IRON DM General Discussion

[Gradine]

Also instead of "design a monster,"... create a "monster, creature or monstrous villain." might open up more scope for contestants to take it in different directions.

Yeah. The idea is that they could be creating a whole new monster (a fantastic/alien species with an ecology and everything, like Gremlins or the grues in Pitch Black) or like, a monster movie monster (a one-of-a-kind creature with a specific origin, ala a mindless werewolf, or like Birdbox thing)

 

[el-remmen]

Yeah, I think the ingredient list should only be revealed when the time period begins.

I also worry that the ability to use different ingredients will make it difficult for judges to judge and compare. Even in the finals the optional ingredients are exactly that. We never have to compare different uses of different ingredients for the same match for the basis of determining a winner unless it is a tie (which in my experience has rarely happened);

 

[Rune]

Yeah, I think the ingredient list should only be revealed when the time period begins.

I also worry that the ability to use different ingredients will make it difficult for judges to judge and compare. Even in the finals the optional ingredients are exactly that. We never have to compare different uses of different ingredients for the same match for the basis of determining a winner unless it is a tie (which in my experience has rarely happened);

I agree with all of this.

Except that I’m not sure the point actually is to compare/contrast? If the winner is determined by a cumulative grade across all weeks, the contrasting of contestants’ entries shouldn’t be necessary.

And keeping it out can help distinguish the format from the tournament.

 

[Wicht]

Updating to reflect discussions...

Iron DM Tactics (Draft 2)

The Concept:

Spoiler: The Concept

Over the course of 1 month, and 4 rounds, contestants use given ingredients to craft various role-playing adventure accoutrements and score points for doing so. The three highest scorers compete in a 5th round and craft an adventure summary using ingredients, including one of the previous creations of each competitor (including themselves). Judges score each round and in the fifthround decide which adventure is the best.

Round Topics:

Spoiler: Topics

At the start of the competition, the judges will post eight categories or topics which contestants will be crafting over the course of the competition. During the first three rounds, contestants will have to complete two submissions each round, as assigned by the judges. Potential topics include: a cursed item, a religion, a magical item, an interesting NPC, a recurring villain, a monstrous villain, a side-quest, an interesting wilderness locale, an interesting urban locale, a new monster, a cult, a non-random encounter, a non-magical treasure, a unique trap or trapped room, a dungeon room and so forth.

Ingredients and the Ingredient Pool:

Spoiler: Ingredients

At the beginning of the competition, a pool of 18 ingredients will be provided to the participants. Each round, each competitor must choose four of the ingredients from the pool to use, and they may not reuse any ingredient twice (doing so will disqualify the participant from scoring that round). Additionally, for each of the first 4 rounds, the judge(s) will supply four ingredients which must also be used that round. At the judges’ discretion, after the first round, one of the ingredients they supply can instead be supplied by the competitor with the lowest score. During the first four rounds, competitors will thus have eight ingredients which they can divide equally between their two creations for the round. In the fifth and final round, the three contestants will be given four additional ingredients by the judges and must use all four, as well as their final two pool ingredients, and one prior creation of each of the competitors, including themselves.

Entries:

Spoiler: Entries

Each entry in each round must include a name for the entry and a list of the ingredients used. The combined word count for each entry in a round must not exceed 1000 words. Adventure summaries crafted for the final round must be 2500 words or less. Titles and ingredient lists do not count against the word count.

Timetable:

Spoiler: Timetable

Each round will be one week in length. Entries must be submitted within the first 6 days of the round to score and judges will use the seventh day to make a judgment about entries and tabulate scores. Competitors do not disqualify themselves from the competition if they do not submit an entry for a given round in the time given, but neither can they score for that round. The topics and ingredients for each round will be posted on the first day of the each round, and the time of posting will be considered the beginning of the round.

Scoring:

Spoiler: Scoring

Each round, for each category, the top five submissions will score points from each judge. Each judge will give one entry from each category 5 points, one 4 points, one 3 points, one 2 points, and one 1 point, in order of that judge's preference. The most a competitor can score in each given round is therefore 10 points. Each judge is free to choose however they desire, but are encouraged to briefly explain their reasoning, and are expected to take ingredient use into consideration. In the last round, each judge assigns their favorite adventure 14 points, and their second favorite 7 points. The player with the highest over-all score is the winner of the competition.

Genre and Mechanics:

Spoiler: Genre and Mechanics

Entries are not required to be genre specific, nor should they utilize game-specific mechanics. In the final round, the previous creations utilized in crafting the adventure summary may be altered to be moved from one genre or game setting to another, but such alterations must be slight, only altering such “window-dressing” as is necessary to make it fit in the new world. For example, a ray gun could be altered into a wand or a crossbow, but the effects of the ray could not be altered. A shop-keeper ported from a modern setting to a medieval setting would no longer be expected to be proficient at computers, but might still be proficient with building or repairing machines or crystal balls as appropriate

 

[Rune]

Updating to reflect discussions...

Iron DM Tactics (Draft 2)

The Concept:

Spoiler: The Concept

Over the course of 1 month, and 4 rounds, contestants use given ingredients to craft various role-playing adventure accoutrements and score points for doing so. The three highest scorers compete in a 5th round and craft an adventure summary using ingredients, including one of the previous creations of each competitor (including themselves). Judges score each round and in the fifthround decide which adventure is the best.

Round Topics:

Spoiler: Topics

At the start of the competition, the judges will post eight categories or topics which contestants will be crafting over the course of the competition. During the first three rounds, contestants will have to complete two submissions each round, as assigned by the judges. Potential topics include: a cursed item, a religion, a magical item, an interesting NPC, a recurring villain, a monstrous villain, a side-quest, an interesting wilderness locale, an interesting urban locale, a new monster, a cult, a non-random encounter, a non-magical treasure, a unique trap or trapped room, a dungeon room and so forth.

Ingredients and the Ingredient Pool:

Spoiler: Ingredients

At the beginning of the competition, a pool of 18 ingredients will be provided to the participants. Each round, each competitor must choose four of the ingredients from the pool to use, and they may not reuse any ingredient twice (doing so will disqualify the participant from scoring that round). Additionally, for each of the first 4 rounds, the judge(s) will supply four ingredients which must also be used that round. At the judges’ discretion, after the first round, one of the ingredients they supply can instead be supplied by the competitor with the lowest score. During the first fourrounds, competitors will thus have eight ingredients which they can divide equally between their two creations for the round. In the fifthand final round, the three contestants will be given four additional ingredients by the judges and must use all four, as well as their final two pool ingredients, and one prior creation of each of the competitors, including themselves.

Entries:

Spoiler: Entries

Each entry in each round must include a name for the entry and a list of the ingredients used. The combined word count for each entry in a round must not exceed 1000 words. Adventure summaries crafted for the final round must be 2500 words or less. Titles and ingredient lists do not count against the word count.

Timetable:

Spoiler: Timetable

Each round will be one week in length. Entries must be submitted within the first 6 days of the round to score and judges will use the seventh day to make a judgment about entries and tabulate scores. Competitors do not disqualify themselves from the competition if they do not submit an entry for a given round in the time given, but neither can they score for that round. The topics and ingredients for each round will be posted on the first day of the each round, and the time of posting will be considered the beginning of the round.

Scoring:

Spoiler: Scoring

Each round, for each category, the top five submissions will score points from each judge. Each judge will give one entry from each category 5 points, one 4 points, one 3 points, one 2 points, and one 1 point, in order of that judge's preference. The most a competitor can score in each given round is therefore 10 points. Each judge is free to choose however they desire, but are encouraged to briefly explain their reasoning, and are expected to take ingredient use into consideration. In the last round, each judge assigns their favorite adventure 14 points, and their second favorite 7 points. The player with the highest over-all score is the winner of the competition.

Genre and Mechanics:

Spoiler: Genre and Mechanics

Entries are not required to be genre specific, nor should they utilize game-specific mechanics. In the final round, the previous creations utilized in crafting the adventure summary may be altered to be moved from one genre or game setting to another, but such alterations must be slight, only altering such “window-dressing” as is necessary to make it fit in the new world. For example, a ray gun could be altered into a wand or a crossbow, but the effects of the ray could not be altered. A shop-keeper ported from a modern setting to a medieval setting would no longer be expected to be proficient at computers, but might still be proficient with building or repairing machines or crystal balls as appropriate

If you intend for judges to rank entries against each other, then I agree with Nemm that all ingredients need to be standardized. But I will reiterate that I don’t think ranking entries against each other is necessary.

 

[el-remmen]

I was discussing this with my wife over lunch. She is not into RPGs, but she is a novelist, professional editor, and die-hard fan of both euro board games and certain reality show competitions.

She wondered about the scoring, bringing up that if people know their score as they go along, this might inadvertently lead to too many drop-outs if they are either technically eliminated or feel like they might as well be b/c they are so far behind.

While she did not suggest keeping scoring a secret (people need to know how they are doing), she wondered if a "judge's favorites" or "Fan favorite" category in addition to winning by points might encourage people to stick around.

Something to consider.

Of course, I did not look too closely at Wicht's scoring suggestion - so maybe this can be mitigated by very low but slowly increasing points for each round.

 

[el-remmen]

If you intend for judges to rank entries against each other, then I agree with Nemm that all ingredients need to be standardized. But I will reiterate that I don’t think ranking entries against each other is necessary.

Maybe we can take a cue from GBBO and have a "technical" round were we do use the same ingredients for everyone and rank them - but otherwise we don't compare.

 

[Rune]

Maybe we can take a cue from GBBO and have a "technical" round were we do use the same ingredients for everyone and rank them - but otherwise we don't compare.

I assumed every grade would have a technical element.

 

[el-remmen]

Re: Ingredients

I also think keeping track of who used which ingredients in which round to keep from repeating is gonna be annoying.

 

[el-remmen]

I assumed every grade would have a technical element.

Sure it will! I was using the name to refer to what GBBO calls it when they give everyone the same ingredients and minimal instructions and say make X.