HeroScape Fiction Contest: 2 Master Set Giveaway

[cbs42]

Ok guys, I was lucky enough to be able to jump on some of those $9.98 Master Sets, and I want to share my fortune by sponsoring a contest.
The prizes are First Edition Master Sets with red/blue dice and sparkly water!


RULES
This is a fiction writing contest. The word count must fall between 2000 and 3000 words (roughly 5-10 pages), and may be a full short story or the first chapter of a larger work. The form and style is open, but must fall within the word count limitations, and must be based in the HeroScape universe.

Please do not submit work which you have already posted to the fan fiction section of this site. This contest is meant to encourage the development of new material.

Email your entries to my home email address: cbs42 @ yahoo.com
Make "HEROSCAPE STORY" the title of your email so I don't skip over it. Also make sure that you tell me what your heroscapers.com username is, because I might not be able to tell just from your email address alone.

Please DO NOT post your stories or link to them so that others may read them before the entry period is over. I will upload them to the file section of this site and post a link to your story in the voting thread, along with a teaser snippet of my choosing.

Make sure to give your story a title, so people can refer to it by name.

DEADLINE
The contest entry period will close in two weeks (at 11:59pm EST on Sunday September 17). Due to the length of time it will take people to read and digest each entry, I'm going to put a 10-entry limit on this contest, but that may be flexed at my discretion.

All entries will remain hidden until the entry period is over. They will all be displayed on the voting thread at the same time. It's not fair that one person gets longer exposure than others just because they are a faster writer. Fair warning: Displaying your story will get it rejected!


PRIZES
On Monday September 18th, I will start a vote thread where any registered member may vote on which story they like the best. It's pointless for me to try to quantify the voting criteria, because everyone has a different opinion of what makes a good story. So vote for whichever one you personally like the best. However, please read ALL entries before casting a vote.

The voting period will run for one week, at which point I will announce the winner and ship them a Master Set.

I know we have a lot of good writers in the group, but I also don't want to discourage the younger (and thus generally less developed) writers from participating. So I will also award one Master Set at random from the pool of entries -- excluding the voted winner of the contest. That way, even the young budding writers have a shot at getting one.

The winning story will also be published in issue #5 of the Codex, due out Jan 1, 2007!
The Codex staff will arrange for the illustration two or three images to go along with the story.


DISCLAIMER
I'm going to run this contest as fair as I can, but I want to put forth right now that I have the option of modifying the rules at my discretion, but I will not do so without cause. Also, I have the right to reject an entry if it is total crap. For example, if someone submits the same word repeated 2000 times, just so they have a chance to win the random Master Set, I will reject their entry. Again, this power will not be used without cause.


RULE CLARIFICATIONS / AMMENDMENTS
[Sep 5, 2006]: Each entry will be allowed ONE resubmission of their work, in order to refine and polish their story. The second (FINAL) draft must be received by the end of the contest entry period, and MUST be a revision of the initial story. Any initial stories which are clearly submitted as placeholders, or second versions which are radically different from the first, may be subject to disqualification, at my discretion. Again, this power will not be used lightly. I just want to make sure this is a fair contest, and that people don't try to "game" the rules.

[Sep 10, 2006]: In the upcoming voting thread, the stories will be displayed anonymously. That is, I will not identify which author created each work until after the voting period has closed. If a submitted entry has the author's name in it, I will remove the name before posting the entry. AUTHORS: Please respect the intent of this decision by not disclosing or hinting which story is yours. This is not meant to be a popularity contest, so the identity of the authors should have no bearing on the votes.


ENTRIES RECEIVED
01 - Kahrma (final draft)
02 - InfinityMax (final draft)
03 - brotharon (final draft)
04 - Hahma (final draft)
05 - skyknight (final draft)
06 - Finrod (final draft)
07 - mutantpoo (final draft)
08 - Taelord (final draft)
09 - kenjib (final draft)
10 - John_Doe (final draft)

ALL ENTRIES ARE NOW FINAL

[K/H_Addict]

sorry, cbs, but i won't be entering. School hasn't even started yet, so i'll pass on a writing assignment, unless i get hit by inspiration sometime soon....

[Hendal]

Hey cbs,

Great idea, I think this will be a great contest for the site, I was actually reading about it at Truth's site today, really cool that you are doing this.

I might give it a go, but after reading some of the fans story on this site I don't think I will have much of chance, but you just never know.

Thanks

[InfinityMax]

Quake and tremble, suckers. I'm in.

[skyknight]

I may give this a shot as well.

[justjohn]

Hell, I'll give it a whirl, too.

[ChilliDog]

I think I'm in...may suck but hey, why not try.

[HyperactiveSloth]

I could SOOO use another MS!

*sits and waits for inspiration to strike*

*waits harder*

:P

[cbs42]

Originally Posted by Hendal

I might give it a go, but after reading some of the fans story on this site I don't think I will have much of chance, but you just never know.

Hey, with the 1 random set I'm giving away as well, you've still got a greater than 10% chance (1 out of 9) of getting a prize if you get an entry in, even if it doesn't place first!

Above all, I hope everyone has fun with this. This wasn't really meant to cause a competitive environment so much as to cause people to think creatively about the HeroScape world setting, and provide a fun way to express your enthusiasm to others!

[skyknight]

Originally Posted by cbs42

Above all, I hope everyone has fun with this. This wasn't really meant to cause a competitive environment so much as to cause people to think creatively about the HeroScape world setting, and provide a fun way to express your enthusiasm to others!

Oh thats cool then. So I shouldn't scream IMAX IS GOIN DOWN BABY!!!!!! :P

[Agent Minivann]

I may just have to actually read the character bios and put something together. I could use more sparkly water!

[cbs42]

Originally Posted by skyknight

Oh thats cool then. So I shouldn't scream IMAX IS GOIN DOWN BABY!!!!!! :P

A little spicy trash talk never hurt anyone. Well, no one worth mentioning at least.