Wicht vs Rune
Wow, I expected this would happen, just not so soon. Two very compelling entries. In this case, the list of ingredients was fairly straight forward, so no defining of literary terms needed – let’s go straight to the judging!
First up, Witcht. This entry was quite a bit tighter (although related to, as we will see later) than the Round 1 submission. Again Witch is paired with an experienced IRON DM, which has got to mess with your head. Per my style I shall comment on the strong points of this submission.
The background: Those crazy gods, always testing us mortals! What’s likeable about this bit of set up is the three contingents seeing the same vision in three different ways, although it is interesting that all three parties think to sacrifice another living being, depending on what point you drag the PCs in. Also, we have time based variability in the plot hooks. Depending on your party make up, Wicht uses timing of events, rather than different story arcs to get the party interested. Well done. GREAT use of several ingredients: The dual use of the Water Table, Use of the Kobold Knights (on a holy quest for their cleric, don’tcha know), and the open interpretation of nobles sacrifice – again each type off sacrifice interpreted differently in the eyes of the Gods. Although it is not as creatively well woven, the use of the Medallion to make sure the Elf gets the straight story is a well prepared way for the DM to exercise some control over that messy final scene.
Some lose ends: If you are going to have a drought, autumn is too late to do anything about it – you’re already screwed for the winter. We also have a slight hiccup in the King’s choice for a sacrificial weapon. As a DM, I have a problem with doling out such a powerful weapon that early in the PCs careers. (a +5, Holy Sword is worth 98,000 GP! – whoa! I’m good, baby, but not that good!!!). Also, since it’s possible as one of the 3 main story hooks, that a third party of clerics will sent by the King, I think it’s than a flaw that this is not detailed, when so much trouble has been made to set up the final scene. Some of the obstacles included in the Kobold chase were a stretch, but since we are told in advance to omit some of them, if desired, I think DMs will choose ones that fit their particular campaign.
I have a few issues with the final scene. Like in Round 1, we can see Wicht likes 3 groups competing. A) It’s a DM logistics nightmare. There are 10 in the Kobold band, 5 in the elf bad, and 4 in the party band. Not to mention, there are conflicting interests within the group of NPCs! A different tactic is to have the each player control one contingent at this point (1 for the party, 1 for the Kobolds, 1 for the Kings clerics, 1 for the elves, etc). This frees up some DM resources, at least. Then finally, we have the logic hole in the conclusion. If truly the gods are testing the three powers, then why is their a problem with the elf sacrificing himself? It is certainly noble, even if it’s not what the Gods are looking for, and the story readers are given no alternate item for the elves to sacrifice.
Onto Rune’s submission…whew!
Rune must’ve been wearing the self same amulet he describes in his scenario. He really opened it up creatively and word-count wise. While I am no master of simple elegance referred to by the peanut gallery in this thread, the word count with spaces eclipsed 19K! I warned IRON DM potentials not to get so wordy, or they would risk losing the judge (who works, after all). Were this not such a grand submission filled with exciting concepts and original ideas, it would lost simply by virtue of this..
But it’s SO good! We all know the 3E magic Item: Medallion of thoughts; it simply allows the user to detect thoughts. A fun item and certainly used by Wicht in its most obvious aspect. Not for Rune though, he has created an artifact that could be used through the course of a campaign, if handled correctly: Brilliantly so, because he has the adventure start off at a low level, allowing him to continue the story. The “Things to do in a small town” section was well written, covering many of the ideas which DMs can sometimes forget to cover (DM: “Find the legends? Who thinks to do that!?”)
OK, and now we get to some of this scenario’s short comings (besides length, and let’s get off that). With a post using so many elements, there are bound to be some holes. Here are 5 that I found. What did the Druid actually want from the Town in return for the Ritual? Why do Prince Wurger and Lady Hals have levels of Rogue? How is it possible that this Medallion has never been discovered by adults? (No method to this power is ever revealed. And in the ‘concluding thoughts section’, we even see that the medallion does function for adults) Why are the Kobolds being noble by killing the boy? (This is even questioned by Rune, himself) Why does Wurger tell the boy such a horrible story when he’s unlikely to understand the underlying meaning, as it is fairly adult, and it’s cruel in nature? ( to quote Rune: “Halel cannot make the connection between the fantasy people and the item.”. I understand the nature of the medallion creating figments who desire nothing more than to take the medallion, but they can easily take it from him without bullying or killing him, so why do it?) Finally, what happens if the figments get the Medallion? – seems like this is the likely outcome, given the medallions long past.
Even If I have missed details in this story that answer one or more of these questions, I think they serve to illustrate a point. And that point is, the scope of this story is simply too large, too ambitious. It is not the length, per se, although that certainly contributes to it. The use of unique legends, the sub-plot: Druid’s water table (used to include the water table ingredient, of course),and the resolution of conflict between the villagers, Halel, the figments and the ongoing curse of the medallion, all combine to make a story that is an amazing read, but ultimately distracts the DM from running this scenario. If this had been an IRON DM campaign contest. Well, Rune would’ve taken it.
So, it is my ‘tough love’ decision to award this round to Wicht who seems to have the uncanny ability to cater to the DM masses.
Congratulations are in order for BOTH contestants, however.
