SummerCamp 2024 Reading Challenge and Shortlist

And so another July has passed... and a good chunk of August at this point. It been a busy summer. Granted, I did most of that to myself, but would we really be nerds if we didn't self-sabotage in some way.
Enough of that. We are hear to do a reading challenge. This is my... 3rd SC being a judge and the overall quality of entries keeps getting better. Sure, there is always going to be the wall of text word vomit, or the "did you actually check to see how that font/color looks?" but the fact that so many people put out numerous polished articles always astounds me. This community is awesome, and makes awesome things year after year.
The WA team was awesome on judges this year, in that for the reading challenge, we only really need to pick any ten articles. No multiple category restrictions or anything. Its a bit of a load off because each year as we add more and more amazing folks the time commitment to judging gets bigger and bigger.
I think this year I will first share some generic feedback from the nearly 300 articles submitted for "a sickness that caused societal upheaval."

having a map can be useful, but having a large zoomable map as your generic header image can make scrolling down the page difficult.

Managing your sidebar, or hiding it completely, is something often overlooked that can add a lot to the feel of "balance" in an article. (admittedly, I also made this mistake on several of my SC articles this year)

Columns, if you have multiple small sections but don't feel like they fit well in the sidebar, put them in columns

Try to preview your article for readability, especially when using fancy fonts over textured backgrounds.

And now, on to the awesome people who made my shortlist. I wont really say what criteria I was looking at, partly because I don't do that well with structured lists. I mean, an article written as a scientific journal can be just as entertaining as a short story. A narrative view can provide just as much insight into symptoms and progression as a clinical write up. It is also why, when given the option the last two years, I have not written an article for the category I am judging, as I don't really want to have undue influence on other peoples creativity. The other condition from this SC I did write a very short article for, The Unraveling Thread definitely needs a lot of polish.

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The idea of a mutated plant hive mind infecting, transforming and eventually enslaving people has far reaching consequences in a setting, whether for gameplay or storytelling. The artwork is used, in my opinion, to enhance the well crafted imagery that exists in the text, rather than to stand on its own. The article flows well, and it is an interesting link to another of the authors SC articles, which provides further reading to those curious minds willing to venture deeper into a world.

There is just something about bodies being consumed from the inside by insects that is, to me, more terrifying than fungal or plant infections. And I will admit, looking at this list, I covered all the bases. The fact that the only mentioned cure is to inflict sever hypothermia is... well, yea. I mean that is certainly an option I guess, but how would that be achieved in a hot climate where the infection is most common?

Has anyone checked on Hanhula recently? Between this and "Teeth?" they seem to have a knack for making terrifying articles that are well crafted and just make you want to keep reading, sometimes with increasing horror. This is all of the best parts of the Doctor Who episode "The Waters of Mars" turned to 11 and thrown into a fantasy world. Great work Hanhula.
I would like to apologize now to any of Han's players that have to deal with any of the products of SummerCamp. Its not our fault, but you have my condolences.

A wonderful example of how even a brief narrative can give as much information as a longer article. Split between two perspectives, it isn't until the start of the second part that one realizes the horror of what has been released upon the world. You get a relative view of the simplicity of the fishfolk along with how horrible this "ick" truly is.

"Even years later, when the loss of our empire had become apparent, fear kept us safe from outsiders. The only spears we feared were those of our own neighbors." Honestly, after giving this a read, as an invading force presented with a village bearing these symptoms, they are welcome to their land. Its not worth the risk of bringing that horror into the army. Nope. not gonna do it. Double nope based on the rumors of its origin. Some things just aren't worth it.

Great illustrations and a wonderful layout. As much as I wish there was more about other forms of Aetheric corruption in the article, there is enough here to satisfy yet still leave you curious for more. The narrative nature just enhances the overall article. Come for the "I dropped a miniature sun on the ice covered elf and it didn't melt or burn," stay to learn of the deepening mystery and appreciate a beautifully formatted article.

See, not everything on the short list is about some horrific or depressing world ending plague. WordiGirl instead gives us Out Sick. Which is definitely not code for something. So what if no one talks about it? How often do you want to hear about your co-workers bout with the stomach flu?
It is definitely a fun take on the prompt, and the misunderstanding taking place in the sidebar ties the whole thing together nicely.

Honestly the illustrations really tie this one together. A quarantined moon with a (mostly) extinct population taken over by a plant plague. I see you Thorian Creepers. (unsure if this is actual inspiration, but there are definitely parallels to be drawn).
At least for now the quarantine is enforced with extreme prejudice. As these things should be. There may be a couple of typo's here and there, but that is the nature of summer camp.

One can see the dual meaning behind the name. For while rodents are a vector, those who contract the illness are also ostracized, forced to live in the sewers and alleyways. While the disease is horrible, on the bright side, the city is a cleaner place as sanitation is now a cultural priority.

Well, that's just horrible thing for a house to inflict on the world in the name of greed. I love it, specifically from a worldbuilding standpoint. Because, well, drug addiction and withdrawal are often horrible things. The fact that someone would deliberately exploit such a thing in order to control a population, has historical precedent in some of the worst ways. truly a condition that caused societal upheaval on a world wide scale after it spread in the second age.

Well, if you ever wanted to get a medieval feeling apocalyptical cordyceps, this comes close. From the slow spread, to the psychosis and colony forming behavior, it is no wonder that there is far reaching societal impacts. Sure, there are a few stones left unturned, but that is how knowledge works. There is always something we don't know. The level of detail is great, but also lets you know that there are still questions about Creeping Rot that are unanswered.

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An there you have it, my short list. Some short, some longer, mostly horrible but at least somewhat varied in content. There are many, MANY more that just barely didn't make it on. As those that frequent the discord know my initial "short" list had nearly 80 entries on it, and from there it went to 41. There are so many amazingly creative people in our community and I really wish I had more time to explore what everyone writes.

As for worldbuilding goals for the rest of the year.
*glances at map project*

*looks at notes on implications of running initial Adventure April entry on the wider world*


Well, there is the excitement of whatever the September challenge brings, then its on to Spooktober, Mapvember, and Worldember. There may be a game or 2 run in there, but my big focus right now is to try to (for now) get some mapping work done. My "hacks" have been working great but as I build more and more of the world I am finding myself wanting to go deeper into some rabbit holes. Still, hopefully this map update doesnt take the 400-ish hours that the last one took, although I think many agree that the current map is a vast improvement over the hand-drawn hex map that the world started out as.

How it started

also titled NEVER EVER AGAIN a story about why you dont do madssive coloring projects with ballpoint pens

The Second Iteration

Zoom, pan and explore

The Base Map of Kohtalo

Open full size

The world name is now spelled correctly

So yeah, that is whats on the horizon. Mapmaking and the implications of an vampiric dragon. Fun times. I guess I'll see you all around.