TheTHE 200 Wordword RPG ContestCONTEST 2018 Edition OMNIBUS volumeVolume The 200 Word RPG Challenge 2018 Edition Omnibus volumeVolume 1 Credits Organisers David Schirduan, Marshall Miller Please address all questions, comments, or concerns to: [email protected] Layout Jay Iles Sponsors Unwinnable Magazine https://unwinnable.com/ One Shot Podcast http://oneshotpodcast.com/ Sentinel Hill Press https://sentinelhillpress.com/ Matthew Gravelyn http://matthewgravelyn.com/ Serpent Cyborg Games https://kira-magrann-xf7x.squarespace.com/ Sigil Stone Publishing http://www.bendutter.com/sigil-stone-publishing/ Black & Green Games http://www.blackgreengames.com/ Pelgrane Press http://site.pelgranepress.com/ Porcupine Publishing http://porcupinegames.com/ Sean Smith https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/12141 Freelancing Roleplayers' Press https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/12207 Mammut RPG https://mammutrpg.eu/ Special Thanks to: Kate and Whitney for their timely advice. The Diana Jones award committee for their nomination. Foreword The 200 Word RPG Challenge began as an accident. I posted a little game that I had written in under 200 words, and blasted it out, not thinking much of it. The next morning I had over 150 submissions and tons of people asking about contest details, what were the prizes, who was judging, etc. Something about the tight constraint has captured people's attention ever since. Maybe it's because you can make a 200 word game in a lazy afternoon. Maybe it's because you can read a dozen entries during your coffee break. Or maybe it's just an interesting challenge to see how much game you can fit inside such a brutally small design space. Whatever the reason, I'm glad that the Challenge has encouraged and inspired so many people to create a complete roleplaying game from start to finish, many for the first time!. This wouldn't be possible without the incredible creativity of the participants, the hard work of the Readers and Judges, the generosity of those who offered Prizes, and the support of the RPG community as a whole. Thank you all. Now let's enjoy some awesome games! ~David Schirduan & Marshall Miller 2 Omnibus Judges Jessica Hammer is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, jointly appointed between the HCI Institute and the Entertainment Technology Center. She combines game design with qualitative and quantitative research techniques to understand how games impact human behavior. She is also an award-winning game designer. Maxwell Neely-Cohen is a writer based in New York City. He is the author of the novel Echo of the Boom. His shorter work has been featured in places like The New Republic, Buzzfeed, and The New Inquiry. Kelsey D. Atherton is a New Mexico-based defense technology journalist. When not writing about the robots of tomorrow’s wars, he spends his time reading rulebooks for the grimdark wars of the far past and distant future. Bronwyn Friesen is an excited and passionate social work student from Hamilton, Ontario, who loves designing small games. Though Bronwyn designs games, they feel it’s important to reject the term “game designer” because they believe that not only can anyone do this wonderful thing, but that term also fails to recognize the myriad other ways of contributing to our cultures of games and play. Outside of games, they’re a loving parent of two, and learning better how to do that every day. Jim McClure is a business consultant by day and honorable samurai of Rokugan by night. A total obsession with the ideas and execution of storytelling drives his passion in the RPG world. Jim believes that tabletop RPGs are the highest from of art known to mankind and he desires to spread this message to the world. When not at a game table he is often found reading, writing stories, designing games, or practicing martial arts. Francesco Rugerfred Sedda is an Italian freelance game designer living in Denmark with a mixed background that cover computer technology, media arts, and game studies. He loves wearing hawaiian shirts and plays more than 365 games per year. In his spare time he helps new game designers with their projects in order to see a future full of awesome games. Readers Aaron DaMommio, Adam Araujo, Adam Blinkinsop, Adam Underwood, AJ Brown, Alex McConnaughey, Andrew J. Young, Andrew Millar, Anna K. Meade, Anne Holmes, Avonelle Wing, Benjamin Paulson, Benjamin Wassermann, Brett Best, Cameron Mankin, Dan Noland, Dana Cameron, Danielle Lauzon, David Shugars, Elizabeth Stong, Eva Schiffer, Jacob Spafford, Jacoby Steffey, Jacqueline Bryk, Jason Tocci, Jenna Carpenter, John Large, Jonas Tintenseher, Kacper Woźniak, Kat Schonheyder, Ken Wright, Kyle Neese, Mackenzie Hayes, Matthew C Austin, Matthew Leong, Matthew Orr, Matthew Stanford, Meg McGinley, Meguey Baker, Michael Thomas, Mike Quintanilla, Morgan Goodrich, Myles Hebert, Naomi Bosch, Paige Lowe, Peter Underwood, Phoebe Wild, Rach Shelkey, Ray Visser, River Williamson, Samir Alam, Sarah Judd, Selene, Stephanie Pegg, Tommy Fix, William Hobson, Younès Rabii 3 What is the 200 Word RPG Challenge? This small tabletop game design challenge exists for two primary reasons: 1) Encourage participants to make a complete Role-Playing Game. It’s hard to work on a game, and much harder to finish one. This is an opportunity for participants to brainstorm, write, edit, playtest, and polish a game idea from start to finish. 2) To provide a collection of ideas that the community may build upon. These entries are released under the Creative Commons license to promote collaboration and innovation. It is our hope that new designers and old pros alike will use these interesting ideas and work together to expand them into something greater. Why 200 Words? A 200 word limit encourages creativity and demands the very best of your editing and writing abilities. While making a game in 200 words can be difficult, it’s less of a daunting commitment than editing and proofing 285 pages of rules, complete with art and layout. Conceiving, designing, and publishing a 200 word game is a great first step toward completing larger game design projects. Plaintext? Visual presentation can be a large and scary problem. Very few people are masters of writing, editing, art direction, graphic design, layout, and marketing. It usually takes a village to make a game. We want participants to focus solely on the challenge of creative writing and brutal editing. Connect with other Creators Making and sharing a game is a great way to showcase your ideas and connect with new and more experienced game designers. Do you see a game that inspires you? The 200 Word RPG Challenge is a forge for new collaborations! Join the subreddit for discussion, collaboration, and feedback. How to cite this book: Schirduan, D. & Miller, M. (Eds.). (2018). Game submissions to the 2018 200-Word RPG Challenge [Electronic Document]. Retrieved from: https://200wordrpg.github.io/ How to cite a game from this book, e.g. #WinterIntoSpring: Coli, E. E. (2018). #winterintospring [Game]. In Schirduan, D. & Miller, M. (Eds.). Game submissions to the 2018 200-Word RPG Challenge (pp. 23-24) [Electronic Document]. Retrieved from: https://200wordrpg.github.io/ 4 Omnibus Licensing All entries submitted to this challenge are protected under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. See the end of this document for the license in full. Why? The 200 Word Challenge exists to promote encouragement and collaberation. It is NOT a place to find the “best” games in the world. When you submit to the challenge you do so with the understanding that others may re-use your work however they choose, even for monetary gain. Don’t submit anything you wouldn’t want others to use or build upon. However, there are some huge benefits to submitting your entry under Creative Commons: The work must be attributed and it must provide a link back to the copyright holder. Not only does this ensure you get credit, but it also lets anyone know who purchases the work that you formed the basis of it. Name power and word of mouth go a long way in this industry. For example, Dungeon World was written by Adam and Sage, but it was jumpstarted by another project from Tony which was in turn heavily inspired by Vincent’s game. Adam and Sage gave Vincent and Tony credit for their inspirations, but they are not required to share any money or fees for Dungeon World. However the success of Dungeon World helped spread news of Vincent’s and Tony’s other games far and wide. With collaboration success for one creator helps out other associated creators. 200 Word RPGs are ideas, not products The chance that your 200 Word Entry is worth thousands of dollars is quite slim. But the chance that someone will see your idea and want to work with or hire you is greatly increased under Creative Commons. Especially for something as small as a 200 Word Entry, the CC License is a great way to get your name out there and meet like-minded designers. You can build upon cool ideas Creators can reach out to one another and build something new, even if they didn’t win. Always contact the original creator to get their permission before you use their work. It keeps things clean and opens up the possibility of collaberation. No Pressure If you have a darling idea that will pay the rent and feed your family, do not give up on that opportunity! Seriously, go make it big! I wish you all the luck. But if you are looking to throw a new idea out into the world and see what happens, the 200 Word RPG Challenge is a great place to start. 5 Winners and Judge Comments #WinterIntoSpring by E.