Supernatural Investigation Agency

[acreRake]

Very nice! I spit on my screen when i realized you were tying in Jimmy Carter' (real) story of being attacked by a giant, swimming rabbit!

5 out of 5 furrows!

[gaby]

Very good idea.

Do they accept Psychics?

Will you make some Npc,s?

[jcfiala]

I like it!

It might be interesting to put a few clues as to what sort of a creature attacked North at the beginning - maybe not say what it was, but give a brief description of what North remembers from the experience.

But that's a great framework for an agency to work with (or against) the PCs.

[lather]

Good job.

Playing with governments is such fun..

[gaby]

Come up with Supernatural investigation groups what ever ther support by the Government.

They could be backed by a News Agency,or a University or a wealthy individual or sel-employed.

[Lord Z]

Are you suggesting a contest, Gaby?

[gaby]

if you like idea,yes.

It,s always good to have a variety of Groups.

[mrloucifer]

Watch it Gaby... your dealing with the brains behind the brilliance that is the Court of Tarot when you throw the gauntlet at the Lord of all that is Z.

[Lord Z]

Actually, I was thinking about starting a contest like this at Tank 9. I've been watching Venture Brothers lately. Somebody lay down some rules! I volunteer to judge.

[Lord Z]

*** THE SUPERNATURAL SUPER-AGENCY CONTEST ***

Okay, we are holding a contest. The prize is... yet to be determined. Here is a rough draft version of the contest rules. When he have soldified the rules, we will start a fresh thread.

1. The purpose of this contest is to develop new gaming material for use in home games and fiction. The creators retain intellectual ownership of their entries until they decide otherwise. All entries must adhere to Palladium's Internet Policy.

2. All entries may be considered for use in an upcoming ebook to be released in .pdf format. This will probably be appearing in the form of a special issue of Gifter Magazine as compiled by RGG. It is understood that all entries may be subject to editing if included (probably by me). Entry in this contest does not automatically mean inclusionin the book. Furthermore, the creator may opt out of inclusion.

3. There will be a prize which I will determine.

4. The contest will be open for two months. In my experience, participants in these sort of contests sometimes miss a one month deadline, but after two months, no new entries show up. The contest will begin on September 1st, 2010. The contest will end on November 1st, 2010. Judging will follow shortly afterward, a
nd the winner will be announced as soon as I can get to it.

5. All entries should appear in the form of a response posted in the proper thread. The thread will appear here in the Beyond the Supernatural forum, but I will also start another thread at the Tank Nine forums -- contests are sort of their thing. Posting entries at either website is valid.

6. There is no minimum nor maximum length required. The description should take as long as it takes.

7. All entires should describe a new agency which investigates supernatural phenomena. We are not looking for updates of canon material. The agency can be composed of good guys, bad guys, or any other guys. You may update older non-canon materials of your own creation. Adaptations from other games or shows would violate Palladium's Internet Policy.

8. Here are the elements that every entry needs: a name for the agency, a specific character or characters who lead the agency, a description of a typical member of the agency, a history of the agency, an explanation of the agency's purpose and governing philosophy, and at least a rough description of the agency's size and reasources.

9. Here are the elements that I would like to see but are not strictly required: a theme for the agency which is reflected in its equipment, iconography, methods, and/or costumes. (Yeah, I've been watching a lot of The Venture Brothers lately.) I also would like to see playable stats for characters, vehicles, and equipment. Other creatives materials such as artwork, maps, audio materials,and whatever else is stuff I would love to see.

10. The entry should feature the format as found in the Agency Creation Rules from the Boxed Nightmares Sourcebook. This is a point-buy system. If you don't have these rules, consider teaming up with someone who does. Alternatively, you may use the Erick's Agency Creation Rules from Ninjas and Superspies which were the basis of the BtS rules. Or, you may use the Paranormal Investigation Team rules which I wrote for Boxed Nightmares 2 (post here to request a copy of these rules). The PRT rules are intended for groups of 10 characters or less, but they are useful enough for larger groups.

11. Although we are using the Beyond the Supernatural games as a creative landmark, you are not limited to that setting. Your entry could be designed for the BtS world, the past or future, any other Palladium setting (such as Nightbane, Heroes Unlimited, Mystic China, etc.), your own original setting, or the agency could be generic enough for any setting. Please indicate which setting in which your agency exists.

12. Entry judging will be based upon all this criteria -- creativity, usefulness, presentation, adherence to rules, and entertainment value as I read. If someone else would like to volunteer as a judge, please post a response here. I think that keeping the number of judges as an odd number is prudent. Judges may submit entries for fun, but they will not be considered as valid entries for this contest.

13. All questions should be posted here or in one of the valid threads.

[mrloucifer]

Your royal Z-ness, you can count me in as a judge.

Are judges disqualified from submitting?

[Lord Z]

Judges may submit, but they are not eligable for winning nor prizes.

[Lord Z]

Groovy, I and Steven (a.k.a. Mr. Loucifer) will be judging. Does anyone have suggestions for changes to the rules?

Also, what would people like to see offered as prizes? I have a spare copy of Rifter #45, signed by Kevin and Wayne. Also, I was thinking about commissioning an artist friend to draw a portrait of the important NPCs in the winning agency.

[mrloucifer]

Groovy, I and Steven (a.k.a. Mr. Loucifer) will be judging. Does anyone have suggestions for changes to the rules?

Also, what would people like to see offered as prizes? I have a spare copy of Rifter #45, signed by Kevin and Wayne. Also, I was thinking about commissioning an artist friend to draw a portrait of the important NPCs in the winning agency.

Wow, those are some pretty pimp prizes Lord Z. I'll try to overcome my writers block/writers apathy and enter this contest, either of those prizes sounds pretty sweet.

Depending on my funds when this contest ends (I'm unemployed in 2 weeks with no other job offerings as of yet) I MIGHT be able to contribute a Rifter #46 as well. I dont recall if I have one that's signed by Wayne or Kevin (I'm not at home to look), but it would be signed by me for my Scurry Scree & Scurry Talus submission.

The trick will be if I can afford shipping when the time comes.

[mrloucifer]

Judges may submit, but they are not eligable for winning nor prizes.

Coolio, I will take a back seat on this one then and happily settle for being entrusted as a judge of BTS materials. Its a tough job, but I think I'm up to it and I will attempt to perform my duties with the utmost respect of the BTS universe and with a critical eye.

[Lord Z]

Jinkies!

It's settled then; Mr. Loucifer and I will be judging up a storm. The prize will be Rifter #45. I don't want to commit to that artwork yet as I haven't discussed it either of the artists I keep locked in the basement.

All that remains is to start a new thread. I'll be right back.