2010 Contest 2: Design a Magic Item

[Bob Whitely]

Note: As I announced yesterday, the Design a Guild contest is over. We'll come back to it later this year, so if you started yours and didn't finish in time, hold onto it, spruce it up, whatever you want to do with it, and then get ready to submit it when we hold the contest again.

DESIGN A MAGIC ITEM

PRIZES
[b]1st Place prize: $15 Gift Card [/b](I am open to awarding Amazon, Paypal or another suggestion) and recognition title in the Member area. Note: If we get 15 or more entries, the 1st place prize will be increased to $20 instead.

Plus ... if the 1st place winner is also a player in one of the Cosmothea PbP or tabletop games, they will also receive an in-game award for the character of their choice: 1 level- appropriate magic item of their choice. (Special thanks to Gicker for the fun secondary prize suggestion!)

2nd Place prize (Subject to the submission of a minimum of 6 entries. There will be no 2nd prize if less than 6 entries) $5 Amazon Gift Card and recognition title in the Member area. If we get 15 or more contestants, the 2nd Place prize will be doubled to $10 gift card.

ENTER THE CONTEST, WIN A PRIZE AUTOMATICALLY!
This special perk is only for Cosmothea PbP and tabletop gamers only - for reasons that should be obvious by the end of this paragraph. If you are a player in one of the Cosmothea PbP or tabletop games, you will get a free potion if you enter the contest (1 per person, not per entry). If you win and don't have a character, but would like to join a Cosmothea PbP, we'll allow your first character to start with this potion instead. You may pick any 1 potion up to 100 gp value for one of your characters free!

Update: As an incentive to get the ball rolling, the first 3 entries will gain an Early Entry Bonus of 1 - 50 gp potion of their choice or 50 gp spending money.

Contest Starts: Monday, Feb. 1
Contest Ends: Friday, Feb 26, at Midnight PST


Voting:
Entries will be voted on by Community Poll, which requires an account at the QT Games Forums. The Poll will not be put up until all entries have been received (so voting starts on Feb. 26th and will run for 1 week.

Discussion Thread: You can find it HERE.
Submission thread: You can find it HERE.

NOTICE: For a submission to be a valid entry, the Magic Item Entry Form must be completely filled out (You'll find that in the Submissions thread by Feb 1st. 9am). All entries must be complete, and posted in the correct Submission thread in the Events section by the deadline in order to be considered for a prize.

QT Games reserves the right to alter the contest rules, make clarifications, sweeten the pot, extend or postpone the contest, if there are not at least 3 entries, etc., but updates will be clearly labeled. All entries become the property of QT Games, but if published, credit will be given where appropriate. No compensation, beyond what was stated above, under Prizes, will be given.

SEE FAQ Below for important details ...

[Bob Whitely]

Frequently Asked Questions:
Does my Entry have to be setting specific or system specific?
No. You can win the contest regardless of what setting or system you design the magic item for, if any, however your chances of the item getting published by QT Games increases if the item was designed for either the Cosmothea Campaign Setting or Cosmothea rules system, or both. Entries that don't use the Cosmothea rules may be revised for publication, at the sole discretion of QT Games or if it is to be given as an award to a character in the Cosmothea PbP or tabletop game). See Magic Item Entry Form for specific design parameters. The GM may opt to subsitute the winning magic item for another, if it is deemed the entry is not level appropriate or for any other reason, or to make adjustments to fit the campaign.

How many times can I enter?
You may submit up to 3 entries, but if you win a prize, you cannot win a second prize in the same contest. Basically, entering twice might improve your odds of winning 1st or second place, but not both. Instead of submitting twice, you could always spend the entire time on the one submission to spruce it up - your choice.

Should I include Artwork?
Artwork may be included with your entry, however this is a written design contest, and therefore the community is urged to vote not based on the quality of the artwork, but the quality of the design. That said, in the case of a tie breaker, which will be handled in a second poll, if needed, artwork may then be considered, if it was included by the deadline. Artwork may also be considered along with your entry for later publication. Please note that all artwork submitted becomes property of QT Games, and no compensation will be provided if it is used, but credit will be given in the publication where it appears. QT Games reserves the right to not publish artwork provided with a submission, even if it publishes a submission.

Can I ALTER an entry once I Submit it?
Only if Admin agrees that your entry is disqualified if you don't alter it, due to missing key components listed in the Magic Item Entry Form, are you allowed to alter your submission. If your entry is legitimate and you would like to alter it, to improve your odds of being published or for some other reason, you may make an addendum in the discussion forum. It will not improve your odds of wining the actual contest, except during a Tie Breaker, in which Addendums may be considered as part of the official entry, if they were made prior to the deadline. If you alter your entry for any other reason, it will be disqualified.

While you may not alter an entry once it has been submitted, except as noted above, you may may post a separate addendum, if desired, in the discussion forum. Why would you want to do this if it won't count in the contest? People may comment on your magic item, offer helpful suggestions, which if implemented, might increase your entry's chance of being published in the QT Games RPG or increase your odds of receiving the level-appropriate magic item of your dreams in the actual game (you get to pick which of your characters get it, for those of you with characters in various Cosmothea games).

[NexusX]

The contest ends next Friday - is no one interested in entering? This is a pretty easy and fun contest, just like the last one - easier actually, and this one had a prize just for entering! And you don't have to know a thing about Cosmothea to enter. Well, you still have plenty of time to craft something and enter it in the contest, but I have to say that if no one enters this one, I'm canceling the next - it takes me awhile to set up each contest, and it's just not worth my time if no one enters.

The next contest was going to be for designing a party vehicle - like a war wagon, small flying ship, etc. (specifics to be announced), but again, I'm not going to do it, if we don't get support for this contest. It's up to you! If you want to win a prize, enter the contest! If we don't get at least 3 people entering this contest, I'm just going to cancel it too, because it's not a contest, if only one person enters. You need a challenge, after all.

We'll do contests again at some point, but if you are interested in this one - join in! Thanks!

[Bob Whitely]

As you may know, this Friday marks the deadline for this contest. If we don't get at least 3 people entering, I'm cancelling the contest, and the Design a Fantasy Vehicle contest I was going to put on next as well (nor will I be bringing back the Design a Guild contest after that. We'll hold more contests later this year perhaps, but it seems everyone is busy right now.