Overall, the Monster Man contest has been tremendously satisfying. I got to promote creativity, provide people with some fun monsters, and advance my personal gaming agenda. But really, I didn't do any of those things! All I did was act as hype man, a role for which I am almost perfectly unsuited. The people who really made the contest happen are the contestants and, of course, our sponsors. So let's take a moment to thank everyone who either donated prizes or volunteered to act as judges. So let's thank them!
In no particular order, our sponsors and judges are:
Oakbound Studio: As you may know, I'm a big fan of Oakbound. Geoff runs a company that makes the stuff he wants to make in the way he wants to make it, and that means weird fairy-tale creatures, post-apocalyptic cyberpunk satire, steampunk characters, and a real abiding love for creepy folklore. He also imports some great old-school models from Rafm. Here is a goblin riding a giant flightless bird I bought from him:
Geoff is a good dude and his enterprise is worthy of your support.
Guy Fullerton: When I'm recording Monster Man, I have a couple of ideal listeners in mind, and Guy is one of them. I often think "what am I adding to this show that a listener who knows the book well would find new and interesting," and when I imagine that person, I think of Guy. Guy is not only the, er, guy behind Chaotic Henchmen Productions, he's also one of the unrelated but also very cool Hyqueous Vaults Creative Team, creators of a new OSRIC scenario, The Hyqueous Vaults, which you can check out here. The PDF is free and everything.
Guy has been generous both with his time as a judge and with rewards as a sponsor, and if you like old-school gaming products made by cool folks, you should check his stuff out.
Otherworld Miniatures: It was only after Richard and I had been chatting about Monster Man for a while that I realised we'd actually met, albeit briefly: he used to run my FLGS back when I was an undergraduate! I bought my copy of Delta Green from him, and loads of back issues of Arcane, and all sorts. But central Cambridge's loss is miniature lovers' gain, because these days he runs a miniatures company devoted to the old-school aesthetic, and they make some good-ass models. You should definitely give them a look.
Let me entice you further: we talked for a bit and established some very generous prizes for the top three contestants in the Monster Man contest, and then out of the blue as the contest winds up he sends me a message saying that he wants to also offer some gifts to all the finalists because, get this, it's Christmas. How are you not gonna buy bugbears from this man?
Robert "Thorkhammer" Pinnell: I do not know Robert Pinnell from Adam, but through the kind intervention of Guy (q.v.), he very generously agreed to offer some copies of his scenario Sanctum of the Stone Giant Lord as prizes. Maybe it's Christmas, maybe it's the old school community spirit, but that's quite touching. Anyway, if you're into that real deal old school stuff, you should check out the various inexpensive and even free offerings on his Lulu page.
Grant Howitt: Grant Howitt wrote a one-page RPG (two with magic supplement) in which you play bears stealing honey, which I played at Dragonmeet and had a fine old time. Grant also offered, again unprompted, a copy of his thoroughly hilarious game Goblin Quest as a prize. Now, if you're not lucky enough to be our first-place winner, you can still get your own PDF copy, and what a coincidence! It's 50% off right now. If you would rather support Grant's weird obsession with releasing tiny niche one-pagers, you can back him on Patreon.
Dirk the Dice: the enigmatic host of ... can I say Britain's foremost old-school gaming podcast? I might as well. The enigmatic host of Britain's foremost old-school gaming podcast, The Grognard Files, generously agreed to give up some time to judge the finalists. You can have a listen here. He has been tremendously tolerant about me trying to climb up his social media presence like a creeping vine.
So yeah! Those are our sponsors and judges, the generous people who gave their time and their wares to help reward the creativity of randos on the internet. And in all sincerity, that's a noble goal. I'm very grateful to all of them and hope everyone who has enjoyed the contest appreciates how this could never have been possible without them.
Of course, the other people without whom this would never have been possible are our entrants, so stay tuned for the announcement of the winners and some links to other things our contestants have created.
If you enjoy Monster Man, check out the Monster Man Patreon, where you can support the show and get access to my all-new Deities & Demigods podcast, Patron Deities. Thanks!
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