RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
| 9 people marked this as a favorite. |
Greetings!
In the fall of 2014, I organized a Pathfinder RPG monster design contest called Here Be Monsters. We got 40 submitted entries and selected 5 amazing finalists. The audience voted for their favorites, and Nick Wasko won the title and a huge pile of 3rd-party material donated by our sponsors.
Here Be Monsters is back! The second season begins on Thursday, and I'll be posting information about the contest on the A Sword for Hire blog. The first post is up:
If you're interested in monster design and would like to be published, stay tuned!
-Mikko Kallio, Here Be Monsters judge
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Looking forward to judging again, and slaying the unfit!
(P.S. Note our last winner went on to win RPG Superstar. I'm not saying past performance will predict future results, but you never know...)
I will be there!
Edit: P.S. What format should the submissions be in .pdf, .docx, .jpg, or something else?
Looking forward to seeing and participating in this one. :)
Excellent, I've been looking forward to this!
|
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
I will be there!
Edit: P.S. What format should the submissions be in .pdf, .docx, .jpg, or something else?
I recommend creating the monster in a word processor. The contest announcement I'll post on Thursday should contain all the necessary information about submitting your entry. I'll also post a monster template you can (and should) use.
That is quite the line-up of judges. Better bring the A-game. :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Is it ok to admit I'm a little intimidated.
|
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I also think we have a great line-up, but no reason to be intimidated, really. If anything, the contest is an opportunity to practice your monster creation skills, get feedback, and even get paid for getting your monster published.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Meet the judges!
[list]
Meet the Judges
Hey, that's me! :)
|
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Adam, we're happy to have you on board!
Russ, there aren't going to be any real restrictions on who can enter. Doesn't matter if you own a 3pp or just won RPG Superstar. Former Here Be Monsters finalists are also welcome to submit.
(Jacob, Mike W. Adam, and I are ineligible, but I guess that goes without saying. :-D )
Awesome, Mikko! Thanks for the update. I'm excited to see the theme be announced!
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Looking forward to seeing the theme get announced. :)
Yeaaaaah! I can't wait.
All right! I'm ready for hell to break loose!
Nice! :)
I am ready! Just got inspired...now I just need to channel my inner Nick Wasko! ;)
I've been developing several critter ideas, even though I can only submit one; so I ran into a few questions from the different creature ideas.
So... some question and important note for others about the template.
NOTE: Copy/pasting it makes the formatting just wrong.
QUESTIONS:
Downloading it, however, causes something I didn't expect: the "##" elements that I change are also bold, when I expected them to be normal text. Is this intentional? The "##"s themselves do not look bold (though they are), so I wanted to make sure that it was intentional.
Compare the d20pfsrd or PRD, and I could see it early on, but later it seems less like that.
Another question is about devils and links. The second (PRD) link uses italics and url-links for all the spells they have, except their summon ability - it is neither italicized nor linked. You only have italicized spells. IF the creatures in question have a summon ability, should it be italicized like you have it, or no?
There are also other formatting questions I have as a result: how would you handle noting things like bonus feats, or similar oddities?
Thanks!
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
|
| 8 people marked this as a favorite. |
As announced today on the "A Sword for Hire" blog, Legendary Games is proud to again sponsor this contest and provide prize support for the finalists and the winner!
Each of the Final Five gets their choice of any one of our Mythic Monsters products, while the winner gets a signed copy of our marvelous Mythic Monster Manual!
Hail to the victors! Enter the contest and GIVE 'EM HELL!
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
The ## elements should in general not be bold (note that CR and XP are bolded, as per Paizo style). Is it possible that you're picking up the style from the previous bolded element?
Summon is a universal monster ability, not a spell, which is why it's not italicized. Also, you don't need to link anything in your submissions.
As for bonus feats, those can be done with a superscript B after the feat (or, if that's not possibly for whatever reason, a B in parentheses after the feat should get the job done).
Thanks, Jason and Legendary! We appreciate it.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
And thank you, Mr. Michaels!
(And you, Mr. Nelson! Really generous!)
Is it allowed to use a monster already published on Wayfinder?
|
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Is it allowed to use a monster already published on Wayfinder?
Nope, we want to see new monsters, and it might be legally complicated for our publisher if a previously published monster made the Top 6.
Glad to see you're thinking about submitting again, Bardess. :)
Oooh, I was hoping another of these would roll around. I can't check out the site here at work, but I'll check it out when I get home. Maybe I'll have better luck this time around. :-)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'll be entering something for sure. I have one idea that's near complete, but I'll think on it a little before submitting in case a better idea(s) come to mind.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Setting neutral implies no reference to Golarion. But can we reference creatures who are on the PRD ? For example, this creature loves Bone Devils
What about referencing abilities that appear on monsters in the PRD ? For example, this ability works like the gaze of a Medusa
|
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Setting neutral implies no reference to Golarion. But can we reference creatures who are on the PRD ? For example, this creature loves Bone Devils
What about referencing abilities that appear on monsters in the PRD ? For example, this ability works like the gaze of a Medusa
Your monster may use feats, spells, and other resources available in Paizo's Pathfinder PRD. Your monster may not, however, have mythic ranks.
Typically monsters won't reference other monsters for abilities. They will either use Universal Monster Rules or define the special ability within the monsters stat block.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I do love a contest...
|
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Setting neutral implies no reference to Golarion. But can we reference creatures who are on the PRD ? For example, this creature loves Bone Devils
Yep, it means no reference to Golarion.. or Southlands, Krynn, Athas, or any implied setting. You may include a reference to bone devils ("Hell monkeys lurk around bone devils' calcified torture hives in Stygia.") because bone devils, their hives, and the names of the nine layers are mentioned in the prd. However, discussing how Asmodeus created the Hell monkeys in Helltown, Stygia would be unadvised. That would assume too much on the setting in which the monsters are intended to be used.
We're not creating monsters for a particular existing campaign setting nor are we creating a new campaign setting; we're only creating a bunch of new monsters that can be used reasonably well in any campaign setting.
I hope that answers your question!
What about referencing abilities that appear on monsters in the PRD ? For example, this ability works like the gaze of a Medusa
What Russ said: some monster special abilities are part of the universal monster rules; everything else should be described in your monster entry. That may be problematic if the description of the ability you want to re-use is very long. 600 words is not a lot, and since this is a contest, you probably don't want to waste a lot of words repeating something you didn't write yourself. I recommend giving your monster 2-4 entirely new abilities + a few abilities from the UMR, *if* it needs them.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I do love a contest...
*shakes fist*
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I do love a contest...*shakes fist*
*narrows eyes*
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
*narrows eyes*I do love a contest...*shakes fist*
See you in Hell, Hindley.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
See you in Hell, Hindley.*narrows eyes*I do love a contest...*shakes fist*
You'll have a heck* of a time winning this contest!
*warning-one or more of the participants in this feud may be Canadian.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I thought true Canadians finished with "Eh" or an apology?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I think I will toss my hat in the ring.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I thought true Canadians finished with "Eh" or an apology?
Sorry about that, eh. ;p
