As I work my way through the items in Ury’s list, I find that items fall into categories for three different agendas.
There are elements of the series bible that correspond to things that GMs have to do with their impresario hats on, or include in their pitches to the prospective players. They are things that in Ury’s treatment are addressed essentially to the studio executives who have to be induced to buy the property or green-light funding to make the series. But in the RPG-campaign version there is usually no distinction between the studio and the audience: the people who have to be persuaded to show a green light for “production” are the same as the people who have to make the content and are the same as the people who have to enjoy the performance. I can’t put my finger on this, but the RPG version has more of the essence of measuring up a client for a tailored suit and less of putting on a fashion show. Anyway, 1. Title, 2. Genre, 3. Structure, 4. Setting, and 5. Premise seem to be more in the nature of things that the GM would propose to prospective character-players. These look like items for a campaign-pitch or campaign-prospectus checklist, for the impresario GM to work through before the character-players are involved or perhaps even known.
Then there are items that I reckon the GM and the character-players ought to work through together before the first session and perhaps adjust after a pilot session. Ury’s version seems to suppose that these have to convince the studio execs (in order to get the series bought) but also be used by the showrunner and writers. This category includes aspects of 5. Premise and 7. Episode format. The RPG campaign versions amount to a checklist for the design and creation of a party, with a view to making sure that it it consists of characters who are fun to play together and that will actually go on the adventures that are intended for the campaign and not refuse the scenario hooks. These look like items for a party-and-character design checklist, for the GM and character-players to work through together.
Third, there seem to be elements that I suppose that GMs will neither present to prospective players in a pitch nor work through with them in party-&-character creation, but rather do privately, as a preparation for their unique part in an RPG or in preparation of surprises and twists. In Ury’s version these are instructions to the writers and production staff, such as 8. the list of standing sets, 10. the synopsis of the pilot episode, 11. thumbnails of the first half season’s episodes, and maybe 12. the season finale. This is a checklist of prep work for the actual GMing.
So it looks as though maybe Roger has not a checklist, but three checklists.
