Onyx Path Publishing

Storypath Nexus Game Jam!

A GameJam is a competition where game designers, both beginners and industry veterans, make games together around a central theme. This February, Onyx Path Publishing is hosting the Storypath Nexus GameJam. All participants will post their creations to Storypath Nexus where they will be available for purchase. That’s right, even if you don’t win, you are self-publishing your own work.

There are three ways to win: Judge Vote, Popular Vote, and the Best Combined Vote. Familiar faces from the Onyx Path Twitch channel will be judging the competition. The judges are:

  • Corbin Bogert from the Awkward GM Corbin YouTube Channel and Storyguide for Trinity Continuum: Assassins One-on-Ones
  • Liam Conway from the Twilight Network, a Chronicles of Darkness splat introduction series and lore deep dives
  • Korvis Krow from the YouTube series Mage the Ascension: Neon Gore and Creative Head of Blank Slate, and
  • G. Ramos the birthday party beast who will also be covering the GameJam throughout the month on Onyx Path Publishing’s Twitch Channel.

Those who aren’t participating are encouraged to vote for who they think deserves to win!

The theme for this GameJam is “New Beginnings”. What does this mean? That’s up to you to decide. Does it mean creating a starting adventure for new characters? Could it be a book of Origin Paths? This theme was chosen to help introduce people to the Storypath System, but if you wish to focus on the beginning of the FSA or the beginning of the Æon Society that is still valid! 

Dates to Remember:

  • February 1st, 2024 – Start of the contest, the live stream kickoff will start at 5pm ET.
  • February 28th, 2024 – Final day for submissions.
  • February 29th, 2024 – Award Ceremony where the winners are announced.

Entries will be listed here.

Prizes:

  • Grand Prize* – $50 in DriveThruRPG credit.
  • Most Popular Prize – $25 in DriveThruRPG credit.
  • Judge’s Favorite Prize – $25 in DriveThruRPG credit.

*Note if you win the Grand Prize you cannot win the other two prizes.

Rules:

  1. Contestants are allowed to work individually or in teams. Please identify all team members, commissioned collaborators, and appropriate attributions in the credits page of your entry.
  2. All entries must be submitted to Storypath Nexus as within the timeframe of the competition with #StorypathNexusGameJam2024 in the description.
    1. Complimentary copies of entries must be sent to the Judges in order to be entered. This can be done through DriveThruRPG’s account page -> Promotional Tools -> Send Complimentary Copy -> To storypathnexusjudges@gmail.com
    2. Sending copies to the Judges means your entry is ready to be judged. Any updates after submission will not be judged.
    3. Multiple entries are allowed, but will be scored individually. 
    4. Entries must follow the Storypath Nexus guidelines found here. Frequently Asked Questions can be found here.
    5. Entries must fall into the Trinity Continuum, Scion, or They Came From… settings.
    6. After the GameJam is completed contestants are allowed to edit and adjust their products in accordance with the Storypath Nexus guidelines.
  3. The entries must be developed within the timeframe of the competition
    1. It can’t be something that has been worked on or workshopped outside of the timeframe.
  4. Art in an entry can either be created by the developer, commissioned, from an Onyx Path Art Pack, or creative commons and origin must be listed in the credits.
    1. Art used in an entry cannot be stolen or AI created, use of such will result in disqualification. 
  5. All writing must be done by the developer or commissioned. It cannot be AI based, use of such will result in disqualification. 
  6. Judges are allowed to participate, but cannot win either the Overall Winner or Judge Award categories.
  7. Results:
    1. Overall Winner – This is given to the entry that scores the highest in both Judge Score and Popularity Score. 
    2. Judge Award – This is given to the entry that scores the highest in the Judge Score that is not the Overall Winner. 
    3. Popularity Award – This is given to the entry that scores the highest in the Popularity Score voted on by other contestants and the public, that is not the Overall Winner.
  8. Anyone wishing to report any rules violations can submit them to this link. Judges will investigate and determine if the report is credible.

Rubric

The following is the rubric that judges will be scoring based on. The Judge’s opinions may vary, but the rubric is designed to help contestants work towards certain criteria.

  • Theme – How close the entry sticks to the Game Jam’s Prompt. (i.e. if the prompt is African Swallows and you submit a European Swallow it would score 3 out of 5 for Theme)
    • 0 – Does not follow the theme at all.
    • 1 – Adjacent connection with the theme.
    • 2 – Minimal connection with the theme.
    • 3 – Partially connected to the theme.
    • 4 – Major connection with the theme.
    • 5 – Follows the theme completely.
  • Originality – How unique the entry is either in story or in mechanics.
    • 0 – The entry is identical to a product that already exists with minor changes.
    • 1 – The entry is similar to a product that exists with major changes.
    • 2 – The entry is a unique concept, but not compelling.
    • 3 – The entry is a unique spin on an existing concept.
    • 4 – The entry is unique enough that its inspiration is hard to discern.
    • 5 – The entry is exceptionally unique and creative.
  • Completeness – How usable the mechanics of the entry is.
    • 0 – The entry is incomplete and unusable.
    • 1 – The entry is incomplete, but usable.
    • 2 – The entry is complete, but with some major issues.
    • 3 – The entry is complete, but with some minor issues.
    • 4 – The entry is complete and playable.
    • 5 – The entry is complete to the standard of a finished product.
  • Presentation – How finished the artwork is.
    • 0 – No art is present.
    • 1 – Unfinished sketches. 
    • 2 – Cover art only or less than 1 piece of art per 10 pages.  
    • 3 – Quality art.
    • 4 – Outstanding art.
    • 5 – Onyx Path Quality artwork. 
  • Layout – How close the entry looks to a finished TTRPG book.
    • 0 – No layout is present. Such as a word document all written in a single paragraph. 
    • 1 – Layout utilizes basic Word Processor layout.
    • 2 – Layout utilizes advanced Word Processor layout.
    • 3 –  Layout utilizes advanced Word Processor layout and is formatted with columns.
    • 4 –  Layout utilizes existing Storypath template.
    • 5 – Layout exemplifies the appearance of existing 1st party Storypath products or is otherwise exceptional.
  • Bonus: X-Factor – How much an Individual Judge loves the entry, this will only be used for tie breakers. Scored 0-5.

Here are all of the design templates and art packs we’ve released so

far for Storypath Nexus community content creators:

Templates:

Art Packs:

Style Guides:

If you don’t wish to participate you can follow the competition on Onyx Path Publishing’s Twitch Channel and vote for who you think deserves to win. Your opinions matter so make sure to vote! And see you on February 29th to see who are the lucky winners.

Good luck, have fun, and remember many worlds, one path!

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Ian A. A. Watson

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