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Final Showdowns & Shootouts
Adventure published!
Contest concludes with Rob Edwards' Judge, Jury & Executioner
July 13, 2010
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At long last, and with great jubilation, Hawgleg Publishing is pleased to announce the publication of the final winning entry in its Showdowns & Shootouts Adventure Writing Contest.
The final winning entry is "Judge, Jury & Executioner" by Rob Edwards. In this exciting adventure for use with the Gutshot rules system, two bounty hunters and a sheriff search a small town for the identity of an elusive gunslinger known as The Executioner.
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In addition to having the potential for bloody combat, this scenario also features a new search/investigation mechanic and random NPC actions that allow this to be played as a solo game.
As with all other adventures selected in this contest, it is available as a free PDF download from Hawgleg's Website.
"We're very excited to finally bring this contest to a close," said Gutshot co-creator Mike Mitchell. "It seems like it was the longest 'year-long' contest on record, and in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some people despaired that we would eve finish it. But, we did."
A Rough Couple of YearsThe Showdowns & Shootouts contest was announced in January 2007. It was originally intended to run for one year, and at first it seemed like that would be the case. The first adventure, "Ambush at Coyote Canyon" by Al Theobald, was published in April 2007. The second adventure was published in May, and the third in July.
"For a while, it looked like we were on track," Mitchell said. "But it quickly became apparent that this would take longer than we anticipated."
The contest published six adventures in the 2007, and then other matters really began to affect publication in 2008. The most devastating was Hurricane Ike, which hit in September of 2008. The hurricane caused significant damage to Mitchell's home in Houston, Texas, and the fallout had long reaching effects.
Coupled with other distractions, new projects and issues, the contest fell further behind schedule. Only four adventures were published in 2008. The last two were then significantly delayed.
"Honestly, there's no good excuse for the delays involved in the last three adventures," Mitchell said. "These were a lot of work to put out, and we just got sidetracked with other things and allowed the publication dates to keep slipping."
Production manager Paul Mauer agrees, but adds that another factor was also in play.
"To be fair to Mike, the last three adventures are really big and impressive," Paul said. "The 10th adventure includes a giant underground map pack. The 11th includes some really cool river tiles. And the last one includes a brand-new system so you can play this as a solo game. There is a lot of stuff in these games."
Other new material released in the course of the game includes new weapons, new vehicles, and a wealth of NPCs and supplements. All released free as downloadable PDFs.
"We're very proud of the high levels of quality material that came out of this contest," said Gutshot co-creator Mike Murphy. "Every single adventure is a rock solid and well crafted. That was one thing we really wanted to do with this contest. We wanted everything we published to be fully fleshed out and not just a sketchy one-sheet idea. In that regard, we all knocked this one out of the park."
Fun and excitingThe 12 adventures were selected from almost 50 submissions of varying length and complexity.
"There were so many good ideas to choose from, that it was actually hard to pick out what we thought was the best of the best," Murphy said. "Honestly, we could have published 30 or more adventures from the material that was submitted."
Once the selections were made, the Gutshot Posse had to massage the text and material so that it could be published.
"Some of the adventures were almost completely finished and ready to run," Mitchell said. "They just needed to be modified to fit into our standard format. Others were short ideas that needed to be fleshed out with more details."
Some of the new details included new weapons, new ammunition, and new vehicles (including a river raft and a donkey cart).
"In all cases, though, we selected adventures that would be easy to run in regards to figures and terrain, and most of all, that we thought would have a wide appeal and be lots of fun to play," Mitchell said.
And the Winners are...The final step of the contest will be for the winners to be determined and the prizes to be selected.
"We have already had a short talk about which ones we like best," Paul said. "Next we will vote and select the Grand Prize Winner."
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Publication History
April 26, 2007
Ambush at Coyote Canyon!
Al Theobald
May 25, 2007
Bullets for Breakfast!
Ross Edwards
July 20, 2007
1,000 Horses for Helen!
Carmen Cerra
Aug. 15, 2007
Hurrahin' the Sky Pilot!
Dan Hash
Oct. 4, 2007
Holed Up!
Lance Gamble
Oct. 14, 2007
Stand-Off at Muckhole!
Richard Nelson
Jan. 8, 2008
The Great Drygulch Bank Robbery!
Tom Reed
Feb. 25, 2008
A Flash of Lightning from a Clear Sky!
Andrew Collins
June 8, 2008
Klaus Needs a Holiday
Carmen Cerra
Nov. 12, 2008
I Hit a Vein!
Dion Duran
May 4, 2009
White Water, Bloody Boulders!
Tom Reed
July 13, 2010
Judge, Jury & Executioner!
Rob Edwards
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After the top honors have been awarded, voting will open to the general public to select the Jury's Prize. Then two random drawings will be held to select the final prizes, selected from all contest entries and everyone who voted in the Juror's round.
"I've already started coding the system we will use to track votes," Mitchell said. "It should just take a few weeks to get it online. No. Really, this time I mean it. Just a few weeks."
Details about the voting process will be forthcoming, Mitchell said.
| Contest sponsors include (in alphabetical order): |
| Arnica, Montana Real Estate |
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| Knuckleduster |
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| Scale Creep Miniatures |
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| Whitewash City / Hotz Game Mats |
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Click on the sponsor's logo to visit their Website. |
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