1st Transatlantic Setting Design Challenge starting NOW

[Frank T]

Dear aspiring (or accomplished) designers of role-playing games! We have seen thousandfold how clever rules design can change the game being played. But what about setting, I ask? Now is the time to prove how clever setting design can change the game being played! Therefore, I issue the Challenge to you:

Design a setting for an already existing game system. To be certain: By setting I mean the elements of the shared imagined space that you, the author, define for the players. You may leave some stuff open, switches, dials and blanks, but you must pre-set a solid amount of content.

If the game system you want to use is not under some open license, please make sure you have the publisher’s permission to use it.

Your setting qualifies for this contest if it
- references the games system it was designed for,
- is presented in a .pdf or .doc file with no more than 10,000 words of text and
- is available for download by the end of December.

I will ask 1km1kt if they can host us.

Note: You may work together on an entry, but no one may work on more than one entry.

Everybody who submits a setting will also be involved in the judging. After the entry period is over, I will randomly and publicly distribute four settings to each participant. If you have co-authors, you can either submit a mutual judgement, or name one of yours to judge them all. You may participate in discussion about the entries before passing the judgement. In fact, this is encouraged.

Each judge has to award to each setting a score between 1 and 10. To award these points, the judges shall especially pay respect to the following aspects:
- How well is the game system integrated? How well does it seem to fit?
- How will the game presumably work in play, especially with regard to how the setting facilitates a certain kind of play?
- How complete, accessible and well presented is the material?
- How interesting, original, stylish and “juicy” is the setting?

The judgement has to be passed by January 15th. The scores are collected and made public when they are complete. As all votes will be public in the end, I see no problem with me collecting them even if I participate myself.

The four entries with the highest added scores then will forego the same procedure once again, this time with all participants judging them until December 31st. Thus, the winner will be determined. Please do not submit a setting if you cannot fulfill your judging duty.

But enough of words. Who doth accept the Challenge?

- Frank

P.S.: I will also post this to Story Games.

[ElliottBelser MKII]

I, being of sound body and unsound mind, accept this challenge, as I wanted to make a setting for Sorcerer and Sword anyway!

[StefanS]

Count me in. I'll submit a Swashbuckling setting for Wushu, and I even got a co-author - Sven Flottmann. (For those of you who are familiar with the Grofafo, he may be better known as 8t88. This guy is really a crack regarding Wushu, and he did a major part of the translation job to German.)

- Stefan

[Caesar_X]

Hi Frank,

This sounds like a really fun challenge and thanks for putting it together.  I did have one question about the judging:

How well is the game system integrated? How well does it seem to fit?

This assumes that the entrants have played all of the systems referenced or are at least very familiar with them.  What happens when you get four entries to judge and are only comfortable with 1 or 2 of them?  How can you give the others an accurate score?

Thanks,
Chris B.
Caesar_X@yahoo.com

[Jonathan Walton]

I'm in and my weapon of choice is TSOY.  Not sure what the setting will be about, but I don't really plan to start before December anyway.  My one thought is maybe Keys are keys in the setting too.  Maybe they're actually things you accomplish in order to open doorways of some variety.  And maybe Secrets are, y'know, deep dark secrets.  Yay for literalism!  But maybe I'm just saying that to throw everyone else off...

[MikeRM]

Two questions, Frank.

1. I assume that living in the Pacific doesn't disqualify me?

2. I already have, fully drafted but not playtested, an entire game based on Clinton Nixon's Solar System but with a medieval setting. Can I enter it? Or is that not the spirit of the contest?

[Frank T]

Ha! I knew I forgot something.

Your entry must be written for the Challenge. You may not just dig up something you wrote years ago.

Chris, if you get to judge something and are not familiar with the game system, I guess you’ll have to just judge by what it looks like, and maybe give that point a little less emphasis.

- Frank

[Malcolm Craig]

hi Frank,

Could I just ask for a bit more info on dates and deadlines? I see Dec 31st and Jan 15th mentioned above, just wondering of there is a set submission date for the entries and so forth?

Cheers
Malcolm

[Frank T]

31st December: Deadline for entries
15th January: Deadline for first scoring round
31st January: Deadline for second scoring round

- Frank

[Malcolm Craig]

Excellent, thanks Frank.

I assume that within the context of your setting, it's OK to make some of the system terms have slightly different definitions. As an example, I'm planning on using Contenders, but some of the stats will have slightly different meanings within the context of the setting, but the system will basically operate in the same mechanical way.

Cheers
Malcolm

[Sven Flottmann]

Hello!

Sorry to interrupt,
I will not work together with StefanS.
He is a cool Guy and i really liked the idea to work together with him.
But: I am already drowned in Swahsbuckling-things (my Girlfriend is teh GM in our 7th Sea Round).
and: Stefan's Ideas and mine of the Settings are way too different (we chattet about it yesterday, and I reckognized that it just wouldn'T do the fun for both of us.
Because I have different Ideas to take on this challenge than him.)
Thou I hope to work with him some other Project.

I want to join the Challange.

The System I choose is Wushu. (suprisesuprise)

I want to do some Bad-Ass-Heoric-Grimm-and-Gritty-Epic-Fantasy-Thingy-Setting ;-)

See you around. May the Ideas flow to You like the Blood of the God's in my Setting.

Sorry4 my bad writing... I'll do better in the Contest.




One Question Frank:
If everyone who takes the challenge has a Googlemail account (I have some invitations left).
Then we can do this:
use docs.google.com and invite other Challengers as Viewers to our own Documents.

If you work in a Group everyone can edit the thing at anytime in Realtime.
Have a Googletalkchat at hand, you can Discuss your Produkt right while you type it.
Just an Idea.

See you around!
Sven.

[btrc]

I'll jump in here and remind folks that EABA has an Open Supplement License, so you're golden if you want to use it. Also, if you don't have it, I just released a free "test drive" version with basic character creation, combat and paranormal power rules. See:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=296821

for details.

Greg Porter
BTRC

[Frank T]

Malcolm: Yes, tweaks to the game system are of course cosher.

Sven: Uh, I guess each team can arrange anything that seems suitable for their cooperation.

- Frank

[tadk]

Wow Greg I love how EABA looks
So I could use the EABA Lite and then add on supplments for use in this challange

Would you allow the taking of the ruleset and putting it into a How to Play the Game chapter essentially
Or would you prefer a Please see the EABA Lite PDF Available HERE sort of deal

But I just skimmed it and it looks lovely
I might just finally do my Tinkerwitch setting for this challenge instead of somethign brand new...

Thanks either way
Tad

[Hans]

I will spearhead a team submission for the Riddle of Steel.