The Time. There is no set date for when you can begin your own 24 Hour RPG Event. Just go for it when you have time. Any time. Seriously. Occasionally, though, we will be featuring the 24 Hour RPG Grand Act, which is a set date of 1-2 weekends where we hope to recruit many people to engage in the Event together, like a marathon. But again, you can go for it whenever you have a full day, or fraction thereof, free.

Time Limit. One 24-hour period. If you decide to start at, say, 6:00 PM on a Thursday evening, you must call it quits by 6:00 PM the very next day. There is no "stopping the clock" for eating, sleeping, etc. There is also no "Logging 24 hours of work over a period of days". Just one planetary rotation, period. Make the most of your time.

No Sign Up. You don't need to sign up or tell others that you want to participate to actually engage in the 24 Hour RPG project. Just find a time that works for you, do it, then share your results with your peers on the 24 Hour RPG Yahoogroup (and Submit your results here).

No pre-planning. You may not work on the RPG before your 24 hour period starts. This means no pre-creation of a system, no preparing vignettes or setting text, no artwork . . . nothing! It is understood that your 24 hour game may use elements of previous ideas, dreams, or game systems but you agree that all work on the game is to be done in a single 24 hour block of time.

Size Limit. What do you feel is a complete RPG? This exercise will show the world what your concept of complete is. The goal of the 24 Hour RPG Project is to write a complete RPG that spans 24 pages. It's a hefty goal. Heck, it may be an unreachable goal. But give it a shot anyway. Try to write as much as you can- See if you can make it to 24 pages in 24 hours. That's roughly 16,000 or so words.

You Must Do All Of the Work Yourself. This means no friends or teammates assisting you with editing or artwork. No team writing efforts. Do it yourself. Show us what you can do. Clip-art is, of course, legal. However, do not use licensed or non-public domain art as "clip art" (ie going to Clive Caldwell's site and using his "busty chick with sword" pic in your game, etc): If you're not sure whether it's legal or not, it's probably not.

Team efforts are great, and you can probably come up witha brilliant game in only 24 hours when working with a dedicated team of people... but it wouldn't be meeting the spirit of the 24 Hour RPG project. Still, though, if you want to go the team route feel free to do it anyway and post your results to 1KM1KT, the host of fine free online RPGs.

All Participants Trade PDFs at the end of the project. When you complete your 24 Hour RPG Event, you can upload your game here and post a message to the 24 Hour Games Yahoo Group so that other participants can check out your game. This is your chance to see how your work measures up against that of others operating under the same duress as yourself. This may very well be the most important part of the exercise since you're very likely to learn some new ways of doing things just by looking at the accomplishments of others.

What Happens If I Don't Finish? There's a very good chance that many of the participants will not complete a game within 24 hours. These unfinished projects should still be shared with the group and, if your head isn't in too much pain, you should consider completing the RPG as you have time.

What Then? It's expected that if you participate in this activity, that you submit your game to this site to be archived for 'posterity'. In other words, you should leave a free copy around, to inspire others to engage in the next round of the event. But you are free to develop and publish your game from there- Feel free to add more to it and publish your game in any form you want. But for the original that was submitted for this contest, you should keep it available for free. You should also not edit the original- If you decide to do more work on your game, to polish it up and make it solid to your liking, go ahead and leave the Original available anyway, just as a record to show others how far your work has come. You are free to upload your 24-Hour RPG game, then later a Revised version, if you wish.

Game Format. You can write the game in any format you wish. However, the only format that we will currently accept for posting is HTML, simple TXT or (Preferably) PDF. If you don't have a program that will convert other files (MS Word .doc files, etc) to PDF, please ask us on the Yahoo Group- Someone will be able to convert your file for you. We don't want to post .doc files for security reasons. If you have another format that you wish to experiment with (MP3, Flash, etc) please Contact Us or post to the Yahoo Group and we'll see what we can do!

Who Will Participate? Again, anyone who wants to. Whether you're an "Industry Professional" or a burgeoning writer with no credits to your name, as long as you follow the rules you can participate. Anyone who wants to participate can participate. No sign up required.

When Will This Happen? You can engage in the project at any time you want to. Just follow the rules above. You can also participate in the Grand Act if you wish, but it's not necessary to enjoy the thrill of the 24 Hour RPG Event. Whenever is convenient for you!

When Will the Next Grand Act Occour? Not for a long friggin' while. Stay tuned on the 24 Hour RPG Message Board or Mailing List for details on the next Grand Act, most likely in 2005. No worries, though, ANY time is the BEST time for you to start your own 24 Hour RPG and submit it. Always remember that you can engage in the Project, and submit your own 24 Hour RPG at any time.