Modiphius Press Style Guide

MODIPHIUS PRESS STYLE GUIDE

Welcome!

This document provides the basic information needed to write and edit for Modiphius Press. It will explain what you require to write for Modiphius as well as both the style and the format that you need to adhere to when writing for Modiphius. It consists of a main section, which will detail the core of the Modiphius format and style, plus supporting sections that detail the specifics for the game systems that Modiphius publishes for. It is updated periodically, so always check with Chris Birch () for the current version before starting a new assignment.

Achtung! Achtung! Important Information!

Note that if accepted, your submission is likely to be edited and is unlikely to be published exactly as you submitted it. This is standard practice and your editor will work closely with you to help you bring your ideas to fruition in a form that a gaming group will enjoy playing.

Note that if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Technical Requirements

Modiphius produces all text in Microsoft Word and would prefer not to see text in Open Office or any other “clone” program. Modiphius prefers .doc files, but .rtf is acceptable. Essentially, both the author and the editor should be able to mark up the submission with comments and track alterations to the text using the Review and Comments functions in Microsoft Word. If you are unable to produce text in either of these formats, please contact Chris Birch to work out alternative arrangements.

Reference Requirements

Modiphius Press publishes for several RPG rules systems, primarily Call of Cthulhu. You will require the most up to date version of the rules system that you are writing for.

• If writing for Achtung! Cthulhu or another Call of Cthulhu setting you will require a copy of Call of Cthulhu, Sixth Edition, published by Chaosium, Inc. In addition, it is strongly recommended that you have access to the Keeper’s Companion(Vol. 1) as it is the best reference on the Call of Cthulhu Mythos, particularly Mythos entities, tomes, and skills, as well as the Malleus Monstrorum, as that details numerous creatures, gods, andforbidden knowledge of the Call of Cthulhu Mythos. Both books are published by Chaosium, Inc.
• If writing for Achtung! Cthulhu or another Savage Worlds setting you will require a copy of Savage Worlds Deluxe, published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. In addition, it is recommended that you have access to Realms of Cthulhu, published by Reality Blurs, for reference.
• If writing for Achtung! Cthulhu or another Trail of Cthulhu setting you will require a copy of Trail of Cthulhu, published by Pelgrane Press.
• If writing for Achtung! Cthulhu or another PDQ system setting you will require a copy of PDQ, published by Atomic Sock Monkey.
• In addition, it is recommended that you have access to a standard Style Guide.

Formatting

This is the standard formatting for all Modiphius titles.

Under no circumstances should you use Styles — please set all text to Normal.

Set margins to 1 in. (2.54cm) on top and bottom, 1.25 in. (3.17cm) on left and right. (This is Word default).

Do not Justify body text, but align it to the left.

Paragraphs should be indented to 0.25 in. (as in this document). The only text outside of this formatting should be the file title, which should be aligned to the centre (as in this document).

Do not use Word tables — please use ruler tabs for columns. Complete the text for the table using tabs to format, highlight it, then select Borders and Shading from the drop-down menu and select the appropriate border option. The first column in any table is flush left but most others are centred, with some exceptions (like the “Abilities” column in our class tables, which is flush left). When in doubt, double-check the most recent release in the line.

When shading is called for (usually on alternating lines of tables and as the background of other boxed items like sidebars and read-aloud text), please only use 12.5% grey shading (highlight the required text and use the Borders and Shading option).

When indicating the beginning of a sidebar, enter two returns and insert following text marked in light blue: [[[Begin Sidebar Text Here]]].This should be followed by two returns, then the sidebar text and another two returns. The closure of the sidebar should be indicated by the following text, again marked in light blue: [[[End Sidebar Text Here]]]. The header text for the sidebar should be 16-pt. (Header 2) as below.

Example Sidebar:

[[[Begin Sidebar Text Here]]]

Sample Sidebar Header

This should be followed by two returns, then the sidebar text and another two returns. The closure of the sidebar should be indicated by the following text, again marked in light blue.

[[[End Sidebar Text Here]]]

All text should be produced in Times New Roman. Body text is 10-pt. and unless otherwise specified headers are 20-pt., 16-pt., and 12-pt. with file titles at 24-pt. This file is produced with these settings (the word “Formatting” being a proper Header 1). Examples of descending headers follow.

Header 1

Body Text

Header 2

Body Text

Header 3

Body Text

Include two hard returns before every Header 1, but only one hard return before every other header. Body text is always single-spaced, though examples, adventure read-aloud text, and bullet points are preceded and followed by one hard return…

Listing

Bullets and numbered lists are produced using the Word functions, but are always aligned to the left.

•Bullet Example

•Bullet Example

•Bullet Example

1. Numbered List Example
2. Numbered List Example
3. Numbered List Example

As an editor you might receive a file without these settings, in which case it is part of your role as an editor to apply them. (Generally, this happens when the manuscript you are editing has not been produced and formatted correctly by the writer. When such instances occur, Modiphius will supply the writer with a copy of this Style Guide to correct the issue.)

Editorial and Graphic Design Notes

Modiphius uses Word highlights to call out notes. When text requires the attention of another content manager — Modiphius, the writer, or editor — it is highlighted in a LIGHT BLUE (always use LIGHT BLUE as it is both easy to spot and easy to read the text it highlights). When including additional notes that should NOT appear in the published piece, they should be included as a comment.

Version Control

Version control is necessary in order to avoid two or more people updating a manuscript simultaneously and the overwriting of each other’s changes. It also ensures that members of Modiphiusstaff are always aware of all changes made to the production of a manuscript.

When a writer completes the first draft of his manuscript, he should name it in the following format: “[NAME] – v1” (e.g. “Deep Ones on the Danube – v1”). Thereafter, each time any changes are made to the document, the version number should be updated by a single number, that is, “Deep Ones on the Danube – v2,” “Deep Ones on the Danube – v3,” etc.

If a project is being created by a Basecamp project team, then the first person upload a file is the one to give it a title. Everyone else who is part of the Basecamp project team then continues to use the same title (Basecamp automatically version the files as they are uploaded). Modiphiusmight eventually rename the file when it is versioned internally.

Only one person can possess the “master” of a document at any one time. Each time that a draft is passed to someone, he gains the master. For example, when a writer turns in a draft to Modiphius, it gains control of the master. When someone else has the master, only he can make revisions or update the version of the draft. Anyone else involved in the production of the document who needs to make alterations to master document, but who does not have possession of the master, should instead make a list of revisions and send them to the person with the master so he can fold them into the next version. At no time should anyone involved in the production of the document assume that he has possession of the master unless a member of the Modiphius staff passes it back to him and asks for a new version.

Delivering Your Documents

Unless involved in a Basecamp team, a document can simply be attached to an email and sent as normal. Large documents can be zipped up before sending. Modiphiusrecommends WinRAR for this: If the document is particularly large, alternative means will be provided for its transfer.

Writing for Modiphius

When writing for Modiphius, keep your style strong. There numerous guides available, but use “can”, “will”, and “might” rather than “may”. Remember when writing for Modiphius, a roleplaying game or supplement is as much a technical document as it is a piece of imaginative writing.

Always write in the present tense. Thus “he shoots” rather than “he will shoot”.

Modiphius Standards

Modiphius Press is a British publisher and as such its titles must be produced in British English. A writer should therefore adhere to British English with regards to spelling and avoid the use of American phrases – except where noted for game/setting specific terms.

When additional text is needed to complete a section, the only placeholder that a writer should ever use is triple, capital letter Xs as in “XXX”. The triple XXXs should also be highlighted in Light Blue (see Editorial and Graphic Design Notes, below).

Similarly, all page numbers in every document should be listed as “XX” and highlighted in Light Blue.These standards help us quickly and easily search for missing elements in the time-sensitive final hours before publication.

When including a page reference, the standards are “(see [PRODUCT TITLE], p. XX)” or “(see page XX)”,or “(see pp. XX-XX, respectively)”, or “(see p.XX and XX, respectively)” or “(for more information, see p. XX)”. Should you need to point to a specific section, it’s “(see [SECTION TITLE], p.XX)”.

When referring to, or referencing, other works, the works referred to, or referenced, should be in italics, such as Call of Cthulhu, Savage Worlds, or The Origins of the Second World War.

A period should be placed outside of quotes if part of a title.

A period should only be placed inside quotes if part of dialogue.

Do not use contractions unless they are part of written speech or a document within the setting of the manuscript.

Include only one space after each period, not two. If the writer was originally trained to add two spaces, he should do a search and replace for two spaces, replacing all instances throughout the document with one. This search and replace should be run as many times as is required to eliminate all instances of multiple spaces in the document.

The use of the Oxford Comma is standard to Modiphius titles as it reduces the potential for confusion in the reader. Thus, “I learned much from my mentors, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin” rather than “I learned much from my mentors, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin”.

Where the gender of the person being referred to is known, use the correct pronoun, that is, “he” or “she”, and where the pronoun is possessive, “his” or “her”. If the gender is undefined or unknown, then use “his”, such as when referring to an investigator in Achtung! Cthulhu. Only use “their” when referring to a group, and when referring to an object, such as a vehicle or monster, or to an organisation use “it” or “its”.Note that some Cthulhu Mythos entities do have a gender.

Avoid the overuse of semi-colons – use periods instead.

Avoid the use of parenthesis, start new sentences or use created dependent clauses instead.

Always use an em – dash rather than an en - dash. Note that an em – dash does not replace the hyphen in hyphenated terms such as pre-generated or multi-part.

Do not add spaces inside ellipses (“...” not “. . .”).

Use proper multiplication symbols (“×” not “x”).

Numbers under 100 should be spelt out; so forty-four rather than 44.

Do not use superscript. Thus dates should be written as January 5th, not January 5th and particular centuries as the 20th Century, not the 20th Century.

am and pm are small caps without periods where the 24 hour clock is not used.

Handouts are referred to by # rather than spelled out (Handout #1 rather than Handout One) and by their complete name, for example,von Obertorff Diaries #2.

See the Modiphius Game Standards section (p. 5) of this document for a list of specific term formats.

Specific Terms

World War Two rather than World War 2, World War II, or WW2; the same style applies to World War One, but the Great War is also acceptable.

Non-English terms or phrases should be italicised, such as ad hoc or coup de grâce.

The “von” as in von Richtofen should always be in lower case, unless at the start of a sentence in which case von Richtofen is capitalised as in “Von Richtofen”.

On Weapons

Where a pre-generated character or NPC is armed, give the specific make and model of the weapon that he is armed with. Thus not a .45 automatic handgun, but a Colt Government (M1911A1) .45 ACPsemiautomatic pistol. Details such as this add verisimilitude. Specifics for handguns and other weapons can be found in Investigator’s Weapons, vol. 1 and Investigator’s Weapons, vol. 4, both published by Sixtystone Press specifically for use with Call of Cthulhu.

The weapon name should be italicised.

Modiphius Game Standards

Modiphius publishes titles written for several rules sets. This section describes the standards for all of its RPG titles before detailing the specific standards for each set of rules. Unless a writer is adapting his manuscript from one set of rules to another, he should only adhere to those listed for the rules set that he is writing for.

Do not abbreviate player characters as in PCs, but instead spell the words out as in “player characters”. Alternatively, use terms such as investigators or heroes (depending upon the game that you are writing for).

Do not use the word “party” to refer to a group of player characters.

NPC or NPCs is acceptable.

The dice symbol is capitalised, as in 1D3 rather than 1d3, unless otherwise stated.

Modiphius Call of Cthulhu Standards

Although the Modiphius Style Guide as a whole is written to apply to all of its titles, each set of rules that Modiphius publishes for differs in style and layout. This section deals specifically with the requirements needed to write for Call of Cthulhu as published by Chaosium, Inc.

Keeper is always capitalised.

Keepers (plural) are never referred to, but Keeper (singular) is. Although Modiphius titles will sell to multiple Keepers, you are only ever writing for one.

Abilities are capitalised.

Spell names are capitalised.

Skills are capitalised.

Skill checks are capitalised, as in “Spot Hidden check” or “Listen roll”.

Magic Points is capitalised.

Hit Points is capitalised.

Period at the end of skill and weapon lists in character stats.

When referring to the Cthulhu Mythos or the Mythos, “Mythos” is always capitalised.

When referring to Lovecraft the author, his initials are followed by a period, as in “H.P. Lovecraft”.

On Spells

Where spells are given in a Call of Cthulhu scenario or book, always use the spell names as per Call of Cthulhu, Sixth Edition. If the spell is known to an NPC or in a Mythos tome under another name, then the alternative name is both capitalised and italicised with the actual name of the spell given in parenthesis afterwards. For example, CreareInanimisServus (Zombie). This format can also be used when listing the spells for a Mythos Tome.

On Skills

Where skills are given in a Call of Cthulhu scenario or book, always use the skill names as per Call of Cthulhu, Sixth Edition or the Keeper’s Companion, except where they are superseded by Achtung! Cthulhu – Keeper’s Guide to the Secret War and Achtung! Cthulhu – Investigator’s Guide to the Secret War, both published by Modiphius Press, or Investigator’s Weapons, vol. 4, published by Sixtystone Press. If in doubt, check with your editor or a member of the Modiphius staff.

Before adding a new skill to a book or scenario, ensure that there is not an existing one that covers the proposed new skill.

Call of Cthulhu Skill Modifiers

The standard skill roll in Call of Cthulhu is under the skill value itself. Modiphius handles skill difficulties by directly modifying the skill value itself. If the situation requiring the skill roll is easy, then the skill value is doubled. If the situation requiring the skill roll is difficult, then the skill value is halved (and rounded down). Thus for a skill of Library Use 25%, the standard skill roll is 25%, the easy roll is 50%, and the difficult roll is 12%.

When written it is assumed that all skill rolls are standard. When they are not, the difficulty is indicated by the use of the terms, easy or difficult, which are written in lower case and italicised. Thus, an easy Library Use roll or a difficult Spot Hidden check.