Pip the Mimic's Magnificent Module Jam 2024!

This year’s topic: The World of Heroes!

Hello everyone! Welcome to a 3-week game jam where participants can test their skill set in writing a D&D adventure… and do it all in the name of charity!

Pip's Magnificent Module Jam is meant to be a space for anyone who has had that D&D 5E one-shot ready in their mind, but lacked either the skillset, motivation, or support to put it on paper. Now, here is your chance to realize your dreams in an organized network of feedback, playtesting, and skill sharing. This will hopefully evolve into a community effort within the itch.io community page. Our final goal is to create our yearly adventure zine to be printed and sold for our yearly fundraising, where all proceeds will go directly to The Trevor Project!

The theme and parameters of the Adventure Jam will be announced on August 7th 2024 at 11PM EST on our community page and in an itch.io email. That moment will be the start time of the three week long contest!

Each submission automatically enters the competition with a chance of publishing, as well as winning prizes provided by the D&D in NYC organization. There will be prizes based on the number of funds gathered through the campaign here, with the final amount announced closer to the start date, but the goal is to have a prize pool of between $250-500 (further details on the prize range is below in the section about participation fees). The total value of contributions will determine how high the pool goes, but it will start at a $250 prize pool funded by The Dungeon Alliance Inc.

The adventures will compete in two ways, among four prizes (one prize per entrant):

Through Popular Vote:

Overall Winner (40% of the prize pool): a module that scored during playtesting and a ranked system that also includes judging points by the organizers. The people’s choice ranking will inform this final decision, but ultimately the winner of this will be up to a committee of non-participants.
People's Choice (20% of the prize pool): the module that the public considers the best. This is second place if the Overall Winner didn’t win the most points during voting. This is open to all, so get your friend in here!

Through Committee Judging:

Best Narrative (20% of the prize pool): the module with the most interesting and/or compelling story line that matches the theme of the competition.
Best Balance And Mechanics (20% of the prize pool): the module that has the most unique/innovative use of the system. This can be an amazingly designed encounter, or the best designed mechanic that supplements a module. The DM who runs this module would probably think they didn’t have to work too hard to get it to be fun and engaging.

Who are we?

D&D in NYC is a volunteer-run organized play group in NYC that is a part of the charity organization/nonprofit The Dungeon Alliance Inc. We organize in-person D&D 5E events with official support by Wizards of the Coast through the Adventurer's League program. We run weekly games in Brooklyn, NY, and every year run the organized play system at New York Comic Con (serving approx 1200 players last year!).

The Dungeon Alliance Inc. is a charity that networks and funds like-minded efforts across the TTRPG landscape, and has a prime directive of creating accessible and equitable gaming spaces for everyone. This includes going to libraries and teaching prospective Dice Goblins, charity fundraising and slaying evil at conventions (online or in person!), or being a support system to local organized play systems for all ages. D&D in NYC is one of many partner organizations, and you'll see much more of TDAI on itch.io and in real life very soon, especially if you're RPG hyper-dorks like us.

Participation rules:

Submission Requirement:

This jam submission has to be an SRD-based D&D adventure module. There is no limitation to the adventure's topic or structure (within reason, see submission content section), and the designed length of play should either be 2 or 4 hours. The format of the submission must be done using the SRD template, which can be found on dmsguild. For convenience, both the relevant SRD section and the writing template is provided at the Google Drive link here.

Participation Fee:

The event has a suggested $10 participation contribution which can be collected here on our donorbox page. The contributions will go towards the publishing effort for the winning modules. Beyond the initial $250 dollar prize pool, The Dungeon Alliance Inc. will match the first $125 collected to add to the prize pool, raising it from $250 to up to $500! Anything raised beyond the publishing effort will be donated directly to The Trevor Project

Publishing:

Upon agreement with the teams, the winning modules will be edited, formatted, and, eventually, published. Each game jam submission team will receive a print copy of the published content as long as everything works out. Winners will be credited as the authors on the book's title page. Anyone who submits will receive acknowledgement in the published book. Please be aware of any emails sent by our team, so we can collect and communicate any information needed towards this effort. If you didn’t win one of the four main prizes, it doesn’t mean you won’t get published, since sometimes things don’t work out. Please also stay in the loop with our emails in case we would like to add your submission to the charity zine.

Team Formation:

We leave team formation to participants. Team size is limited to a maximum of 4. Team Formation threads will be published in D&D in NYC Discord channel, as well as on the community board on itch.io. Teams must be locked in before the submission deadline by messaging DinosaurPower. We encourage participants to form teams with diversity in skills and perspectives in mind. Special consideration to teams who are built so the participants can learn and grow together. Remember, the real game jam is the friends we made along the way! c:

Support system/Playtesting:

D&D in NYC will set up supplementary resources and a play testing opportunity to support participants. Stay tuned for more information.

Statement on allowed submission content:

All entries must be original works by the entrant, in English. Plagiarism, which includes the use of third-party mechanics, narrative points, characters, or another person’s universe, without written permission, will result in disqualification. Sexual themes and the use of profane, vulgar, racist or offensive words, determined by the judges, will result in the disqualification until removal of such topics. Entries may not have been previously published in professional media. Use of generative AI is prohibited in submissions. Submissions suspected in use of generative AI for graphics, text, and any other part of adventure, will be disqualified from competition.

Statement on harassment:

Our team cherishes inclusivity. Participants who harrass based on race, sex, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, etc, will be disqualified from participation.

Participation FAQ:

Can I go solo?

Yes, you can go solo if you feel this way.

I don't like D&D, can I write an adventure for VTMB?

No, this jam is limited solely to Dungeons and Dragons.

I want to do a homebrew monster!

Do it! Just make sure you are using the 5th Edition SRD.

I am overwhelmed, what should I do?

D&D in NYC will be providing jam hotline contact that can try and help resolve problems in the best way possible.

Our two designers are fighting with swords under rain, bloodshed suspected!

Good for them. Send photos!

Will I be able to publish these modules for Adventurer's League?

We will offer authors help on adapting modules for Adventurer's League after the game jam is finished. It is important to note that if the module is being written for Adventurer's League it will not be able to make it into physical print media in the state that it is submitted to this competition, and the compensation of prize money could get a little complicated. That being said, we want what you want, so we will figure it out!

Useful links on the 5e SRD and Creative Commons:

Creative Commons

Systems Reference Document

Stay tuned for further updates!

D&D in NYC's social media and useful links:

Discord | Instagram | Redbubble