Paizo Looking for the Next Game Designer

From Paizo

The competition starts October 31, 2007 on paizo.com

Paizo Publishing is proud to announce its new RPG design contest: RPG Superstar™. Starting at the end of October, paizo.com will host the first adventure game industry design contest voted on by the fans, aimed at finding the next hot new talent.

"With the end of the print editions of Dragon and Dungeon magazines, Paizo has lost a conduit to find new talent," said Lisa Stevens, CEO of Paizo Publishing, "so we decided to launch an RPG design contest similar to American Idol, giving unknown talent a chance to get noticed!"

Starting October 31, 2007, any eligible person will be able to submit an entry into the contest. For the open call, that entry will be a wondrous item using the 3.5 SRD. Each entry needs to be 200 words or less, and must include all of the proper mechanics and flavor. Judges will announce the top 32 entries on November 28; those contestants will advance to the first round of public voting, where they will be assigned a new design task, and their entries will be posted on paizo.com for the public to read, critique, and vote on. The designers garnering the most votes will continue to subsequent rounds, and the ultimate winner will earn a paid commission to write one of Paizo's upcoming GameMastery Modules!

Paizo has gathered together three judges to oversee the competition. Paizo's publisher, Erik Mona, will share the spotlight with fan–favorite author and Kobold Quarterly publisher Wolfgang Baur, and Necromancer Games' head honcho, Clark Peterson. Each round, the three judges will critique the entries before the public vote.

You heard that right—the fans themselves will decide which talented designers go on to the next round by casting a vote on paizo.com for their favorite contestant. Each round includes a 6–day window for fans to discuss the entries and cast their votes.

Complete rules are available at paizo.com/rpgsuperstar/rules. Answers to frequently asked questions about the competition, entering the contest and voting are at paizo.com/rpgsuperstar/faq.