Become a scenario writer

Okay! So you have a great idea for a Lenten scenario, now what? How do you get your scenario to Fastaval and what can you expect as a scenario author?

The first step towards a place on this year’s program is to write and submit a synopsis to Fastaval’s scenario managers. The scenario year usually begins before or around the summer vacation, when the scenario managers issue a call for synopses, which is announced on Fastaval’s Facebook page, our Twitter and here on the website. There is often a lot of interest in writing for Fastaval and therefore we unfortunately do not have room for all the synopses we receive. It’s important for the scenario managers and for Fastaval that there are debutants every year – so we’re happy to put extra energy into helping new writers get started.

If you would like help formulating your synopsis, Fastaval organizes a number of workshops in the run-up to the synopsis deadline that you can participate in. Here you can get feedback, meet other potential authors and talk through your idea. You can also get a synopsis sparring partner who will thoroughly help you to write a clearly formulated text.

If your synopsis is selected for this year’s field, Fastaval offers additional help should you wish. You can be assigned a sparring partner, an experienced Fastaval author, who will help you execute your idea in the best possible way. You’ll also be invited to workshops and to the annual author weekend, where you can meet and socialize with other authors.

During the year, until Easter, the scenario managers will keep in touch with you and you can communicate with the other authors in a closed group on Facebook.

In addition to the scenario itself, you also need to write a cover story for the website, so potential players can see if your scenario is for them. The deadline for submitting your completed scenario is usually at the end of January or beginning of February, depending on how Easter falls.

If you have any questions about being a scenario writer or if you have an idea that is outside the usual Fastaval framework, you can always contact Mads and Nicolai, who are the scenario managers for 2027 and 2028. Send us an email at scenarieansvarlige@fastaval.dk

We expect you to do your best to deliver a solid scenario, because it takes time and energy to write a good scenario. You don’t have to take a leave of absence from your studies or job, but expect it to take up some of your free time, especially in December and January. Plot structure and design questions will haunt your thoughts for the next six months. That’s part of the fun.

In return, you will have the opportunity to become part of a unique creative environment, with experience and inspiration built up over decades. You’ll meet a diverse group of authors who are happy to help you save and challenge you on what role-playing games are and can do. It’s not unlikely you’ll make lifelong friends in the process and develop a broader taste and appreciation of roleplaying as a medium. The scenario managers are with you every step of the way and will do their best to help you get your scenario across the finish line. During Fastaval you’ll meet players who are sure to tell you about their awesome experience andafter Fastaval you can get thorough and structured feedback from Otto judges . Fastaval guarantees at least five runs of your scenario (unless your scenario has a very alternative format), so your scenario will be played by a good amount of people. Last but not least, there is the fundamental joy of working on a creative project, writing, and struggling to make the scenario as good as it can be. Being a screenwriter is not always easy, but always engaging.

May-July: Idea workshops and synopsis sparring (mostly for new writers)

You’ve got a great idea for a scenario and you’re excited to start working on it. The time between Fastaval and the summer vacation is the perfect time to develop your idea on a small scale and present it to the world. This year, we’re hosting online idea workshops on June 24. The workshop is for anyone who wants to write a scenario for Fastaval 2027. Keep an eye on Fastaval’s Facebook page or write to us to get links sent to you. Keep an eye on Fastaval’s Facebook page or write to us to get links sent to you.

If you haven’t written a scenario for Fastaval before, we would love to put you in touch with a synopsis sparring partner. This means that there is an experienced Fastaval writer who can help you by, for example, reading through your synopsis and offering constructive criticism. You agree on the details of the collaboration yourselves. Send us an email at scenarieansvarlige@fastaval.dk if you are interested.

August: Synopsis workshop and synopsis deadline

August is the month to really work on the synopsis. Your idea has taken more and more shape and is ready to be written down. The scenario managers organize one or more synopsis workshops where the participants get constructive and loving feedback on their draft synopsis text. Keep an eye on Fastaval’s Facebook page or write to us by email.

Synopsis workshop will be held on August 11 at 20:30

Synopsis deadline is August 28th, at 23.59.

September: Answers to synopsis and presentation of this year’s program

November: Author Weekend

December: Cover story deadline

During December, all authors must submit a pre-review, where they briefly describe what the scenario is about and which players and game leaders it might interest. Fastaval participants use the previews to decide which scenarios they will select and deselect.

January and February: Scenario writing and deadline.

Now is the time to put the scenario down on paper. If you haven’t already set up a playtest, you may want to schedule one in December or the first part of January. The deadline for submitting finished scenarios is January 24th at 23:59.

A synopsis is an overview of your scenario idea that gives the scenario creators a good basis to judge it. A synopsis doesn’t need to go into very specific details, explaining the entire plot or the backstory of every character. Instead, focus on touching on all the most important aspects of the scenario. You need to make the scenario creators understand what’s going to happen in the game room and what the players are going to do and experience during the scenario.

We love it when we can sense the enthusiasm in your idea and when you can tell us what makes roleplaying a good and engaging experience. On the other hand, please avoid excessive bragging and long manifestos about what good roleplaying is, just as we don’t want you to talk negatively about other scenarios.

When you submit a synopsis, the scenario does not need to be tested or even approximately written down. The vast majority of scenarios are only in the idea stage by the synopsis deadline, but we want to get a clear impression of your vision. The idea should be clearly formulated and appear fairly baked, so the scenario managers can get a sense of whether the scenario can realistically be completed on time.

If you want extra advice for your synopsis, you can attend one of the synopsis workshops or listen to the podcast Scenario Core here. You can also read more about the form in Mikkel Bækgaard’s description here or in Kristian Bach Petersen’s additional article on synopsis writing here.

Here you can read three examples of great synopses submitted for Fastaval 2024

A synopsis is a short piece of writing that explains the specifics of the scenario, what the participants have to do along the way, and what experience the players will have. It should contain the following information (not necessarily in this order):

Title, this does not have to be the final title of the scenario.

Type of role-playing game, Most scenarios are either full-length scenarios (4-6 hours) or short story scenarios (maximum 2 hours), but you may also be writing a live action role-playing game, a helcon scenario or just skipping the format.

Genre, Is your scenario fantasy, historical drama, surrealism, everyday comedy, or something completely different.

Description, Typically 1-1.5 pages of text about the scenario with a focus on what the players’ experience will be. We want to hear about the characters, world, rules, plot, mood and whatever else is relevant to understanding the scenario. You don’t need to go into meticulous detail about how your effects will work, it’s enough for us to know that they are part of the scenario or that you will work on developing them during your writing process. Don’t spend too many words on prose and background descriptions either, we mainly need an overview.

Target group, Who is the scenario for. In particular, you need to consider whether the scenario should be categorized as +13, +15 or +18 years and why.

Keywords, about the scenarios genre/playstyle/setting or other matching

Number of players

Number of GMs, Typically a scenario has one gm, but some scenarios may have more or none depending on the role-playing game you are doing.

Expected playtime, Max 6 hours (unless you’re designing a live or wholecon)

Personal information, navn, mail og tlf. nr. på alle deltagende forfattere. (Det er muligt at skrive under pseudonym, men de scenarieansvarlige skal stadig vide hvem du er)

Possibly a short introduction of yourself, If you are a newbie and don’t know the scenario managers, please include some information about what else you have done and worked with in a role-playing context. Being inexperienced in NO WAY counts against you, but we would love to get an insight into your experience level and roleplaying style. It’s important to us that we get a good spread of experience among our writers so that we constantly get new blood and new ideas into the environment around the Lenten scenarios.

Possibly a short 1-2 sentence pitch to post on fastaval.dk if the scenario is accepted. You can also ask the scenario managers to write this.

At Fastaval, we go to great lengths to accommodate all kinds of ideas, but there are certain restrictions and limits that you should be aware of if you are considering writing for Fastaval.

The scenario must be able to run at Fastaval. The vast majority of scenarios are played in a classroom at Mariagerfjord Gymnasium, where the only scenography is tables and chairs. However, there is also room for role-playing in Fastaval common areas or in the nature behind the high school. We go to great lengths to accommodate quirky ideas that play with the role-playing form, but you should prepare yourself for the fact that Fastaval does not own costumes, props or lights that you can use. All extra set design and props for your scenario must be brought by you.

The scenario must be written down. A Fastaval scenario can be anywhere between 10-100 pages (in rare cases even more) and serves as a kind of manual/scriptbook for your GMs. Most scenarios have 5+ runs at Fastaval and therefore the roleplay must be read, understood and run by people who are not you. The written tradition is also an important part of developing and strengthening the quality of roleplaying at Fastaval. On the website Alexandria you have free access to years of Fastaval scenarios that can be read, learned from and played again and again.

The scenario is automatically entered into the Otto competition. As a scenario writer, you should be prepared for all scenarios to be included in the competition for this year’s Ottos – this is a main premise when you bring a scenario to Fastaval. Your text will be read and judged by a panel of judges during Fastaval. If you’d like to hear the judges’ thoughts and analysis, they will send out constructive feedback to authors who want it after Fastaval. Read more about the Otto competition here.

Scenario must be written specifically for Fastaval. Fastaval is proud of its premiere scenarios and we want to create and nurture an environment where role-playing as a medium is constantly evolving. Therefore, we do not accept role-playing games written for other conventions or similar events. We do, however, welcome reinterpretations or extensive rewrites of old scenarios, and it is of course allowed to playtest your idea on other conferences.

You need to get five gamemasters for your scenario if possible. Fastaval strives for all common scenarios to be played at least five times. Fastaval strives for all common scenarios to be played at least five times. Unfortunately, there’s always a shortage of game managers and it’s a huge organizing job to make sure all authors get their five+ teams set up. If you’re a new author, don’t be discouraged, we have a couple of great GMs who are happy to help you. We just expect you to do your best to get as many gamers as possible. For experienced writers and those with a solid network at Fastaval are expected to find a minimum of five game managers themselves.

It is allowed to submit more than one synopsis. However, we recommend that you focus on developing one scenario idea, rather than submitting many. Quantity does not necessarily help your chances of being selected.

It is the responsibility and privilege of the Fastaval scenario manager to read the submitted synopses and select the scenarios that will be awarded at Fastaval. The scenarios are selected as a collective field. We don’t just look at the quality of the individual synopsis, but also how your idea fits among the others.

First and foremost, we select based on a desire for diversity in the scenario field. We really want to offer Fastaval participants a wide range of role-playing experiences. Everyone who reads Fastaval’s program should be able to find at least one scenario they really want to play. We aim for a good breadth of genres, themes, forms, content and systems. We also look at which age groups the scenarios are aimed at. Ideally, we want dice, action, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, social realism, feel-good drama, historical stories, life stories and everything in between and beyond.

We also aim for a good spread in the experience level of the authors. Every year, we actively make room for debut writers to try their hand at screenwriting, so we continue to develop the writing community. Of course, we also want writers with two or three scenarios under their belts to have the chance to develop further. Finally, there should also be room for seasoned writers who, in addition to their scenarios, also contribute by sharing their experiences at various workshops and the writers’ weekend.

Fastaval is not just for Danes and therefore the scenario managers also look at language and nationality. We welcome international authors who show interest in Fastaval and therefore we always hope to include a small handful of scenarios from abroad, even though the majority are still written in Danish.

Last but not least, we cannot deny that the quality of the scenario idea as it appears in the synopsis also plays a role. The scenario managers mainly talk about whether the idea is mature and whether we believe that it can be turned into a finished and solid scenario within the time frame. Communication is an important factor in this. Small linguistic errors are not a big deal, but if we can’t understand how the game is supposed to be played or the submitted synopsis is very incomplete, we can’t trust that the author will be able to convey an entire scenario.

Fastaval has two scenario managers and it’s our job to ensure that Fastaval participants have the best possible role-playing experiences and that Fastaval authors all have a good experience writing their scenarios. First and foremost, we select this year’s scenario field, but it’s also our job to organize workshops for the authors, provide sparring and moral support during the entire writing process from idea to finished scenario.

Being a stage manager is not a position you hold indefinitely. Typically, a new duo is ready every two years to take over from the old organizers. In this way, we ensure that Fastaval’s program is constantly evolving and makes room for new attitudes and priorities. På den måde sikrer vi at Fastavals program hele tiden udvikler sig og giver plads til nye holdning og prioriteter.

If you have any questions about the scenarios or would like to hear more, please contact us here: scenarieansvarlige@fastaval.dk

Why is there only room for about 30 scenarios at Fastaval?

The number of scenarios at Fastaval has two explanations. 1) Fastaval is limited by the number of game rooms we have access to at Mariager Fjord Gymnasium. 2) Fastaval prioritizes the selected scenarios to have as many runs as possible, over having as many scenarios as possible. It takes time and volunteer effort to write a Fastaval scenario and therefore Fastaval would rather have fewer scenarios that can be played more.

Who decides which scenarios are included?

The scenario managers are responsible for selecting this year’s field for Fastaval. The scenario managers are organizers at Fastaval who serve for two years. They work to create a good spread and diversity among the scenarios so that there is something for everyone to play.

Why can’t I submit my finished role-play as a synopsis?

There have been years where Fastaval has received 70+ synopses, which in itself is a huge amount of reading material for the scenario managers and finished scenarios would only give them even more work. The synopsis form is there so that scenario managers can easily get an overview of all the scenario ideas and select the best overall field. Even though you may find it annoying to duplicate work, you still need to write a synopsis, even if you are already far along with your written role-play.

Can I bring a role-playing game to Fastaval without the synopsis selection and scenario competition?

Fastaval is a big place and every year there are plenty of participants who come to play their own role-playing games and campaigns, outside of the official Fastaval program. Luckily, there’s plenty of room for this, but it often takes place in the common areas of the high school, as Fastaval needs to use the classrooms for programmed activities.