Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I submit my work?
Contestants will be required to submit their entries via Imgur, DeviantArt, Cubari, Tapas, Google Drive, Google Photos, webtoons, or any other comic-oriented client or platform. Any entries submitted on Twitter will be automatically DISQUALIFIED, as reading entries becomes a massive hassle given Twitter’s posting restrictions. Animation entries are not allowed.
Also, please fill out this Google Form to verify that you will be submitting an audition by the given deadline, March 31st, 2024.
2. Do I need a Twitter account?
No, but we will be releasing information and announcements via the website and Discord mostly, and through Twitter since it’s a popular platform. However, you may post LINKS to your rounds in a Twitter post.
3. What is the rating of this OCT?
Content rating is 18+. No minors, no teenagers. You must honestly verify your age before submitting an audition. If we discover that you are lying, we will remove you from the tournament server. No arguments, just action.
This is an OCT with mature ratings and themes of death, murder, and cannibalism in its story. As such, depictions of R-rated content are allowed. Regardless, entries will still be required to include content warnings for depicting or mentioning common triggers, such as [body horror, implied sexual situations, drug abuse, physical/emotional abuse, animal abuse, murder, suicide, etc].
However, content that deploys excessively explicit R-rated material without narrative reason will be considered shock value for its own sake, and will be penalized if not thrown out. ie. if you’re just drawing torturegore that does not progress the plot in any useful way, you’re gonna get punted. No arguments, just action.
Explicit sexual content is not allowed, and SA situations between competing characters or with NPCs are NOT permitted. Themes of SA can be alluded as part of character backstory, but cannot be depicted explicitly or occur within the OCT.
4. Am I allowed to kill, maim, or injure my opponent?
This is what they call a ‘murder OCT’, so yes, Guests will be allowed to hurt, kill, maim, etc. Unlike adventure-style OCTs or fighting tournaments, this OCT lies more in the direction of a dinner party murder mystery, except instead of a body and a suspect, the Guests are forced to face themselves — psychically, emotionally, mentally, and physically. This means that characters with unresolved personal Angst will be prime fodder for the House’s choosing. That said, while Guests are encouraged to harm their opponents, pacifist approaches will be undermined by the House itself, and other NPCs.
Please correspond with your opponent on the manner of hurting, maiming, or death. Opponents may not refuse to be killed, but they may have requests on the manner of death or injury. Please show respect for your opponent and their character. Entries that humiliate, misrepresent, or disrespect their opponent or the NPCs will be disqualified.
Murder, maiming, or hurting House Staff/NPCs is not allowed (until later) in the Audition, First, or Second Round.
Additionally, and importantly: At the end of every round, all characters in losing rounds WILL BE KILLED BY THE HOUSE. This is in accordance to the fixed narrative rule found at the END of this list. This rule is repeated in the How To Enter section, Entry rules, rule #6.
5. How many Contestants will be on the roster?
16 Contestants, 4 rounds total.
Round 1 will feature 8 matches. Round 2 will go down to 4. Round 3 will be down to two contestants. The fourth and final round will be between the remaining contestants.
6. How are matches decided?
TBA
7. Will critiques be available?
All entries will be subjected to the Judging Rubric, which is a detailed list of all the traits and qualities expected of an objectively qualified narrative piece. Every Contestant entry will receive one collaborative review by the judges. Auditions will not.
8. Are spectator entries allowed?
After some consideration, we have decided to allow spectator participation. However, because this OCT is prompt-based and rather tightly controlled, the conditions for spectators are very specific.
The House closes off from the outside world as soon as the Guests are selected from the Audition phase. This means no one is allowed inside or out, so living persons cannot interact with competitors or others, nor will they be able to observe events from outside. Telepathy and assorted tricks will not be allowed.
However, the House contains GHOSTS of past Guests, contestants who lost a previous competition who were devoured by the House. These ghosts now wander endlessly throughout its corridors, incorporeal, unable to interact with physical objects. They can, however, speak with other ghosts, or speak to current contestants. Former maids or butlers are also allowed. We understand that this quite restrictive in terms of events and elements, but ideally people are encouraged to exercise their creativity within these bounds.
That said, fanworks of previous Guest stories are absolutely encouraged. What-ifs and non-canon stories are allowed as well.
9. What happens if there is a forfeit?
If a forfeit occurs within 1 week of the beginning of the round, then we will bring back someone from the previous round as a second wind to take their place. This does not guarantee a win– the second wind contestant still must produce an entry of expected quality. Second-wind contestants will however automatically be granted a week’s worth of grace period after deadline.
If you feel like you cannot complete your round in time, please let us know ASAP so that the second-wind contestant has time to start and complete their round. Please be fair to other potential competitors. Things happen unpredictably in life, so if you need to prioritize other things such as school, work, family, or whatever, please focus on what’s important. But let us know! There is no shame in prioritizing your life over an OCT.
10. What happens if both contestants of a matchup forfeit?
If a double forfeit occurs within 1 week of the beginning of the round, then we will bring back competitors who lost in the previous round as a second wind to take their place. This does not guarantee a win– the second wind contestants still must produce an entry of expected quality. Second-wind contestants will automatically be granted a week’s worth of grace period after deadline.
If you feel like you cannot complete your round in time, please let us know ASAP so that the second-wind contestant has time to start and complete their round. Please be fair to other potential competitors. Things happen unpredictably in life, so if you need to prioritize other things such as school, work, family, or whatever, please focus on what’s important. But let us know! There is no shame in prioritizing your life over an OCT.
11. Can I participate in more than one OCT as well as Banquet OCT?
Historically there have been problems with people passing auditions, only to drop their rounds in order to audition for another OCT, OR people having to prioritize the OCT they committed to prior, and dropping their second OCT. As a result, to avoid a situation where someone passes auditions only to drop out later, we ask that you please commit to one OCT without spreading yourself thin over two OCTs.
This rule does not apply to those who are judging for other OCTs. Judging does not demand the same time commitment as drawing rounds. Hosting OCTs tends to frontload work rather than demand active work throughout the OCT duration.
12. How do I request a deadline extension?
You must show your work in progress to be granted an extension. Even thumbnails and sketches are fine, so long as they are legible. So long as you have proof that you are actually working on your entry and not just delaying the start, we will be willing to offer everyone up to a week’s worth of extra time to complete your entry.
This is different from a grace period, which allows only up to a day or two of extra time on an individual basis. Grace periods should be used for uploading issues, or if you are experiencing some kind of delay in uploading.
13. How do I request extra time for submission? (Asking for a grace period)
Please file any questions or concerns via Discord or through Twitter DMs. It’s likely that we will announce the time to request a Grace Period via Discord and Twitter, so that will be the time to respond.
14. Can we alter setting lore or NPCs?
Please don’t. This OCT is meant to be small and exclusive, and everyone is expected to work with the exact same setting material, for fairness. The challenge also is to work with what you’re given, and to focus on character development rather than world building.
That said, you are allowed to invent rooms and spaces within the House, since it manifests them based on the psyche of present company. Your creativity in this regard will be invaluable to you and your story.
Also, any other house staff that Guests may encounter who are not the Butler or the Maid, will either be faceless entities, or may resemble people the Guest recognizes.
15. May I create NPCs?
Please don’t. The narrative is set precisely to function as it is. Please have your OCs interact with the available NPCs.
16. How do the prompts work?
Every round will have a prompt that each matchup must portray. The prompts are not optional — the prompt must be the focus of your round, as well as how your character interacts with your opponent. Character development is expected!
Additionally, extra instructions will be issued at the time of the prompt unveiling.
17. Why are there so many hard rules?
BANQUET OCT is meant to be a small, exclusive OCT with a fixed narrative. However, this does not mean the story has a fixed ending– there are a number of alternate endings and outcomes that will be determined by how characters react or control their storylines. The setting and NPCs are fixed, with less focus on worldbuilding and more on character development. While some might argue that characters are forced into positions of reaction or railroading, we believe there is plenty of room for characters to exercise their own personal agency and autonomy within the given parameters.