Writers' guidelines for The Sharp End:

This is a magazine intended to be of interest primarily to those who run rôle-playing games. Articles should reflect this bias; constructive advice to GMs will be most welcome. Humorous articles will also be welcome. I do not envision the inclusion of fiction, convention reports, or game-mechanic-specific (e.g. "New Monsters For Advanced Mutants & Mayhem") articles.

Game reviews are welcome, but the publication schedule of The Sharp End mandates a special policy: I shall accept reviews only of products that will never be released, or have been on the market for at least three years.

Regular features will include "Murphy's Rules", and an anecdote column ("I Learned About GMing From That").

House styles: Game Master (or GM) (rather than DM, Referee, BM, SS or any other variant); rôle-playing (note accent); xdy (dice notation); anything else that strikes me as important, though I shall try to be consistent.

Abbreviations should be explained at the first use within an article, thus: "This idea is intended for a setting without faster-than-light (FTL) communications..." However, standard gaming abbreviations may be used without explanation: GM, PC, NPC, RPG, and names of games and game companies. (Game names should mention the publisher on first use, thus: "SJG's GURPS".)

Articles should, where possible, avoid reliance on specific game systems, worlds or mechanics; passing references (e.g. "under GURPS, this can be handled with a Will roll") are acceptable but should be minimised. Obviously, articles comparing systems are exempt from this - but these should remain comprehensible to those unfamiliar with the system(s) in question.

Nothing will be printed unless the final draft is approved by both the editor and the author(s).

It is the view of the editor that rôle-playing (defined for this purpose as taking on the rôle of a specific non-self character) is a superior activity within RPGs when compared with combat, problem-solving or other activities - although, of course, it can be taken to excess. Articles disagreeing with this position are unlikely to be accepted unless very convincingly argued.

Presentation: the physical edition will be printed in limited numbers as resources allow; a Net edition is being made available on the Web.

Artwork: Net submissions can be in most graphics formats. Ideally, artwork should accompany specific articles; appropriately themed cartoons are also welcome.

Remuneration: I do not expect to make any profit out of this magazine. If I ever do so, I shall discuss remuneration with contributors at the time.

Copyright will remain with individual authors and artists, saving only the minimum necessary to produce issues of the magazine; in essence, the publisher (me) retains rights to unlimited reprinting of specific issues or collections of TSE.

Submissions on disc (any PC-readable) or by Email () are welcome. (Most archivers and encoding schemes can be read - contact me for more details.)

The editor's word is final.

Mail me () / Back to the rôle-playing links page / Back to the home page