Contest rules may vary from competition to competition. At the beginning of each competition, any special rules for that contest will be detailed. Failure to abide by these rules will result in a score of 0 for Thematic Consistency, and may result in disqualification. In addition, the following rules are in effect for all Master DM Competitions:

Judges’ Conduct

• Contests usually run for two weeks, beginning with the post announcing the competition.
• Contests traditionally begin and end on a Friday, but the coordinating judge may choose different starting and/or ending times.
• The coordinating judge 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.
• Each of the judges will review and rate each entry on its creativity, adaptability, thematic consistency, technical information and rules use, and clarity.
• Each judge may reward one entry in each competition with a single bonus point, for entries judged especially impressive or noteworthy.
• The scores in each category will be averaged together, with bonus points added on after averaging, from which a final score is calculated.
• At no time will a judge relate any entry’s exact scores. The coordinating judge may release all the scores for an entry without identifying which judge gave each score.
• Scores are final and unalterable once they have been submitted to the coordinating judge.
• After the competition closes, each judge may but need not post commentary on the entries. An applicant who does not wish to have commentary on their entry posted should mention this in the entry.

Submission Rules

General Rules

• Each applicant may only submit one entry to judging. Submitting two or more entries will result in the disqualification of each the entries. If you have more than one idea, please wait until after the competition closes before submitting additional entries. These subsequent entries will not be judged.
• Each entry must be contained within a single post. Subsequent posts will be ignored by the judges.
• 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 competition, will be disqualified. However, entries may include a visual picture for the entry that is not the author's original work. Such non-original material will not be considered by the judges.
• Applicants are allowed a 15-minute period in which they are allowed to edit their entry. Any entry that has been noted as edited after this 15 minute period will be disqualified. This includes editing done by the board moderators, should the entry be in violation of the board’s code of conduct. The entry may be edited after the time the contest closes, as long as the edit is not made more than fifteen minutes after the entry was initially posted. It is recommended that an applicant use the board’s “preview post” function or write the entry off-line in a text editor to check the entry before posting. Once judging is complete, applicants may go back and edit their entry if they so choose.
• The message board Code of Conduct is in effect for all entries.

Creativity (15 points)

Creativity measures the originality of a particular submission or how well it takes an existing idea and converts it into game terms. High scores are reserved for entries that are completely unique, or provide a new twist on an old idea. Creativity can reflect entirely new ideas, thoughtful parodies of existing ideas, or unique derivatives of a classic archetype.

Adaptability (10 points)

Adaptability measures how much effort would be needed for a DM to include the entry in any given campaign. Entries may use any source, but for purposes of this category it is assumed a DM has access only to the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual. Thus, the use of material from other sources can result in a lower score. Including descriptions on how to use the entry without the supplemental material, or having a brief synopsis of what the material entails can alleviate this somewhat, allowing the entry to score well even with the supplemental material. In addition, if the subject or background of the entry would be difficult to include – for example, if the entry is located in a vast desert the size of the Sahara and involves 1,000 years of history, it will probably not score well, as a DM might not want such a disruption to the continuity of their game world.

Thematic Consistency (10 points)

Thematic consistency measures how well the entry fits the overall theme of the contest, as well as how well it incorporates the specified number of thematic elements. Thematic elements that are touched upon but are not central to the submission will score fewer points than those that integrated fully. The more thoroughly the entry considers the elements, the higher the score. Attempting to include more than the specified number of thematic elements will not necessarily result in a higher score, so it is better to include the minimum number elements very well than many loosely. To assist the judges, it is asked that an entry provide a brief mention of which thematic elements it was intended to meet.

Technical Information & Rules Use (10 points)

Technical information & rules use measures how well the entry uses and represents the rules of the game. The completeness and accuracy of all necessary mechanical information is a center point of this category, but is not its entirety. The use of proper and logical formatting as well as the correctness and appropriateness of cited or implied game rules are also covered. If an entry presents a new mechanic or game component, it must be described well enough that readers understand how to use it with the existing rules. In addition, the new mechanic should fit well and be “balanced” in comparison to existing game mechanics. For example, a 1st-level spell that does 1,000 damage with no save will likely score poorly. Lastly, all mechanics and rules should be consistent with the most current version of the game (3.5).

Clarity (5 points)

Clarity measures how easily accessible the ideas presented in the entry are to the reader. A high score will follow a logical format, information will be easily found and the entry will flow from one section to another with narrative continuity. This is not simply a measure of grammatical aptitude, but if frequent grammar and spelling errors serve to confuse the ideas the submission attempts to convey, this category will suffer. As judges often download entries and review them offline, the use of text formatting that may not copy correctly (text color, spoiler blocks, etc.) is not recommended, though not prohibited. Entries must be written in English. Either American or English spelling conventions may be used.