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IRON DM 2013--Entries, Judgements, Commentary, & Trash-Talk
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<blockquote data-quote="Dragonwriter" data-source="post: 6156620" data-attributes="member: 54988"><p>Written before the Judgement:</p><p>Okay, as to the creative process, I find it something difficult to describe. In this case, most of the scenario came simply as a burst of inspiration. On seeing the ingredients, most of them clicked together very quickly to my mind; only one remained difficult to integrate. </p><p></p><p>The Aberration struck me immediately as the unsurprisingly traditional creature which began as a Mind Flayer. I pictured it trying to Transcend its form into something even greater, and attempting to achieve this result by killing Sentient Prey in a Death Spiral, with the energy generated focused at the spiral’s Point of Origin. I kid you not, this was formed in my mind within about 15 minutes of seeing the ingredients. Only the Tasteless Joke eluded me.</p><p></p><p>I moved on, focusing for a little bit on the connections between the other elements and how to make them work together as well as I could, as well as thinking about the format of the adventure. I settled on a plain old simple side dungeon and was thinking of potential Hooks when the idea to nab the party by tricky magic came to me. The way to disguise the magic was through a book of really, really bad jokes. I felt this was a fairly poor way to work in the ingredient, but it was the best I could think of at the time. And with the time limit on my mind, I decided to just run with it, even with the railroady nature of the thing. It was only meant to be a side adventure, after all.</p><p></p><p>As I was writing up the basic framework, an idea regarding the Aberration came to mind – what about a double-meaning? My thoughts went to ways to make an Aberration in both type and spirit, eventually leading to the abominable hybridization of Aboleth and Mind Flayer that came to be named Zuxrashothikt. </p><p></p><p>It went on from there in the same basic style. The rest was mostly thinking up weird window dressing and how to describe Zuxrashothikt, which pretty much entirely came about by simply thinking of what the Monster Manual’s picture of a Mind Flayer crossed with an Aboleth would look like.</p><p></p><p>………</p><p>After reading Rune’s Judgement:</p><p></p><p>Thank you for the critiques and advice. I knew I was going to take a hit for the poor implementation of the Joke. And looking back, I can see how I could have done more with the Point of Origin, like at least making the dungeon created in the same place as the bad guy’s Point of Origin or something useful to manipulate there in the Showdown. </p><p></p><p>I think the biggest thing preying on my mind was the time limit. I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time in the evening to devote and absolutely none the next morning, so I was really focused on just trying to finish up what was effectively a (maybe) second draft. This also played a large part in me keeping the scope of my scenario much smaller, as I didn’t feel I could comfortably tackle a larger adventure and make it of competitive quality with the time constraints.</p><p></p><p>All that said, I’m glad you enjoyed the style. It was fun to write. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> It might be something I come back and expand upon at some point in the future for one of my games. </p><p></p><p>I will do my best to put your advice to use in my next round. And I’ll make it bigger (the 48 hours will help). <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p>………</p><p> [MENTION=6726030]Mike Myler[/MENTION]</p><p>When I saw how much you got done in those few hours, I was really worried. Your evocative style, clever Asmov Golem rebuilding, and strong mechanical explanations were really well-done, IMO. It was great competing against you, and I hope to see you in the tournament again. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dragonwriter, post: 6156620, member: 54988"] Written before the Judgement: Okay, as to the creative process, I find it something difficult to describe. In this case, most of the scenario came simply as a burst of inspiration. On seeing the ingredients, most of them clicked together very quickly to my mind; only one remained difficult to integrate. The Aberration struck me immediately as the unsurprisingly traditional creature which began as a Mind Flayer. I pictured it trying to Transcend its form into something even greater, and attempting to achieve this result by killing Sentient Prey in a Death Spiral, with the energy generated focused at the spiral’s Point of Origin. I kid you not, this was formed in my mind within about 15 minutes of seeing the ingredients. Only the Tasteless Joke eluded me. I moved on, focusing for a little bit on the connections between the other elements and how to make them work together as well as I could, as well as thinking about the format of the adventure. I settled on a plain old simple side dungeon and was thinking of potential Hooks when the idea to nab the party by tricky magic came to me. The way to disguise the magic was through a book of really, really bad jokes. I felt this was a fairly poor way to work in the ingredient, but it was the best I could think of at the time. And with the time limit on my mind, I decided to just run with it, even with the railroady nature of the thing. It was only meant to be a side adventure, after all. As I was writing up the basic framework, an idea regarding the Aberration came to mind – what about a double-meaning? My thoughts went to ways to make an Aberration in both type and spirit, eventually leading to the abominable hybridization of Aboleth and Mind Flayer that came to be named Zuxrashothikt. It went on from there in the same basic style. The rest was mostly thinking up weird window dressing and how to describe Zuxrashothikt, which pretty much entirely came about by simply thinking of what the Monster Manual’s picture of a Mind Flayer crossed with an Aboleth would look like. ……… After reading Rune’s Judgement: Thank you for the critiques and advice. I knew I was going to take a hit for the poor implementation of the Joke. And looking back, I can see how I could have done more with the Point of Origin, like at least making the dungeon created in the same place as the bad guy’s Point of Origin or something useful to manipulate there in the Showdown. I think the biggest thing preying on my mind was the time limit. I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time in the evening to devote and absolutely none the next morning, so I was really focused on just trying to finish up what was effectively a (maybe) second draft. This also played a large part in me keeping the scope of my scenario much smaller, as I didn’t feel I could comfortably tackle a larger adventure and make it of competitive quality with the time constraints. All that said, I’m glad you enjoyed the style. It was fun to write. :) It might be something I come back and expand upon at some point in the future for one of my games. I will do my best to put your advice to use in my next round. And I’ll make it bigger (the 48 hours will help). :D ……… [MENTION=6726030]Mike Myler[/MENTION] When I saw how much you got done in those few hours, I was really worried. Your evocative style, clever Asmov Golem rebuilding, and strong mechanical explanations were really well-done, IMO. It was great competing against you, and I hope to see you in the tournament again. :D [/QUOTE]
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