Iron DM Fall '03 Tournament! Signup closed!

Pielorinho · Oct 10, 2003

Okey Dokey, folks! As the reigning Rat Bastard Iron DM, I volunteered to run the Autumn tournament over here, and Nem's been champing at the bit for me to get started.

I'm going to start sign-up for the tournament on Monday morning, giving folks a chance to see the thread. I'm also going to write up a little blurb on what I'll be looking for in entries: it'll be pretty similar to what folks have looked for in the past, with a few minor tweaks.

This will put the Iron DM tournament running simultaneously with the Ceramic DM tournament; if this is a major problem, now's the time to let me know.

Looking forward to it!
Daniel

EDIT: Here's my version of the rules: they're close to verbatim to Nemmerle's original version of the rules when he came up with the idea, with a few minor tweaks.

Simple. We get 8 people willing to play (and 3 alternates). I pair people off as competitors and give them a set of 6 "ingredients".

The ingredients are elements that must be used in the designing of a scenario/adventure - which should be written up in overview form - players can be as specific as they like - but detailed stat-blocks and the like are not weighed as heavily as uniqueness and playability of the ideas.

The results are then judged by me and the winner moves on to the next round. . .

So, once we have the 8 players (and alternates), I will pair people up based on availability. Players will have 24 hours from the posting of the ingredients to post their entry, which should give plenty of time for someone who is not immediately around when the ingredients are posted to get their entry done. Once you have posted an entry, YOU MAY NOT EDIT YOUR POST. Doing so will cause you to automatically forfeit the round, no matter how excellent your entry was.

Obviously, if your opponent posts an entry before you do, you are on your honor not to peek.

There is no limit on the length of a scenario, but keep in mind that giving too much information is almost as dangerous as giving too little. If you bore me, I'll give the round to your opponent.

As usual, we ask that those not involved in a round not post any suggestions or ideas about the posted ingredients.

The Iron DM is a grueling competition, with hard as nails judges (expect to have your scenario picked apart).

MerakSpielman · Oct 10, 2003

How many contestants are allowed?

What time does sign-up begin?

Pielorinho · Oct 10, 2003

Signup Monday Morning, probably around noon (edited from 9 am) Eastern Time or thereabouts. Eight contestants, with as many alternates as show up.

[Edit: To be fair to people on the West coast of the US, I should probably push signup time back to noon Eastern; I think the bulk of folks who'll be interested in the tournament can afford to be awake around then]

In coming up with ingredients I have about two and a half times as many as I'll need, so if there's a whole buttload of alternates, I might come up with a little something on the side.

Daniel

Macbeth · Oct 10, 2003

Because its running at the same time as ceramic DM will you limit players to one or the other? I am interested in this, but already having a place in Ceramic DM I don't want to mess things up. Basically, I want to know if I can join before I make a mad rush to post early Monday

Pielorinho · Oct 10, 2003

No limitation at all between participation in both, except inasmuch as time limits you. If you feel like you can devote the energy necessary to two tournaments simultaneously, then God bless you.

(For myself, I found it exhausting to participate in a single tournament, and wouldn't dream of trying to be in two at the same time.)

Daniel

Feathercircle · Oct 10, 2003

Macbeth said:
Because its running at the same time as ceramic DM will you limit players to one or the other? I am interested in this, but already having a place in Ceramic DM I don't want to mess things up. Basically, I want to know if I can join before I make a mad rush to post early Monday

I believe you're allowed to be in both, but it's generally not a good idea considering the time commitment that each of them requires...

Btw, can I have a link to the previous Iron DM competitions?

Pielorinho · Oct 10, 2003

I couldn't find the Iron DM tournaments on ENWorld: it looks like there's a pretty big gap of time (basically the first eight months of 2003) that aren't archived around here, and I was unable to turn up any older tournaments.

If anyone has the links, I'd love to see them, not least because I want to yoink some of the rules.

Daniel

Wicht · Oct 10, 2003

note to self - be online at 11 a.m eastern monday morning...

Looking forward to it Daniel.

Macbeth · Oct 10, 2003

I'll give some thought to the amount of time I have available...I probably won't be around for too many rounds... I'll figure it out.

As for searching, i've been trying my best, but the only Iron DM related thing I could find was something about an Iron DM website. Did that ever get off the ground?

Pielorinho · Oct 10, 2003

If you've not checked out the Rat Bastard Iron DM Tournament, you may want to do so. The game itself had a significantly different format from usual (i.e., all the entries were part of an ongoing campaign and were therefore interconnected), but you can see some pretty good entries over there.

Note that I wrote my entries in a fashion that I would've wanted to see if I were a judge. My blurb about the game will go into greater detail, but you'll note that I:

* list the ingredients at the beginning, including a brief note about how they're used;
* Provide a relatively brief background;
* Provide a synopsis of the adventure;
* Provide one or more plot hooks;
* Describe the adventure in a set of scenes;
* Bold the ingredients where they appear; and
* Provide a denouement with possible future adventures.

This format isn't etched in stone by any means. For example, some adventures are better described by location than by scene (such as a dungeon-crawl). More important that any specific organization is that the entry IS organized in a rational manner, and that it's designed to be easy on the judge's eyes.

You can check out other entries in that tournament for other possible structures.

Daniel

Iron DM Fall '03 Tournament! Signup closed!

Pielorinho

Iron Fist of Pelor

MerakSpielman

First Post

Pielorinho

Iron Fist of Pelor

Macbeth

First Post

Pielorinho

Iron Fist of Pelor

Feathercircle

First Post

Pielorinho

Iron Fist of Pelor

Wicht

Hero

Macbeth

First Post

Pielorinho

Iron Fist of Pelor

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