The Hyperspeed Adventure Jam is a theme-based jam to create adventures for science fiction tabletop roleplaying games like Mothership, Cepheus Engine, Cyberpunk RED, Eclipse Phase, and more.

What is a Hyperspeed Adventure?

A Hyperspeed Adventure is a short and lean adventure, totaling 2,000 words or less in length and including five or less images, for science fiction tabletop roleplaying games. These are meant to be used by GMs in existing sci-fi campaigns or used as one-shots.

What qualifies as "sci-fi?"

Science fiction is an incredibly broad and diverse genre, including (but not limited to):

• space operas like Star Trek, Farscape, and The Expanse,
• cyberpunk/biopunk futures like Blade Runner, Technoir, and Blue Planet,
• post-apocalypses like Mutant: Year Zero and Polaris,
• time-travel/multiversal adventures like Timewatch and Fluxfall Horizon,
• plausible near-futures like The Martian or Orbital 2100,
• or genre mashups like Star Wars, Firefly, Shadowrun, or Numenera.

To accommodate for this diversity, we trust submitters and judges to determine whether any individual submission is appropriately "sci-fi."

To help GMs, we also recommend submitters include an "assumptions" section in their submission, listing out the essential assumptions for the adventure (essential technology, essential environment, recommended PC skills/equipment). This "assumptions" section won't count towards the wordcount. See this submission template for an example.

Who can enter?

Anyone with any level of adventure writing experience can enter. Whether you're a seasoned adventure author or a first timer,  you're welcome to submit adventures!

What is the theme? 

The theme/prompt for this year is: "Keep moving. You never know what might be catching up."

What system can I use?

Any system (or no system at all), as long as you disclose the system you are writing for and follow that system's guidelines for third-party content.

Can I collaborate with others?

Yes, as long as all collaborators are credited in the submitted PDF.

Is there a template or example adventure?

Yes. A Google Docs template can be found here.

For examples of short sci-fi adventures, look to Cyberupnk RED's "Red Chrome Cargo" (free), HOSTILE's "Situation Report 001" (free), Eclipse Phase's "Nano-Ops" (paid), and Mothership's "Haunting of Ypsilon 14" (paid).

What are the submission rules?

All submissions must:

1. Be original. Submissions must be made during the jam period.
2. Be 2,000 words or less in length. Feel free to include images or diagrams. Words included in images will count towards the word limit.
   The adventure's title, subtitle, list of contributors, intended system, assumptions, sensitive content warnings, and legal/license text will not count towards this word limit.
3. Be contained to a single PDF. Assets like maps or handouts can be externally duplicated, but they must also be embedded within the submission's PDF. You're allowed to submit your adventure in multiple formats (PDF, plaintext) and multiple sizes (A4/letter), but they must follow the self-contained rule.
4. Follow any third party guidelines for your chosen system (OGL, legal disclaimers, etc).
5. Adhere to the theme.
6. Be free/PWYW during the jam's submission and voting periods.
7. Not include hate speech or bigotry.

You are free to submit as many adventures as you want, as long as they each follow the above rules.

What are the judging criteria?

Submissions will be judged by the public and fellow submitters based on the following five criteria:

1. Creativity: how novel or creative is this adventure? 
2. Presentation: is this adventure clearly written, helpfully laid-out, and within the word limit?
3. Runability: do GMs want to run this adventure?
4. Applicability: how appropriate is this adventure for a science fiction game?
5. Theme: how well is does the adventure incorporate/adhere to the theme?

Legal

The Hyperspeed Adventure Jam does not claim ownership of anything submitted to the jam.

Banner and Icon Art Credit

"Starwreck" by Christof Grobelski as part of the Stars Without Number: Revised Art Pack.