NMA Brotherhood of Steel Writing Contest

Brother None

This ghoul has seen it all
Orderite
A little while ago, Bethesda released a developer diary describing for the first time the background events leading up to persistent Brotherhood activity in war-torn Washington D.C. Opinions on the piece were vocal and divided. Some thought it was a reasonable take showing that even Elders of the Brotherhood can undergo character growth in the face of wasteland realities; others decried it as a hamfisted retooling out of step with Fallout lore. Obviously such an argument can have no definitive resolution.

But why leave it there? We at NMA invite you to don your creative hat and present your own vision of the Brotherhood, where they are now and how they got there. Your assignment is to write your own version of this story, to tell it the way you would want it to be told, to set the Brotherhood up for the game you would want to play.

Your entry must be centred on the premise that the Brotherhood of Steel, or some group using their name and trappings, are operating on the East Coast. Who are they? What do they represent? What's their history, what state do we find them in, what's their agenda? We're looking for stories that are ambitious, well-considered, well-written, consistent and believable.

All surrounding details are mutable. You can but do not have to refer to other aspects of the setting and plot of Fallout 3 that have been revealed or hinted at, or try to guess at undisclosed plot points. You can frame your piece however you like, but don't forget about the content.

To fuel your creative efforts at fan writing, we'll be offering up a desirable fan prize. The winner will receive a poster-sized print of any one art piece by renowned fan artist Defonten: City Ruins, Cafe of Broken Dreams or Brand New Reno.

For the rest of the details, the rules and where to submit to, go to:
NMA Brotherhood of Steel Writing Contest.

Also, let me take this chance to remind everyone that stuff like the Fallout 3 preview and this only happen thanks to your generous donations. NMA is a non-profit site, we do not make money from our banners. So thank you, Mr Donating Man!
 
Question : if my english sucks and therefore gives me no chance to win whatsoever, is there a place where I can instead buy one of these wonderful prints ? :D I mean other than having it printed for me in a shop.
 
MrBumble said:
Question : if my english sucks and therefore gives me no chance to win whatsoever, is there a place where I can instead buy one of these wonderful prints ? :D I mean other than having it printed for me in a shop.

I believe defonten has been thinking of starting an online shop for some time, but until he does (and this has been prognosticated multiple times), no chance. It'll also be expensive as he has to ship them all the way from Azerbaijan.

Anyway; if your English does suck we still encourage you to give it a try. Just try to write as polished as you can, use Word's spell-checker to help. We're not going to be total grammar nazis, we just don't want to be faced with incomprehensible gobble-de-gook either.
 
good thing you put a limit on how many words used, because i'm sure some total nutjob would write an entire book just to win that defonten art. ;)
 
Oh boy! Here I go!!! I'm so gonna win this prize :)

(ahah)

:EDIT:
Oh hell! I can't think of any reason why the brotherhood would be on the east coast :? Ah, and they say bethesda didn't simply do it to justify their presence :lol:

:EDIT:
Wait! I read the rules, I can't win the prize :( Ah, nevermind, I'll still be happy to contribute (if I manage to do something good...)
 
I will DEFINETLY try to claim the trophy!

Shame my english\writing skills aren't good enough, but hell, who cares (except for guys that'll have to read my work :P)?

This day shall be a glorious one for the Imperium!

Fot the Honor of the Chapter!
 
My biggest issue is that I see a journey across the continent to be an epic saga, a colossal undertaking like no other in the Fallout world. And in that respect I think I'd enjoy a narrative based on the journey more than a narrative where a bunch of subpar mutants have "infested" the capitol.

Anyway, I've killed for less than an awesome Defonten poster, so I'll be having a shot at this.
 
Huh. Think I might try this. Haven't had an excuse to write game backstory in a while so this might give me a chance to flex my thinking meats a bit.

Edit: Woo. Sent it out. Not too wild about it but eh. It works well enough for me.
 
Section8 said:
My biggest issue is that I see a journey across the continent to be an epic saga, a colossal undertaking like no other in the Fallout world. And in that respect I think I'd enjoy a narrative based on the journey more than a narrative where a bunch of subpar mutants have "infested" the capitol.

That's fine. You can have the final situation of the BoS in the east coast as a footnote, as long as you explain everything: why are they there and what are they doing? If you want to focus more on the travels, that's fine
 
Very interesting.

Come on guys. You gotta beat Bethesda's, it shouldn't be too hard given that original diary, but still. Gotta beat them.

I figure I'll submit one, not sure of my chances of winning.
 
How much freedom are we allowed in regards to tweaking the history?

I currently have some ideas but they differ radically then what the bos were like in f2?

An example question would be:

Honestly I don't see the brotherhood undertaking massive recruitment policies. ALthough they would admire the vault dwellers courage, they would realize that change is too big for any one group to accomplish. I believe after helping the surrounding settlements clear out the remaining Unity (note I mean teh hardcore master followers and not other super muties who might have had a change of heart when they figured out they were sterile), they would have went back to their old ways.

I also thought that F2 had a bit too much tech with things like G.E.C.K.S. To me, it still feels like a quick scheme to massively re-introduce technologies. So another would be can I assume that there were never GECKS?
 
DarkCorp said:
How much freedom are we allowed in regards to tweaking the history?

I currently have some ideas but they differ radically then what the bos were like in f2?

Canon is everything up to what is known from Fo2. You're on your own from there.

DarkCorp said:
An example question would be:

So another would be can I assume that there were never GECKS?

(This was the only thing with a question mark, so I assume it's the question.) GECKs do exist in Fallout canon.
 
Per said:
DarkCorp said:
An example question would be:

So another would be can I assume that there were never GECKS?

(This was the only thing with a question mark, so I assume it's the question.) GECKs do exist in Fallout canon.

Huh, even if you'd discount Fallout 2 entirely as non-canon, there would still be a GECK. It was in the manual for the first game.

-Gerko, will think about entering.
 
I probably should have told everyone to send me submissions in a standard format, like just in the email, or .txt, or possible .doc

I'm not shelling out money to Microsoft to be able to use .docx files. And also, I hate .docx files. Don't send me .docx files. Please.
 
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