I remember it staring sometime in mid-November. Am I remembering correctly?

Early December I think could be wrong though.

1st week of December, if I remember right.

Edit: looked up last year's 'we are now open get submitting' thread - 5 Dec.

We're just in the start of the planning process, but I'd look for it to begin in December(-ish) again.

Of course, there is nothing to stop you brainstorming your ideas for Wondrous Items if you want to be ahead of the game...

Just keep them to yourself, don't put them anywhere public at any stage (unless you are using your thoughts and items as practice blazing 9 months practice thread - but if you do that you can't then submit them to the competition).

I would only get them to a good draft stage at this time, that way when the rules are published, you will know if you need to make changes or not - just in case of new Paizo twists in the first round.

I can neither confirm not deny that I've been in touch with Paizo and volunteered to be a judge for this year's contest. :)

Come on Clark, we all know you enjoy crushing the dreams of gamers. ;)

I suspect that Clark, being Clark, whether an official judge or not, will still be cheering on the masses to enter.

Personally, I think it's a private mission of his to find out how many entries it takes in a month to break the Neil machine :D

Clark is not the one to look out for when it comes to crushing dreams.

Oh, I thought it would be funny to characterize all four judges as PF character classes...

Ryan is the bard of RPG Superstar judges. He wants to see an exciting performance and doesn't want things to be dull. He'd rather see someone swing for the fences and make something epic and exciting than have a solid item that's dull or even average.

Clark is the paladin. He wants to find the best in everyone's item, he's showing off that shiny aura of courage to get everyone enthusiastic about the competition, but quite ready to smite any item that disregards the holy purpose of the competition--including something submitted only as a joke or to waste the judges' time.

Neil is the wizard. He'll scrutinize every item and write a lengthy scroll about its pros and cons. Given time, he can prepare an appropriate response to any competitor's submission, question, or argument, and back it up with references to one of his many spellbooks.

Sean: I'm the inquisitor. It's my job to find and eliminate problems, and by doing so, I protect the nature of the contest. I preach a lot of advice on how not to make mistakes, and get grumpy when people insist on making those mistakes anyway. Like the wizard, I have a lot of knowledge and access to a lot of books... but inquisitors aren't as forgiving as wizards are when it comes to errors.

Yes, I'm a big gamer nerd. :p

I suspect that Clark, being Clark, whether an official judge or not, will still be cheering on the masses to enter.

Personally, I think it's a private mission of his to find out how many entries it takes in a month to break the Neil machine :D

The number of entries required to break the Neil machine is n+1, where n is the number of entries in the contest in question.

The number of entries required to break the Neil machine is n+1, where n is the number of entries in the contest in question.

Darn straight!

You got that right, mister!

Neil is unstoppable!

If you are impatient for RPG superstar to start, might I recommend you take a look at the Valhalla Calling contest? It is shorter than Superstar, and the winner gets a contract to design and publish an adventure.

Neil is unstoppable!

If you are impatient for RPG superstar to start, might I recommend you take a look at the Valhalla Calling contest? It is shorter than Superstar, and the winner gets a contract to design and publish an adventure.

Linkified. Looks interesting.

already on it :)

That's very exciting too Wolfgang!

A quick question though - if we entered and ended up winning, would winning preclude us from taking part in Superstar - I seem to recall some of the Superstar rules were along the lines of you cant have been a "front cover" (for want of the correct term) published writer in order to enter?

That's very exciting too Wolfgang!

A quick question though - if we entered and ended up winning, would winning preclude us from taking part in Superstar - I seem to recall some of the Superstar rules were along the lines of you cant have been a "front cover" (for want of the correct term) published writer in order to enter?

Nope!

Anyone with a cover credit on a hardcover RPG book is ineligible. Designers who have cover credits on print editions of Paizo's Pathfinder or GameMastery products are ineligible.

Phew, one of those couldn't find it for the trees moments - cheers for that.

I had asked a similar question last year, right after I had my first adventure published. I'm especially glad that writers for third parties like myself are included in the glory of RPG superstar.

Not that it would stop be from hanging out here with baited breath, but it's fun to particpate, too. ;)