RPG Superstar 2009 has a winner!

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Paizo challenged amateur game designers from around the world to show off their skills in RPG Superstar 2009, the second season of Paizo's search for great undiscovered game designers. Regular judges Wolfgang Baur of Kobold Quarterly, Clark Peterson of Necromancer Games, and Paizo's own Sean K Reynolds narrowed the field to 32 would-be RPG Superstars, and guest judges including Ed Greenwood, Jason Bulmahn, Monte Cook, and James Jacobs, plus last year's Top 4 contestants Clinton J. Boomer, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, and original RPG Superstar Leandra Christine Schneider provided their advice as the contestants answered each new challenge.

In the final round, we asked this year's Top 4 to propose a 32-page Pathfinder Module for use with Paizo's upcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Contestants Eric Bailey (Wakefield, Massachusetts), Kevin Carter (Aliso Viejo, California), Matthew Stinson (Jacksonville, Florida), and Neil Spicer (Waxhaw, North Carolina) responded with four excellent submissions, but there can be only one RPG Superstar 2009, and so after the judges offered comments, the general public selected one winning proposal to be published by Paizo in early 2010.

Congratulations to Neil Spicer for his victorious proposal, "Realm of the Fellnight Queen." Here's a brief description of the adventure from Neil Spicer's winning RPG Superstar 2009 submission:

The hardy gnome race crossed into Golarion from the primal First World during the Age of Anguish, leaving behind all they once knew. But when a shunned gnome bleachling travels a forgotten path to the realm of his ancestors, he unwittingly releases the sinister Fellnight fey imprisoned there millennia ago. Their dark queen, Rhoswen, now turns her gaze upon the forest town of Bellis, weaving a cloying mist among the trees and trapping all behind a veil of shadow. Can the player characters brave the mist and stop the queen before she permanently makes them part of her domain?

Realm of the Fellnight Queen is a wilderness adventure for four 7th-level characters. By the end of the module, characters should reach 9th level. This adventure includes details on the town of Bellis, the surrounding Verduran Forest, and a pocket dimension of the shadowy First World starting to fuse with Golarion. The PCs must track down the cause of the ethereal mist binding Bellis to the fey realm, rally the good creatures of the forest to defeat the queen’s army, and ultimately storm her palace to reactivate an ancient artifact capable of saving the town and once more imprisoning the Fellnight fey.

As RPG Superstar 2009's Grand Prize, Paizo will contract Neil Spicer to write "Realm of the Fellnight Queen," which we will release as a Pathfinder Module in January, 2010.

But you don't have to wait until January to reserve your copy! Head over to the new "Realm of the Fellnight Queen" product page here on paizo.com to preorder your copy of Neil Spicer's winning adventure! If you're already a Pathfinder Modules subscriber, "Realm of the Fellnight Queen" will arrive as part of your subscription.

On behalf of our judges as well as the whole Paizo Publishing family, congratulations to Eric Bailey, Kevin Carter, Matthew Stinson, and Neil Spicer. Though only one earned the title RPG Superstar 2009, you'll likely be hearing from all of them, and from other RPG Superstar 2009 contestants, in the months and years to come.

And we'd like to offer one final thanks to you, the readers of paizo.com, and to anyone who submitted an entry or voted during RPG Superstar 2009.

And for those of you who didn't, RPG Superstar 2010 is less than a year away!

This season will also feature guest judges chosen for their insight on specific themes for each round. For the Open Call round, last year's RPG Superstar Final 4 provide their advice to this year's top 32 contestants. In the second round, New York Times best selling author Ed Greenwood lends his expertise on villain creation. In round three, Pathfinder RPG designer Jason Bulmahn helps critique the villain stat blocks and new rules. Round four features star designer Monte Cook providing insight on the Top 8's villain lairs. Finally, Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief James Jacobs provides his feedback on the Top 4 adventure proposals.