Hello, gamers, and welcome again to RPG Superstar 2014! I'm Sean K Reynolds, host of this year's RPG Superstar competition, designer at Paizo, and a judge for the previous four RPG Superstar competitions.
Tomorrow, January 1, 2014, at 2 PM Pacific time, is the deadline for your Wondrous Item submission for Round 1! If you haven't submitted your item yet, remember to set aside a little bit of time between now and the deadline. If this deadline has caught you by surprise and you're not prepared, do not let that stop you from entering this competition. Submit an item. Jot something down, fiddle with it for a few minutes, and submit it. We've had people make it into the Top 32 who have never played the Pathfinder RPG—whether you're a GM or a player, you should give it a shot. You can't win the competition if you don't submit a wondrous item (and you can't advance to the later rounds if you don't submit a wondrous item for Round 1).
Here's some last-minute advice for people who haven't submitted an item yet:
- 1) Use the magic item format provided in the Round 1 Rules.
Double-check the rules here. Not only does this make your submission look better, but it helps make sure you don't accidentally leave out an important part of the item stat block, like the Price or Slot. - 2) Preview your item on the site before you hit "Submit."
When you use the submission tool on the main RPG Superstar page, remember that it works just like a message board post—you can and should hit "Preview" to see how your item looks. It should look similar to a magic item entry in the Core Rulebook. Maybe you accidentally turned everything bold or italic, or have an extra return in the middle of a sentence. Now is the time to fix these problems. And, before you hit "Submit"... - 3) Check your word count.
When you preview your item, scroll all the way up and look above your username and avatar picture—right there should be your item's name, a dash, and how many words are in your magic item. There is a hard limit of 300 words for your wondrous item—if you're over 300 words, you're automatically disqualified. If your item is over 300 words, trim some words out of its description (don't trim words like Aura, Slot, or Price... those are required). If you're at 290 or so, double-check to make sure you haven't left out any spaces between words (especially between the item's Price or Cost and the abbreviation "gp" ... there has to be a space there). Make sure your item's name is also in the body of the post, not just the subject—that counts toward your word count. Once you've made your adjustments, hit Preview again to look at it one more time. - 4) Save a copy of your final item.
Select it, copy it, paste it into a text file or word processor, and save it for later. You'll want a record of it, just in case you don't make it into the Top 32 and want feedback on your item (technically we can look up items later, but it's a lot easier if you have a copy). - 5) Click "Submit."
You're done, no going back! Congratulations, you've made the plunge.
Good luck!
Sean K Reynolds
Host, Designer, Former RPG Superstar Judge