Howdy yall,

After another stalled year on the Epic: Xenos project, I came to the conclusion that I will need help with more than I suspected.

I am looking for people who are interested in writing short fiction stories that I will tie together as part of an overarching saga. That means your submitted story could be two paragraphs long or ten pages long.

I reckon there is room for plenty of people to participate, so don't feel like you can't volunteer if you see four other names ahead of yours.

For review, the Epic: Xenos supplement is set to feature four or more army lists. Generally, however, there are three players:
1. Squats. These will be from various strongholds, with the primary list being Thurgrimm's Stronghold. Another list will be the Trade Consortium. There is room for others, of course. The story must be about the Squats first and foremost, before and after the Tyranid invasion.
2. Tyranids. Writing about the Tyranids can be a tricksy endeavor, especially given the parameters I will set for the authors.
3. Inquisition. The Ordo Xenos, which has two main story themes: the Inquisitors and the Death Watch.

My plan is to get a team of volunteers who are willing to submit to my plans for galactic domination take some possibly frustrating guidance and put together some short stories that fit within a framework that I provide for the group. You can write twenty stories or just one. You might have an idea describing a grand battle on one of the Homeworlds or a 200 word blurb describing a Squat warrior's last stand in a trench. It could be your idea is a short story about the Orks vs. the Squats; something like that could end up in the background material. Same thing goes for the Ordo Xenos and their military arm the Death Watch. Or you might just feel like describing a civil conflict between warring strongholds, or the sage advice of a living ancestor, or the puritanical teachings of an Inquisitor Lord.

I have a distinct design for the story in my head, but if you have a cool idea that I think will jive with what I have planned or makes the storyline even better, I am totally fine with that. Of course I may get something from you that you think is totally awesome, and I might ship it back to you and ask for a rewrite. If you are okay with that, then please join me. PM me with your personal email address and we'll get started from there.

That's all for now. Questions? Feel free to post them here.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

Does this mean a person would write one or more short stories, or each person would take a part in writing a section of a short story? Either way, I humbly submit myself as short story writer.

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https://www.cybershadow.ninja - A brief look into my twisted world, including wargames and beyond.
https://www.net-armageddon.org - The official NetEA (Epic Armageddon) site and resource.

Either way is fine with me. It could be two people could write two different perspectives on the same short story! The plan is I will give a framework which describes what the thrust of the story is, suggestions for what I'd like to see take place, and the ultimate conclusion of the story. All the authors would write within that framework. It could be that most of the short stories have nothing to do with each other, but the general theme would be the same. Very much how you feel when you pick up a 40K codex and read the bits and bobs they stuff in the margins.

I am thinking that I will be able to tie them together, however, with my own ideas and inspiration from the material submitted.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

Yeah, I'd like to have a go if you are willing! I'll be up front though, while I know the basics of the Epic universe, my knowledge doesn't go much further. I'm happy to submit a short story and allow you to set me straight about any details that should be added. If you're still interested, let me know and I'll start having a think!

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Clickable links for more Epic goodness:

Life of Die Channel including Epic Podcasts and Battle Reports

Epic 40K Players Page on Facebook
Net Epic Evolution Rules
Net Epic War! Campaign Rules

The Bissler - I am fine with that. It may be that MY work will be corrected by somebody who knows more about the 40K background. It will be a learning experience for us all. Send me your email address and over the next 1-2 weeks I will get the framework sent out to everybody.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

Cheers Moscovian, I've pm'd you my email address. Out of interest, are there any limitations on the content? What I'm really asking is if profanity or descriptions grotesque violence are a problem.

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Clickable links for more Epic goodness:

Life of Die Channel including Epic Podcasts and Battle Reports

Epic 40K Players Page on Facebook
Net Epic Evolution Rules
Net Epic War! Campaign Rules

To give you some examples from the Raiders book.
I had Dark Eldar Hellions scooping up infants and dropping them in front of Imperial tanks as a way to demoralize the human forces.
I had soldiers ripping their own eyes out when they encountered the Deceiver.

As long as it drives the feel of the story, I am fine with it. Violent descriptions are not good in a vacuum, but a violent description of a Squat Warrior being torn apart slowly combined with the description of a terrified onlooker certainly drives the sense of fear and lets the reader know what the poor Homeworlders are up against.

Describing and glorifying torture is not good. Describing the torture of a Squat at the hands of a puritanical Inquisitor because he thinks of the Squats as less than dogs would definitely be good.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

Can't help with it myself, but thought I'd mention that it could well be worth checking out the 40k roleplay books relating to the Deathwatch for elsewhere sparse detail and inspiration relating to Deathwatch and Xenos. I stumbled across info about them on the 40k wiki while looking up something else recently. Copies of the roleplay books can be acquired online without paying if you know what I mean.

Good luck with the project

"Chitter chitter! Chirp chitter, skrrrtch skrrrtch skreeeeeee...! ," said the Hive Tyrant.

Nuff said!

I'll have a go, I have an idea for a short squat/nid piece....

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Thanks Moscovian, that answers my question perfectly! So, since you have covered that one, I have a few others. I'd imagine some of these will be answered in the impending email, so please feel free to ignore.

If I'm following this rightly, the project will form a book that is essentially the same tale/war told from three different viewpoints? What is the plan for grouping all of these stories? Will it be a case of Chapter 1 being a Squat story, 2 a Tyranid tale, 3 Inquisitor chapter, then 4 being back to Squats again? Or are you thinking more along the lines of 3 books within the one project, ie all of the chapters for the Squats form book one, all Tyranid chapters book two, and Inquisition book 3?

Was wondering too if you had thought about the main characters for the stories? I'm guessing that there will be a group of central characters that we'll all be taking turns writing, have you a clear idea of who all the main protagonists will be, or is that something that we can all discuss and contribute to establishing before we start writing?

What are your plans (way down the road) once the project is completed? Will it be a case of posting the stories here, attempting to get it published the old fashioned way, or online publishing?

Sorry there are so many questions! I'm just very excited about the project and therefore keen to find out more!

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Clickable links for more Epic goodness:

Life of Die Channel including Epic Podcasts and Battle Reports

Epic 40K Players Page on Facebook
Net Epic Evolution Rules
Net Epic War! Campaign Rules

All questions will be answered soon. Start brainstorming any ideas you have for battles, characters, Tyranid strategies, Squat/Imperium counter-strategies.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

i'm in. for the limited value my time has for the future.

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My shifting projects

I have some Tyranid/Inquisition first contact ideas, but do not know whether not being a native speaker will prove too much of an hindrance. However, I would like to give it a shot.

At least, I should be able to give some moral support.

/Fredmans

I have received a good helping of offers posted here and in PMs. Thank you! Once Christmas has passed I will send out a call to all of you. Look for the email header "Xenos".

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.