Scenario Competition: Write Your Two-Page Pitch by January 6th, 2017!

What is the World of Darkness in 2017? What is true there? What is possible there? White Wolf are in the process of finding out, and the best sources for insight on what the fans would find exciting to play is – to ask the fans.

In what we think is the first official World of Darkness scenario design competition ever, you are cordially invited to submit your one-shot scenario exploring the theme “This World of Darkness”. You can design either for one of the five core WoD systems (Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion and Changeling: The Dreaming) or in the “bespoke rules” category, which allows you to also design or select the optimal game mechanics for the specific topic your one-shot is exploring.

In the first stage of the competition, you submit only a two-page synopsis, and you should hurry, because the deadline is on January 6th. Among the submitted synopses, a smaller number of entrants will be invited to submit a full scenario for the competition; these submissions are the longlist. From the longlist, the finalists or shortlist will selected for play at World of Darkness Berlin and publication in an official White Wolf anthology. In addition, all works on the longlist are candidates for publication, and we’ll do our best to make sure they will all be run at least once in Berlin. And we’re looking at the options for taking these one-shots on tour to other conventions too!

For all the competition rules, submission advice, and advice from White Wolf about the World of Darkness Metaplot in 2017, please read the competition’s webpage. For some practical tips about submitting games for this kind of competition, check out our previous blog interview with the competition’s head judge Marie Oscilowski here. Marie will lead the work of the esteemed jury of game designers, games scholars and White Wolf staff.

As a final treat, we got in touch with White Wolf’s Lead Storyteller Martin Ericsson, to ask what the theme “This World of Darkness” means for him. Enjoy!

3 Questions About the Competition for White Wolf’s Martin Ericsson

It’s really cool of you guys at White Wolf to let us do this scenario design competition, thank you! You selected the theme "This World of Darkness". Why?

– We wanted a theme that focuses on a specific and unique aspect of WoD without limiting choices to any specific period or game line. No matter if your story stars ignorant mortals, disillusioned changelings or deeply religious Cainites, they are about us and the increasingly weird challenges facing us as a global civilization. The choice to focus on stories ”ripped from the headlines” is our way to invite you to join us as we imagine how the societies of Sleeping mortals and Awakened creatures have changed over the last 16 years. Few (if any) other horror or urban fantasy universes are as tightly intertwined with real political and social events as WoD. This is something to be proud of, and an opportunity to create fearless satire, eerily realistic political thrillers or personal dramas that could only be about being young in 2017.

– This broad theme can be interpreted at face value, with stories about city-less vampires in symbiosis with the growing class of unregistered immigrants. Or mages manipulating the perception of the masses through clickbait paradigms. Or stories could be thought of as metaphors or dark reflections of the present, just like the struggle between the Sabbat and the Camarilla has always been fertile ground for reflections on a world caught up in the last confusing battles of the Cold War.

Participants are invited to pitch scenarios about all periods. Do you have any examples of what it could mean to engage with a contemporary theme in a historic setting?

– By looking at history we can catch a glimpse of ourselves. A story about the death of privacy and online bullying could be set during the Terror of revolutionary Paris, where jealous comrades in arms inform on each other, fearful that they will otherwise be the ones ending up (literally in this case) on the chopping block. Or a story set at the end of the Weimar republic, with characters trying to stop or aid the rise of a growing popular fascist movement. Or why not set a story during the first Inquisition, to search for similarities with the witch-hunts of our own age.

Apart from playing this new games designed in the fan community, what are you most looking forward to at World of Darkness Berlin?

– Meeting people and getting lost in the city. In and out of character. An in-crowd or city-wide WoD game has been my recurring daydream – daymare? – for decades. I can’t wait to see what horrible and cool stories will emerge from the unholy alchemy of imaginary monsters in the crucible of the uniquely tolerant and open-minded Berlin night-life!

Photo of Martin Ericsson is Copyright Tim Bradstreet.