RPG Superstar 2009 In Full Swing

Paizo has once again launched a search for new talent. Drawing on their experiences from last year's RPG superstar, they have once again gathered contestants to work game writing magic in a whirlwind display of creativity. The beneficiaries? Well, besides Paizo who will gain a pool of new talent to work with, and the talent who gain possible freelance gigs out of the event, the beneficiaries are readers at Paizo's forums.

Paizo will be releasing their Pathfinder RPG, an OGL based advancement of the 3.5 ruleset that, if all goes as advertised, will also be backwards compatible with existing 3.5 material. That's right... for those of us who want to continue playing 3.5 (or something close to it) this is a promised salvation. What does this have to do with the RPG Superstar events? Well, the design is all taking place using the Beta rule set for the Pathfinder RPG. That means, for folks wanting to play the game, that this contest will yield what is, for all practical purposes, the first set of supplementary material for the game... and it's all FREE, posted for anyone to see on their boards.

I did mention this was a contest right? And one that YOU, the readers, get to participate in. The last round involved all 32 talented writers selected by the game writing professionals who acted as the initial judges. Those folks each contributed a villain concept, and 17 folks were selected to create the stat block for their villain. The judging for that round is now going on, and you can participate in the selection! Just go to the forums and take a look. Will you like Bracht Darkhouse, the Flesh Peddlar or Malgana the Twistwood Lich? Find out now!