In the vast and unforgiving universe of Warhammer 40,000, anything is possible, and nothing is certain. The galaxy is a crucible of endless war, betrayal, and fleeting moments of hope.
NO LIMITS invites authors to explore ANY FACTION within the grimdark universe— be it with stories of epic battles, small personal conflicts, strange discoveries, or the quiet moments between larger-than-life events. There are no limits to the kinds of tales you can tell (but we have some suggested prompts below). Dive into the mysteries of the Warp, uncover the dark motivations of the xenos, or showcase the heroism—and horrors—of the Imperium’s defenders. Whether you want to focus on chaos, xenos, rogue elements, or Imperial forces, this contest is a canvas where any story can unfold.
Let the best story win.
Looking for ideas? Here are some prompts we’d love to see for “No Holds Barred”
- The Warp’s Whisper: A Chaos cultist experiences a vision from the Immaterium that could save a world—or doom it. How do they interpret the vision?
- The Price of Ascension: A Chaos Champion faces their final test to ascend to daemonhood, but the path is riddled with unexpected consequences. How much of their humanity will they sacrifice?
- The Dark Apostle’s Sermon: A Word Bearer Dark Apostle must inspire his warband on the eve of a major assault. However, doubts creep in as he questions whether the Dark Gods are truly listening.
- The Sorcerer’s Betrayal: A Thousand Sons Sorcerer uncovers a hidden power within the Great Ocean but realizes their Rubric Marine brothers may not survive the spell’s casting. What will they sacrifice to achieve mastery?
- Champion of Tzeentch: A Chaos Champion of Tzeentch discovers their fate has been manipulated all along. Do they accept their role as a pawn, or fight back against the ever-changing schemes of their god?
- Possession’s Grip: A possessed Chaos Space Marine begins to lose control as a daemon within them slowly starts to take over. How do they fight for their autonomy, or do they ultimately succumb to the possession?
- Renegades of the Astra Militarum: A group of Astra Militarum soldiers desert after witnessing the horrors of the front lines. Do they survive as outlaws, or are they drawn back into conflict when their former regiment hunts them down?
- Rebel Among the Stars: A crew of Imperial Navy deserters commandeer a ship and become pirates, raiding Imperial supply lines. What moral dilemmas arise when they are forced to choose between survival and loyalty?
- The Last Bolt: A lone Space Marine finds himself in the aftermath of a devastating battle, with only one bolt remaining in his weapon. What choice will he make?
- The Lost Primarch: Legends speak of the two lost Primarchs, but what if a fragment of their legacy survived? Explore the mystery of one such remnant.
- Traitors Within: An Inquisitor begins to suspect that one of their trusted acolytes may have turned to Chaos. Can they root out the traitor before it’s too late?
- Rogue Trader’s Betrayal: A Rogue Trader must decide whether to remain loyal to the Imperium or seize an opportunity for personal gain. What choice do they make?
- The Emperor’s Light Flickers: On a distant, forgotten world, a small group of Ecclesiarchy missionaries realize that their faith may not be enough to protect them from the horrors in the dark. How do they keep hope alive?
Loyalty Untested: An officer aboard an Imperial Navy vessel suspects their superior of treason during a warp storm. Can they prove their suspicions—or is it all in their mind?
- Shadows of the Black Library: An ambitious Warlock seeks forbidden knowledge within the elusive Black Library, but something within the ancient archives starts hunting them. Will they escape, or succumb to the shadows?
- Kroot Hunter’s Prey: A lone Kroot tracker is separated from their kin and must survive on an alien world populated by feral Orks. What lengths will they go to evolve and overcome their enemies?
- Tyranid Instinct: A Lictor on a desolate Imperial world starts developing an unexpected awareness of its surroundings. Is this the next step in the Hive Mind’s evolution, or a dangerous mutation?
- The Silent King’s Decree: A Necron Cryptek receives a direct order from the Silent King himself. But fulfilling this task could lead to the destruction of their dynasty. How do they navigate their loyalty?
- A Shadow in the Hive: Deep in a Hive City, a Genestealer Cult is preparing for its insurrection. How does one member handle the pressure of bringing down a planet?
- Ork Revolution: A rare, cunning Ork warboss begins to challenge the norms of Ork society. How do his boyz react to this “revolutionary” behavior?
- For the Greater Good?: A Gue’vesa (human soldier in the T’au Empire) begins to question their allegiance to the T’au after witnessing atrocities. What choice do they make in the heat of battle?
Submission deadline is January 31, 2025 @ 11:59 PM PT
Faction Restriction List
In order to encourage creativity, diversity, and the exploration of lesser-explored narratives within the setting, Cold Open Stories has Faction Restriction List for its contests. This limitation prevents competitions from becoming repetitive and challenges writers to explore factions and storylines which would typically receive less attention.
A Faction Restriction means that the contest will not allow submissions from the faction of a narrator / protagonist / point of view character from whom the story is told. If you have questions, ask in our Discord.
All factions in WHITE with no notes are allowed.
All factions in GREEN are recently updated and allowed.
All factions in RED are not allowed.
What we're looking for
The Setting
Dive into the universe of Warhammer 40,000 and tell your story within its vast, grimdark worlds.
Theme-based
Weave your story according to the theme - as told through the subtext, environment, characters, or conflict.
1000 Word limit
This isn't world-building: Fast Fiction stories must have a beginning, middle, and end and come in at under 1,000 words. No cliffhangers!
Proof Your Work
Review your submission for grammar and spelling. Formatting details can be found below.
New Characters
Create someone new! We prefer original, distinct characters that grow and change through the story.
One Chance
Participants in the contest are limited to one submission each.
How to submit
The Cold Open Stories Discord is a great place to talk with other aspiring authors. Get feedback on your entry before submitting (or scope out your competition!).
STEP 1
Format your entry submission according to the Standard Manuscript Format, and follow British English spelling conventions. The University of Oxford Style Guide is a great reference for this. Fast Fiction submissions should be 1000 words or less.
STEP 2
Save your entry submission as a .docx or .doc and attach it to an email.
STEP 3
In the body of the email, provide a brief paragraph that includes your name, the title of the short story, word count, your social media (or website if you have one) and a maximum 100-word short bio about yourself.
STEP 4
Edit the email’s subject line so it reads: FAST FICTION NO LIMITS 2025 SUBMISSION followed by Title of Your Story
STEP 5
Email your formatted email and entry submission to coldopenstories.editors@gmail.com
Meet The Judges
Colyn DeGraaff (He/Him) is a communications director, intercultural advisor, and designer living in Canada. He launched Cold Open Stories with the goal of merging Warhammer’s setting with the presentation of old time radio, and to tackle the stigma behind fan fiction and give amateur authors a place to explore non-canon stories.
Joyce Chng (She/Her) Joyce Chng lives in Singapore. Their fiction has appeared in The Apex Book of World SF II, We See A Different Frontier, Cranky Ladies of History, and Accessing The Future. Joyce also co-edited THE SEA IS OURS: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia with Jaymee Goh. Their RPG writing experience started with Demon: The Descent (Onyx Path). They write about werewolves in Singapore and werewolf clan wars in space.
Terms & Conditions
Terms & Conditions
COLD OPEN STORIES is a place for authors to share their talents, get seen, and celebrate fandom. We are committed to helping new and emerging voices get recognized, and no money exchanges hands through our site. We believe that diversity in fiction in an excellent way to find new voices and stories. We want this to be reflected in our content and welcome submissions from every race, nationality, gender, and sexual orientation.
Want to learn more about how your Short Fiction submission will be presented, promoted, and potentially adapted into an audio drama? Expand one of the categories below for more details.
Reply Process
1. Upon submission, writers will receive an email confirming that their entry has been received.
2. If the piece does not meet submission criteria, the writer will receive an email explaining why the piece has been rejected. If the writer does not receive a letter of rejection at this point, then the piece has met all submission criteria and will be passed on to the editing team for review. (This review process may take some time, potentially several weeks depending on the size of the amount of submissions received during any given period.)
3. Once the piece has been reviewed, the writer will either receive a letter of rejection if the piece needs more work, or an offer to continue with the revision process in preparation for publication.
4. Upon acceptance, the writer will work closely with the editing team in order to further revise the piece and come up with an end product that all parties are satisfied with.
5. Once the piece is ready, both parties will sign a contract allowing Cold Open Stories permission to publish the piece. More about this process can be found below.
Our average initial response time is one to three days, however the tides of the Warp are ever-changing and some astropathic emails may be missed! If you haven’t heard back from us after a week, feel free to contact us as coldopenstories.editors@gmail.com.
Publishing
1. The Author grants Cold Open Stories permission to reproduce and publicly distribute the short story in digital form on the Cold Open Stories website (http://www.coldopenstories.com).
2. Authors maintain the ability to publish their work with other partners or websites, blogs, subreddits, but a “First published on www.coldopenstories.com” is greatly appreciated.
3. The Author agrees that the short story was written by them as an unofficial fan work and was made for non-commercial entertainment.
4. The Author agrees that any edits to the short story’s content will be offered for review and consideration, and that creative control over these edits remain with the Author. Control over these edits are waived for formatting requirements necessary for posting on the Cold Open Stories website (font size, colour, page breaks).
5. The Author will maintain ownership of the short story. Publishing, submission, and selling rights remain with the Author if the story goes to print or it is shown there is a demand for it.
6. The Author will receive written credit on the Cold Open Stories website with a “Written By” acknowledgement preceding the short story. The Author will receive links to their social(s) and website (if available) and will provide Cold Open Stories with a brief biography to include on the site.
Promotion
1. The Author assigns to Cold Open Stories the permission to promote the short story across social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for the purposes of directing traffic, generating readership, and reader entertainment.
2. The Author grants Cold Open Stories the permission to include extracts or passages of the short story in promotional materials.
Adaptation
1. The Author gives Cold Open Stories the option to adapt the story into an audio drama or dramatized narration (digital format) which would include dialogue by actors, composition of original music, and sound design. Creative control to make edits or changes to the short story to fit this adaptation is understood. Authors have the option to opt-out if they are not comfortable with this.
2. The Author grant Cold Open Stories permission to publish, reproduce, and publicly distribute the produced audio drama or dramatized narration across streaming services (Apple Podcast, Soundcloud, Podbean, Spotify, YouTube) in serialized and completed formats.
3. The Author will receive verbal and written credit in the Cold Open Stories adaptation with a “Story By” acknowledgement.
4. The Author agrees that Cold Open Stories receives an exclusive first right of refusal for other proposed fan audio adaptations.
Financial
1. The Author agrees that the work performed in writing the short story was done on a volunteer, non-commercial basis and acknowledges that there is no employment relationship, remuneration, or salary offered by Cold Open Stories for the actions of publishing, promoting, or adapting the short story online.
2. Individuals or organizations who are interested in financially supporting Cold Open Stories or the Author will be directed to support the Author directly on their website or social accounts, or to donate to a charitable organization, identified by Cold Open Stories, which is committed to improving accessibility for multi-barriered populations.