Tenkar has posted the remaining 34 entries of the OSR Superstar Contest.
None of my entries made the cut. I will post my entries in the coming days.
Tag Archives: Contests
OSR Superstar – Details of the First Seven Entries
Tenkar posted the descriptions of the first seven entries. All some very good ideas.
24 Hour RPG
Design a campaign in 24 hours.
I don’t know which blog I ran across this. The way the blog that mentioned this described it was a new campaign in 24 hours.
As I look at the website it looks like it was only active for 2003, 2004, and 2005. I’m not sure why the owner of the domain would keep paying for the domain name and web hosting if it was not an active contest.
At one point their was a Yahoo Group, but it no longer exists.
Looking at the 2005 entries, it looks like people designed whole new games and rules instead of campaigns based around existing rules. Looking at their rules it is about designing a whole new RPG.
24 hours to design a new RPG? We need more RPGs? What niche does not have rules? The basic mechanics of dice for character stats and dice to do stuff and lists of equipment for the genre, and mechanics for how it all works can easily be done by taking what you like from existing games you have and make your own homebrew game. My brother and I and our gaming group did that in high school 30+ years ago.
Are any of these RPGs doing a new take for rules? Are stats different? If you have stats, can you come up with names that are not synonyms for stats in existing games?
For me, I don’t need another game. I wouldn’t put time to develop another game, unless I thought I had an idea I could market and sell.
Designing a campaign in 24 hours, I can see the value in that. Whether we do a 24 hour marathon, or 24 one-hour sprints, it could be a way to force oneself to focus on designing a new campaign, or new area of an existing campaign. I can see having different categories: 24 hour marathon, 24 1-hour sprints, 12 2-hour sprints. Set a timer for those sprints and an alarm for the marathon. There would be a total honor system.
I know that I have the ability to pull an all-nighter, but my thinking gets fuzzy after awhile and I would lose the ability to focus. It is not the same as running a game session that runs all night. There are notes to guide and ad-lib is not the same as designing a campaign that makes sense/fits together.
The idea of a 24 Hour Campaign Design sounds like a monumental contest to organize. I know I don’t have the time to run a contest. I know I wouldn’t pull an all-nighter for this. With one or two hour sprints it could still take a couple weeks to do this. Perhaps a 24 hour sandbox design using one of the sandbox design structures from Bat in The Attic or West Marches would be a way to structure it.
For all I know, there has already been some sort of 24 hour campaign or sandbox design blogathon or contest in the past.
Interesting ideas. Not sure any of them are my thing.
I wonder what other’s think about these ideas?
30 posts in 60 days on new campaign setting
http://exonauts.blogspot.com/2014/02/blogger-contest-30-posts-to-create.html
SO HERE’S AN IDEA…
- Pick a game–any old rules will do. Stick to one set though.
- Dream up a campaign setting–it can’t be anything you’ve previously posted, published, or talked about before. It doesn’t have to be “new” per se, just new to the rest of us.
- Create a new blog–yes a new URL and everything, but use your current account so we can tell it’s still yours. Name if after your campaign settting.
- Write 30 posts in 60 days. (C’mon, that’s less than 1 a day!) You have just that long to outline the major key elements (setting, monsters, rule modifications, classes, races, etc.). This is straight-up worldbuilding using elements you’d normally talk about on your home blog. But here, you’ve got economize and decide what the most important elements are. Here’s some general guidelines:
30 POSTS TOTAL
- 13 on monsters or villains, one type or one specific individual per post (so “hobgoblins” is one, a “kaiju” is another, “Vader’s granny” another, etc.)
- 4 on special treasure, a lost artifact, weapons, vehicles, etc., however you choose to parse.
- 3 on setting, this is all aesthetic so you’ll want to focus on places, maps, NPCs, the way magic works, how the local ruling space authority, uh…rules the galaxy, etc.
- 3 on classes with each dedicated to a separate player class.
- 2 on house rules, specifically how your campaign either strays, modifies, or embellishes on your chosen rule set (posts can be as detailed as you like); carousing rules, etc. all apply here
- 3 on any topics you like, these help you round out the rough edges and could be additional classes, races, setting, etc.
- 1 intro post to set up your premise for your campaign (e.g., , declare your ruleset and acknowlege participation in the contest
- 1 report of actual play, which should include at least one picture, be it from the campaign or actual play; you can make this your final post with a big sign off or you can use it as a playtest, but you gotta play it at least once and record it for posterity
My Take:
I don’t like the idea of a whole new blog. A category on existing blog, yes. Whole new blog to manage/maintain, but only for two months. I don’t see the value. If you have to link it to your current blog, it can’t be to hide it from players.
I’m not sure I will be blogging on this topic. I know I won’t be any time soon. I can see the value of using the topic ideas and counts on certain topics to help build a framework for a campaign fast. I may use this for ideas, but use a NoteTab outline.
What are your thoughts on this?
Dungeon of Lost Coppers – My Submission
My pitiful entry for the Dungeon of Lost Coppers contest is finally up, here.
Looking at all the other entries, my attempt was hampered by three things for better quality.
- I was under the effects of a confuse spell and thought the deadline for submissions was the same as that for the OSR Superstar contest. I was rushed in my error in the deadline, so I submitted a sub-par map. My only hope of winning is that the winner is picked randomly.
- My printer was on the fritz so I could not print it out and work by hand. I have two scanners and multiple means of taking pictures, so that would not have been an issue.
- I had trouble getting GIMP to cooperate and do what I wanted, so I went with MS-Paint. I was able to cut and past and rotate some lines, but Paint is not the quickest for that.
I started using the random dungeon generating tables in the 1st edition DMG, but ended up with lots of tunnels and small rooms, so I started just making stuff up. Those tables are weighted in such a way as to require a lot of time and input from a DM to get a workable dungeon.
So I learned a lot from this contest. Don’t get the submission date wrong, and don’t rush is you don’t have time or cooperating computer/printer/equipment to do a good job.
Swords And Wizardry Retro Clone
I read the Swords and Wizardry Quick Start, White Box, and Complete Rules just to make sure the three magic items that I submitted to the OSR Superstar Contest were according to the rules of the contest.
I found the rules to be well organized and easy to start using them.
I am tempted to make them the go to rules and tweak with stuff from AD&D, like spells, monsters, etc.
I like the simplicity of classes. I don’t like the level limitations of non-Human characters and the class restrictions. This is the same balk I have with AD&D. No problem, HOUSE RULES TIME!
I like that the system strives to keep the ability to customize and encourages it!
I have joined the Swords & Wizardry Discussion Group to keep up with ideas of others.
I see it beneficial to have these rules, which are freely available, should I ever get an online campaign going, others will need the rules.
I like the S&W SRD and it’s ideas, and I like the generators for NPCs, NPCs in taverns, and treasure map generator. Simple tools to fill in gaps fast.
I recommend this system and I would gladly play these rules, since they are so close to my “home” rules.
Well, I have spent so much time blogging and updating this Google+ page and collecting information, etc. that I am behind on direct work on my campaign.
The Dungeons of Lost Coppers Cartographic Contest
Dyson’s Dodecahedron is hosting a cartography contest where you take one of his maps and finish it with your own twist.
The deadline is fast approaching: “23:59 Eastern Standard Time of Sunday, February 23rd, 2014.”
I’m not the best at maps, but I may see what I can devise. It has the same deadline for the OSR Superstar Contest. If I focus, I know I can meet both deadlines.
Dyson has several interesting tables, and of course lots of maps. He even has a few short tutorials that explain how he does his style of maps. I tried a little doodling on graph paper to do it. I can see with practice it can be done fairly easily, but it requires scanning and then processing the image in Gimp or other graphics software. I get so sidetracked looking at all the goodies all the different RPG sites have to offer that I take lots of notes and download/use Print Friendly to add to my ideas for my own campaigns.
OSR Superstar Contest
Tenkar’s Tavern is hosting the OSR Superstar Contest.
There are three stages. If you make the cut of the first stage you move on to the second stage.
The first stage involves submitting a magic item. You can submit up to three of them. Don’t post it on the blog, it will be disqualified, it must be emailed to the specified address. The deadline is “Sunday, February 16th, at 1PM Eastern (NYC) Time.”
I have decided to participate. So far, I have two magic items sketched out in pretty good detail. You have to use the Swords and Wizardry rules, so I am having to refer back to those. I can do AD&D without a lot of thought and just for specifics. At least it will be flexible to work with any OSR like rule set.
If you make the cut with the magic items, next is a monster.
If you make it to the third round you must use an assigned dungeon map to craft an adventure using the magic item and monster.
2014 One Page Dungeon Contest
The 2014 One Page Dungeon Contest (OPDC) deadline is April 30, 2014.
You can download PDF collections of all prior years’ submissions. I used one map from 2012, I think, for a Kobold warren in my game.
If I am going to be serious about this RPG blogging thing, I feel that I need to at least make a submission instead of thinking about doing it.
I have an idea that is way too generic, or could become a one page dungeon for every genre. That’s my challenge rise up from being a mere “idea man”, to actual execution of the details. How hard can it be right?
If you are interested and never heard of it or never looked into it, check it out here.