Hello Dark Heresy fans!
I am pleased to announce the beginning of the 2009 Dark Heresy Adventure Contest! You will find all the rules and info in today's designer diary. Enjoy!

Ross i cant seem to make a PDF it must be this heretical abomination of Dial Up but unfortunately i have to use a word processor mine is Microsoft Works Word Processor is this ok? will i still be able to send in my entry? or will my astropathic communications fail to be understood in time?

The contest post says, Word Docs, Rich Text Format, or Pages documents so save as either a word document (which you can do in Microsoft Works Word Processor) or Rich Text format.

I can't add anything to what Kaihlik said, except that Microsoft Word processor ought to be able to create a rich text format pretty easily. Good luck in the contest!

thank you but what exactly is a rich text format? does it require doing anything different then opening the program and if so what else?

When you save, use the "save as" selection, and there should be a drop-down box with options, including rich text format.

Thank you Ross i found it i look forward to writing up my adventure and presenting it to be judged by the FFG team, I just hope mine will be good.

Do you have to include maps in your adventure? does it give you more points? and even if you don't have to do you happen to know where i can find a good map maker just in case?

Maps are entirely optional, although I find that most adventures benefit from them.

Not much advice I can give you on the map making software, unfortunately.

ah that's ok as long as it wont affect with my score i wont worry about it much i prefer to describe the area effectively and let the GM draw a map off of his own perceptions leaves it a bit more free in my taste. thank you again for the help even though its still a month and a half away I am already stressing this, i truly want that book!

A couple questions:

1) "Radical Theme" Does the group have to be the radical group, or is it what they are going after?

2) Do you know a source of information for Radical descriptions to add depth and flavor besides the upcoming Radicals Handbook?

3) The word limit, does it only include the adventure itself or the DM's appendix with stat lines and everything.

4) Do we have to re-print the stats from things from previous Dark Heresy books and now Rogue Trader or do we just put down the book and page number for it.

thats all the questions I have right now and am working on it to make it a very good adventure.

DrgnScorpion said:

Hello there!

1. It can be either or even something completely different. The adventure should relate in some way to the Radical side of the Inquisition, beyond that, the details are up to you.

2. Additional information about the Radical factions of the Inquisition can be found in Codex: Witch Hunters, Codex: Daemonhunters, and the Inquisitor tabletop game on the Games Workshop web site.

3. The 10,000 words is a limit on the adventure itself and does not include stat blocks, although I would prefer that any appendices of this nature should be as brief as possible. The longer the adventure, the more difficult it is to judge. Please try to come in as close to 10,000 words as you can.

4. You do not need to re-print stats from a rulebook, you can simply give a page reference if you wish.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

About pictures in your adventure, must they be original works or can they be from any of the source or core books. although i already figure they must be somewhat relevant to the adventure.

They can either be original or from the core or sourcebooks.

Hi Ross,

While drawing my adventure maps, I'm intending to use some pre-drawn art (.png files) which I usually find on the internets. This art is not created by me, and might be protected by somebody's copyright.

In this regard,

1) should I use this art to draw my maps or not, in the adventure?

2) Or will it suffice for me to simply note that this art belongs to its owners, and something along the lines of "no copyright infringement intended"?

3) How will it correlate with the verbatim statement I'm bound with, by submitting the adventure to you?

Thank you in advance.

You should not use anyone else's art without their express written permission.

Regarding art, "core or sourcebooks" has been covered & designated as Approved for use in this contest... does this also cover web enhancements & support materials available from FFG's website?

I'm farily certain this is a "Yes", but it is also a legal/copyright matter & it's better to be sure.

++ Better to be crippled in body than corrupt in mind. ++

The answer is yes.

I've just sent my scenario - best luck to everyone participating!

Work on my submission is almost complete however I wondered if I could get some clarification.

I've included a portion of material I previously wrote about the planet Archaos (and posted to the Dark Reign fan site). As this was authored by me I assume that there's no problem in using it in the competition submission but I just wanted to check as it was "published" previously (although for free and completely unofficial).

Does that cause a problem?

Our new baby arrived a little earlier than scheduled and I am now frantically trying to finish whilst knee high in nappies.

Nerd King said:

That should be okay for the competition.

Right - my submission has gone in. I was starting to over edit it and was worried I'd end up doing more harm than good if I didn't send it in now

BTW Congratulations to Replicant253! I have two children and the writing was frequently interrupted with their toilet runs or calls for a drink of water - but I wouldn't have it any other way

And as Skie wrote - best of luck to all those entering - I look forward to making good use of teh finalists entries in my own campaigns

Thank you Nerd King.

Just submitted my entry. Can't say I am 100 % happy with it but it is as good as it is getting considering the circumstances, tight deadline and word count limit.

Best of luck to everyone and I look forward to running some of the entries with my group in 2010.