OK, so last time I said I would run a second Monster Man contest it ... basically didn't happen. I was too busy to promote it effectively and I only got a handful of entries, and I just let it slide. But no longer! Monster Man Contest II is in full effect, and there are fabulous prizes to be won! How would you like ... a print copy of The Hyqueous Vaults? Or a £15 gift certificate to Diplomatist Books? Maybe you'd like a collection of monsters from Spes Magna Games? Or a special monster surprise from yours truly? Well, all you have to do is make a monster!
Here are the rules:
1. Go to this article about D&D monster names created by neural networks.
2. Pick a monster such as the Slug, Spectral or the Mommy, Greater
3. Create a Monster Manual-style entry for your chosen name, with a description and stats for your favourite edition of D&D. Or your favourite RPG, whatever it might be. I'm not the boss of you! If you want to add a picture, that'd be double cool.
4. Send it to me by July 14th. You can email me (gonzohistory@gmail.com) or share it with me on Google+.
5. I will post the entries here and ask listeners to vote on them by August 1st, choosing the top three entries.
6. I will create an episode of Monster Man for the winning monsters. Winners will also receive a print copy of The Hyqueous Vaults (with removable cover!) and more. And everyone who reads this will get tons of fun monsters to read about and enjoy!
7. You can enter more than once if you like, but you can't win more than once.
And that's it! Go make some monsters. Share this contest with your friends; the more the merrier.
Showing posts with label contests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contests. Show all posts
Monday, 25 June 2018
Thursday, 29 March 2018
Another Monster Man contest!
Hey, do you folks remember the cavalcade of awesome creativity that was the Monster Man contest? I sure do! I enjoyed it so much I'm gonna do it again .. but this time it's going to be a little different!
Last time I asked people to design a monster based on a cheap toy, like this one:
That was fun, but I'm not gonna do the exact same thing again, at least not just yet. Instead we're going to do a quicker contest based around a different source. I explain in today's bonus episode of Monster Man.
But if you don't have time to listen to that right now, here's the rules:
1. Go to this article about D&D monster names created by neural networks.
2. Pick a monster such as the Slug, Spectral or the Mommy, Greater
3. Create a Monster Manual-style entry for your chosen name, with a description and stats for your favourite edition of D&D. Or your favourite RPG, whatever it might be. I'm not the boss of you! If you want to add a picture, that'd be double cool.
4. Send it to me by April 14th.
5. I will pick, by methods as yet undecided, a handful of winners.
6. I will create an episode of Monster Man for the winning monsters. Winners will also receive a Monster Man goody bag full of prizes. I've already had some offers of prize support, but if you have an RPG product you'd like to give away to our winners, give me a shout! Otherwise I'll think of something. It'll be a surprise!
7. You can enter more than once if you like, but you can't win more than once.
And that's it! Go make some monsters. Share this contest with your friends; the more the merrier.
Last time I asked people to design a monster based on a cheap toy, like this one:
But if you don't have time to listen to that right now, here's the rules:
1. Go to this article about D&D monster names created by neural networks.
2. Pick a monster such as the Slug, Spectral or the Mommy, Greater
3. Create a Monster Manual-style entry for your chosen name, with a description and stats for your favourite edition of D&D. Or your favourite RPG, whatever it might be. I'm not the boss of you! If you want to add a picture, that'd be double cool.
4. Send it to me by April 14th.
5. I will pick, by methods as yet undecided, a handful of winners.
6. I will create an episode of Monster Man for the winning monsters. Winners will also receive a Monster Man goody bag full of prizes. I've already had some offers of prize support, but if you have an RPG product you'd like to give away to our winners, give me a shout! Otherwise I'll think of something. It'll be a surprise!
7. You can enter more than once if you like, but you can't win more than once.
And that's it! Go make some monsters. Share this contest with your friends; the more the merrier.
Monday, 20 November 2017
The Monster Man Contest: Week 3 Update. Deadline Extended!
It's week three of the Monster Man contest, and there's some big news, but there's one really big item:
The contest submission deadline has been extended to Thursday 30 November!
Basically, this is just because I know a lot of people are still working on their entries and "the end of the month" is really easy to remember.
Monster Man critter appears in NEG charity stream
I mentioned listener Edwin's 24-hour charity gaming stream in my last update post. Well, it went very well, with Edwin and his friends raising a lot of money for children's charity Extra Life. I don't know if any of the Monster Man contestants sent in their monsters, but I did one, and apparently it was well received. I haven't seen it yet, because I was out all day Saturday, but apparently it's somewhere in the second 12 hours of the stream. I don't know if I'm going to watch 12 continuous hours just to spot something I made, but we'll see. I will be posting the monster up once I've got its writeup done properly and the model painted, though. Here's a preview photo:
Some more submissions!
We've had a few more great submissions. I'm going to post the full entries once the submission period is over, but here are some photos:
I'm really looking forward to making these available for voting, but there's still plenty of room for more submissions, so get cracking!
The contest submission deadline has been extended to Thursday 30 November!
Basically, this is just because I know a lot of people are still working on their entries and "the end of the month" is really easy to remember.
Monster Man critter appears in NEG charity stream
I mentioned listener Edwin's 24-hour charity gaming stream in my last update post. Well, it went very well, with Edwin and his friends raising a lot of money for children's charity Extra Life. I don't know if any of the Monster Man contestants sent in their monsters, but I did one, and apparently it was well received. I haven't seen it yet, because I was out all day Saturday, but apparently it's somewhere in the second 12 hours of the stream. I don't know if I'm going to watch 12 continuous hours just to spot something I made, but we'll see. I will be posting the monster up once I've got its writeup done properly and the model painted, though. Here's a preview photo:
Some more submissions!
We've had a few more great submissions. I'm going to post the full entries once the submission period is over, but here are some photos:
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| The Hex Bug! |
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| The Shell Witch! |
Monday, 13 November 2017
The Monster Man Contest: Week 2 Update!
Has it been another week already? The Monster Man contest continues to go full steam ahead. There are nearly two weeks left, so if you haven't come up with a fun monster to enter yet, you've got plenty of time to get your hands on some prizes.
New Sponsor!
I'm pleased to announce that we'll be adding three print copies of Robert "Thorkhammer" Pinnell's Sanctum of the Stone Giant Lord to our prize pool! As you might be able to guess from the title, this module is an unofficial expansion to the classic Against the Giants. This prize comes in partnership with our existing sponsor Chaotic Henchmen Productions!
In other sponsor-related news, did you see that sponsor Grant Howitt's game Honey Heist was on Foreververse? That's pretty cool.
And in yet more sponsor-related news, sponsors Oakbound Studios just released the rulebook and the first few figures for their post-apocalyptic skirmish game, Factious Waste. The digital rulebook is just £3!
Here are some models I painted for the game:
If you've designed a Monster Man monster and want to inflict it on the players, the DMs will incorporate it into the game for a $5 donation. I'm hoping to have a monster of my own ready for one of those rare chances to send money to a good cause via an act of petty cruelty.
Read more here!
Yet more entries!
Early entries continue to come in, including:
Keep 'em coming, monster fans! And as always, stay tuned to Monster Man for further updates!
New Sponsor!
I'm pleased to announce that we'll be adding three print copies of Robert "Thorkhammer" Pinnell's Sanctum of the Stone Giant Lord to our prize pool! As you might be able to guess from the title, this module is an unofficial expansion to the classic Against the Giants. This prize comes in partnership with our existing sponsor Chaotic Henchmen Productions!
In other sponsor-related news, did you see that sponsor Grant Howitt's game Honey Heist was on Foreververse? That's pretty cool.
And in yet more sponsor-related news, sponsors Oakbound Studios just released the rulebook and the first few figures for their post-apocalyptic skirmish game, Factious Waste. The digital rulebook is just £3!
Here are some models I painted for the game:
I am not the world's best painter, but I think they look pretty cool.
Anyway, if you want your models inexpertly painted or your game products enthusiastically plugged, why not become a contest sponsor? There's always room for more!
Charity game stream!
Listener Edwin Nagy and his friends are hosting a 24-hour live RPG stream to raise money for children's charity Extra Life. They'll be running a dungeon crawl for most of the stream, with a Cthulhu interlude, and over the course of the stream they'll be raising money by raffling off some great prizes from sponsors like Chaosium, Frog God Games, Pacesetter, Gallant Knight Games, the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, and more! It's all going to be at http://twitch.tv/froggodgames starting at 6 PM EST (that's 11 PM GMT) on Friday 17 November.
If you've designed a Monster Man monster and want to inflict it on the players, the DMs will incorporate it into the game for a $5 donation. I'm hoping to have a monster of my own ready for one of those rare chances to send money to a good cause via an act of petty cruelty.
Read more here!
Yet more entries!
Early entries continue to come in, including:
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| The Jellybender! |
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| The ... well, you can read. |
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| And the unpredictable menace of the Spellagron! |
Keep 'em coming, monster fans! And as always, stay tuned to Monster Man for further updates!
Tuesday, 7 November 2017
The Monster Man Contest: Week 1 Update!
Last week I announced the first ever Monster Man contest, in which you, the listeners of Monster Man, create and vote for cool new monsters based on cheap toys. It's been a great week, so let's quickly recap everything that's happened!
New Sponsor!
When I launched the contest, I had three great sponsors: Chaotic Henchmen Productions, Otherworld Miniatures and Oakbound Studios. Now we have a new one: Grant Howitt has added a print copy of his appropriately-themed RPG Goblin Quest to the prize pool.
If you'd like to sponsor the contest, there's plenty of time. All prizes are gratefully welcomed, and we'll be accepting new sponsors right up until the end.
Rules questions!
The question I get asked the most is: but what if I can't find the actual toy I want to use? Look, I'm not out here trying to limit people's creativity. I'm out here trying to encourage people's creativity. If you have a photo of the toy you want to use and it is not an actual toy you have in your possession, I mean, whatever. Or if, like one entrant, you want to just make a monster out of Play-Doh and wire, you know, that's fine too. Inspiration is where you find it. "Miniatures from everyday objects" is the main theme here.
If you do use someone else's photo, though, please credit it if possible.
First entries arrive!
Even though the contest was only announced on Wednesday 1st November, as of this writing (Saturday 4th November), I have already received three entries! I'm not going to put up the complete monsters just yet -- I'll try to do it about a week before the end of the contest. But just to give you some idea of what we've seen so far, here they are:
The Bone-Butcher!
The Glowber-tuttle!
The Slathax!
I'm really excited about how these are going so far, and I encourage all of you to send in your monster submissions. It's free or very cheap, it's fun, and you have the chance to win some great prizes.
For more information on the contest, check out the main contest post, and be sure to tune in to Monster Man!
New Sponsor!
When I launched the contest, I had three great sponsors: Chaotic Henchmen Productions, Otherworld Miniatures and Oakbound Studios. Now we have a new one: Grant Howitt has added a print copy of his appropriately-themed RPG Goblin Quest to the prize pool.
If you'd like to sponsor the contest, there's plenty of time. All prizes are gratefully welcomed, and we'll be accepting new sponsors right up until the end.
Rules questions!
The question I get asked the most is: but what if I can't find the actual toy I want to use? Look, I'm not out here trying to limit people's creativity. I'm out here trying to encourage people's creativity. If you have a photo of the toy you want to use and it is not an actual toy you have in your possession, I mean, whatever. Or if, like one entrant, you want to just make a monster out of Play-Doh and wire, you know, that's fine too. Inspiration is where you find it. "Miniatures from everyday objects" is the main theme here.
If you do use someone else's photo, though, please credit it if possible.
First entries arrive!
Even though the contest was only announced on Wednesday 1st November, as of this writing (Saturday 4th November), I have already received three entries! I'm not going to put up the complete monsters just yet -- I'll try to do it about a week before the end of the contest. But just to give you some idea of what we've seen so far, here they are:
The Bone-Butcher!
The Glowber-tuttle!
The Slathax!
I'm really excited about how these are going so far, and I encourage all of you to send in your monster submissions. It's free or very cheap, it's fun, and you have the chance to win some great prizes.
For more information on the contest, check out the main contest post, and be sure to tune in to Monster Man!
Monday, 17 March 2014
A brief interruption of service
Dear all,
You’ve probably noticed that there hasn’t been much activity on the blog this week. This is because I am simultaneously dealing with a huge project at work and apartment-hunting. It’s been a busy week and it looks to be another. However, I promise that normal service will be restored shortly. (Of course, getting the internet working the new place etc. etc. yadda yadda, but we’ll figure something out.)
In the meantime, don't forget that entries for the Two-Dollar Monster Challenge are due on Friday the 21st! I mean, if you're like a day or so late, no big deal. Especially considering everything else I've just said. But around then, please!
Monday, 10 March 2014
Two dollar monster challenge: some inspirational material
I was out and about on Saturday, and every time I passed by a Poundland or something I popped in to snap a few quick pictures. I was also in a zoo gift shop, which was a place with lots of good stuff, although perhaps on the pricey side. Most of these are very large, but I bet there's still a lot that could be done with them.
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| If any Chinese toy company wants their box copy rewritten in something approximating the English language, they should know that I work cheap. |
` 
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| I'm not Shakespeare, but I bet I could do better than "The World of Biological Series." |
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| Dire Weasels ripped my flesh! |
Monday, 3 March 2014
Two-dollar monster challenge: the rules!
OK, so here's the part where you come in!
In the spirit of my previous post, I want to see the monsters you create from cheap toys and junk. I am therefore holding a contest: THE TWO-DOLLAR MONSTER CHALLENGE! There will be fabulous prizes for the winners! Well, prizes anyway. I think you'll like 'em.
Here's how to play:
Sound like fun? Dig out those old toys and get cracking.
Here are a few more photos that I took for the previous post but didn't use, featuring charity shop or Poundland toys and Torchy the Torchbearer. Who is going back on the painting table, because his nose looks awful.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing your entries!
In the spirit of my previous post, I want to see the monsters you create from cheap toys and junk. I am therefore holding a contest: THE TWO-DOLLAR MONSTER CHALLENGE! There will be fabulous prizes for the winners! Well, prizes anyway. I think you'll like 'em.
Here's how to play:
- Get yourself a cheap toy monster. I'm not going to set a hard price limit, but we're looking for things that cost no more than a few dollars/pounds/whatever.
- Modify it in any way you desire. Again, proper advanced modelling with loads of spare kit parts is probably outside the scope of this project, but on the other hand what the hell.
- Take a photograph of the model. If you've messed with it, take a before/after photo. If you can put a regular 28mm scale figure next to it to show how big it is, that would be great.
- Write a description of the monster. What is it? Where did it come from? What's it do? All that stuff.
- Stat the monster for your favourite RPG. This could be anything -- D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Esoterrorists, World of Darkness, FATE, Synnibarr, your own homebrew system, whatever. Anything goes.
- Email the description, photos and stats to me at gonzohistory AT gmail. If you can, include info on where you got the figure, how much it cost, etc., so that people who want to can get one of their own.
- Enter more than once if you want to, but you can only win once.
- If you have a link to your blog or site that you want included in your entry, just say so!
Sound like fun? Dig out those old toys and get cracking.
Here are a few more photos that I took for the previous post but didn't use, featuring charity shop or Poundland toys and Torchy the Torchbearer. Who is going back on the painting table, because his nose looks awful.
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| Cybermats: I got a pack of like 20 for £4 in the toy section at TK Maxx. |
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| This dragon's expression seems familiar. |
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| Another Poundland toy; I think it came together with the one above. |
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| All of these creepy-crawlies came in a single pack from Poundland at Halloween (with lots more). The maggots are all squishy and gross. |
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| This is part of the same toyline as the ape monster and likewise cost £1. My assumption is it was designed by a 10-year-old who'd had a lot of cough syrup. |
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| It's like a crystal blue dimetrodon with a buzzsaw for a fin? I got it from the 10p toy basket at the Salvation Army shop. |
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