Cult of Chaos Convention Scenario Competition 2018

From Todd Gardiner, Director of Organised Play:

Each year Chaosium is attending more and more conventions and Call of Cthulhu convention games have never been more popular. To help meet the demand for good Call of Cthulhu games we are launching the Cult of Chaos Convention Scenario Competition 2018.

We are looking for engaging and dramatic convention scenarios dreamt up by the mind of the Cult of Chaos. This is your opportunity to share your experience and writing skills, and get your scenario played around the world as official Chaosium convention games.

What are we looking for?

We are seeking pitches for writing a full Call of Cthulhu 7th edition convention scenario with a running time of 3.5 to 4 hours maximum, playable by up to 6 players. Ideally, scenarios should be set in the 1920s, 1930s, or modern day, but we are happy to see other time periods too. Pre-generated investigators should also be included with the scenario. Length wise, each scenario should plan on approximately 8,000-12,000 words maximum.

The deadline for submitting pitches is December 1st, 2017.

What do the selected pitches get?

First, after submitting the full scenario you get the credit for writing an official Chaosium convention scenario. 

Second, your scenario would be eligible to be part of a professionally published Call of Cthulhu book or PDF—if selected the author will be offered a standard publishing contract. 

Third, each pitch that becomes a fully written scenario submitted to Chaosium receives a $40 (USD) voucher for the Chaosium webstore.

The deadline for submitting full scenarios is February 23rd, 2018.

What do you need to do?

Write a short (no more than 300 words) pitch and post it to the Cult of Chaos forum at BRP Central. The direct link is here. The pitch should outline the scenario, describe the nature of the mystery and/or threat, and how the investigators become involved (whether it starts in media res or more traditionally). Do not consider the pitch to be a spoiler-free zone. In judging these scenarios, we need to know what actually occurs during the scenario from the GMs perspective.

A successful pitch tells us what the players will do during the scenario and only glosses over the background of the setting.

• What is the hook?
• What is the climax of the adventure?
• What choices do the players have in between these two?

And what tone does the writer want GMs to convey to the players during the session.

What happens next?

Chaosium will review the pitches and then draw up a short list of the pitches we’d like to see developed into full convention scenarios. Chaosium will contact shortlisted authors to invite them to write up their pitches.

Once written and submitted to Chaosium, we will review the final scenarios and pick which ones will become official Chaosium convention scenarios for future events. Non-winning shortlisted scenarios will be made available to Cult of Chaos members for general use.

In fact, the 2017 scenarios are currently in layout and will soon be posted to the Cult of Chaos Library. Feel free to use these as models for the structure of a successful contest submission.

Terms and Conditions

1. The Convention Scenario Competition 2018 is only open to members of Chaosium’s Cult of Chaos. (Not a member? Sign up here: http://www.chaosium.com/join-the-cult-of-chaos/)
2. Only unpublished scenarios will be considered. If you have run it as an adventure, that is acceptable (in fact, testing is fully approved), but print or digital distribution of the scenario prior to the judging will remove the scenario from consideration.
3. Scenarios containing what Chaosium deems to be offensive content will be disqualified. Please review the Cult of Chaos code of conduct for better understanding of what might not be acceptable.
4. Authors retain all copyrights to the scenario, pre-gen characters, hand-outs, etc., but grant an unlimited and perpetual license to Chaosium to use these materials, including electronic distribution (PDF) on BRP Central and distribution directly to GMs running the events at conventions, as well as whatever local printing is needed to have these materials available to players and GMs at these events.
5. Author warrants that they are the owner or creator of all submitted materials and that the scenarios do not contain copyright infringing material. All photos, graphics, text and other content must be the original creation of the author or in the public domain.
6. Chaosium reserves the right to publish winning shortlisted scenarios in future publications. Such publication will fall under a newly negotiated work-for-hire contract.
7. Winning scenarios will be released for convention play at the discretion of Chaosium.

Seeking GMs for Conventions!

Just a reminder, Chaosium also needs GMs for these scenarios. We are offering free badges and gifts for Origins, Gen Con, UK Game Expo, PAX Aus and other big conventions next year to GMs that volunteer and join the convention team. Contact Todd@Chaosium.com to find out more about running games with us.