Mirth
Explorer
Mirth - Judgment
Round 1, Match 3
Deuce vs. Piratecat
Very well done and very long pieces for this tired judge
But all's well that's written well...
Style -- Deuce Traveler gives us the story of a clash between a career military officer and a seemingly crackpot wizard. The tensions run high, the action is brisk and fierce and the soft moments are nice and poignant. Against this mostly serious tale, Piratecat gives us the epic farce of a flatulent, drunk bull-man with daddy issues. As much as I understand and appreciate the craft of Deuce Traveler's tale, I found it stilted at times, becoming almost textbook-like when Gallindor gives his lecture on the nature of magic. It's interesting as a world-building gamer handbook, but not so much as a story. Piratecat's more irreverent tone served the story better by making the words fly by and keeping the chuckles coming. Very witty yet very broad humor at the same time.
Picture use -- Sadly, I felt that many of the pictures in Deuce Traveler's story were tacked on, or at the very least incidental to the plot. Gallindor's tower is described in passing, the horse-head cup is mostly a throwaway (although it is used nicely but briefly at the end), the angel woman could easily have been anything else, and only the watery swamp came close to being an integral part of the tale. Piratecat, on the other hand, used the pictures in very ingenious ways. Making the one-horned minotaur and the small imp statues into the focal characters of the story was a brilliant move. The horse-head cup drove the main part of the plot, the angel woman was a major foil, and the watery swamp as the entrance to Poseidon's realm was very well handled.
Personal connection -- I love me some bizarro wizards and grumpy legionnaires on a goblin hunt, but I guess a puking, farting minotaur speaks to the inner me.
Final judgment - The Traveler's travels have ended
My nod for Round 1, Match 3 goes to … PIRATECAT!
(Now I'm headed for the pillow, but I will be around tomorrow to hand out some more punishme … err … judgments, so hopefully the wait won't be so long for the rest of you.)
Round 1, Match 3
Deuce vs. Piratecat
Very well done and very long pieces for this tired judge
But all's well that's written well...Style -- Deuce Traveler gives us the story of a clash between a career military officer and a seemingly crackpot wizard. The tensions run high, the action is brisk and fierce and the soft moments are nice and poignant. Against this mostly serious tale, Piratecat gives us the epic farce of a flatulent, drunk bull-man with daddy issues. As much as I understand and appreciate the craft of Deuce Traveler's tale, I found it stilted at times, becoming almost textbook-like when Gallindor gives his lecture on the nature of magic. It's interesting as a world-building gamer handbook, but not so much as a story. Piratecat's more irreverent tone served the story better by making the words fly by and keeping the chuckles coming. Very witty yet very broad humor at the same time.
Picture use -- Sadly, I felt that many of the pictures in Deuce Traveler's story were tacked on, or at the very least incidental to the plot. Gallindor's tower is described in passing, the horse-head cup is mostly a throwaway (although it is used nicely but briefly at the end), the angel woman could easily have been anything else, and only the watery swamp came close to being an integral part of the tale. Piratecat, on the other hand, used the pictures in very ingenious ways. Making the one-horned minotaur and the small imp statues into the focal characters of the story was a brilliant move. The horse-head cup drove the main part of the plot, the angel woman was a major foil, and the watery swamp as the entrance to Poseidon's realm was very well handled.
Personal connection -- I love me some bizarro wizards and grumpy legionnaires on a goblin hunt, but I guess a puking, farting minotaur speaks to the inner me.
Final judgment - The Traveler's travels have ended
My nod for Round 1, Match 3 goes to … PIRATECAT!
(Now I'm headed for the pillow, but I will be around tomorrow to hand out some more punishme … err … judgments, so hopefully the wait won't be so long for the rest of you.)
