When EnWorld got rights to your work just for entering, I was seriously opposed to entering, but I decided, Hey I can write a FAST kid's RPG. It looks like it's going to be 4 pages, so if I DON'T win, which I don't expect it to win really as it should be one of the most simple systems EVER. Introduction to Role-playing for really young kids, I will post the entire rules on the blog for everyone to see, actually I'll probably post it as a free game on DriveThru as well.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?336477-It-s-The-EN-World-7-Day-RPG-Contest!-1000-Prize!
Can you write an RPG in 7 days?
If so, here's a chance to win $1000! By next week!
I'm holding a competition this week. Entries must be posted by midnight my time next Sunday (the 5th of May; I'm in the UK, so that's BST). All you have to do is write a roleplaying game. Or dig one up you wrote twenty years ago. It can be short - I've seen 24 hour RPG contests before, and games under 20 pages. If it works, it doesn't need to have hundreds of pages.
Your game can be of any length. It can be any subject or genre. The only restriction is that it be an RPG.
I do, however, reserve the right to reject (and delete) an entry which I deem innappropriate - which basically means one which is racist, sexist, obscene, etc. (That doesn't mean that you can't have racism or sexism in a maturely handled implied setting - as long as you don't appear to be saying that's a good thing). The same goes for anything which infringes on someone else's intellectual property, or any other reason at my discretion.
You enter your game - preferably as a PDF, but you can use any file format you like; it's being voted on, so the more inaccesible your file format, the fewer votes you'll get - and the RPG community spends a week voting on them. The winner gets $1000, which I will send by Paypal immediately the week's up.
The catch? I (as in EN World) get to own and [try to] sell your game if you win (if I don't publish it, I'll simply return it to you). That's how I - hopefully - make my $1000 back. Please, please - if your work is precious to you, has sentimental value, is the product of years of development, is a mark of your genius and is worth much more, or is too good for a competition like this, don't enter it. Same goes if you have any reservations, compunctions, disagreements and general dislikes about this competition. It's utterly, utterly, utterly voluntary and it's supposed to be fun. But if you feel like writing an RPG over the next 7 days (or have one you've written that you'd like folks to see), this is a fun way to do that. Plus, hey, maybe $1000! I may well also approach some of those who didn't win with an eye to publishing their game, but no promises!
How To Enter
You enter by attaching a document as a reply to this thread. Be sure to describe it in the post - give folks a reason to download it and check it out! It can be whatever format you choose, and the production values can be as great or as little as you choose. If you want to attach an unformated .txt file, that's fine. If you want to enter a PDF with artwork and layout, that's fine too. We'll let the public decide! Production values, content, length - there's a whole slew of things the public might base their votes on.
NOTE: This thread can be viewed in two ways. If you're viewing it via EN World's article/news section, you won't be able to see the files attached by contestants. However, if you click though to the forum thread version of this article (or if you're already reading the forum thread version) you'll be able to see them just fine. Same goes for the attachment controls for your entry - click through to the forum thread version and you should see them.
I will delete any posts in this thread which aren't entries. I don't want to make the voters have to work for your entries. Feel free to introduce yourself or your entry in the post to which your entry is attached.
You might have to click "Go Advanced" to see the attachment controls in the thread.
Questions? Head to the Meta Forum and ask them there. Questions in this thread will be deleted, to keep it down to just entries. Like I said, we don't want to make the voters have to work.
Rules
By attaching your document to this thread, you agree to the following.
- By attaching your document to this thread, you are entering the contest.
- If you win the contest, you will receive $1000 by PayPal and ownership of your entry will transfer to me. I will acknowledge and credit you as the author of it if I publish it.
- If you do not win the contest, you retain ownership of your work, but I may approach you about publishing it (possibly in a compilation).
- The winner of the competition is the person with the most votes at the end of the following week. Voting will take place in a poll here on EN World from 6-12 May. Anyone found encouraging people to vote multiple times will be disqualified. You are, however, welcome - and encouraged - to campaign as much as you want and encourage people to vote as long as you don't encourage anyone to cheat. One person, one vote.
- The winner will be the person with the most votes. That person will receive $1000 immediately upon closure of the voting. This will happen by PayPal. Make sure you have a valid PayPal account; this is the only way payment will be made. Delays due to this are not my fault - I'll be ready with my finger on the send button
- You indemnify me against third party legal action! If I get sued because of something you did (you defamed someone, or you stole someone else's work, or what-have-you) you agree to indemnify against that. Basically, make sure you submit your own work - familiarise yourself with copyright and trademark laws, and don't defame anybody.
- You warrant that your submission is your own work.
- If you don't win, you agree not to publish your entry anywhere else for a period of three months (until August 1st, 2013).
FAQ
These aren't rules, they're just common questions I've gotten.
OGL? GSL? Yes, that's fine. You may use the Open Gaming License or the Game System License. Or, indeed, any other license. But please make sure you understand (and correctly use) any license you use in your submission. That said, those licenses are clear, easily available (hey I just linked to them for you!), and perfectly understandable. There should be no difficulty there.
Will you definitely publish it if I win? No, I won't *definitely* publish your entry. I have no idea what sort of entries I'm going to get, how many, or of what quality. So your entry might get published, or it might not. Heck, the winning (most popular) one might not be published - one of the other entries might be more suitable. Right now, all I'm doing is covering myself and ensuring I have the option. What I will say is that if I decide I definitely don't want to publish it, I won't just hang on to it for no good reason - I'll give it back. For now I'm just excited to see what entries I get and who wins the $1000!
What should I enter? This competition isn't really designed for your 350+ page manuscript that you've been working on for 10 years. That's not to say that you can't enter that, but a decade-long labour of love is going to be worth more to you than a chance to win $1000. What this is designed for is something you put together this week, in a few hours or so, as a bit of fun. It's like those 24-hour RPG contests you see from time to time, but a lot less frantic. It's supposed to be fun, and a little bit exciting.
Will you alter or expand my entry? I don't know! That totally depends on the entry. If you win, and if I think it needs some extra work before publishing, I will approach you first about paying you to do that work. If you can't or don't want to do that, then I'll look elsewhere. I expect at the very least it'll need to be illustrated and/or formatted.
Quick reminder - I keep moving posts and questions from this thread to the Meta forum. Please keep this thread clear of everything except entries so that folks can browse them easily! You are more than welcome to ask questions etc. in the Meta forum!
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