Encouragement

We want to publish your feats! And what’s more we want your work to look professional. That’s our vision; your name and feats published and used around the world. It will take some work to achieve that, but we think it’s worth the effort. The NBOF is read around the world and is quite possibly the oldest and longest running Open Gaming License publication. Look up the word “feat” or “d20 netbook” in Google and we are the first thing you will see.

Submitting Feats

Submitting feats to the Netbook is now a fairly simple process, but it will take some time and effort on your part to ensure everything goes smoothly.

Step 1: Write your feat
We only take original submissions from their original authors, so don’t send us someone else’s work. Please read our feat writing guideline to learn all about how to write a great feat.

Step 2: Proof your feat
While we have a process for proof reading and editing feats, we would much prefer you do some of this yourself before sending it in. The key factors are to make sure your feat is properly formatted and is not too similar in name or function to a feat already in the netbook. Again, please read this guide for all the details.

Step 3: Send us your feat
Email your feat(s) to ( sigfried@gmail.com ) and use the words “Feat Submission” in the title of the e-mail. Any e-mail format should be fine, and if you like you can send feats as attachments in most standard formats.

You must include the following text, (filling in your name and the name of your feats where appropriate) in your e-mail.

I [your real name here] am submitting the following feats to the Netbook of Feats staff to be published in the Netbook of Feats under the terms of the Open Gaming License. These feats are my own original work to which I have copyright. I grant the Netbook of Feats staff the right to edit and alter my submission as they deem necessary. [list feat names submitted here]

Legal Issues and NBOF policy

When you submit your feats to the NBOF you are giving us permission to publish them under the Open Gaming License. Once we have done that, anyone using the OGL can re-publish and change your feat without your permission or any compensation. The only requirement is that they credit the source of the feat in Section 15 of the OGL in their publication.

You are also giving the NBOF staff permission to make any edits and changes we deem necessary to your feat to fit our publishing guidelines and policies. In return we promise that you will receive due credit for your work in the NBOF both according to the terms of the OGL and our own policies.

We have a guide in the full NBOF that hopefully will answer any questions you have about the OGL and how it works.


The Feat Review Process

Here we will outline the what happens to your feat from the time you send it to us, until the time it is published in the Netbook of Feats.

Step 1: Submitting the feat
When we receive a feat submission we send a response thanking the author for their submission and try to give them some idea of how long we think it will be before we can review their feats.

Step 2: Initial Editing and Formatting
The team lead takes new submissions and save them into a word document along with the permission statement from the author. We take the feats and go through each, putting them into the standard feat format, correcting spelling or grammatical errors, and removing references not allowed under the OGL. We also check to make sure the name of the feat is not already used in the NBOF and that the feat is not too close in function to those already in the NBOF. The closer a feat is to meeting all of these standards the faster it will get out of initial editing and to the reviewing stage.

Step 3: Selecting feats for review
Every two weeks the team leader selects around 20 edited feats for review by the board. Feats are selected on a number of criteria, mostly for perceived quality and originality but also based on how long they have been waiting for review. These feats are then sent to the review board for their comments and suggestions.

Step 4: Board Review
Each member of the review board goes over the feats assigning them a rating, and making comments and suggestions for the author. The board is generally given two weeks to complete their reviews. If less than three reviewers complete their reviews the time period is extended until this minimum number is reached. Any feat that receives a passing grade and has no significant suggestions by the board is accepted for publishing. Any feat with a non-passing score or substantive suggestions by any of the board members is returned to the author along with all reviewer comments for their consideration.

Step 5: Author Revision
After review, the author will be notified as to which of their feats were accepted as is, for publication, and which ones we suggest revising or rejecting. We will include all comments and ratings by all the board members who reviewed the feat.

They author decides how they would like to revise their feats or if they would like to drop them from consideration. We prefer that the author make their own revisions, but we often offer them suggestions or examples to make this process easier.

When the author is finished, they send their feats back to us, along with any comments they would like the review board to consider.

Step 6: Continuing Review and Revision
The back and forth between the author and the review board continues both parties are satisfied with the feat. The team lead arbitrates this process and makes the final decision on when a feat is finished with the review process and ready for publication.

Step 7: Publishing
When the team leader deems a feat is ready for publication it is given some final formatting and editing changes, and then entered into our database. When enough new feats have been entered to justify updating the document, we print out a special version of the NBOF featuring only the new feats. This document is then proofed to check for errors in content or formatting.

Finally, after its long journey, your feat is added along with others into the NBOF and published on our web site, along with whatever ratings it received in its final round of review.