> The specifics of the current situation involve using a swear word as
>part of the presentation. We plan to give the usual monster stats for an
>average member of the species and provide guidelines for making them
>stronger or weaker. We also plan to create a sidebar in many of the
>monsters detailing a "better than average", ready-to-play sample. On the
>playtest list, we are calling that sidebar "Instant Badass." Personally, I
>like that name (my other choice would be "Instant Bad Moe-Foe") but it may
>rile up some parents. Then again, maybe that's good for creating buzz
>about the book.
The question that jumps out in my mind about this is one I've not seen
raised thus far; I don't think this is as much a matter of using a "bad
word" as it is a matter of consistency.
Are there similar terms used elsewhere in the product? Is the adult attitude
taken throughout? Or is "Badass" only used in this one instance? The risk
you take with using a term like this in only one place is that it jumps out
at you as being inconsistent with the content elsewhere in the book, and
that's generally a bad idea because it draws an unnecessary amount of
attention on that single instance.
To use an example, if I were making a Disney cartoon and it was all about
happy bunnies and puppies chasing each other, and then smack in the middle
of the cartoon I had one of the puppies stand up and say "F**K", what's the
effect? Suddenly, nobody notices the rest of the cartoon -- they only notice
that one bad word, because it stands out like a shot.
However, if I'm making the next Bruce Willis action thriller movie, it's
liberally sprinkled with F-words throughout. I'm expecting that, I know it's
an adult product, and so it doesn't jump out at me in a bad way.
In short, I'd be interested in hearing in what other ways this product
appeals to a more adult audience. If using the word Badass is the only
instance of anything slightly "adult", you might consider finding a
different term, if only for consistency of product.
________________________________________________________________________
"Moralists have always wondered helplessly why Poe's 'morbid' tales need
have been written. They need to be written because old things need to die
and disintegrate, because the old write psyche has to be gradually broken
down before anything else can come to pass. Man must be stripped even of
himself. And it is a painful, sometimes a ghastly process."
-- D.H. Lawrence, on E.A. Poe
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[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.aeforge.com
