Common Fields

Description
It is VERY important to get in a good description. The first description entered for an entry tends to stick - and if it's not done to a high level may never get corrected. Good descriptions now will save effort later (bad descriptions tend never to get updated).

There are five choices when entering a description for an item. All of them require proper attribution - there are no exceptions (see below for the attributions - an.easy way to get the formatting right is to use the link Click here for attribution formatting on the entry forms). The five choices for descriptions are (in preference order):

1. From the back of the book. Such descriptions must be prefaced with wiki-formatting as '''From the back of the book:''' or similar.
2. From the publishers website. Short blurbs about a product are ok. Below the description, put: [size=10]''Source: [http://www.somecompanysite.com The Publisher Website].''[/size]
3. From the introduction of the book. A short blurb from the intro is fine if you attribute it as '''From the introduction:'''.
4. Your own words. Please make sure this is your own description of the item - and preface such a description with '''User Summary:'''" of other verbiage to indicate where this description came from. Do not inject editorial or review comments in the description - keep it sterile and factual please.
5. Wikipedia can be used - though ANYTHING taken from there must include a link back to Wikipedia (it is required by their license). This should be done using our wiki-formatting as:

System

To create a new System, use the Misc->Create/System menu option. You'll be ask to fill out the following fields:

Primary Name
RPGs

RPG

To create a new RPG, use the Misc->Create/RPG menu option. You'll be ask to fill out the following fields:

Primary Name
The name of the RPG.

Conventions:

• Put edition information in (parens). That is, "GURPS (Fourth Edition)" not "GURPS Fourth Edition".
• If the rpg is covering more than one edition (which are 98.3% compatible), the title should reflect that. e.g. "Chivalry & Sorcery (1st & 2nd Editions)"
• If the book title page or cover clearly indicates a format for the edition, use it. For example "Dungeons & Dragons (v3.5)" and "Dungeons & Dragons (4th Edition)" are the correct way to list these rpgs.
• If the book does not show an edition (such as the original AD&D or the original GURPS), list it with (1st Edition) in parens. That is: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition)" or "GURPS (First Edition)". This makes things crystal clear.
• The d20 System Open Game License can allow a publisher to create an entire game, with the exception of character creation, which must refer to the D&D Player's Handbook. If the item is basically a "game" it should get its own [rpg] entry (see Fading Suns: D20 or BESM d20 as examples). Other d20 System materials, which are intended as generic supplements for d20 games, should go under one of the "d20 XXXX" [rpg] entries. See the notes under the [item] description below for more details on this.
• RPG Magazines are given their own [periodical] entry.

Here are examples of some of the more common rpgs with proper naming conventions:

Ars Magica (1st Edition)

Ars Magica (2nd Edition)

Ars Magica (3rd Edition)

Ars Magica (4th Edition)

Ars Magica (5th Edition)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (2nd Edition)

Dungeons & Dragons (3rd Edition)

Dungeons & Dragons (3.5 Edition)

Dungeons & Dragons (4th Edition)

Dungeon (Magazine)

BESM (Second Edition)

BESM (Third Edition)

BESM d20

GURPS (Third Edition)

GURPS (Fourth Edition)

Mutants & Masterminds (1st Edition)

Mutants & Masterminds (2nd Edition)

Dinky Dungeons

Fudge

If you have an rpg listed without an edition in (parens) and a new edition comes out, not only do you add the new [rpg] for the new edition, but the title of the old game must change to reflect it as a (1st Edition). Any items from the first edition that can be used directly with the second edition should be linked to both rpgs.

Even though a book containing only setting information may be used for multiple editions of a role playing game, it should only be linked to the edition for which it was initially published.
RPG Item
RPG Family
RPG System
RPG Mechanic
Do your best to fill in the Mechanics field. The choices are fairly self explanatory now. We are trying to include parenthetical information in these choices to help with any confusion. This extra information may or may not stay when we go live. You may choose as many mechanics as is appropriate for the item.

Item

To create a new RPG item, use the Misc->Create/RPG Item menu option. You'll be ask to fill out the following fields:

Primary Name
The name of the item. Conventions:

• Use the actual names (titles) of the books and products (for books this is found on the title page - which trumps any name found on the cover - though if the cover and title page differ, the cover name should appear as an alternate name). Typos in the title stay (i.e. 1st Edition DM Guide was: "Dungeon Masters Guide"). Use an alternate name for the more grammatically correct version.
• Articles such as “A” and “The” come naturally in the title - that is, "The Book of Undead" _not_ "Book of Undead, The". The sort position can also be specified so that “The Book of Undead” can be set to sort at position 4 (the ‘B’ in Book). It's helpful if you put a reminder in the admin note to set the sort position when approving the item.
• Editions are not normally needed at the [item] level since those are captured at the [rpg] level except where the actual title (on the title page) uses them. For example, "BESM Third Edition" is the actual name of the book based on the title page.
• The name of the game does not need to be repeated at the [item] level unless it's officially part of the title (on the title page). So, for example, use "Player's Handbook" or "Monster Manual" - not "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual". GURPS, however, seems to use GURPS as part of the title so those are "GURPS Powers", "GURPS Ice Age", "GURPS Atomic Horror", etc.
• Subtitles on books are generally not included in the title unless it's commonly used or clarifies the listing.
• If the front of the book makes it look like the game name is part of the title, it's okay to add that as an alternate name to aid searching. Al-Qadim is a good example of this. There's a big logo treatment that says "Al-Qadim" and under that a ribbon that says "Land of Fate". The latter is the title of the product. But a casual searcher might search for the whole thing, so it's okay to add this as an alternate name (via Submit Corrections) after the entry is approved.

Here are examples of some of the more common items with proper naming conventions:

For the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition)" game entry:

Monster Manual

Player's Handbook

Dungeon Master's Guide

Wilderness Survival Guide

For the "Mutants & Masterminds (2nd Edition)" game entry:

Masterminds Manual

Freedom City

For the "GURPS (Third Edition)" game entry:

GURPS Ice Age

GURPS Basic Set

For the "Star Wars (WEG Original Edition)" game entry:

The Star Wars Roleplaying Game

Remember... the names of these [item] entries will always be shown with the associated [rpg] and [system] (if any) to avoid any confusion about what this product is.

Genre
With [genre] there is a base genre and sub-genres. For example:

Fantasy
Fantasy (High)
Fantasy (Low)
Fantasy (Arthurian)

If you choose one of the more specific fantasy genres, you do NOT also pick the more generic base “Fantasy” genre. Only select the more generic “Fantasy” genre if a specific one doesn’t fit. Of course, more than one specific “Fantasy” genre might apply - more than one can be chosen in that case. You can choose as many genres as makes sense. That said, be judicious in your application of genres, and use the minimum number of genres necessary. Just because you have a D&D module that encounters a pirate does NOT mean that the adventure is in the Action/Adventure (Pirates/Swashbuckling) genre! The genre is supposed to describe the _essence_ or "feel" of the supplement, not the _topics_ of the supplement.

RPG
Category
Most of the category descriptions are pretty clear. There is some confusion over an “Scenario/Adventure/Module” and a “Campaign Setting”. The former is for single stand-alone modules. They may be part of a series (to take characters from, say, level 1 to level 20), but if the adventure can pretty much be picked up by a Game Master and run in a single session or two, it’s probably considered an “Scenario/Adventure/Module”. The classic example of an “Scenario/Adventure/Module” is the Dungeons and Dragons “B2: Keep on the Borderlands”. A Campaign is more a full book of description on the game world... fleshing out places and characters and the political system and large-scale maps and so on... this is normally a place where a Game Master can create a series of ongoing adventures using various adventure-hooks. Classic examples of campaigns would be: “Greyhawk”, “Blackmoor”, “Forgotten Realms” or “Eberron”.

Lastly, there is a [category] of “Sourcebook” which is pretty general and covers all manner of books that are designed to work with the core rules. Technically a Campaign book would also be a Sourcebook. Some Sourcebooks contain Adventures. So... the challenge is how to list these. Here is the rule of thumb: If the item you are listing is a somewhat short adventure designed to be run stand-alone, call it an “Adventure/Module”. If the book is larger and fleshes out more of the game world with non-player characters and adventure hooks, call it a “Campaign”. Otherwise call it a “Sourcebook”. If a sourcebook contains a small adventure as part of the book, it’s still a “Sourcebook” - no need to also tag it as an “Scenario/Adventure/Module” also.

Setting
Series
Series Code
Many adventure modules come in a series – such as the classic Dungeons and Dragons G1, G2 and G3 – “Against the Giants”. The G1, G2 and G3 are the series code. Do not include them in the titles of the items – they belong in this field instead and will be prepended to the title by the UI automatically. Do not just put a series code of "1" or "2" in this field - this is only for clearly identified series codes which show on the cover and whose codes you want to show as part of the title. Here is an example of a series code (B2):

Please note, it is okay to have a series without a series code (i.e. "The Complete Book Of..." is a series without a distinct code) but it is never correct to have a series code without a series attached.

Designer, Artist and Production Staff
Some of these RPG books have a slew of people that contributed to them - especially when it comes to the art department. It critical that you get the designer/developer/authors and artists in place. We also ask that you get production staff as well - though an entry will not be denied if that goes missing. For a few books that may have hundreds of artists (e.g. Creature Supplements), listing the art director is sufficient.

• Designers, writers, developers, creators and additional content providers all go under [designers].
• Artists, graphic designers and cartographers (map makers) go under [artists].
• Producers, production assistance, editors, typography people, managers, art directors, layout people, proof readers, technicians, translators or coordinators go under [production staff].
• Playtesters, Consultants or people 'thanked' in a book do not get listed.

People who write the introduction but provide no other game content do not get listed - however we encourage this information in the "More Information" field for the item. (for example: "Gary Gygax wrote the Introduction.")
The description for a new person does not need to include all the items they have worked on, as that will already be apparent from the links to items. However, if you add a new person that isn't linked to an item yet, please add a short comment, such as "Artist for Call of Cthulhu supplement XXX", or "Contributed to MechWarrior rules". It really helps the content approvers.
If there is nobody credited in the book for one of these fields, please choose "(uncredited)" so the admins don't have to bother trying to track it down.

Publisher
The publisher of the item. If you cannot identify a specific publishing entity, and the printed edition appears to be available from a print-on-demand website such as lulu.com, please add the publisher as 'self-published' and do not add lulu.com or other such websites as a publisher to the database.

Version

Nickname
A nickname for the [version] entries must have nicknames associated with them. The naming here is not as strict as it would be for the item title but it should include some distinguishing characteristic of the version being entered. Some examples of names include (but are not limited to):

First Printing
Second Printing
Revised Edition
Blister Pack Version
Rare Magenta Cover
<Foreign Language Title> e.g. Manual del Jugador
etc.

If you are entering an item but aren't sure of the printing you can simply use a nickname of:

Hardcover Version
Softcover Version
PDF Version
etc.

We aren't being too strict here - look at the existing version nicknames on an item to see what makes sense. For versions which are in another language, we ask that you use the nickname field to put in the title as it would appear in that language.

Format
Pages
This is the total number of pages of the item typically excluding covers (unless the covers contain rules). For a box set, this should be the total number of pages for all books/booklets contained in the box. For a magazine or book, it is the last page number identified plus any extra pages at the back end. Pull out sections should be listed under "More Information" if not included in the count already. In a few rare cases the publisher put forth a continuing page count between books (witness GURPS 4th Edition Characters + Campaign guides). In this case, do your best to get the actual page count of the book (i.e. don't use the last page identified in this rare case).

Year Published
Product Code
The product code is usually on the front or back cover (usually in the corner somewhere) or along the spine. For example, the White Wolf “Mage: The Ascension” has a product code on the back and spine of “WW4600”. That's what would be entered into this field.

ISBN-10 and ISBN-13
10-digit ISBN Numbers should be without dashes or spaces. That is: “1234567890” not “1-234-5678-90”. 13-digit ISBN numbers have a single dash and are formatted as follows: 123-123456789.
Please note, ISBN-13 wasn't designed until 2004 and no ISBN-13 was issued until 2005. Some people have been putting the Bookland EAN-13 barcode in as an ISBN-13 (Bookland EAN-13s start with 978). These are NOT the ISBN-13s for that book.

Dimensions
We have a pull-down for common sizes though you are free to hand-enter any size dimensions of the product as needed. The dimensions are in inches only please. The dimensions of a product are dependent on the type of product as follows:

• For a book, the dimensions are the size of the outer cover (not the pages within).
• For a box set, the dimensions are the size of the outer box (not the booklets/maps within).

Weight
The weight of the item.

Languages
The language (or languages) of the item.

Series

Primary Name
The name of the series.

RPG Items
Any items that belong to this series.

RPG Families, RPGs and RPG Systems
Any families, RPGs and Systems this series belongs to.

Setting

Primary Name
The name of the setting. This should be the name of the setting, not the rpg/book that covers it. For example, The Hunt: Rise of Evil contains a fantasy/horror setting from Mystic Eye Games set in Gothos, a world where dreams and nightmares come to life. The [setting] in this case is "Gothos", not "The Hunt: Rise of Evil".

RPG Items
Any items that belong to this setting.

RPGs
Any RPGs that use this setting.

RPG Families
Any RPG Families that use this setting.

Family

Primary Name
The name if the family. Conventions:

• The [family] name should not generally contain any edition information.
• The [family] name may included parenthetical information to help distinguish it from similar entries.

Here are examples of some of the more common families with proper naming conventions:

Ars Magica

BESM (Big Eyes, Small Mouth)

Call of Cthulhu

DC Heroes

Dungeons & Dragons

GURPS

HERO

Mutants & Masterminds

Shadowrun

Star Trek

Star Wars

Stormbringer

Torg

Traveller

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

World Of Darkness (nWoD)

RPGs
Any RPGs that belong to this family.

Settings
Any setting that is common to the games in this family.

Series
Any series that belong to this family.