FAQ

"OCT" is short for Original Character Tournament. In an OCT, participants enter an original character and a comic beginning their story into the tournament you’ve chosen.  

In each round of the tournament you will be matched with another participant and their character. Both contestants then draw a comic (or write a story/whatever is allowed in that specific OCT) where their characters interact or fight. 

A more detailed guide can be found on this page (What is an OCT?)

Hosting can be very different to competing but can be just as rewarding! It can be difficult, and having some knowledge of how OCTs are run will help when constructing your own and along with finding judges.

Make sure to have clear presentation. Making information about your tournament easy to find will help potential competitors see if they're interested, and help with keeping things organised.

Currently we haven't got any extensive resources about organising a tournament, but you are more than welcome to ask on the Newscast Discord.

Started in 2021, the OCT Newscast was made by TophatGeo with the intent to document previous Original Character Tournaments and provide people a resource to find up-and-coming tournaments to join or help with.

Check the About section of this page for more info.

You can find a list of the OCT Newscast Resources on the About Page and the OCT Archive Page

The Newscast's Open OCT List can be found on Currently Open Tournaments Page. The Discord and Bluesky are also updated with brief information about new tournaments, but the website page has the most amount of detail.

Oculama and Entervoid also host OCTs and original character battles.

Unfortunately due to "OCT" being a commonly used acronym outside this community and Original Character Tournaments being on splintered different social media sites, it can sometimes be difficult to find tournaments through a Google search. 

Make sure to spread the word to others if you're running a tournament! Word of mouth can be incredibly powerful!