into multiple parts, or even a series of its own). Art Submissions DO: 1. Submit your work only in BMP or TGA (24-bit) formats.
Submission Options The Tobril is a gaming magazine first and foremost, so in general we accept submissions containing reference or rules material which relates directly to Dragonlance. Additionally we re always on the lookout for new artists to showcase in the magazine, so feel free to submit generic artwork which you d like us to use, or put your name forward (with a sample of your work) as a candidate for receiving art commissions off us. Be warned though: commissioned artwork can come with a tight deadline. Tobril Series The magazine maintains a number of recurring articles which are open to outside contributors (check out the Tobril archive for clues on how these articles are executed): Ancient Krynn. Reference material from ages long gone, fleshing out Krynn's past as much as its present. Offers slightly more freedom for home-brew rules than contemporary articles, as Sovereign Press have yet to cover anything other than the 5 th Age in their products (although this will change in 2004!). Player's Arsenal. Pure crunchiness. Rules options for Dragonlance PCs or NPCs including new feats, Prestige Classes, equipment, spells, etc. Ansalonian Gazetteer. Reference material focused on a particular place or region. Despite the name, we re happy to accept gazetteer material for Taladas or any other region of Krynn, including, perhaps, areas which have yet to be discovered Behind the Screen. Material designed to illustrate how Dragonlance D&D is played, giving new players a glimpse into the roleplaying aspect of the DL universe, and existing players and DM's insights into their own game. Community Spotlight. Focus on a specific web site or fan, which may include interviews or guest spots. If a particular web site or fan author is a favourite of yours, then this series gives you the opportunity to showcase their work. Guest Forum. A place for anyone or anything to rant about all things Dragonlance, this is an open soap box for fans to make their opinions known. Bear in mind that the piece should be well written and interesting for us to publish it. Dramatis Personae. Dragonlance is all about the characters. This series showcases a single PC or NPC in great detail, which may well be your own character from your own game. Bestiary. New monsters or monster templates for the Dragonlance game. Outside the Box. Articles which illustrate how to adapt material from other campaigns into Dragonlance. DL 1-2-3ed: Converting and running previously published adventures and material (such as the original DL modules) with the new Dragonlance Campaign Setting.
As well as these, we publish any number of unique articles which don t fit into any of our series but which are too good to pass up (Manuscripts of Ansalon, for example). Everything is fair game for these kinds of articles, so feel free to suggest absolutely anything that comes to mind.