Easy Peasy EC PC Contest Results

Wow! Major kudos to everyone who entered my Encounter Critical chargen contest. I had thirty two entries to sift through and I loved so many of them it took me three weeks to pick a winner. I eventually had to conscript my wife and daughter into helping me winnow down all the truly excellent characters to a single finalist. Big thanks to Joshua Cameron, Roger Carbol, Cris Creel, Michael David Jr., Philip Eckert, Kelvin Green, Kirk Hess, Alan Krause, JJ, Tom Livak, Randy Metras, MultiMoe, Zak S., Ryan Schipper, squidman and Adam Thornton for their submissions. The world of Encounter Critical is awesomer for your efforts. And without further ado, here is an excerpt from Tom Livak's winning entry:

Slasirack Mk II, Half Lizard Man/Half Robodroid Criminal

Background: Slasirack was a two bit criminal involved with Blood Claw gang of Thaskaia. When the gang pulled a heist against the local branch of the Pan-Galactic Bank, he was the getaway driver of the damnation van. When they were ambushed by the local law enforcement, the rest of the gang members ditched the van, leaving Slasirack to deal with a barrage of incoming explosive rockets. It was assumed he was destroyed in the resulting explosion, as were the stolen credits. But miraculously he survived, although badly injured, and made off with the credits, which he used to buy cybernetic implants to repair his broken body (opting for the opulent blue diamond eyes). Now not giving the Blood Claw their cut of the loot isn't going to sit too well with them, so Slasirack Mk II is trying to make sure they keep thinking he's dead, while still trying win himself back the credits he had to spend on his body.

Slasirack Mk II was but one of several excellent PCs submitted by Mr. Livak. As winner of the contest he is entitled to his choice of one three gamebooks written by yours truly. He picked the ultra-rare Cumberland Games & Diversions print edition of Asteroid 1618, my hastily written Encounter Critical module. Tom also gets the shiny new copy of Mutant Future donated by an anonymous benefactor and several other game goodies I'm throwing in the prize box. Hope you enjoy it all, Tom!

I had originally announced a prize for but a single winner. But I'm giving away a second prize. At one point I was down to four excellent finalist entries and I realized they were written by only two different dudes, Tom and Philip Eckert. So Phil is also getting one of my books as the Super Secret Bonus Second Place Winner. Here's the info on my fave of Phil's characters.

Ælfbørg, Elf Cyaborg Warrior

Background: After the tragic accident, the operation saved Ælfbørg's life but made him forever an outcast among his own kind. "Once I heard the sounds of the babbling brook with my own ears, saw the wooded glade with my own eyes. Now I sense only the buzz of circuitry and the glitter of diodes. Oh, to be flesh and blood once more!" More machine now than elf, he is on a quest to find and defeat his evil half-brother Wülfbørg, an elf/cyaborg/werewolf whose whereabouts are completely unknown.

Anyway, you should be able to check out all the characters in full in a couple days when I upload the entire batch to the EC yahoo group. Congratulations to Tom and Philip and thanks again to everyone who participated!