Game of Tomes writing competitions run three times a year, in April, July, and November. The April and July events are known as the Tourney of Tales, and the November event is known as the Game of Tomes. For the most part, rules are the same, and therefore, this article will deal with most of the rules collectively. In November, additional rules apply, and these will be differentiated in a separate section.
Players write to generate word counts (called "Werds" or "Werdz.") Players may work on any qualifying project, or several qualifying projects, during the course of the event month, as they see fit.
Rules are subject to change and adaptation by the Organizers at any time. This page will be updated to reflect any changes as soon as possible. When there is disagreement between pages, this page is considered to be the definitive authority. However, if a rule change has been publicly announced and has yet to make it on to this page, the most recent announcement will be considered definitive.
Basic Rules
These rules apply to all events universally.
Joining an Event
Players may join in ongoing Game of Tomes events at any time, and participate as little or as much as they wish to.
Events are streamed on Twitch by approved streamers. To join and participate in an event, you must be present in an approved Game of Tomes Twitch stream.
We are expanding into in-person write-ins and Discord hosted events. There are different rules for those, and you can find them here (coming soon!)
Choosing a House
Game of Tomes and the Tourneys of Tales are group writing competitions in which a team — called a House — counts their Werdz collectively. The House with the most Werds at the end of the event month wins!
All players must choose a House to play with. Players may choose any existing House they like, for any reason they deem fit.
Houses are divided into
"Major Houses" and
"Minor Houses." Major Houses are the official "competitors" in a Game of Tomes event.
Minor Houses choose Major Houses to support, and their work is counted collectively with the Major Houses they support.
Currently, there are 5 Major Houses and 2 Minor Houses. They are listed on the landing page and in
this article.
Counting Your Werds
Counting your Werds is an honour system. We trust you to tell us what you have written. Cheating is cause for immediate and irrevocable ban from the Game of Tomes.
How to Count Your Werds
Werdz are counted in a variety of ways. We also use "word count equivalents" for other creative forms of storytelling — hence, the respellings of the term.
| Activity |
Explanation |
WERDZ counting |
Time counting |
| Writing |
Initial drafting... outlining... brainstorming... worldbuilding...
any other activity associated with creative work
that involves creating new words on a page. |
1 word = 1 WERD |
|
| Light edit |
Proofreading... spelling/punctuation/grammar checking...
any review of existing words that doesn't result in significant changes
ALSO transcription... captioning... mind mapping... bullet journal prep...
poetry/filking... programming/coding (includes CSS "prettification") |
3 words = 1 WERD |
1 min = 15 WERDZ |
Heavy edit |
Developmental editing, translation, rewriting sections...
any major, significant, and extremely time-consuming changes |
2 words = 1 WERD |
1 min = 30 WERDZ |
| Research |
Note-taking... research reading (note that the research MUST be associated
with a creative project you're working on) |
|
1 min = 5 WERDZ |
Audio/
Visual |
Audio recording and/or editing... Video production and/or editing... Graphic arts creating and/or editing |
|
1 min = 20 WERDZ |
| RPG Playing |
Role-play gaming - with friends, solo, via text/chat/forum. Does NOT include video game playing! |
|
1 min = 15 WERDZ
-OR-
1 min = 20 WERDZ
if play is live-streamed
or recorded for broadcast |
Hand-
writing |
|
1 page = 300 WERDZ
adjust if your
rate is very different |
|
"Word count equivalents" may only be counted if the work is
connected to a creative writing project. Writing that is NOT "creative" cannot be counted. (ie. your tax return, school essay, shopping list, book review, etc.).
Players must do all relevant math themselves before entering their Werd Count Report. (ie. If entering the total for "light edits by word count," the player must divide the total words edited by 3
before entering their report.)
ALWAYS COUNT IN FAVOUR OF THE WRITER. If there are two different ways the player can reasonably count their Werdz, they are to use the one that is of most benefit to them. Always round fractions up.
There are additional modifiers when reporting Werd Counts for a player who has achieved more than 100,000 Werds in a single event. These rules are detailed here.
If a player is uncertain how to count their Werds, they may ask the Organizers, especially their House Leader, for clarification. The decision of the judges is arbitrary and final.
We do not accept content that was generated by AI.
Where to Count Your Werds
To count for the competition, Werds must be written during an approved or official Game of Tomes stream. A player must have the stream active and open during the time they are writing.
Players must report the Werdz
in the stream they created them in. If something prevents the player from doing so, they may ask an Organizer for permission to enter them later. Such scenarios might include: A storm kills the player's power unexpectedly, the stream the player is watching goes down suddenly, etc. These exceptions are entirely at the discretion of the Organizers.
A player is expected to report at least once every few hours, not in large lump sums. No player may report more than 10,000 Werdz in a single redeem.
Werds are tabulated by
First Tome Knight, a bot that was created for use on Twitch by
Satrium. It piggybacks on the Twitch
Channel Point Rewards system.
Players select the appropriate Channel Point Reward for their House to report their Werdz. The player reports what they have written
since their last report, not their "ongoing total". First Tome Knight will tabulate the player's ongoing total automatically.
Minor House members use the Minor House Report reward. In addition to the number of Werds they are reporting, they must enter their House name (ie. "150 Avis"). Werdz will then be assigned to the appropriate House and tabulated accordingly.
Some players choose to enter text about what form of writing they are doing, but this is not required.
Participants in a live-write in or Discord hosted event will report their Werdz to their host to enter on their behalf, unless they already have a Twitch account and wish to do it themselves at the event. Otherwise, all other rules for counting and entering Werds apply.
Cut-offs and Results
A Game of Tomes event begins at midnight on the 1st of the event month in the player's timezone. A player must stop counting their Werdz at midnight on the 1st of the following month in their timezone. An event does not officially end, however, until ALL participating timezones have passed the end-of-event window.
During an event, Game of Tomes will host
Results Streams on our official Twitch channel to report on ongoing standings, as well as share other fun, news, and Lore around the event.
Cut-offs are set at midnight UTC on the day they are scheduled for. Results Streams are hosted at
1:30 pm Pacific Time on the following day.
Organizers collect results from the information given to us by First Tome Knight and put them in graphics and spreadsheets for presentation and record-keeping.
A
Final Results stream will usually be hosted 1 week after the end of the event, in order to allow time for preparation and tabulation of final results. This is a loose time estimate, not a precise date. The player is responsible for watching for announcements and keeping themself informed.
Results Streams are occasionally subject to rescheduling due to the needs of the Organizers, who are all volunteers.
Final Results are vetted by the judges (Organizers) and are final.
Tourney Rules (April and July)
Choosing a House
In April and July Tourneys of Tales, once a player has chosen a House, they must continue to write with that House for the duration of the event. Players with Titles in a House are assumed to be writing with that House.
Minor Houses must choose a single Major House to support for the duration of the event. This decision is entirely the private decision of the Minor House Leader or Leaders. The House Leader may or may not choose to consult the members of their House and/or the other ranking House Members.
This decision must be announced publicly on the Game of Tomes Discord server at least 1 week before the start of the Tourney. Should the Minor House Leader fail to do so, their Minor House is considered to have declined to participate in the Tourney as a group. The Minor House members are still welcome to participate in the event, but their Werds will not be credited to the Minor House, and they must choose another House to support.
Cut-offs and Results
Cut-offs will be set through the event month at
roughly 1 week intervals. However, this is decided so that the
Results Streams occur on
Saturdays at 1:30 pm Pacific Time. Therefore, some intervals may be longer or shorter than the target 1 week interval.
War Rules (November)
Choosing a House
In November, players may freely choose different Houses to support at any time, unless they have a
Title within their House. This includes
all titles with game significance, as well as Titles that are strictly roleplay based (ie. House royals). In practice, most players choose a House and stick with it, but this is not required.
Titled House members must support the House in which they have Title.
Players may not choose a House that has been eliminated from the competition.
Minor Houses must choose which Major House to support at the start of the event. This decision is entirely the private decision of the Minor House Leader or Leaders. The House Leader may or may not choose to consult the members of their House and/or the other ranking House Members.
This decision must be announced publicly on the Game of Tomes Discord server
at least 1 week before the start of the event. Should the Minor House Leader fail to do so, their Minor House will be assumed to be continuing to support whichever Major House they supported
most recently.
Minor Houses may then change which Major House they support at each elimination, should they wish to do so. This process is otherwise governed under the same rules that apply to the Major Houses, as detailed in the subsequent sections.
Cut-offs and Results
With 5 Major Houses competing,
Cut-offs are set for
once every 6 days in November. With
Results Streams set for
the following day at 1:30 pm Pacific Time, this means that the Cut-off and Results Stream schedule is as follows:
Results Stream
Nov 7
Nov 13
Nov 19
Nov 25
The next Saturday (Pacific Time) that allows for roughly a week to pass after the event has ended, at the discretion of the Organizers.
Eliminations and the Undead Horde
The Undead Horde
In November, an additional "House" competes, known as
The Undead Horde. They are led by the
Night Monarch, who is elected over the previous two events from the players in the community. This election has taken different forms in the voting process. Most recently, it was accomplished through anonymous Google forms. This may be subject to change.
Night Monarch candidates nominate themselves, or stand for nomination, and their nomination must be accepted by the Organizers. The successful Night Monarch candidate(s) becomes part of the Organizers for the coming year, from November to November, and the following year as well, to serve as a mentor and assistant to the incoming Night Monarch.
The Undead Horde is governed by different rules from the other "Houses." They represent the "bad guys." The Night Monarch is said, in Lore, to corrupt the living and turn them into zombies in order to compete for possession of
The Iron Tome — a McGuffin artifact that symbolizes the successful House's victory.
The Undead Horde begins with the Night Monarch as its only confirmed member. Any previous Night Monarch is also allowed to begin as part of the Horde, but is not required to do so. No other players may choose to support the Undead Horde.
Eliminations
At each Results Stream (once every 6 days,) the Undead Horde is said to have attacked the living House with the
least number of Werds. That House is then
eliminated from the competition.
1/3rd of the members of the defeated House, and any supporting Houses, are randomly drafted into the Undead Horde by
the Wheel of Misfortune. Live on the Results Stream, the names of all the players in the defeated group will be put on the Wheel, and the Wheel will be spun until 1/3rd of them are selected.
Those selected are now considered to be part of the Undead Horde, and must write for the Horde for the remainder of the competition.
The "survivors" must choose another House to support. If the
House Leader survives the Wheel, it is common for the members of the defeated House to follow their House Leader's choice, but they are not required to do so, unless they possess a
Title within the House.
"Survivors" are welcome to keep their original House roles, and stay in any relevant House channels, on our Discord server, even if they are currently supporting another House.
The Undead Horde also receives 1/3rd of the total Werd Count of the defeated House, which is added to their total. The remaining 2/3rds are counted as the defeated House's total for the competition, and are not counted again.
This continues at each Results Stream until only one living House, and the scattered Survivors who support them, are facing off against the Undead Horde for the Final Results. Whichever of these two groups has the highest Werd Count at the end of the competition is declared the victor.
The Last Stand
Because there is a period of limbo between
Cut-offs and
Results Streams, there is a period in which the defeated House is still writing, but does not yet know it has been defeated.
Each House Leader is asked before each Results Stream which House they intend to give their House's support to, should they
"Fall." Between Cut-off and the following Results Stream, all Werdz generated by the defeated House go to the House they promised their support to. This is called "The Last Stand," and represents the final fighting effort of the defeated House.
This decision is entirely the private decision of the House Leader or Leaders, and is told to those who tabulate results in confidence. The House Leader may or may not choose to consult the members of their House and/or the other ranking House Members, and may or may not to choose to share this information with the House they intend to support, or anyone else, until the next Results Stream.
Bodyguards, Immunities and Vulnerabilities
House Leadership may be protected by Bodyguards. Please consult the Bodyguard page for these rules.
Occasionally, other events in the competition (ie. The 50K Offensive and similar challenges,) will grant an Immunity to a player. If a player with an Immunity is selected by the Wheel, they are ignored and another turn of the Wheel is made. However, that will only occur once. If the player is selected again, they are "dead" and must join the Horde as usual.
Failure in some challenges during the event may also bestow Vulnerabilities. A player with a Vulnerability is added to the next turn of the Wheel, whether their House has been defeated or not, and may be selected by the Wheel as if they were part of the defeated House.
Arbitration of Game Rules
The judges (Organizers) govern the application and interpretation of these game rules, in consultation with each other and with the Board of Directors. Their decisions are arbitrary and final.
The Game of Tomes Board of Directors has the right to overturn the decisions of the Organizers for the good of the Game of Tomes Community and Organization if they feel it necessary.
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