I announced earlier that I'd be giving away a few extra copies of OD&D volumes and supplements I'd recently acquired as the prizes in contests I'd run through this blog. Today I'm announcing the first in a series of five contests, the prize for which is the attractive volume pictured to the left: Volume 2 of Dungeons & Dragons (1974), Monsters & Treasure.
The first Grognard's Challenge is a simple but fitting one: create, describe, and provide game stats for either a single new monster or a single new magic item in 100 words or less. Game stats should be for either OD&D or AD&D (or compatible retro-clones/simulacra).
Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity, brevity (shorter better), and old school feel, the last of which is an entirely subjective metric based solely on my own peculiar preferences, most of which regular readers of the blog should know by now. The whole point of this and subsequent contests is to foster an appreciation for old school traditions and philosophies, so bear that in mind. Think pulp fantasy and the early days of the hobby and you'll be on the right track. No one is barred from entering, including friends and colleagues. I will post the winning entry here and explain why I selected it over its competitors, meaning that even were my wife to submit an entry -- not that she will -- it still has to withstand my rather exacting standards. Winners receive a copy of isMonsters & Treasure (in nearly mint condition) and retain ownership of their creation, which they may then do with as they please (I recommend submitting it to Fight On! or another old school product).
The contest begins immediately and ends at midnight (EST) on August 2, 2008. Submissions may be sent to my email address indicated on the right hand side of this blog. Multiple entries are allowed and encouraged, but each one must be sent in a separate email. Although not strictly necessary, I'd appreciate it if you'd make the subject line of your submission something like "Grognard's Challenge #1" as that'll make it easier to keep the emails straight in my inbox.
Any questions about the contest can be asked either in the comments below or by sending me an email at the address to the right.
Good luck!
I assume the 100 word limit on monster covers only the descriptive text, not the monster name or any stats. That's a really short word limit as it is.
ReplyDeleteI append my first entry as an example of how short 100 words is - the descriptive text alone contains 92 words - let me know if I have to shorten this further...
S’Meerg Worm
Armor Class: 2[17]
Hit Dice: 7
Attacks: 1 bite (1d10) or tongue
Saving Throw: 9
Special: Tongue – see below
Move: 6
S’meerg worms are subterranean annelids ten feet in length, with four stone-cutting pincers around the mouth, a long tongue for catching prey, and a hard, segmented exoskeleton. S’meerg worms can attack with their deadly pincers, but may also lash out with its tongue, which is twice the creature’s body length. The tongue loops around as many as three man-sized creatures with successful to-hit rolls, and draws the trapped victims toward the worm’s mouth pincers. Anyone caught by the tongue automatically incurs half damage per round while being chewed by the mouth pincers.