NaNo 2024
Greetings Ranserans!
Once again, we have reached that time of the year when we hold our Nano writing contest. Last year we tried something new and received an excellent response from you all. Along those lines, the mod team has worked together to try to mix things up even more this year. With that in mind, I present to you the Ransera NaNo Contest 2024:
Structure
Last year we allowed our players to choose word count goals that were realistic and would be fun for them. This year we wanted to push the envelope even further and give the players multiple different Goals, beyond just word counts. Below there will be a list of goals that can be achieved and for each one completed, the player will receive one or more Points. These points can be spent on a variety of prizes once the contest has concluded.
Goals:
Word Count:
1. For every 1500 words written, a player will receive 1 Point
2. For every 10k words written a player will receive 5 Point
3. For every 50k words written a player will receive 10 Points
These points are cumulative, so if a player writes 10k words they would get the 5 points for reaching 10k and 6 points for each time they hit the 1500 word goal.
Collaboration:
1. For every thread written with a new character (or mod account), each player will receive 1 Point*
2. For each completed thread (20 total posts), each player will receive 1 Point**
*If a thread has any characters yours has not written with during Nano yet, you will receive 1 point per new character, regardless of whether there are characters you have written with already in the same thread.
**This point will be awarded to each participating player, assuming they continued to participate till the end. There is leeway on interpretation as to what that means but we don’t want people jumping into a group thread with a single post to get the point and then leaving their writing partners hanging.
Quests:
1. A character, or group of characters may start a Quest, for each thread that furthers the goal of the Quest, each Quester will receive 1 Point
2. For completing a Quest during Nano, each Quester will receive:
3 Stage Quest 5 Points
6 Stage Quest 10 Points
9 Stage Quest 15 Points
Quest Rules:
1. Quests must be submitted for approval. Please do this by making a Support Forum Request with the title ‘Nano Quest Request’. (Code for the request will be listed at the bottom of this announcement.)
2. Quests should include: A goal, a name, at least three steps required to achieve that goal, and at least one character listed as a Quester.
3. Each step will require at least one thread. Every Quester must complete one thread per stage, this can be a single thread that all Questers participate in, each Quester doing a solo, or any combination of the two.
4. All threads for the Quest must be completed within the month of November for the Quest to be considered complete and score completion points.
5. Each character may earn Quest points for only one Quest.
Quest Notes:
1.Characters can participate in as many other characters’ plots as they desire and will receive points for completed threads, collaborative threads and word count as listed above but only listed Questers will receive the Quest thread and completion points.
2. If a character is a major player in a Quest and doesn’t end up starting one of their own, they can request to be added as a Quester to one they qualify for.
3. If you start a Quest with a number of stages and end up able to complete additional stages these will be counted towards a higher completion point total. Sign up for what you think you can achieve and if you end up able to push for more, all the better.
4. Quests that contain more than 9 stages are not automatically eligible for more points but if a writer/s manage to pull off a 12 or more stage Quest to completion within the month, I am very likely to reward such a feat generously.
Competitive Points:
As was done last year, there are a number of secret goals that can be fought for. Instead of leaving these as secrets for the entire month they will be revealed as the contests progresses (the first will be revealed on November 1st). These are the only prizes that will be competitive in themselves, but everyone is encouraged to watch the leader board and strive for their best!
1. Highest Word Count: 10 Points
2. Most Characters Interacted With: 10 Points
Prizes:
This year there will be no XP rewards as part of Nano prizes. This is due to the fact that writers will be earning XP as part of their writing and in past contests all the writers ended up earning more XP for the threads they wrote than they actually won. I wanted to offer unique prizes that either can't be earned normally or which players find difficult or confusing to obtain.
1. Unusual Companions/Pets: 1-30 Points *
These can be anything from a Sabre-toothed kitten to a soulless body that follows you around and does whatever you say. Be creative!
Notes:
1.This can be especially valuable to characters with related skills; Necromancers, Summoners, Riders, Animal Handlers, etc.
2. These companions/pets should not be independent characters like CNPCs.
*Price to be worked out depending on the type and abilities of the companion/pet
2. Additional Runic Quirks:
Apprentice 5 Points
Journeyman 10 Points
Expert 15 Points
Master 20 Points
These quirks are in addition to the ones you automatically get at each level and should be chosen with appropriate power levels.
3. Housing/Land Grants: 10-50 Points*
Each character starts out with the most basic of accommodations and while additional land/buildings can be bought the process can be confusing and expensive. Here is your chance to bypass that and simply spend points to get yourself a new house, a workshop or a fancy estate! As with all things, creativity will be rewarded.
*Price to be worked out depending on the size/location of the grant and buildings
4. Money: 1 or more Points
10gp per Point*
Anyone can earn seasonal wages but maybe you play a character without a traditional job, maybe you have a special item in mind that you're saving up for or maybe you just want to be rich. Here is your chance!
*10gp under the new system is the same as 200 days of working at the highest base wage, or magewage as I like to call it.
5. Grab Bag Prizes:
These are prizes that I have made tables for, each one will be unique and powerful in its own way without being game breaking. If you select one of these prizes thought will be given to your character and their situation to ensure that the prize is, in fact, a prize. There are no whammies or negatives on the tables. These are all good things intended to give you creative new options for roleplay. They come in several categories and power levels as listed below.
Power Levels:
Apprentice 5 Points
Journeyman 10 Points
Expert 15 Points
Master 20 Points
Über: 50 Points
Types:
1. Ability (A special ability that is entirely unique to your character, this may be magical in nature or mundane but it will be fantastical in nature.)
2. Item (Similar to above, this will be a unique item not owned by any other character with abilities of its own.)
3. Heritage (While a special heritage can't be said to be owned by only your character, since it is a matter of blood, it will be rare and offer interesting benefits.)
4. Connection (An NPC will become either friendly towards or obligated towards your character, you can not control this NPC and they won't be a constant part of your life but they can be called upon for aid in a variety of situations dependent on the type of connection. Apprentice level example: There is a friendly old woman in your town who has taken a shine to you and will always offer a meal, a place to sleep, or a place to hide should it be needed.)
Applying for Prizes:
Once the contest is complete and the points have been tallied and awarded, a player should select the prizes they want to spend their points on and make a Support Forum Request that lists the prizes. I will include a template and more information on this once Nano concludes.
Rules:
1. All writing must be done between November 1st and November 30th. We will be understanding of time zones.
2. No use of AI is allowed for In Character posts during Nano (or any other time). Suspected use of AI will be investigated and, if substantiated, the player will be disqualified from this year’s contest and may face further penalties.
3. All point earning is cumulative, which means the more goals each thread qualifies for, the more points you earn for it.
Examples: Writing a Quest thread with two other characters (if this is your first time writing with each of them during the contest) that runs to the full 20 posts would earn the player 4 points (1 for each other character in the thread, 1 for is being a Quest thread, 1 for thread completion), plus however many word count points they earned. A solo thread that is part of a Quest would earn 1 quest point and at least 1 word count point.
How to Participate:
Players who wish to participate should reply to this thread from any of their active character accounts with a list of the characters they intend to write with during the contest.
This year Mirage has put a lot of time and effort into writing us some excellent scripts that will help us keep track of each players points. You can add Quests and word count goals or anything else you’d like to keep track of to your participation posts as you go if you like.
If players have any questions, please feel free to drop me (Rune) a message on discord. When you do, please @ me, I promise it won’t annoy me and I don’t want to miss any questions.
This goes double for any players requesting Quests! As soon as you post your Support Forum request send me a discord @ with the link to the request and I will get to it asap.
That’s it, everyone have a great Nano and I look forward to writing with you!
Nano Submission Form Code:
Code: Select all
[b]Player Name:[/b] (if desired)
[b]Character Name:[/b]
[b]Quest:[/b]
[b][center]Threads[/center][/b]
[center][table][tr][td][b]Date[/b][/td][td][b]Link[/b][/td][td][b]Quest Thread?[/b][/td][td][b]# of New Characters[/b][/td][td][b]Word Count[/b][/td][td][b]Solo or Collab[/b][/td][td][b]Complete?[/b][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Ash 123[/td][td][url=Link]Name[/url][/td][td]?[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]?[/td][td]?[/td][/tr]
[/center][/table]Please copy the character info for as many characters as you will be participating with.
Code: Select all
[size=150][b]Approval:[/b][/size] (For Mod use)
[b]Quest Name:[/b]
[b]Questers:[/b]
[b]Goal[/b]
[b]Stages:[/b]
1.
2.
3.
(Add more if needed)
[b]Completed:[/b] (For mod use)
[center][table]
[tr][td][b]Link[/b][/td][td][b]Stage[/b][/td][td][b]Characters Involved[/b][/td][td][b]Complete?[/b][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][url=Link]Name[/url][/td][td]?[/td][td]Character Names[/td][td]?[/td][/tr]
[/center][/table]
