D&D General Win The Title of D&D's Best DM

WotC is running a competition called the Dungeon Master Challenge. Similar to Paizo's old RPG Superstar contest, it features various design rounds which whittle down the contenders until only one remains.

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The winner gets a trophy and some D&D products worth just over $2K.

Note: your entry becomes the property of WotC, which can use it in any way it wishes, even if you don't win. They don't even have to credit you for it. Be sure to consider this when deciding whether to enter.

• The first design challenge for a 1,000-word entry is Thursday June 17th, and contestants have three days to submit their entries. This round is open to everybody who qualifies (18+, in one of a list of countries).
• 10 contestants will then proceed to the next round in July, which is an elimination stage with various weekly 1,000-word design challenges.
• Three of those will go on to the final challenge in September, which involved being a DM on a livestream, judged by a panel.

What's a Freelance RPG Writer Worth?

Freelance writers (as opposed to those on salary) tend to be paid per word. The rate varies from publisher to publisher, and on how experienced the writer is. Ed Greenwood, for example, can command a much higher rate than a new writer can. Obviously only you, the freelancer, can decide...

www.enworld.org

 

[bedir than]

I was hoping the series would start with an encounter, because I've literally never used a complex trap. In fact in 5e I've used two traps total as a DM.

 

[Reynard]

Nice! Nicely done. How did you approach the bit about being evaluated for lore?

I chose to set my trap in a place within Sigil referenced in Mordenkainen's Tome, so the lore tie-in is very specific.

I placed it in Thayan wizard's tomb. Loose tie at best.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I was hoping the series would start with an encounter, because I've literally never used a complex trap. In fact in 5e I've used two traps total as a DM.

I'm sure encounters, NPCs, new magic items, new spells and a new monster are all part of the line-up for future weeks. And hopefully funny voices.

 

[bedir than]

I'm sure encounters, NPCs, new magic items, new spells and a new monster are all part of the line-up for future weeks. And hopefully funny voices.

Yeah, but training myself up on Father's Day weekend for the skill I have the least of was just impractical.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Nice! Nicely done. How did you approach the bit about being evaluated for lore?

I wasn't going to -- I was going to make a dungeon room/trap that could be dropped in anywhere -- but because of your question, I went back and looked over the guidelines. I still think including the lore is optional, but decided to make a new location for an existing D&D mega-dungeon.

Just submitted mine. A total of 983 words.

I'm not sure that the initiative system for complex traps makes sense in all cases, although I appreciate the ticking time clock element it adds to proceedings.

Big shoutout to Jim Guthrie, whose Below soundtrack I listened to while writing, to get me in the dungeon-crawling state of mind without distracting lyrics to interfere with my writing.

Good luck, everyone!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah, but training myself up on Father's Day weekend for the skill I have the least of was just impractical.

I hear ya. I'm actually going to be running a Zoom game for my dad and son in a little bit, and would have liked it if this had been announced and due a week earlier.

 

[Reynard]

I hear ya. I'm actually going to be running a Zoom game for my dad and son in a little bit, and would have liked it if this had been announced and due a week earlier.

They don't want your carefully curated and playtested publishable product. If they had, they would have given us a week or two. They want to see our DM guts.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

They don't want your carefully curated and playtested publishable product. If they had, they would have given us a week or two. They want to see our DM guts.

I wasn't asking for more time. I was asking for this whole process to have not taken place on Fathers Day weekend. Just shift it back a week -- and coincidentally give the poor folks at WotC who have to look through probably thousands of submissions more time.

 

[J-H]

I looked at map of the Underdark and picked what looked like a likely spot for a Beholder Mage to have his laboratory and residence. With the low word-count, I couldn't get too detailed on that front, as I wanted to adequately cover different ways to deal with different trap components.

MSWord says my wordcount was 980-something. I included a random roll table as an image, so if they count those words, I may get disqualified. I wasn't going to say "See the Beholder entry in the MM for the effects of the rays." That'd be too user-unfriendly.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Submitted! Only used 789 words, as I wanted to keep the length comparable to the complex traps examples in the Xanathar's Guide (they're around that length).

It is too bad that they want you to fit the format as shown in Xanathar's (what if a contestant doesn't own Xanathar's?)

Also, it's possible if they get too many submissions, the contest may be "first come first serve," to a degree.

All Entries will be reviewed in the order received and may be limited due to resource capacity (or availability).