Writing Thief Canon - TTLG Forums

Snakeskin on 12/9/2007 at 14:21

Hey ;)
Im working on a thief RPG, pretty far gone and already playtested.
I need canon writers, intelligent people with writing skills that would like too see more in-depth canon on the thief world based on much experience from the games and your own imagination.
Anyone willing to contribute will get access to my work so far and we will work together, deciding an area and writing about that subject, then reviewing eachothers work.
Contact me @MSN

[email]samgullman@hotmail.com[/email]

jtr7 on 14/9/2007 at 04:25

Hi! Sounds epic! Could you clarify what you mean by canon?

What it means around here is what has already been created and is present in-game, and little if any more than that.

Do you mean filling in the gaps? Do you mean lumping all the related items into groups? Do you really mean fan-fiction? Are you hoping to make a Thief Universe Core Rules?

It's going to be quite intense if you stick with the game content. It'll actually be a lot easier to create fan-fiction and specify to the readers that it is BASED on Thief.:thumb:

I'm working on an Encyclopædia of the Thief Universe (ETU) and it's taking a long time, and it's intense. So, breaking down what you intend to do, in more detail, may garner you more useful responses. Whatever you do, if you want it to be canon, don't use the Novice Keeper's Lexicon, or any lists derived from it. Lots of embellishing there, plus made up names/entries, and at least one typo you don't want to copy.

Sounds fun, no matter what you make! Good luck!:D

Jarvis on 14/9/2007 at 05:16

I got enlisted for some of this work, and technically the use of the word canon is inappropriate given what I've been asked to do. I don't want to speak for Snakeskin, as it's his project, but I'd say it's more about filling in the gaps.

jtr7 on 14/9/2007 at 05:52

'Twas my impression that he was wanting to create a NEW canon for RPG's. So that clears things up.

Have fun, taffers!

<Username> on 14/9/2007 at 09:06

If you're looking for well-written background material, check out the Keeper Library: (http://www.btinternet.com/~sneaksiethiefsie/)

Story Eninge is a universal rule system that works very well with the Thief universe: (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/reviews/18/). It's out of print but copies are easy to find. There's also a stripped-down, free version called Story Bones, that can be downloaded here: (http://www.pigames.net/collaborative/index.php?action=read&page=216).

Some other sites I thought were useful for compiling my own sourcebook as well planning and designing my campaign:

* (http://www.thief-thecircle.com/fanworks/corres/) Correspondence of Thieves
* (http://www.100megspopup.com/gbyg/index.htm) Goblins by Gaslight
* (http://cosas.ttlg.com/) The Circle of Stone and Shadow
* (http://thief-thedarksite.8m.com/) The Dark Site
* (http://208.49.149.118/Imperium/website/main.htm) The Hammerite Imperium
* (http://omegacron.com/games/thief/index.htm) The Keepers' Compound
* (http://www20.brinkster.com/raetsel/thief/thiefnames.asp) Thief - BIG list of names found in the game
* (http://www.thief-thecircle.com/) Thief: The Circle
* (http://www.thief-thecircle.com/thiefworldmap/) Thief Worldmap
* (http://users.ncable.net.au/~abirch/Thief/Azals/index.htm) Thief II Guide to the Strange & Unusual

Snakeskin on 17/9/2007 at 09:20

Thanks a lot for the help and clarifications guys!
Correct, canon is probably the wrong term, but then i am a swede and english is not my birth language :p
Ill just use "material" or something instead.

Correct, this project is about "filling in the gaps", and there are a lot of those. I have a ruleset that is about 80% complete and already playtested, however this material will be "separated" from the rules as much as possible to allow people to use whatever system they like when RPG-ing thief. ;)

We have now started the project, and i got three answers, thus we are four guys working on the project right now, or will be starting soon.
The last days i've converted my initial document into a "rule" part and a "story" part, the latter being the one we will use as a working base.
Any texts written will be sent to me, and i will update the main document to a new version and mail it out, then we will help comment each others work.

Once in a while we will post the doc for the community to download and comment on, and we will probably keep doing this if we get opinions and see any interest!

Thanks for the links <username>, i have already checked out some of them but will go over the rest as well.
They can be nice inspiration for some passages that needs to be written, does anyone know how to contact sneaksiethiefsie if we would like to incorporate any of this in our project?

Lastly, if anyone feels like they can contribute to the project feel free to contact me @ [email]samgullman@gmail.com[/email] :thumb: