The 2023 Sci-Fi One-Shot Jam is an event to create one-shot adventures for your favorite sci-fi TTRPG.

THE RULES

All submissions must:

1. Be an original TTRPG adventure made during the jam period. Submissions mostly written by LLMs like ChatGPT are not permitted.
2. Be 2,000 words or less in length. Title, credits, and legal disclaimers/licenses don't count towards the 2,000 word limit.
3. Be appropriate for a sci-fi RPG.
4. Follow the selected theme(s). List the theme(s) you use on the project's page.
5. Follow any third party guidelines for your chosen system (OGL/ORC, legal disclaimers, etc). This disclosure/license won't count against the word limit.
6. Not include hate speech or bigotry.
7. If the submission is paid (aka not free/PWYW), send Staggered Amusement Machine a copy to check it for rules compliance.

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

THE THEMES

The three themes this year are:

• Bureaucratic Hell,
• Fake Alien Technology, and
  
• Hostile Architecture.

You may use multiple themes for your submission, but you must use at least one.

Q&A

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,
• cybernetic and biotech futures like Cities Without Number, Technoir, and Blue Planet,
• horror sci-fi like Mothership and Death in Space,
• post-apocalypses like Mutant: Year Zero, Other 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 recommend submitters list any essential or assumed technology on their projects' pages, in a similar way one would handle content/trigger warnings. This helps highlight what makes the adventure "sci-fi" and helps GMs when selecting what to run next.

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 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 final submission.

Can I submit multiple entries?

Submit as many entries as you want!

Is there a template or example adventure?

Yes. A template itch.io project page can be found here.

As for practical examples, check out the submissions for last year's jam.