Begun October 2007

Since it won the poll, I’ve decided to skip the usual Faction Vehicle Design Contest this year and do a Minifig contest! I’ll probably resume the Faction contests some time in early 2008 with a Zygbar contest, but for now – it’s just minifigs. I’ve had my reservations about doing this type of contest for one reason: I was afraid the minifigs wouldn’t fit will enough into the universe of Nova Refuge. As the good Admiral Thrawn put it, too many dual-lightsaber-wielding bounty hunters… much like my Takeover of Mordark LEGO comic signup turned out to be all those years ago. Still, here’s hoping I can avoid that… so please read the rules fully, and if you can, try to read the CHARACTER CREATION TIPS section as well! Thanks!

RULES
All you have to do to enter this contest is make up a character who fits BELIEVABLY into the universe of Nova Refuge (the Accuracy score is very important!), and then make a custom LEGO minifig of that character. For your character, please fill out this form (remove and replace the remarks in parentheses):

My Name: (YOUR name, and/or your Internet handle if you prefer)
Char Name: (your CHARACTER’s name, codename, and/or nickname)
Species: (Human, Sarran, Half-Sarran, Mahlok, Slashrim, or Achmer - see the Natives page for more info)
Gender: (male or female – or neither, if you’re an Achmer)
Place of Birth: (somewhere in the Nova Refuge galaxy, whether official or made up - see the Starmap for more info)
Faction: (preferably one of the official factions, but a made-up one MAY be allowed - see the Factions page for more info)
Role: (your character’s job – if he’s in a faction, it should be something like soldier or scout. If he’s a loner, something like bounty hunter or mercenary. He doesn’t have to be a warrior though. A scientist or businessman, for example, would be also be fine)
Weapons of Choice: (what weapons your character prefers to use when in battle – if he’s not a warrior, what weapon he would choose to defend himself with if necessary - see the Weapons page for more info)
Biography: (a short history of your character’s life)
Personality: (how your character acts to and is perceived by others)

There are two categories for the contest:

- CUSTOMIZED: If your minifig features any part cutting, paint, glue, decals, or non-LEGO pieces, it will fall into the Customized category.
- PURIST: If you decide to stick with all-LEGO with no modifications, your fig will fall into the Purist category.

YES, using guns from BrickArms or swords from BrickForge will put you in the Customized category.
Oh, and please do not submit a skin-tone minifig for a Human; stick to classic yellow. For Nova Refuge, I only use peach-skinned minifigs for Sarran.

Brick-built “minifigs” will be accepted in the cases of Stage 3 Slashrim Zrillak “Lizardmen” (any stages bigger than that will be rejected) or Achmer (if you can come up with a way to make a LEGO Achmer…). You may also enter a minifig “hardsuit” or large mechanical armor suit made out of LEGO pieces for a minifig. However, it must be no larger than SEVEN (7) bricks high (the size of one Big Ugly Rock Piece or BURP) and must incorporate at least a minifig head to represent the wearer of the hardsuit. Bonus points if you can get the whole minifig in there and still keep it compact.

For this contest, you may enter up to TWO (2) characters, either as separate entries or as a pair that work together as a single entry. Either one of those will hit your limit. Your entry doesn’t have to be new; previously-built characters will be accepted as long as they meet the rules.

HOW TO ENTER
Take some photos of your minifig, including at least one basic face-on shot. A few more pics of your character in various poses and situations (even vignettes) would be nice too. PLEASE SIZE YOUR PHOTOS DOWN to 900 PIXELS WIDE OR SMALLER!

Now you have to e-mail the form above (all filled out, of course) with your photos in an attachment (either zipped or unzipped) to staff@novarefuge.com with the subject “Minifig Contest Entry”. That’s right, send the photos as an attachment, NOT a link to them in an online gallery! That makes it too hard for me to save all of them. Thanks!

All entries must be received by the end of November (November 30, 2007). That should be plenty of time for a minifig.

NOTE: By entering this contest, you are granting me the right to use this character and all related materials in any Nova Refuge production, free of charge. Credit will be given to the creator whenever the character is used of course, but that is all.

JUDGING
Your character will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Minifig (minifig construction, color coordination, part customization, decals, etc.)
- Character (how interesting the character itself is and how well it fits with the LEGO version)
- Accuracy (how well the minifig and character story fit realistically and believably into the Nova Refuge universe, and how much they have to do with NR)
- Presentation (high-quality photos with good backgrounds showing the fig in cool poses/locations are all pluses)
- Overall (how the judge feels about the minifig overall – yes, judges can use this to tilt the final average score)

For this contest, I (Saber-Scorpion) will be the only judge, though my brother (_R__Y__A__N_) and sister (Werewolf) may help some.

PRIZES
1st Place Winner: $6.00 off your next purchase from Saber-Scorpion’s Lair
2nd Place Winner: $5.00 off your next purchase from Saber-Scorpion’s Lair
3rd Place Winner: $4.00 off your next purchase from Saber-Scorpion’s Lair

Of course, the winners will also get a little icon next to their name in the Nova Refuge Fan-Made Creations section of the website, if I ever can find time to finish it. There will be one of each place winner in each of the two categories, which means there will be SIX total winners in this contest! All of the characters might also be featured in other Nova Refuge stuff, like comics and LEGO comics… and maybe even the novels and the characters webpage. Maybe.

The prizes can be redeemed either just by e-mailing me and requesting this-and-that decal from my shop, or by placing an order at my shop and letting the prize act as a sort of coupon or gift certificate that you can subtract from your total.

Okay, now for the…

CHARACTER CREATION TIPS (They're long, but please read them)
To better understand how to create a good Nova Refuge character who will do well in this contest, I will use an example of a BAD Nova Refuge character who would NOT do well in the contest. To that end, I give you… Johsm “Katana-Viper” Donew!



My Name: John
Char Name: Johsm “Katana-Viper” Donew
Species: Human (Vampyr - a rare breed of enhanced human descended from the Vampires of Earth. Besides his amazing speed and strength, however, there are no signs of this heritage, so he keeps it secret.)
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: The planet Dodopox, in another galaxy
Faction: Loner
Role: Bounty Hunter
Weapons of Choice: Two lightsabers, a katana, a gatling-grenade-launcher, and two .50 Desert Eagle magnum pistols
Biography: Johsm was born on the planet Dodopox in a far distant galaxy, but his planet was attacked by Xarkon and they killed his family. Johsm, who was just a baby at the time, was then taken into the Enomeg project and trained with Saber-Scorpion and Raven and stuff. He was one of the best in his class, and no one could beat him at hand-to-hand combat. As an Enomeg, his codename was Katana-Viper. Soon Johsm found out the truth about his parents, however, and swore revenge on the Emperor of Xarkon. So he fought his way through the Emperor’s guards with his bare hands and killed him. Now he wanders Nova Refuge, widely known as the best bounty hunter in the galaxy.
Personality: Johsm gives the impression that he is a goofball because of his cocky attitude and tendency to laugh and make jokes. However, this hides the darkness of his personality and troubled soul, so often in combat he becomes very silent and deadly. Johsm likes to make friends and everyone respects him, but he prefers to work alone. He is usually merciful and generally good, but sometimes kills his enemies without remorse. He is extremely afraid of flying ants but otherwise fears nothing. Katana-Viper has never failed on a mission and he never will.

Why This Entry is Terrible:

1: Your name. When you put your real name, please include both your first and last names, or a nickname. Something that distinguishes you from all the other Johns out there.

2: The character name. The completely ridiculous name “Johsm Donew” is obviously generated by one of those “Star Wars name generators.” In fact, I’d be willing to bet the creator’s name was John Smith, his mother’s maiden name is Doe, and he was born in New York. Please don’t use those silly formulas, okay? Give your character a believable name. If he’s a Human, use a human name that fits his nationality, or some slight variant thereof (for example, “Jason” or “Jaeson”). If you want to make something up, make it at least sound like something someone would use for a name. If your character is not a Human, here are some guidelines for Native names:
- Slashrim names are guttural and coarse, like “Goragnogk,” and often end with a title such as “the Destroyer” or “the Snaggletoothed.”
- Mahlok names are long, sound alien, and use lots of Z’s, K’s, and X’s, like “Zorakisnalith,” but are usually shortened (“Zorak”).
- Sarran names are elegant and flowing, like “Loraelion” (think elf-like).
- Achmer names are very short and simple, like “Oor,” and follow with the name of their family or house, as in “Oor ma-Qar” (“Oor of House Qar”)
Oh, and if you want to choose a nickname, avoid directly copying the Enomeg naming system of “Attribute/weapon-Animal” and try to choose something that sounds unique and believable.

2: The species. In Nova Refuge, the main sentient species are Humans, Slashrim, Mahlok, Sarran, and Achmer. There are a few Human/Sarran hybrids, but no other cross-breeds are known to be possible. Please keep yourself limited to these things (if you dare to make up your own species or sub-species, it had better. be. good!), and whatever you do don’t include something totally ridiculous like vampires.

3: The gender. Okay, so there’s nothing wrong with the gender. However, I just felt like pointing out that you guys are free to make up a FEMALE character if you want to! I only got like ONE of those with my TTOM sign-up, part of a character duo from Artyr, the other member of which was male! So a few female entries would be kinda nice. At least consider it.

4: The place of birth. Please choose one of the planets from the Nova Refuge Starmap in the Galaxy section, or make up one of your own that fits believably into the universe. Dodopox is a really stupid name, and I won’t accept planets outside of either Nova Refuge or Nova Shelter (the small sister galaxy). If Terra Nova is your planet of choice, feel free to make up a city if you like, or else use an existing one there.

5: The faction and role. Again, there’s nothing really wrong with choosing a merc or bounty hunter, but I’d like to encourage people to at least CONSIDER making a character who works for one of the MAIN factions (Xarkon, Victory, Zygbar, Yavakaro, Grimm, Helexith, or Harmony), despite the temptation to make a cool loner-type. Also, if you decide to make up your own faction (a risky move), you had better include a description of it that ties in VERY well with the Nova Refuge universe! And keep it small (the faction AND the description).

6: The weapons of choice. Wow, this is a big one! Time for another bulleted list…
- No “lightsabers” – that’s the wrong word. Those are Star Wars items that do not belong in Nova Refuge. Energy swords in Nova Refuge are called “Starblades” (short for Starfire Blade) or just “energy swords.”
- No medieval weapons that are not at least enhanced in some way to fit with the time period. If you really have to use a katana, at least make it a blazer katana. Same goes with other swords/axes/knives/falcatas/whatever.
- No uber-weapons-of-mass destruction like portable nukes. A gatling grenade launcher? Come on.
- No modern weapons (currently-existing tech). This is the future! If you want to use .50 calibur magnums, then make up a new futuristic kind.
For more on Nova Refuge weaponry, go to the Galaxy section and click on Technology, then check out the Infantry Weapons article.

7: The biography. Boy oh boy oh boy, where to start! First of all, PLEASE try to avoid the “Xarkon killed my family” cliché! I got TONS of those in TTOM! Xarkon does NOT make a career out of killing peoples’ families for no reason! Second, you are NOT an Enomeg. There are only about eight Enomegs alive in Xarkon as of the Ultimate War, and I’ve already decided who those are. If you MUST fall into the super-soldier trap, at least make your character an Enomeg who didn’t complete the program for some reason (failed a test, ran away, got a disability, whatever). Also, keep it believable; he KILLED the Emperor of Xarkon and fought the guards with his BARE HANDS? I don’t think so. And finally, none of this “my guy is the best” stuff. You can make your guy really good without resorting to declaring him the absolute best at something. There’s always a bigger fish. While I’m at it, don’t make prophecies like your guy knows his own future. Would you believe I actually got a TTOM submission that included the line “he has never failed and he never will”? Wow.

8: The personality (or rather, the lack thereof). I get a lot of these… I call them Paradox Personalities. That is, your character is “dark and stoic” but is ALSO “cocky and loves to laugh and joke around.” He is “good and merciful” but ALSO “kills his enemies without remorse.” While it’s true that people usually do have multiple sides to their personality, at least give your guy enough points one way or the other to make him HAVE a personality. If your guy is serious AND funny, good AND evil, a team player AND a loner, then he’s nothing! Oh, and one last thing: while I appreciate trying to make your character have a believable personality flaw, a random phobia won’t always cut it, m’kay? (although it is noteworthy that all Sarran and half-Sarran tend to be claustrophobic)

9: The minifig itself. UGH! So much to point out… time for another bulleted list.
- First of all, the entire thing is too EXTREME. Tone it down a bit to be more realistic.
- The Boba Fett helmet. On a bounty hunter character, no less. Try to avoid being too Star Warsy, okay? Also, isn’t it a little over-used?
- The anime head. I know I said you could use any kind of head you wanted as long as it was appropriate for your species, but… well, just be warned: I hate the anime heads. They aren’t against the rules per se, but if you use one, you will lose. Yeah, seriously.
- Too much STUFF. This is what’s known as over-accessorizing. Too many superfluous weapons (those holsters look very silly), and too much neck-gear. Isn’t it dumb to wear a cape with a jetpack anyway?
- Colors are too garbled. Try to stick to one coherent color scheme (if part of a faction, preferably that faction’s color scheme).
- The decals. Even if your decal has a really cool idea and a great artistic design, it won’t win any awards unless it’s well-printed, in good condition, and has a HIGH RESOLUTION! Use either a vector-art program like CorelDRAW, or a high-quality pixel art program like Adobe Photoshop and give your decal a high resolution, such as 200 or 300 pixels per inch. Yes, that big! That way it won’t look so pixilated when it prints. If you can’t make a high-quality decal like that, then avoid decals. Feel free to enter the purist category; that’s one reason it’s there!

10: The photo quality is terrible. How can I rate something I can barely see? Here are some photo-taking tips:
- Set up a background, either a solid white piece of cardboard or a LEGO building or something. Even a piece of paper with the edges bent so it can stand up will do.
- Make sure your minifig is close to the background and do not hold your camera too close to the minifig. This will ensure that your camera focuses properly on the minifig and not on the background.
- Lighting, lighting, lighting! Make sure you have LOTS of it! Sunlight works great.
In the end your photo should look something a little more like this:

However, good photo quality still won’t save him. He just isn’t a winner. The fig is terrible, and the entire character has almost nothing to do with Nova Refuge except for a cursory mention of Xarkon and Enomegs. This entry is a sure loser. Learn from it!

Now, on the other hand, if you want examples of good Nova Refuge characters, why not check out the Characters page in the Galaxy section, and then have a look at the LEGO minifig counterparts that can usually be found in the LEGO - Official Models section under the corresponding faction? Those are all pretty good Nova Refuge characters since, you know, they're Nova Refuge characters.

Good luck, everyone! Can't wait to see your entry!