Game of Tomes: Tourney of Tales

The success of the first Game of Tomes in 2020 quickly led to popular demand in the community for more of the same. Although Sable Aradia had greatly enjoyed the Game of Tomes, she hesitated, for two reasons. The first was that it was an awful lot of work, and she didn't want to burn herself out. The second was that events scheduled for April and July would run in conflict with Adventure April and World Anvil's Summercamp event respectively.   It wasn't until the week before April 2021 that she finally thought of a way that she could make it work. She quickly asked the other leaders of the Great Houses if they would care to join her for the Tourney -- and they accepted the challenge.  

"You have my tentacles!"

— Coffee Quills, the Cosmic Kraken

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In the Tourney of Tales, the Great Houses of the Realm are gathering for a medieval-style tournament. Since it is not a war, there are no eliminations and no Undead Horde. Traditionally, there have been no mercenaries either, but this year, a form of mercenary called a "Dark Knight" is being allowed. Participants may start competing when Camp NaNoWriMo begins in their timezone, and must stop competing when Camp NaNoWriMo ends in their timezone.   Tome Knights declare their allegiance to a House, and fight for that House's honour. They may do this in a number of ways:        

Reporting Your Word Counts or Equivalent

   

PLEASE NOTE: You must calculate your word count equivalent before entering it into the channel points. See the video clip above if you have any questions.

  Each Tome Knight assigns themselves to one of the Great Houses, depending upon inclination and habits as a writer, or just personal whim. Or, Tome Knights may choose to assign themselves to a Lesser House instead, who will then choose a Great House to support in turn. Their word counts or equivalent in the streams of participating streamers are counted towards the overall totals of their chosen Great House by selecting the appropriate channel point reward, marked by their house's banner as a Twitch emote, and entering their word count totals (as calculated in the rules above) in the space one might typically type a "highlighted message". Tome Knights in service to a Lesser House use the "Minor House" Channel Point Reward instead.   Participants, especially those who are doing editing, may enter their converted word count rate at any point during a participating stream; so if they prefer to wait until the end of the stream to make the math easier, they may do so.   Word count totals are accumulated by House, as in the Game of Tomes, and counted by using the Channel Point reward system in participating streams. However, unlike in the Game of Tomes, these House totals will be announced once a week.   As with the Game of Tomes, only words written or edited during participating Game of Tomes streams will count towards their House totals.    

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This event will take place on Twitch, in the streams of participating streamers. Writers will require access to Twitch streams to participate.

Event Calendar

A calendar of participating Game of Tomes Streamers is available here:  

Participating as a Streamer

If you are interested in Streaming for a Game of Tomes event, more information can be found here:

Great House Leaders

Great House leaders are the organizers of the event, and the primary hub of participation. They always represent their House. They encourage and support other streamers and participants, especially those competing for their banner. They report the total word count of all Houses in their streams, and make sure they are up-to-date for the weekly totals. Great House leaders may display their House Banners on their streams for the duration of the Tourney.   There are other GoT Organizers who are not Great House Leaders. These include our Webmaster, our Filkmaster, our Social Media Coordinator, all former Great House leaders and Night Monarchs, and the Wizard of GoT. Decisions are generally made by consensus, but serious matters may require a formal majority vote.  

The Great Houses

 

Lesser House Leaders

Lesser House leaders are the auxiliary arm of the Great Houses. They give their fealty to one of the Great Houses for the purposes of the Tourney -- this time, there is no switching of allegiances. They help to manage the event and encourage participation and goal-reaching, especially for those competing under their banner. Like the Great House leaders, they may display their House banner for the duration of the Tourney, and they also report the word count totals of all Houses in their streams, and keep them updated weekly.      

Collectors

Many participating streams will simply be collecting points for the Houses, and making sure they are kept up-to-date. They do not lead houses themselves. If they have a banner, they may also display it for the duration of the Tourney.    

Tome Knights

All participants in the Tourney of Tales are Tome Knights. They are writers seeking to work on a writing project during Camp NaNoWriMo. That writing project can be of any length, and may be an original draft or an edit of any sort of writing, whether it's prose, scriptwriting, poetry, articles, RPG writing, non-fiction, or anything else.   In the Tourney of Tales, Tome Knights choose their own writing goals, and select a House to represent. Once they have selected a House, they may not change loyalties for the duration of the Tourney. When they write or edit in participating streams, they enter their word count totals, or equivalent, under their chosen House Banner, using the Channel Point reward system. Their words are then counted towards their House totals.

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The Tourney of Tales will be observed twice a year, during the Camp NaNoWriMo months:

• Spring Tourney -- April 1 to April 30
• Summer Tourney -- July 1 to July 31

  Only words that are written or edited during participating streams are counted towards the tourneys. Unlike during the Game of Tomes, there is no guarantee that there will be 24 hour coverage. Participating streamers will continue to stream at their normal times, and may or may not add extra or extended streams as they see fit.  

Remember, This is a Game

Remember, this is a tournament, not a war. It is honour that participants are fighting for, not survival. The spirit of the Tourney of Tales is less like A Song of Ice and Fire, and more like Dunk and Egg. Friendly rivalry is expected, and so is a little politicking, but in medieval tourneys, manners and grace are every bit as important as success. We are all in this together to achieve our writing goals and if you wish, a bit of roleplay. Our task as members of the GoTverse is to make sure EVERYONE has fun.   The Game of Tomes organizers reserve the right to ban people from the event at their sole discretion.  

Official ToT Streams and Weekly Results

Because this is an international event, we try to get ahead of all timezones in our Launch Stream, if possible.   Ongoing results will be announced on a roughly weekly basis, including House standings and individual leaderboards:    

Final Results

The final results will be tallied on the 2nd of May for the April Tourney, and will be announced on a live stream after all timezones are finished and all results are in.