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Description

"I am at home among the trees" - J.R.R. Tolkien
Hail friends! Are you ready to delve into a new species? Of course you are! This challenge is all about flora, bring to life an important plant species in your world. It can be useful, dangerous, or maybe even a bit of both! If a world is to be alive, it needs plants. Many worldbuilders don't think about this aspect when they create a land to explore, but well-made plants can provide more character to a world than even the coolest heroes. We have teamed up with Kobold Press, purveyors of some of the best tabletop RPG content around, and we want to hear all about an important and interesting plant in your world! This might be a plant-monster like the Mushroomfolk from Creature Codex, or a dangerous plant such as the Gloomflower. It could be a material for building, furniture, clothes, weapons and even magical artifacts! Medicine, drugs, food; all of it can be made through your own plants! There are no special rules for this competition, so just have fun and get inspired!!

Dragonleaf tree from Kobold Press's Midgard setting

Standard League Winner
thechangeling

Premier League Winner
Stormbril

Prizes

All participants will receive the challenge participation badge. The winner will receive an extra shiny badge, have their article featured, and will be shouted out on the weekly World Anvil update stream and on the official World Anvil social media accounts.
The Winners of the Premier and Regular league will be receiving fantastic PDF bundles from Kobold Press! World Building Magazine Feature!
In Addition to the amazing prizes already on the table, the winners of the leagues will have a chance to be featured in the Worldbuilding Magazine! This not only includes having your work published, but also the ability to have your work edited by the professional folks at WBM! Premier League Features
Every week following the adjudication, a Premier League entrant who made the shortlist will be featured on World Anvil for a week! We'll shout out and showcase these fantastic entries on the weekly update stream!

The Brief

Kobold Press and World Anvil want to hear all about a species of plant in your world! What is it used for? Is it dangerous? How do the people of your world interact with it? All you'll need is a World Anvil account and fresh Species template article to work with. Write all about your plant species, what do they look like? How are they unique? Do they have any uses? There are plenty of floral ideas just waiting to be combined and shown off! Plants can become incredibly complex, or remarkably simple. The usages or dangers of plants can be just as varied, so this should be a great way to breath (or photosynthesize) some more life into your world. If you are looking for inspiration, make sure to check out the resources section as well our our blog post all about creating amazing plants!

What to include in your article

The Plant

What does your plant look like? Where does it grow? Does it have specific conditions needed or does it spread in a unique way? This is the time to focus on your plant itself, rather than what goes on around it.

Uses

Why is your plant important? This can range into multiple different categories. Is it dangerous to people? A trap like a Pitcher Plant or strangling vines? Perhaps it is critical to building in a certain area? Or it could be a food or drug that helps treat specific illnesses?

Culture

Plants are critical in the culture of those who live amongst them. They may be used as a decoration in specific areas, or they may be a warning tale to those who venture alone. Some plants may even be workshipped if they provide their people with such benefits! Tell us about how people treat the plant!

The Rules

How to Enter

Firstly, all competitors will need a World Anvil account (don’t worry, it’s free!) to get started. Once you’ve logged in and created your first world, you’re ready to enter the competition. Write your entry using the Species template on World Anvil. Once you have finished your entry and are ready to submit it, make sure that your article is not a draft and then click on the button on the right-hand side to submit it to the challenge.

Adjudication Criteria and Process

A shortlist of the top twenty entries (as organized by community likes and ten from each league) will be compiled by the Master of Games. The Judges will choose the winner. The winner will be announced by the World Anvil Team on the following weekly update stream. Entries will be judged on a number of criteria, including originality, presentation, and thoroughness. Any work you submit, as long as it was owned by you originally, is still owned by you even if you win!

Timeline	Event
March 6th - April 10th	Competition is active and opened!
April 10th - April 17th	Sharing period, give feedback, make minor edits.
April 17th - May 1st	Adjudication and Judging
May 8th	Winner Announcement Date!

Other Rules

Articles for Submission must use the Species Template
Articles must be submitted before the closing time, else they will not be judged
Articles will be taken from a shortlist of likes, the top ten from each league will be judged by the Master of Games or a guest judge.
You will be able to submit your article only if it is public!
Only one article may be submitted per author, this does not mean one article per world.
Articles will have a week-long period after the deadline to make small edits, share, and get feedback from the community. This period will end when the shortlist is compiled. The purpose of this deadline is to let people focus on writing and sharing separately.
Articles can be no longer than 2500 words in length!
Word Count will be counted by copying all words present in the article's body and sidebar into a word counter. The Timeline will also be added in the word counter. BBCode does not impact word count, attached articles do not impact word count.

For any further questions or clarifications about this challenge, message the Master of Games, Barron, on the World Anvil Discord!

The lovely Kobolds at Kobold Press will be judging both Premier and Regular Leagues for this challenge!

Social media sharing

Because community likes are an important part of the competition, competitors may wish to share their entries on social media to garner more interest from the community. Entries which are tagged with #WA_Plants and mention WorldAnvil might get shared by World Anvil social media!

Leagues

There are two leagues that will be independently judged. The Regular and the Premier League. The Premier League consists of all the authors who have previously won a competition. Winning a competition in the Regular league will promote you to the Premier League for future challenges.

Useful Resources

Make sure to check out our codex article about using images!

Images

Generic article | Jan 30, 2024

In this article you learn how to upload, manage and use images on World Anvil.

And here is a codex article all about using BBCode

BBCode Tags

Generic article | Jan 25, 2024

This article lists most BBCode tags with an example on World Anvil.

Check out our very own Janet as she lays down the ideas for making great fantasy (or sci-fi) plants!

And don't forgot to check out Guy the Great GMs video all about plants to inspire you!

Looking for inspiration or seeking some ideas? Make sure to stop by the World Anvil Discord for worldbuilding conversation and inspiration!

A MASSIVE thank you to Kobold Press for allowing us to use their images for this challenge page!

Timeline

March's Competition will open on the 6th of March at 1900 London Time and close on April 10th at 23:59 London Time. The Shortlist will be compiled on 17th of April!

Peculiar Plants