Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Invitiation to Join Shadowrun History, Official Guidelines Options

[Tiger Eyes]

Invitation to Join Shadowrun History…

Shadowrun has enjoyed enormous fan support over the years and many of our current freelancers have come up from the fanbase. So, we've decided to try something different this year and give our fans the chance of contributing a little something to the official Shadowrun universe...

To celebrate 20 years of Shadowrun, Catalyst Game Labs is inviting fans to submit a proposal for a fully developed, standalone adventure which will be published as an e-book. Furthermore, we're specifically looking for proposals that play off the stories, plots, and adventures released in Shadowrun's early years.

The author of the selected proposal will work closely with the Shadowrun developers to write a 10,000 word stand-alone adventure, which will be published as an ebook and an official Shadowrun product.

Each proposal must contain the following:

• Pitch/proposal (250 word limit)
• A concise outline/plot summary (200 word limit)
• Full character write-up; including stats and description akin to those seen in On-The-Run or Ghost Cartels (200 word limit)
• An introductory fiction vignette (500 word limit)
• One sample adventure scene (1000 - 2000 word limit)

Submissions should be emailed to info@shadowrun4.com and should be clearly label in the subject line as "20th Anniversary Adventure Submissions."

The deadline/cut-off date for proposals is 15 March 2009.

[Tiger Eyes]

And to answer a few questions:

Only one proposal will be selected. However, fans who submit well written proposals may be invited to join our freelance writer pool or to submit additional proposals in the future.

We look for writers who can stick to a word limit. The word limits listed are the maximum guidelines. Please stick to them.

Refer to On The Run or Ghost Cartels, or to a lesser extent Missions, to see sample "scenes" - these should be balanced and fully contained, and demonstrate the writer's ability to narrate a story and to leave room for a variety of teams to succeed.

Introductory fiction vignettes should be like the stories at the beginning of each chapter in SR4 books (and as the current writers are told, if it's 501 words, it gets sent back...) -- they should both tell a story and whet the appetite of the readers (in this case, the Shadowrun developers).

Any further questions, please post to this thread. Looking forward to seeing your submissions! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Phylos Fett]

Excellent! Time to get to work, I suppose.

Is there any restrictions on where the submitter is located for this?

[Tiger Eyes]

Excellent! Time to get to work, I suppose.

Is there any restrictions on where the submitter is located for this?

You must live or be able to commute to somewhere that the internet reaches. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Phylos Fett]

You must live or be able to commute to somewhere that the internet reaches. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Good enough for me - most days (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Thanks.

[kanislatrans]

Since this was announced on Saturday, I have had 2 hours of sleep. My hands are shaking, my eyes are burning, and my mind is racing like a hyper-active devilrat in a 5 gallon bucket.

Dear CGL, thank you for making me feel like a writer again. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

now back to digging through all the 1st and 2nd edition books for interesting tidbits... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/twirl.gif)

[OneThirtyEight]

4th edition only, I assume?

[Synner]

Yes. Shadowrun Fourth Edition is the only edition Catalyst Game Labs is supporting, so all adventure submissions must comply with Fourth Edition rules.

Here's a tip for any potential submissions:

Scenes in Shadowrun adventures tend to box themselves into one a handful of distinct categories—legwork, infiltration, combat, and maybe a Matrix run. We're trying to get away from that traditional compartimentalization, so if you want to wow us, think out of the box. Make your scenes challenging and unique. For instance, if you're writing a combat scene don't make it a stand-up shooting match, play with the setting and circumstances to make it challenging, original, and unique (ie. a parkour-type chase through a crowded mall, or an underwater fight in the Deep Laguna, or a free for all in a limited visibility/restricted movement environment like Ghost Cartel's Kowloon Massacre).

[kanislatrans]

Beware the Ides of March!!(I have to ask, was the deadline date intentional?) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

Thanks for the tip,Synner.

The word counts are pretty tight as well as the deadline,but it's a nice challenge and well worth the effort. Its also given me an excuse to read up on all the old material I have in the basement.

"I'm not sitting here like a lump, dear, I am researching!" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[HMHVV Hunter]

How "early years" are we talking about? I just started reading Shadowrun when 2nd edition was in the middle of its lifespan. Can "early years" mean stuff that's in the background history, like the rise of Alamos 20K?

[Adam]

If you think you can craft a compelling modern adventure that relates, go for it.

[HMHVV Hunter]

Awesome (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[HMHVV Hunter]

Double post, sorry.

[HMHVV Hunter]

I pretty much understand most of the requirements, but when you say "full character write-ups," are you talking about the Cast of Shadows section? Also, is that 200 words for each major NPC?

As far as the adventure scene, I haven't had a chance to see an adventure format since the 2nd edition adventures. Has the format changed much?

[BishopMcQ]

HMHVV--The SR Missions follow a format similar to current adventure releases such as On The Run. Downloading one of them from here should give you an idea of the format currently used.

[Tiger Eyes]

I pretty much understand most of the requirements, but when you say "full character write-ups," are you talking about the Cast of Shadows section? Also, is that 200 words for each major NPC?

As far as the adventure scene, I haven't had a chance to see an adventure format since the 2nd edition adventures. Has the format changed much?

When we say full character write up, the character should be like one in the Cast of Shadows section, with a background and stats. We only want to see 1 NPC writeup in the proposal - we're just looking at how you handle the write up and how well you design characters, with the word-limits we've put in place. And yes, writing a background and motivation, and stats, for a character in 200 words is challenging. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[HMHVV Hunter]

A couple other things: in the initial items (proposal, one scene from the adventure, etc) are you worried much about 1) maps and 2) the two-column format?

[the_dunner]

A couple other things: in the initial items (proposal, one scene from the adventure, etc) are you worried much about 1) maps and 2) the two-column format?

Speaking only for myself, if I'm reading a proposal that's in two-column format, I'm going to first turn it back into single column, for my own convenience. As for maps, I don't think they're useful at this stage.

[Tiger Eyes]

A couple other things: in the initial items (proposal, one scene from the adventure, etc) are you worried much about 1) maps and 2) the two-column format?

No maps.

I prefer receiving proposals in .rtf personally. We are not looking at your layout skills (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) . The selected proposal will be written and submitted in rtf and all our editing will be done in that format. (Just a peek behind the curtain, folks... yes, we do use Word...)

[Draco18s]

I've got a 102 page writeup (no joke, it's in a word doc) of a year long game that my group did. Faithfully interpreted from one character's point of view in Film Noir style.

You sure Catalyst doesn't need something like that?

[the_dunner]

yes, we do use Word...

Preferably not the latest version. .docx is the devil.

[HMHVV Hunter]

So how do I make a Word Document in rtf (I'm not very familiar with that file type)?

[the_dunner]

So how do I make a Word Document in rtf (I'm not very familiar with that file type)?

File -> Save As

Save as type: (Choose Rich Text Format from the drop down)

[HMHVV Hunter]

Ah ok. Thanks.

Just want to make sure I do this right (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[HMHVV Hunter]

One small question - I saw in the stat blocks on the Shadowrun Mission that I downloaded a stat labeled "CM." What does that mean?