Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-24534644-20170630004409

Greetings, contest-goers, and welcome to the 27th Monthly Original Character Competition. For those of you who are new here and somehow don’t know what this is, the short version is this: once a month there’s a fun OC contest, you make an OC that matches the theme-of-the-month using the provided template (down below ↓) by a certain deadline, after the deadline it gets judged, there’s a winner, cheers and booze. The losers get a pat on the back and a “better luck next time”. The winner gets the right to brag and lord their success over the rest of us peons (please don’t actually do this), while also gaining rights to be the judge for the next monthly OC contest, as well as choose the theme for said contest.

Let's not beat around the bush. This month's theme isn't that far removed from the previous month, if you think about it, but it is one very near and dear to my heart, and I consider myself an expert in it. If it isn't already obvious from the title, the theme for the contest this time around will be rhymes. But not just any rhymes.

NURSERY RHYMES

Yes, those sweet, short little rhymes we all learned and recited during our long-past days of childhood. Sometimes they are simple, innocent, merely entertaining. Other times there is a deeper meaning hidden within them, sometimes with surprisingly dark origins. Doesn't matter which you choose, but your goal is to pick any one Nursery Rhyme from the great list, and construct a character who alludes to it. Lots of potential for flexibility here, so go nuts. As someone who's made a team of characters centered around this theme, I will judge to the best of my ability.

Now then... ahem. Here lie the rules for this competition. May their spirits watch over us and prevent us from writing total garbage.

THE RULES:

1) The judge (that would be moi), must pick one and only one theme, which can be anything that crosses your great wonderful mind; from animal to period, from mythology to a concept, or even just a simple rule. (Welp, we’ve pretty much covered this already, so let’s move on.)

2) Using the template that will be provided below, you, the contestants, must create an OC that fits the chosen theme.

3) This character MUST conform to all established laws of canon in order to be considered eligible for the competition. These are covered in the OC Creation Threads, but regardless, these inescapable laws ARE:

-CNR (Color Naming Rule, meaning that the character's namd must distinctly remind us of, outright mean, or sound like a color or set of colors in some way. So basically, don’t name your character John Smith or Maverick Ultra or something.) The only way a character is exempt from this is if they were born before the Great War nearly a century prior to the beginning of Canon.

-Aura is required/One Semblance only (All characters in RWBY have an Aura, even if it is locked. More importantly however is this: One - read it, ONE - Semblance means one special ability/power. Now, it is possible for one Semblance to be able to do multiple things, but they must be very closely-related to each other in order to pass the radar (meaning don’t make one Semblance that turns a person into Superman or gives them multiple unrelated powers, basically). Above all else, don’t give a character multiple Semblances unless you want them to get shot down faster than Santa’s sleigh in military-controlled airspace.)

-No Grimm Hybrids, of any sort, fraction, or type (Kind of already stated above; this is a huge no-no, due to it’s sheer logical impossibility, no matter how cool or edgy you might think them to be.)

-No Aura-possessing robots/androids (Penny has been directly stated as the only one of her kind for the time being… well, she’s kinda not “active” anymore, but still. Metal prosthetics and some cybernetic alterations are allowed, however… within reason. Don’t turn a character into Raiden or General Grievous.)

4) Characters may not and must not be affiliated with members of the main cast, save for simultaneous attendance at Beacon Academy or membership in other institutions (such as the White Fang, the Atlas military, etc.)

5) No reality-shifted characters. (This is for you uncreative wise guys out there who want to bring in Goku, Naruto, Sasuke, Natsu, Zoro, Batman, Iron Man, or whoever as a Hunter. Don’t do that crap.)

6) Characters, weapons, and Semblances can be re-tooled, but must not have been submitted to the OC thread, the Weapon thread, or the Semblance threads within the past month (which means a limit of June 1st for this contest), or any of the previous contests. Characters, Semblances and/or weapons posted to the respective threads during the time of the contest will be inelligible and disqualified (meaning you will receive 0 points for that semblance/weapon).

7) Weapon and Semblance must be your own creations. This means don’t go using someone else’s idea as your own. You can, of course, receive advice and tips from anyone via message wall or private chat, but the base idea must be your own.

8) The first full character you post is the one which will be judged. However, you have until the end of the contest’s submission time frame to make any alterations or upgrades you see fit. Once time is up, any further changes will be ignored.

9) The esteemed judge must post the grading system within three days of the contest starting, to make it fair on everyone, especially newcomers. (This is a me issue, not a you issue, so don’t worry about it. The grading system will go up with the template in the next post)

10) First time entrants will be given a 10-point bonus to their score, so long as their score before the bonus is 70 points or under. This is to at least give any newbies a fighting chance against the veterans. That being said, don't expect this crutch to carry you through, as most veterans routinely score much higher than that.

Because the Wikia clock has apparently taken an extended vacation, we will be resorting to GMT Time until further notice. With that in mind, the contest deadline will be July 13th, 23:59:59 GMT. Feel free to use this clock to keep track. You louts have a little over 2 weeks to get your characters done and submitted. After which, I will judge them and select a winner based on who best fits the theme, the grading system, and any personal standards.

The Template and Grading System will both be going up soon. Feel free to voice any questions who have in the meantime. Happy writing, everyone. 