Aeon,
Very good point. The rest of the book is not necessarily profane or
adult-oriented in concepts as much as it is "smart-alecky".
For example, we are also including a section on PC Suitability for each
entry. In the Corpse Fungus v.3 entry, we say:
PC Suitability
Zero. Role-playing a fungus infected corpse is not very challenging,
consisting mostly of sitting perfectly still, jaw hanging slack, perhaps a
little drool oozing out the corner of the mouth, occationally moaning the
word; 'brains.' Actually, forget being a character, give it some dice and a
Mountain Dew, and it could be a player!
As you can see, rather than shock value, we are using the term "Badass" as
part of the gamer humor in the book. The whole "Instant Badass" sidebar idea
has a wise-guy "add water, instant monster" connotation to it.
Given all your responses, and those from the playtesters, I am much more
comfortable with using "Badass". Now I move onto the question of whether
that term alone (assuming its the most blantantly objectionable thing in the
book) is enough to justify the Intended for Mature Gamers label on the
cover. I don't want (say) to foreclose sales to Barnes & Nobels (or
whatever) by employing a label to cover a word that appears every weekend on
WWF. As some have mentioned, however, putting the label on may actually sell
more games.
Alex Jurkat
Eden Studios
www.edenstudios.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Aeon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 2:30 PM
Subject: Re: [ogf-d20-l] d20 with an edge
> > 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
> ________________________________________________________________________
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.aeforge.com
>
>
