Ever thought about trying to break into the gaming industry, but have no idea where to start? Now's your chance! Starting at the end of October, paizo.com will host RPG Superstar, the first adventure game industry design contest voted on by the fans, aimed at finding the newest talent in RPG design.
"With the end of the print editions of Dragon and Dungeon magazines, Paizo has lost a conduit to find new designers," says Lisa Stevens, Paizo's CEO. "We're launching a RPG design contest to give unknown talent a chance to get noticed!"
Starting on October 31, 2007, any eligible person will be able to submit an entry into the contest. For the open call, that entry will be a wondrous item using the 3.5 SRD. Each entry needs to be 200 words or less, and must include all of the proper mechanics and flavor. Judges will announce the top 32 entries on November 28; those contestants will advance to the first round of public voting, where they will be assigned a new design task and their entries will be posted on paizo.com for the public to read, critique, and vote on. The designers garnering the most votes will continue on to subsequent rounds, and the ultimate winner will earn a paid commission to write one of Paizo's upcoming GameMastery Modules!
Paizo has gathered together three judges to oversee the competition. Paizo's Publisher, Erik Mona, will share the spotlight with fan-favorite author and Kobold Quarterly publisher Wolfgang Baur, as well as Necromancer Games co-owner Clark Peterson. Each round, these judges will critique the entries before the public vote.
The fans themselves will decide which talented designers go on to the next round by casting a vote on paizo.com for their favorite contestant. Each round includes a six-day window for fans to discuss the entries and cast their votes. After the open call round ends, the next rounds will proceed as follows:
Top 32: Design a country
Top 16: Design a villain (complete with stat block)
Top 8: Design three thematically linked monsters
Top 6: Design an encounter
Top 4: Submit a full adventure proposal
The winner of the first RPG Superstar contest will be announced on February 20, 2008.
Complete rules and entry form are available at paizo.com/rpgsuperstar. Do you have what it takes to be the next RPG Superstar?
