Greetings to one and all!  Spring is coming, and alongside the warming weather and driving rain, it also brings with it this year’s Tournament of Souls!

As usual we’re first going to give a rundown of what the tournament actually is.  First and foremost, it is a competition in creativity.  Within the guidelines of this challenge, each competitor will create their own mechanically balanced creature or pair of creatures.  Yet this isn’t just about the mechanics.  The competitors are required to detail the creation of their construct or undead creature.  What material allows it’s claws to bypass damage reduction?  What process makes it resistant to acid?  Was the undead creature slain by being immersed in tank of acid like the caustic shades of the 101st tournament perhaps?  Build the creature as a character or Creator would in-game.

The Tournament of Souls takes place in the capital city of the Illurian Empire, in the Realms of Twilight campaign setting.  It’s grand arena plays host to a wide variety of performances, battles and other forms of competition, but none are more prestigious than the Tournament of Souls.  Each Creator pits their creature against the other’s in a randomly determined battle bracket.  No one knows which creatures will be paired up to fight, and since the battlegrounds are also randomly determined, there is no way to know what dangers the terrain itself will offer!

Do you think you have what it takes to become a Creator, and pit your monster against the other competitors?  The time has come to show your creative skills, refine your necromantic talents, or amaze the audience with your skills as an artificer!  Honor, glory, and other prizes can be yours, if you but enter this incredible contest!  Previous victors include the Horseman of Death himself, and a rather entertaining artificer who calls himself Alchemy.

Each battle is run by Silver Crescent staff, each with our own reputations on the line should we lose.  The mechanics of the fights will be transcribed into short stories, told from the perspective of the arena’s highly respected (and highly compensated) commentator.

Now for the rules:

1) Created creatures must be of the Construct or Undead type

2) a single CR 7 creature or a pair of CR 5 creatures that fight together may be submitted.

3) No incorporeal or respawning creatures are allowed.

4) Constructs cannot be animated by the psyche of a sentient being (creatures with an Intelligence score of 6 or greater).  They must be powered by an outsider of some sort (elementals are most commonly used.

5) ALL abilities of the creature must be accounted for in either materials, creation processes, or spells used during creation.  Note: Most spells cannot be made permanent, and may allow spell-like abilities to be used, but unless they are a part of a process, or enhancing a material they may not be able maintain a permanent effect.  Favoring materials and processes is highly recommended.

6) Creatures must be balanced for their particular CR. Imbalanced creatures will not pass the pre-tournament review by the tourney mages and will not be allowed to compete.  Comparing your creation to other creatures of the same CR is highly recommended.

7) Only 1 submission per Creator.

8) You must submit a creator name alongside your creation for story purposes.

9) All submissions must be accompanied by a short paragraph describing the creature and its creation, including annotations for materials, processes, and spells used in creation.

10) Only official Pathfinder resources published by either Paizo Publishing or Silver Crescent Publishing may be referenced.

PRIZES:

1) The Tournament Grand Champion will be receiving a PDF copy of all current Silver Crescent Publishing products.
2) 2nd place receives a PDF of the Claws of Pelazin module, as well as a new, as of yet unreleased digital character sheet!

Entries will be accepted throughout the month of May, up until midnight on the 31st. Submissions will be reviewed by Tournament Mages (i.e. Silver Crescent staff) and either accepted for competition or disqualified.  Early submissions may have the opportunity to resubmit more balanced creations.

Submissions should be sent to Submissions@realmsoftwilight.net with the subject line “Tournament of Souls Entry.”

Legal Stuff:

All submitted creations become the intellectual property of Silver Crescent Publishing (no different than many other contests).

We look forward to seeing this year’s epic creations, and meeting the amazing creators who put them together.  We wish the best of luck to all in their creative endeavors!