With less than a week to go, we will be sending out an update every day with the status of the setting concept contest. The last day for submissions is February 20. We will then allow another 7 days for final reviews to be submitted.
I (mikeb) gave a presentation of bySwarm to a local business group and despite that they did not know much about the particulars of the RPG industry, they were very excited about what we are trying to accomplish at bySwarm. I'm very excited, too, and I wrote a little about that in the bySwarm blog: http://posterous.byswarm.com/im-excited-21
The following setting concepts could use some more reviews. Be sure to check them out and submit a review! If you are the author for one of these reviews, you can still post your own review as well. The Inspiring category is most important because it indicates how much you are willing to keep working on the setting if it wins. For the other categories, please keep them in line with the scores of the other reviews.
Setting concepts with 3 reviews
Apotheosis - Zack Faust
http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/apotheosis
"Hi my name is Bob, and I’m a god. I can make into you a demi-god, how’s that sound?" All that went through the teenagers’ mind as they underwent apotheosis was ‘oh my god, Sally is going to flip when she hears about this!’ Welcome to Apotheosis, the crazy weird game where teenagers have to learn to control their new powers while worrying about getting good grades (because that’s what teenagers think about right?), all while trying to keep the existence of their powers a secret!
The Last Child - Zack Faust
http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/last-child
Space ships, planned evolution, planets lost to time, the mysterious Rave, and humanity, the orphaned and last sentient species to be born, have been thrown into it all. Long ago the first sentients, the Lenia created a number of other sentient races that have carried on this tradition even after the Lenia vanished, leaving their dark legacy behind. This setting is a Gothic Space RPG with overtones of a Space Opera mixed throughout.
Setting concepts with 2 reviews
Beta World - azato
http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/beta-world
This is a game about the far future when aliens invade and "terraform" the earth for thier own purposes. The settign takes place hundreds of years after the change and our world is populated with many strange creatures and plants. The weather patterns have also changed. The is a reverse side to this coin which I will reveal if this ever gets chosen to develop further. This world is a my attempt to create a "logical' Gamma World setting. I am not claiming that this all works from a scientific point of view, but that it answers many of my own objections.
Mist & Shadow - mikeb
http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/mist-shadow
In Mist & Shadow, the truth is almost never what appears on the outside but is instead several layers deep within intrigue, subterfuge, and obfuscation. While magic and the supernatural is still outside the conventional knowledge of mankind, members of the Shadow Consortium work day and night to unlock the power of the unknown in combination with technology. The League of Mists pushes the gears of war forward as millions of men, women, and children die in a conflict that will remake the world. How it will end for sure is yet to be seen for even the Oracle of Munich now admits that the circumstances of her prophecy have changed.
Setting concepts with 1 review
Seeker's Fate - Zack Faust
http://byswarm.com/setting-concept/seekers-fate
"We stand apart. We are neither Judge, Prosecutor, Defendant, nor Victim, we are Seekers. It is our job to observe and manage the continued existence of the Multiverse"- Seeker History 101. In the center of the multiverse is a world known as Orphana, home to the warriors known as the Seekers, the ones who guard the balance of the multiverse. But as that balance is threatened by schisms within the Seekers, war, and a mysterious enemy, can the Seekers succeed in their duty in this fantasy RPG setting?
