Mike M Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 (edited) Each year Chaosium is attending more and more conventions and Call of Cthulhu convention games have never been more popular. To help meet the demand for good Call of Cthulhu games we are launching the Cult of Chaos Convention Scenario Competition 2017. We are looking for engaging and dramatic convention scenarios dreamt up by the mind of the Cult of Chaos. This is your opportunity to share your experience and writing skills, and get your scenario played around the world as official Chaosium convention games.What are we looking for? We are seeking pitches for writing a full Call of Cthulhu 7th edition convention scenario with a running time of 3.5 to 4 hours maximum, playable by up to 6 players. Ideally, scenarios should be set in the 1920s, 1930s, or modern day, but we are happy to see other time periods too. Pre-generated investigators should also be included with the scenario. Length wise, each scenario should plan on approximately 8,000-12,000 words maximum.The deadline for submitting pitches is February 3rd, 2017.What do the selected pitches get? First, after submitting the full scenario you get the credit for writing an official Chaosium convention scenario. Second, your scenario would be eligible to be part of a professionally published Call of Cthulhu book or PDF, if selected the author will be offered a standard publishing contract.Third, each pitch that becomes a fully written scenario submitted to Chaosium will receive a $40 voucher for the Chaosium webstore.The deadline for submitting full scenarios is April 28th, 2017.What do you need to do? Write a short (no more than 300 words) pitch and post it to the Cult of Chaos forum at BRP Central. The pitch should outline the scenario, describe the nature of the mystery and/or threat, and how the investigators become involved (whether it starts in media res or more traditionally). Do not consider the pitch to be a spoiler-free zone. In judging these scenarios, we need to know what actually occurs during the scenario from the GMs perspective.What happens next? Chaosium will review the pitches and then draw up a short list of the pitches we’d like to see developed into full convention scenarios. Chaosium will contact shortlisted authors to invite them to write up their pitches. Once written and submitted to Chaosium, we will review the final scenarios and pick which ones will become official Chaosium convention scenarios for future events. Non-winning shortlisted scenarios will made available via the Chaos Library to Cult of Chaos members for general use. Terms and Conditions 1. The Convention Scenario Competition 2017 is only open to members of Chaosium’s Cult of Chaos. (Not a member? Sign up here: http://www.chaosium.com/join-the-cult-of-chaos/) 2. Only unpublished scenarios will be considered. If you have run it as an adventure, that is acceptable (in fact, testing is fully approved), but print or digital distribution of the scenario prior to the judging will remove the scenario from consideration. 3. Scenarios containing what Chaosium deems to be offensive content will be disqualified. Please review the Cult of Chaos code of conduct for better understanding of what might not be acceptable. 4. Authors retain all copyrights to the scenario, pre-gen characters, hand-outs, etc., but grant an unlimited and perpetual license to Chaosium to use these materials, including electronic distribution (PDF) on BRP Central and distribution directly to GMs running the events at conventions, as well as whatever local printing is needed to have these materials available to players and GMs at these events. 5. Author warrants that they are the owner or creator of all submitted materials and that the scenarios do not contain copyright infringing material. All photos, graphics, text and other content must be the original creation of the author or in the public domain. 6. Chaosium reserves the right to publish winning shortlisted scenarios in future publications. Such publication will fall under a newly negotiated work-for-hire contract. 7. Winning scenarios will be released for convention play at the discretion of Chaosium. Edited May 12, 2017 by Mike M 3 Link to comment
morganhua Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Can you create a folder for submissions? Name it something like "2017 Scenario Competition"? Link to comment
Faerla Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I've got a pitch ready, just not sure where exactly to put it. Link to comment
Carrthulhu Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 So exciting! Is there a limit for idea submissions? Looking forward to your response. Link to comment
Mike M Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 (edited) We're creating a Sub Folder in the Cult of Chaos forum called Scenario Competition 2017 - put your pitches in there. In terms of the of the number of pitches per person, there is no real limit but I do recommend that you endeavour to pour your best idea into one pitch. Someone who is just throwing loads and loads of pitches up may not be taken seriously ; ) I also strongly recommend ensuring your pitch does not exceed the word limit and addresses the points requested in the competition outline. Thanks! Edited January 7, 2017 by Mike M 2 Link to comment
trevlix Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Do pregens count toward the word limit? Link to comment
Mike M Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Pre-gen PC backgrounds etc. not appearing on an investigator sheet do count to the word limit (i.e. where you have extra text on a separate sheet to the actual PC sheet). 1 Link to comment
Anaesthesia Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Is the sub-folder live? I can't find it (though I have a bad Spot hidden check) Link to comment
Mike M Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 not yet - bear with us 1 Link to comment
enn.in.me Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Mike, Like the others, I am wondering about the mechanics of the submittal process. PDF or paste in a message? Will they be secret or public? Does the 300 word limit exclude headings, etc.? Also, I have a pitch that includes a diverse cast with conflicting hooks. I don't seem to have the skill to describe the background, the expected adventure arc, and the investigators' motivations in 300 words. I'm at 300 without the PCs, 450 with them. Any advice? Thanks! Edwin Link to comment
Mike M Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Hi Write or copy the pitch to into the forum message please. I'm just waiting on a sub forum to be created for this - this will be in the Cult of Chaos forum, so only members of the Cult of Chaos and Chaosium can read them. All words (headers etc) form part of the pitch, so 300 words is the limit. We want you to be concise and to the point, we don't need elaborate and in depth histories, just a plain and straightforward explanation of the scenario idea (its hook, what happens (the key things), who is the main "villain" of the piece, and an idea about the pre-gens (not each one but a general "they are MU students" or "family members" and so on). You are not writing the scenario in the pitch - just providing the outline/synopsis. 1 Link to comment
Mike M Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Hi All A sub forum is now live for posting your pitches for the scenario competition. It is password protected - with the same password you use to access this (the Cult of Chaos) forum. You can start posting pitches when ready! 1 Link to comment
Jamie Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Very excited about this! A quick question. If you're working with another writer, then is it in line within the competition rules to submit a pitch with the understanding that it comes from both of you? My apologies if that was a confusing question. Link to comment
Mike M Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 5 hours ago, Jamie said: Very excited about this! A quick question. If you're working with another writer, then is it in line within the competition rules to submit a pitch with the understanding that it comes from both of you? My apologies if that was a confusing question. Yes that's fine - obviously, please state the names of the two authors so we know who has written it. Link to comment
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