Seventeen amateur game designers have advanced to Round 3 of Paizo Publishing's RPG Superstar, the largest open-call tabletop roleplaying design contest in history. Forgotten Realms creator and gaming legend Ed Greenwood joined celebrity judges Sean K Reynolds (Paizo), Wolfgang Baur (Kobold Quarterly), and Clark Peterson (Necromancer Games) to critique the villain concept submissions of the 32 Round 1 survivors, and a public vote resulted in 17 advancing submissions. The finalists are currently working on game statistics for their villain concepts, using the Beta Playtest edition of the forthcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, available as a free download on paizo.com. All finalist submissions, complete with judge and reader commentary, are likewise posted to the paizo.com messageboards.

"RPG Superstar is a great idea that is not only fun for the participants," said guest judge Ed Greenwood, "it benefits everyone in the industry: gamers who can glean ideas from the creative submissions for every round, participants who can fine-tune their design skills to become game designers, and game companies who can use those new designers. I am honored to take part in this, and I found it a lot of fun, too; I got to read a lot of great ideas!"

The Top 17 finalists for RPG Superstar 2009 and their winning entries are:

Eric Bailey (Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA): Varrush, Master of the Palace of Abundance; Lens of the Runethief

Matt Banach (Champaign, Illinois, USA): Rustin Harp, Ringleader of the Lost Carnival; Master's Perfect Golden Bell

Joao Beraldo (Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil): Boemundo, Unliving Oblivion; Heart of Oblivion

Joshua Blazej (Simi Valley, California, USA): Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage; Hurricane Gloves

Kevin Carter (Aliso Viejo, California, USA): Malgana the Twistwood Witch; Spider Hook

Randy Dorman (Pittsfield, Maine, USA): Hecataeus, Master of Constructs; Helm of the Golem Master

James F.D. Graham (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada): Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary; Mongoose Claw

Trevor Gulliver (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada): Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler; Horn of the Dark Hunt

Carl Klutzke (Carmel, Indiana, USA): Sharina Legendsinger; Boundary Chalk

Jacob Manley (New Hampton, New Hampshire, USA): Volner Tain, the Thrice-Damned Disciple; Dust of Weighty Burdens

Eric Morton (Normandy Park, Washington, USA): Aelfric Dream-Slayer; Veil of the Midnight Vigil

Vladislav Rashkovski (Bulgaria): Kardam, the Burning Khan; The Scarlet Legionary Banner

Philip Snyder (Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, USA): Ssyth'ek, He Who Devours Demons; Temporal Bracers

Neil Spicer (Waxhaw, North Carolina, USA): Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug; Last Leaves of the Autumn Dryad

Matthew Stinson (Jacksonville, Florida, USA): Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan; School of Eyes

Doyle Tavener (Richmond, Texas, USA): Kar-en-haris, Grand Master of Spies; Desna's Triptych of Threefold Wisdom

Mark Thomas (Brooklyn, New York, USA): Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon; Hammer's Bane Torc

The Top 17 will now be required to design Pathfinder Roleplaying Game statistics for their villain and submit their revised, complete villain entry concept by 2:00 PM Pacific time on Friday, February 6. These Round 3 submissions will be commented on by our three regular judges plus our guest judge, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game author and Paizo Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn. On February 10, the entries will be revealed to the general public, who will then get to discuss the entries and vote for their favorites. Voting ends on February 16, and the Top 8 (by votes) will move on to Round 4.

The ultimate winner of RPG Superstar, to be announced March 24, 2009, will write a Pathfinder Module to be published in early 2010. Clash of the Kingslayers, the module written by last year's RPG Superstar champion, Leandra Christine Schneider, has just been released for sale.

For a complete schedule for RPG Superstar 2009, plus rules and FAQs, visit paizo.com/rpgsuperstar.

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