EXTENDED - The Indigo Template Contest

[Roland St. Jude]

The Indigo Template Contest

October is month of mystery and this month's contest is more mysterious than most. Based on Marked by the Indigo by Quincunx (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Contests;action=display;num=11445510 24;start=30#39), the winner in a recent Contest of Contests.

Who has been "marked by the indigo"? What happens when they are? Are they literally colored or is that a metaphor? Help unravel the mystery (or perhaps go deeper into it) by designing a template for those "marked by the indigo." The theme is mystery. Your template should involve mystery, secrets, or things that are hidden. All entries must be appropriate for a generic D&D setting.

The contest begins with the posting of this thread and will continue until midnight, December 1st (Eastern US Time, which makes it 4 a.m. GMT November 1st). That is, Thursday evening, Friday morning. *Please remember, as always, to follow the general contest guidelines (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Contests;action=display;num=11247707 71).

The Rules: *
*
1.) You will be creating a single template known colloquially as "The Mark of the Indigo." Its formal name, given by you, should be something else to help differentiate your entry from others.
* * *
2.) Your entry must include the following:

* * * * * 1. A template complete with both backstory and stats.
* * * * * 2. A clear statement of what judging category or categories your template qualifies for.

3.) A good entry will demonstrate the mystery theme. *
*
4.) Entries should be for D&D only, and not specific to any particular setting (e.g. Forgotten Realms or Eberron.) Try to avoid referencing non-core books if at all possible, but do what you have to do.
*
5.) Each new entry should be started on a new thread here on the Contests board, dedicated to just that set of items and the discussion of it. Put the tag [Template] in front of the title of that thread. Any thread without this tag will not be officially entered.
*
6.) Post on the Entry Thread to let the mods know that you have completed your [Template] entry. We'll try to keep a post with all the entries listed in one place for easy reference. This post in the Entry Thread is where you must identify the voting categories for which your entry qualifies.
*
7.) Categories of voting and judgment will include the following:
Best Overall Template
Best Articulation of the Theme
Best Beneficial Template
Best Detrimental Template
Best Warrior-oriented Template
Best Caster-oriented Template
Best Skill-oriented Template
Best Psionic Template
Funniest Template
Rookie Award
Roland's Choice (Staff) Award


If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to post them to this thread. *Good luck!

[The Vorpal Tribble]

This sounds like it'll pretty cool, even if my mind did go immediately blank ;)

[Vaynor]

FINALLY! A template contest! Huzzah!

Anyways, I know which orientation VT's gonna take... *coughpsioniccough*

[Mike_Lemmer]

Whoa, Paranoia flashback for a moment there. I can still hear the explosions. We always associated Indigo with "government-mandated mad science", or "ending the world with your tax dollars".


Anyways, I know which orientation VT's gonna take... *coughpsioniccough*

Eh, only if he wants to go New Age on us.

I'd go with the traditional role of indigo as a rare dye, treated like a spice. Synthetic indigo is often used nowadays; "blue" jeans are made with it, so you could make a correlation between indigo and the working class. Or you could combine the two into a class struggle when a alchemist's cheaper indigo variant threatens the royalty's monopoly on it.

The light purple indigo we're used to was actually defined by Newton when he needed to fit an extra color into the spectrum. Newton thought that light and sound were physically similar (relation to Descartes' primitive wave theory of light?), so he put 7 colors into the spectrum to match the 7 notes in the scale. You could match that to other important sevens as well.

It seems the human eye is insensitive to indigo frequencies as well, and there's some debate whether it should be a true a color or just a shade of blue or violet. "The color that isn't there!"

Finally, it seems Mayans wore the color indigo as a good luck charm during pregnancy.

Ah, the wonders of Wikipedia!

[The Demented One]

Dibs on the indigo/madness connection, via the prismatic wall spell.

[Vaynor]

Dibs on the indigo/madness connection, via the prismatic wall spell.
Damn you DO. Damn you.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

FINALLY! A template contest! Huzzah!

Anyways, I know which orientation VT's gonna take... *coughpsioniccough*
Bah, I do non-psionic at least as much.

[Vaynor]

Bah, I do non-psionic at least as much.
Prove it. ::)

[Mike_Lemmer]

Your ratio of psionic:non-psionic is still obscene compared to the norm.

[Fax Celestis]

...can I make several different variations of "Touched by Indigo" templates and put them all in one entry?

[Lord Iames Osari]

No! Must... fight... lack of... inspiration!

[Roland St. Jude]

...can I make several different variations of "Touched by Indigo" templates and put them all in one entry?

My unofficial answer, is that you can do whatever you want; the real question is can you sell it to the voters?

My more helpful self suggests maybe you tie the templates together somehow (perhaps as different manifestations of an underlying cause.)

[Fax Celestis]

My unofficial answer, is that you can do whatever you want; the real question is can you sell it to the voters?

My more helpful self suggests maybe you tie the templates together somehow (perhaps as different manifestations of an underlying cause.)
That was the idea.

[The Glyphstone]

My unofficial answer, is that you can do whatever you want; the real question is can you sell it to the voters?

My more helpful self suggests maybe you tie the templates together somehow (perhaps as different manifestations of an underlying cause.)

So, for ultimate clarification: Can we submit multiple templates (connected by a common theme) as part of a single entry, aiming to capture multiple categories?

[Roland St. Jude]

So, for ultimate clarification: Can we submit multiple templates (connected by a common theme) as part of a single entry, aiming to capture multiple categories?


Sure.

[The Glyphstone]

GOOD. ;)

[Mike_Lemmer]

I predict 90% psionic entries and 2 fighter-oriented entries.

[Were-Sandwich]

Is it just me, or did this contest include PrC's before I went offline, but when I came back did not?

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I predict 90% psionic entries and 2 fighter-oriented entries.
Mine is druidic. In yo face!



Is it just me, or did this contest include PrC's before I went offline, but when I came back did not?
Not... that I recall.

[Lykan]

Awesome... I got a template for every category... ;D

So that'd disaprove the psionic/fighter theory.

Just out of curiosity... Is indigo blue, or purple? Because I looked it up, and there's like three different kinds. :P

[Mike_Lemmer]

Awesome... I got a template for every category... ;D

So that'd disaprove the psionic/fighter theory.

Not yet it doesn't. That'd require 2 more fighter templates


Just out of curiosity... Is indigo blue, or purple? Because I looked it up, and there's like three different kinds. :P

It's both. There's indigo dye, which is blue jeans-blue, and there's electromagnetic indigo, which is the red-headed stepchild of violet.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

If you can't tell if something is purple or blue, thats indigo.

*quick Google image browse...*

Good example of what I mean:
http://www.alicehoffman.com/indigo.jpg

[Rama_Lei]

do I still qualify for the Rookie award if I started an entry, but didn't finish it in time to be entered?

[Helgraf]

I predict 90% psionic entries and 2 fighter-oriented entries.

Hmmm, well, I think we've bucked that trend...

[Roland St. Jude]

do I still qualify for the Rookie award if I started an entry, but didn't finish it in time to be entered?

I'm going to say yes. Mostly because while all the critiquing and discussion of works in progress is (very) important and fun, from a judging stand-point, it isn't an entry until you enter it.

[Vaynor]

Well this sucks. The one contest I was waiting for, and I run out of time to work on it... next time I guess...

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Well this sucks. The one contest I was waiting for, and I run out of time to work on it... next time I guess...
You still got 11 days...

[Helgraf]

You still got 11 days...

Which answers the question I hadn't remembered to ask, e.g., when does one's submission have to be done by.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Which answers the question I hadn't remembered to ask, e.g., when does one's submission have to be done by.

The deadline is mentioned on the first page...

[The Glyphstone]

Since the board shutdown went on a lot further than expected, will there be an extension for completing entries?

[Roland St. Jude]

We're considering it. Until you hear more, however, assume the deadline is the same.

(Note: Those of you who have already posted entries should check to make sure your entries survived the switch over and should update your entry post to make sure it points to the right place.)

[EndlessEnnui]

(Note: Those of you who have already posted entries should check to make sure your entries survived the switch over and should update your entry post to make sure it points to the right place.)
The Purple Pact Partisan (http://giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9684) has been fully updated.

Query: Since I haven't received much feedback on my template yet, is it allowed for me to post it in the general Homebrew Design forum for general reactions, or is that considered bad form?

[LordOfNarf]

Can someone post a link to the original Marked by Indigo that inspired this contest, my search-fu skills suck, and I kinda like the consept, but need to know what I'm supposed to be basing it on.

[Roland St. Jude]

Can someone post a link to the original Marked by Indigo that inspired this contest, my search-fu skills suck, and I kinda like the consept, but need to know what I'm supposed to be basing it on.

Everything you need to know is in the introduction post for the contest. The original Marked by Indigo by Quincunx was merely the inspiration, but if you want to see it...here it is. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9816&page=2)

Note that the instructions for the contest take precedence and the judging categories are the ones I've stated - not the ones Quincunx proposed.

[Jack Mann]

You didn't answer Endless Ennui's question.

[Roland St. Jude]

The Purple Pact Partisan (http://giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9684) has been fully updated.

Query: Since I haven't received much feedback on my template yet, is it allowed for me to post it in the general Homebrew Design forum for general reactions, or is that considered bad form?

As of right now, I don't believe that there are any rules against it. As long as the criticism is like that you'd get in the Design Contest forum, and not the creation of a team entry, I don't think it's against the rules.

Is it considered bad form? That's a community decision, I think. What do people think about that?

[Jack Mann]

I don't see any problem with it, myself. Ideally, we'd be getting some critiques in this forum as well, but the sad fact is that the contests board just doesn't get the traffic that homebrew does.

[Roland St. Jude]

Since the board shutdown went on a lot further than expected, will there be an extension for completing entries?

Yes, this contest is being extended one additional month to midnight, Dec. 1, 2006. Not only because of the extended shutdown, but also because of the remaining issues about tables, post size limits, etc., I think it would be a good idea to give people extra time to sort things out and get their entries in order.

[Mike_Lemmer]

Mmmm, an entire month? I'd say that's a bit overkill; a week or two should do it, and I wouldn't want to wait an entire month for the next contest.

Now, if you started the next contest before this one's over, I wouldn't mind.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Unghhh... a month...

How about just the period the forums were down or somesuch?

[The Glyphstone]

Hm - I was hoping for a week, maybe two...but a month works too, more time for feedback...and trimming down my backstory exposition, it doesn't too much for the "mystery" theme by filling up 2-3 pages in 12-space font. :)

[Jack Mann]

Yeah, it'll give me time to make a few more Indigo Kennings.

[LordOfNarf]

I was just wondering, what are the criteria for each voting catagory? For example, what do you have to do to qualify for best rookie award or Staff award? How do you determine what an entry qualifies for?

[Mike_Lemmer]

The Rookie Award can only be won by people entering the design contests for the first time. All entries are eligible for Overall, Articulation, and Staff awards. For all other awards, the entry's creator decides what the entry's eligible for. Technically, you could say an entry's eligible for all of them, but then VT would beat you to death with his psychic bat.

[Roland St. Jude]

Unghhh... a month...

How about just the period the forums were down or somesuch?

How about a month? :smallwink: My initial thought (after thinking briefly, "no extension! Plow through and get to the next contest.") was to extend a week or two, but I quickly came around to extending a full month to Dec. 1. Why?

While we've resolved some of the issues justifying the initial month extension (post size limits, image restrictions, etc.), some other issues may or may not be resolved (there's some issue with tables, some people are having login issues, etc.), and people generally need time to get comfortable with the new commands. So a month still seems reasonable to me.

But even if you disagree that's longer than needed from a contestant perspective, there are other issues that make a month a reasonable choice. Extending only one or two weeks means throwing off the schedule, starting the next contest mid-month, and generally mucking up the new system (which is designed to try to bring you a contest every month - I don't know if it'll work, but that's been my goal.) Also, there's a lot of extra work going on behind the scenes with the change over that makes ending the old contest, or starting the new one, a bit much right now.

So for reasons various and sundry, it'll be a month. (On the upside, look for a contest in December run by someone other than me!)


I was just wondering, what are the criteria for each voting catagory? For example, what do you have to do to qualify for best rookie award or Staff award? How do you determine what an entry qualifies for?

Basically, what ^ said. You qualify for the Rookie Award category if you have never entered an entry in a GitP Design Contest before. Everyone qualifies for the Staff Award. You qualify for the others if you think you do. By that I mean, I'm not going to go through and confirm whether you reallu belong in a category or not. If the voters disagree that you belong in that category, it will show in the voting. So indicate whatever you think you're eligible for.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Actually, how are we to start December when we still have to vote? Are we going to be voting while starting the new one?

With it as dead as it is now why not just end this on, say, the 15th, and then let folks vote for a couple weeks.

[Roland St. Jude]

Actually, how are we to start December when we still have to vote? Are we going to be voting while starting the new one?

With it as dead as it is now why not just end this on, say, the 15th, and then let folks vote for a couple weeks.

For the answer to your first question, we must look to the past. The past few contests, that is. The new timeline that we are trying to establish is:

Contest Opens on the 8th
Contest Closes on the 30th/31st (last day of the month)
Voting Opens immediately upon Contest Closing
Voting Closes on the 7th
Awards posted on the 8th prior to the new contest opening.

This has been the way of the last few contests (roughly), and hopefully will continue in the future - but I'm not making any promises, these things happen when they happen.

As for your second question, because I've fiddled with the dates enough already. Anyone thinking about a last minute entry on November 30th should be entitled to do so. Anyone planning to clean up their entry after the move bolluxed it up should be entitled to the full time I've already promised. The same principle applies to us behind the scenes - we want to put out the shiniest new contest possible for you come December 8th-ish.

Your comment does raise one good point, though. For people who normally struggle to read all the entries, this would be a good time to check the Entry Thread for completed entries and get a head start and reading them.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Had thought you had said something about fixing up the times, which I presumed meant no more week-after the months thing. Never mind then :smallwink:


C'mon you lazy sons of mothers, get going already! We have a whopping total of only nine submitted and the boards've been back for awhile now.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Only 5 days or so left... where is everyone?

[Mike_Lemmer]

On vacation?

Perhaps making a concept around abstract indigo is harder than we thought.

As another problem, it seems some of our entries are slipping into the Old Posts category. Will we have to bump each of them to ensure they're all seen?

P.S. Wavy subtle, tribble.

[Roland St. Jude]

...As another problem, it seems some of our entries are slipping into the Old Posts category. Will we have to bump each of them to ensure they're all seen?...

As long as your post to the Entry Thread points to the proper thread on the new boards, people should be able to follow the link in the list once I assemble it. That said, a last-minute bump couldn't hurt your visibility. :smallwink:

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Been trying to come up with some adventure ideas for my entry but all of them just seem too cliche...

Someone cast Inspiration on me!

[Mike_Lemmer]

Steal any Poison Ivy plot line?

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Steal any Poison Ivy plot line?
Err... eh?

[EndlessEnnui]

As recommended, bump completed to my Purple Pact Partisan (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9684). Well, not so much a "bump" as a "thorough response to previous commentary along with additional optional content with a dash of humor," but you get the picture.

[Rainspattered]

The Emaciated Avenger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28391) is ready to mark my first submission into one of these contests.

[Roland St. Jude]

The Emaciated Avenger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28391) is ready to mark my first submission into one of these contests.

Wonderful! Make sure a link gets posted in the Official Entry Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9688)! (And good luck!)

[Roland St. Jude]

This contest is now CLOSED! Expect a Voting thread shortly.