Welcome to the thirteenth Expert Dungeon Master Competition! The primary purpose of the Expert Dungeon Master Competitions is threefold:
To create a resource for new Dungeon Masters drawing on the vast talent pool of the experienced Dungeon Masters of this forum.
To create a fun and vibrant competition that is sportsmanlike and friendly.
To showcase the creativity and talent of Dungeon Masters like you.
The best way to keep informed about the competition is to join the Expert Dungeon Master Competition group. There you can review the rules, archives, and future contest ideas, and get broadcasts telling you when new competitions begin and when results are released!
Required Elements
The topic for this competition is "Create a Royal Court". In order to enter this competition, your entry must fulfill the following required elements:
Specific Descriptions: Describe the monarch of a kingdom, as well as three or more of the most prominent members of the monarch's retinue. (The monarch and retinue shall be collectively called the "court".) Provide a complete stat block only if one of the scenarios you provide (see below) contemplates combat between the player characters and that individual. The description should include the following innformation about each individual:
Name;
Race;
Alignment;
Gender;
Six Ability scores;
Trained skills;
Items likely be possessed when encountered in the scenarios you provide (see below);
Physical description; and
Personality.
General Description: Describe what the party might know about the royal court with a History check, Streetwise check, and/or divination rituals.
Encounter Scenarios: Generally describe some scenarios in which the party might encounter one or more members of the court.
For purposes of this competition, a "monarch" is the official, singular head of state for a nation, whose office terminates only when the monarch dies, abdicates or is overthrown. It need not be a hereditary monarchy.
Optional Elements
In addition, the entry must include at least three of the following optional elements:
Contrasting Popularity: Either the monarch is popular with the peasantry and the retinue is not, or vice versa.
Dissension: A member of the court causes internal turmoil.
Gray Eminence: An individual who is not a member of the court or an organization to which no member of the court belongs holds more sway over the monarch than anybody in the retinue.
Physical Challenge: At least one scenario involves a Skill Challenge for which at least two of the following skills are primary: Athletics, Acrobatics, Endurance, and Thievery.
Ritualized Combat: The court accepts a form of ritualized combat (described in the entry) as a means of dispute resolution.
Secrecy: The retinue conspires to hide an important secret from the monarch.
Thorn in Monarch's Side: The monarch despises, but cannot remove, only one member of the retinue.
Traitor: A former member of the court actively foments rebellion.
Unnatural: At least one member of the court is a construct, immortal, or undead.
Unusual Symbol: The monarch has a symbol of power that is not a crown, ring, rod, scepter, staff, sword, or throne.
Xenarchy: No member of the court shares the same race with the three most common races in the kingdom it governs.
Xenophobia: The court is more xenophobic than the populace it governs.
Please list the optional elements you are trying to meet in your entry.
Code of Conduct. All entries must comply with the forum's Code of Conduct.
Contest Duration. Contests usually run for two weeks, beginning with the post announcing the competition. The Coordinator may extend the duration of the contest at his discretion after consulting the other judges for that competition. However, such extensions should be done very rarely.
Edits Made at Entrants' Own Risk. A judge may download your entry any time after it is submitted. So any edits you make might not be considered by a judge. For this reason, you should submit your entry in as complete a form as possible. Use the preview function liberally. Once winners have been announced, entrants may edit their entries.
Images Allowed. If you want to use an image in your entry, you must first post it to your profile gallery.
Multiple Entries Prohibited. Each applicant may only submit one entry during the period in which entries may be submitted. Submitting multiple entries disqualifies all entries. Additional entries may be submitted after the competition closes, but they will not be judged.
Multi-Post Entries Prohibited. Each entry must be contained within a single post. The judges must ignore any subsequent posts.
Outside Links Prohibited. Entries may not include material hosted on a website other than the post on which the entry appears.
Plagiarism and Peer Reviewing Prohibited. All entries must be the original, exclusive work of the applicant. Entries found to be copying the work of another, or that have been posted for review prior to the close of the competition, will be disqualified.
Judges and Schedule
The contest will run from today through Friday, October 16, 2009. All entries must be submitted no later than 12:00 midnight on that day (Eastern Standard Time). The judges of this contest are Furion_Thamior, Johnathan_Vagabond, Nyarlathotep, and TelinArtho, and the coordinator of this contest is wrecan. Good luck and have fun!!
(questions posed by potential entrants and the coordinator's response)
Q. What is a "retinue"?
A. Any individual who serves in an official capacity to advise or serve the monarch directly, and who supervises others, can be considered a member of the monarch's retinue. Thus, the monarch's personal valet would not be considered part of the retinue. Nor would a naval officer who reports only to the Minister of the Navy (who reports to the monarch). The Minister of the Navy, however, could be considered a part of the retinue.
Q. Must all the members of the monarch's retinue be described?
A. No. You must describe at least three, but you need not describe every retainer the monarch has.
Q. For the purposes of required element #1, must all the members of the monarch's retinue have a populatiry contrasting with the monarch?
A. All the members of the retinue that are detailed in your entry must have a contrasting popularity.
Q. For the purposes of required element #2, can the court be so well-hidden that no History or Streetwise check would ever result in useful information about the court?
A. Yes, but you'd better make sure you explain in your entry why such a scholar has no chance to learn anything about the court.
Q. For the purposes of required element #2, can another knowledge skill be used instead of History or Streetwise?
A. Not instead, no. But you can list such skills in addition to History and Streetwise.
Q. For the purposes of optional element #6, must all members of the court's retinue be in on the secret?
A. Only those members who are detailed in the entry need be in on the secret.
Q. For the purposes of optional element #8,is the traitor considered a member of the retinue?
A. No. The traitor is a former member of the retinue and does not constitute one of the membes of the retinue that must be detailed to satsify the required elements.
Please note that rules have changed. It is now permissible to post images, if they are hosted on the XDMC Group. It is also permissible to edit your entry anytime before the contest closes, although there is no guarantee the judges will see your edit, as they are allowed to download a copy of your entry any time after it is posted and use that when judging. So your edits might not be considered -- so make sure your entry is final when it is first posted!
Also, there is no need to post your entry to the wiki. Just post your entry as a reply here on the contest thread.
I spy some typos! I think the first two paragraphs are holdovers from a copy+paste of the wiki, and element #12 mentions "Xenophonia". (Hatred of xylophones?)
Going to go back and finish looking it over now.
"Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights." ~ Judge Vaughn Walker
I spy some typos! I think the first two paragraphs are holdovers from a copy+paste of the wiki, and element #12 mentions "Xenophonia". (Hatred of xylophones?)
Surely that would be xylophonophobia. Xenophonia would be "alien/foreign speech" IIRC.
Interesting challenge, have to try this one for a change. We just submit entries here on the thread, yes?
Just for fun, I'm submitting an unofficial entry -- a fictional account of the Court of Queen Elizabeth (circa 1580's). I offer this for fun and as an example for formatting purposes:
The Court of Queen Elizabeth
History
Queen Elizabeth Tudor of England is the daughter of the late King Henry VIII. Henry's reign was defined by a monumental decision -- in order to marry Elizabeth’s mother, Henry broke from the Catholic Church and founded the Church of England, a Protestant Church. Henry later beheaded Elizabeth's mother and marries a succession of other women and disinheriting Elizabeth. After Henry's death, Elizabeth's younger brother took the throne, but died of illness shortly thereafter. He was succeeded by a cousin, Jane, who was deposed by Catholic insurgents, who placed her older sister Mary on the throne. Mary died childless five years later, and Elizabeth acceded to the throne.
Upon accession, Elizabeth restored the protestant Church of England and began purging the government of Catholics. That was about a quarter-century ago, but Catholic plots still rage on. Elizabeth has had to imprison her Catholic cousin, Mary Queen of Scots in the Tower of London (her capital).
England faces numerous foreign problems. Catholic Spain, which is wealthy with gold from the newly discovered Americas, clashes with England’s own imperial aspirations. They have the largest navy the world has ever seen and would like nothing more than to install a Catholic monarch on the throne. Elizabeth has been able to maneuver the diplomatic shoals by pretending to make herself available for marriage, but it has long become clear to the English people that Elizabeth will never cede her power to a husband (as social mores would demand).
Meanwhile, domestically, Elizabeth has become known as a patron of the arts. Her rule is judicious, and with grave fiscal discipline, she has placed her kingdom on a sound financial footing. English arts, music, and theater flourish, particularly in the capital of London (much to the consternation of the more conservative Protestants who see such extravagances as licentious frivolities). Protestants of her realm associate her rule with prosperity and a rebirth of the English spirit. (Catholics only see the repression and possession of their property.)
The discovery of a New World to the east during her father’s reign has caused quite a stir. Because of the religious strife, England was late in exploring the new continent, and the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and French have already laid their claims. Still, with the intrepid adventures of explorers like Francis Drake, England has been seizing numerous opportunities. Drake, in fact, is possibly the most popular figure in England after the Queen, having just returned from circumnavigating the globe. Although a commoner, Drake is often seen at court, and too often (as far as the court is concerned) at the Queen's side. Those who know the Queen well know the fearful truth -- Elizabeth is smitten with the dashing Francis, and she denies him nothing.
Although the Queen is quite popular, her court is not. To preserve her realm, they have consciously chosen to take the brunt of the blame for unpopular decisions that have to be made. The Starr Chamber is a nefarious secret court where people can be tortured to discover Catholic plots against the Queen. Censorship is rampant, and many artists complain in secret. Merchants seek to expand trade into Catholic areas of Europe, but the government places many restrictions on foreigners' travel and business activities. Still, the government is stable, the people (or Protestants, anyway) are prospering and for those who seek adventure, the seas and new lands of the Western continent await.
The Court
Queen Elizabeth Tudor, female unaligned human. Str 8, Con 14, Dex 10, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 18. Skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, History, Intimidate, Religion. Elizabeth owns numerous items of jewelry, including the Crown and Sceptre of England, as well as a variety of fashionable garments. her blond locks have gone grey, but she is still strikingly beautiful, even under her high-necked collars and white powder. Clearly, in her youth, she would have been irresistible. She always dresses impeccably, in white powder to accentuate her purity. She carries the bearing of nobility, but she has a sharp sense of humor and a surprisingly quick wit. She is often underestimated for her gender, but her advisors know she may be the smartest and shrewdest person in all of England.
Francis Walsingham, male evil human. Str 10, Con 10, Dex 12, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 12. Skills: Dungeoneering, History, Intimidate, Stealth, Thievery. Walsignham is disarmingly average in appearance. Dark hair, neithe rthin nor fat, neither tall nor short. He always dresses impeccably, yet blandly. He prefers to be barely noticed, but nothing can hide his intelligent piercing black eyes. Walsingham carries a ledger on his person, written in code, carrying most of his darkest secrets. He carries a short walking stick with a glass ball at the end, and a pouch of gold, just in case. Walsingham is the Queen’s spymaster, and his eyes and ears are everywhere. He controls the infamous Starr Chamber and has ferreted out countless Catholic plots against the Queen. He is shrewd and smart, and he knows when to speak and when to let his enemies hang themselves.
Edmund Tylney, male unaligned human. Str 10, Con 10, Dex 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 14. Skills: Diplomacy, History, Nature, Religion. A short fellow with a long narrow nose and tiny eyes and long ink-stained hands. His hair is grey and stringy, but never manages to stay onctinaed beneath his floppy hat. Tylney is never seen without a quill and inkwell. He dresses in noble attire, but it is often stained with ink. His hair is often disheveled and he always appears harried. He loves his job as Master of Revels, but does not let anybody know it. By reputation he is a nasty censor, always rewriting other people's plays. But he knows the truth: he is a phenomenal editor and may single-handedly be creating a reputation for England as the center of modern drama. He carefully cultivates new talent and is adept at keeping the Puritans from shutting down the theater. He loves the theater, and if that means theater patrons and artists must despise him, then so be it.
John Dee, male good human. Str 8, Con 16, Dex 10, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 12. Skills: Arcane, History, Diplomacy, Nature, Religion. The Court astrologer, Dee is never far from his staff, his tome, and his ritual books. A tall thin man with a thin white beard and a shock of white hair, wearing blue robes. He has the largest collection of arcane and religious rituals in all England, perhaps in all Christendom. He is a potent astrologer and wizard, and it is said that he has learned to speak "True Supernal" the language of the angels in such a way that it is as if he had learned all the tongues of the world. Dee is a reclusive fellow, and has often fallen out of favor with the court, and has even had to appear before the Starr Chamber. But Elizabeth values his counsel and his divinations.
Scenarios
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. Walsingham is convinced that Mary is plotting to overthrow Elizabeth. He has discovered a plot of Catholics who have a stronghold far to the north. Walsingham hires the party to break into the stronghold and find evidence of Mary's treachery.
The Playwright's the Thing. A young bard named Bill Spearshaker is concerned. His best friend, the famous playwright, Kit Marlowe, has been murdered. The official story is that he died in a common barfight, but Bill does not believe it. He has gathered a collection from among Kit's theater friends to hire the party to discover who murdered Kit. The truth is that Marlowe had been working as a spy for the infamous spymaster Walsingham. Kit was discovered by another nobleman who seeks Walsingham's post as spymaster and Kit died rather than turn over his secrets. When the party investigates, they will find themselves in the midst of noble patrons of the arts, the treachery of nobles, and possibly even in the Starr Chamber, to be questioned by Walsingham himself.
The Spanish are coming. They have arranged a massive armada to invade England. John Dee approaches the party at the recommendation of Francis Drake. Dee believes there is a ritual that can literally turn the tides of battle in England's favor. But they will have to travel deep into Eastern Europe and parley with the demonists of Transylvania to obtain their secrets. Time is of the essence. Dee must remain behind to maintain England's protective magic, but he cannot hold out forever against Spain's own wizards.
Optional Elements
Contrasting Popularity: Elizabeth is very popular, and her court is quite unpopular.
Gray Eminence: The dashing Francis Drake has the Queen's heart and her influence, much to the consternation of her court.
Xenophobia: Fearful of plots and assassinations, the court drastically restricts the movement and trade of foreign Catholics, despite the desires of her people for more free and open trade.
