Radiating Gnome
Adventurer
Iron DM 2022 Round 2 Match 1 - J.Quondam vs FitzTheRuke
This match pits two DMs against each other to create a coherent adventure out of a challenging collection of ingredients. Who can weave them together and create the most interesting, playable, and creative adventure?
We have J.Quondam's Trouble on Greenhill (ToG) and FitzTheRuke's Vampires of Dolgan's Hollow (VDH). Let's dig in and see how these two adventures stand up.
I prefer to focus on the ingredients first, so here we go.....
Creativity, Playability, and Presentation
One Judge's Vote:
-rg
This match pits two DMs against each other to create a coherent adventure out of a challenging collection of ingredients. Who can weave them together and create the most interesting, playable, and creative adventure?
We have J.Quondam's Trouble on Greenhill (ToG) and FitzTheRuke's Vampires of Dolgan's Hollow (VDH). Let's dig in and see how these two adventures stand up.
I prefer to focus on the ingredients first, so here we go.....
Ingredients:
Respected Beggar - In ToG, the respected beggar is The Vagabond, an odd wandering beggar who is apparently well-liked among the lowly of Gravelwick, actually a scheming wight trying to steal relics from his own people's burial mounds. A key adversary for the party, he's key to most of what's going on in the adventure -- so the ingredient is prominent, but I'm only moderately happy because the ingredient is a disguise, not a truth -- it would be stronger to somehow see the idea that he's a respected beggar be important, and not just the veil the party will learn to see through.
In VDH, on the other hand, we have Ludz, who is a supremely likable former beggar who is now mayor of the town. He charmed (talked, at least) his own way out of becoming a feast for vampires, has caused some problems as mayor leading up to the adventure and is around as a possible focus for parts of the adventure. Again, this feels like it's close but not quite right because he's a former beggar, and none of the things that happen seem to come from his beggar-ness unless it's bad decision-making, which is not the sole talent of beggars....
Eh, I think this one is a dead heat. No pun intended, although next we turn to......
Undead Settlement - In VDH, the undead settlement is a small coven of vampires, survivors of a preceeding event, and trying to survive in the namesake hollow. They're a key faction in the story, and might be the side the PCs support in the final confrontation. They're not good guys, per se, but they're still vampires. The ingredient works pretty well, and while it's not strictly part of the ingredient, I'm interested in the sort of smuggling trade that has grown up around the vampires -- the urban poor of Rottergate are paid for their blood to feed the vampires in nearby Dolgan's Hollow. And if the party takes up arms to help the vampires, they're supporting that trade in the blood of the poor. I mean, phew! I was worried there would be some allegorical content to wade through....
In ToG, the undead settlement is there, and critical to the story, but I struggle with it just a little bit. The Undead of Greenhill, the Ombruans, are wights. They've moved "rightfully" into the barrows where they're planting excellent gardens and trying to live alongside the living. Their power is a sort of necromatic variant on druidic magic, so, it's a little different. One thing I find a big confusing is the motives of the Wights -- do they really just want to get along with the living? What do they feed on, if anything? What are their goals for the future?
Both are engaging, interesting, and ask some cool questions -- great ingredients for both, so again, no advantage to either entry.
Wide Depression - I'm not going to go into as much detail here. Both use the wide depression as a location. In ToG, the wide depression is a briar-filled dry moat called the "Thistleditch". And in VDH it's the namesake hollow -- and even lower, Murky swamp. Both are using the depression as a location, both play a minor supporting role in the story. I think these are roughly equivalent usage as well.
Recalcitrant Infant - in ToG the "infant" is the wyrmling dragon Zuan-zhinde. This is an interesting interpretation, but infant is much more specific than "young" and the dragon Zuan has goals and feelings and motives that are far too complex to be comfortably labeled "infant". So, this is a bit on the weak side, however fun the dragon themself might be.
In VDH, the infant in question is the son of Piquette and Boltan, who has been infected with Bolton's swamp-thing-ness and who can only feed on swamp gasses, and who therefore is starving. The little swamp thing encounter is one of the core encounters of the story, and Piquette is important in other parts of the story, so this becomes a key moment of relationship building. And, this infant is a true infant -- helpless, unable to communicate, and for all appearances powered by farts.
So, neck and neck for so long, VDH has stretched out and has an advantage over ToG in this ingredient.
Garden-fresh Greens - In VDN Piquette's vegetables are the best in the region, and that's an important part of her business. In ToG the greens are the produce of the wights, presumably rich because of their necro-druidic gifts and because of the fertilizer provided by the barrow. I think the two uses are roughly the same -- a curiosity, a detail, another minor player.
Moldy Tapestry - The moldy tapestry in ToG is the moldy "tapestry of doors" that Kizar/Vagabond is using to raid the barrows of his people. In VDH, the Moldy Tapestry is some loot found in the Smuggler's Cache, a sort of afterthought that might be valuable to elven buyers. While KIzar's tapestry is not a crucial part of the story, it does have some active and engaged impact on the story, which I didn't see in the case of elven tapestry. In neither case the idea that it was moldy didn't seem to matter, but I think the Tapestry of Doors was better, so this ingredient is an advantage for ToG.
Smuggled Elixir - In VDH, the smuggled elixir is the blood from the poor that the vampires need to continue to be good citizens in Dolgan's Hollow. In ToG, the smuggled elix[ir is purchased from the Vagabond, but I don't see where it's developed beyond that. There's a suggestion that trying to root out a smuggling ring might be a further adventure, but I don't think that counts as part of this adventure.
So, I think the elixir in VDH is stronger, so one more advantage to VDH.
The ingredients are both pretty solid in both entries, and while I'm giving a slight advantage to Vampires of Dolgan's Hollow, it's a narrow margin.
Respected Beggar - In ToG, the respected beggar is The Vagabond, an odd wandering beggar who is apparently well-liked among the lowly of Gravelwick, actually a scheming wight trying to steal relics from his own people's burial mounds. A key adversary for the party, he's key to most of what's going on in the adventure -- so the ingredient is prominent, but I'm only moderately happy because the ingredient is a disguise, not a truth -- it would be stronger to somehow see the idea that he's a respected beggar be important, and not just the veil the party will learn to see through.
In VDH, on the other hand, we have Ludz, who is a supremely likable former beggar who is now mayor of the town. He charmed (talked, at least) his own way out of becoming a feast for vampires, has caused some problems as mayor leading up to the adventure and is around as a possible focus for parts of the adventure. Again, this feels like it's close but not quite right because he's a former beggar, and none of the things that happen seem to come from his beggar-ness unless it's bad decision-making, which is not the sole talent of beggars....
Eh, I think this one is a dead heat. No pun intended, although next we turn to......
Undead Settlement - In VDH, the undead settlement is a small coven of vampires, survivors of a preceeding event, and trying to survive in the namesake hollow. They're a key faction in the story, and might be the side the PCs support in the final confrontation. They're not good guys, per se, but they're still vampires. The ingredient works pretty well, and while it's not strictly part of the ingredient, I'm interested in the sort of smuggling trade that has grown up around the vampires -- the urban poor of Rottergate are paid for their blood to feed the vampires in nearby Dolgan's Hollow. And if the party takes up arms to help the vampires, they're supporting that trade in the blood of the poor. I mean, phew! I was worried there would be some allegorical content to wade through....
In ToG, the undead settlement is there, and critical to the story, but I struggle with it just a little bit. The Undead of Greenhill, the Ombruans, are wights. They've moved "rightfully" into the barrows where they're planting excellent gardens and trying to live alongside the living. Their power is a sort of necromatic variant on druidic magic, so, it's a little different. One thing I find a big confusing is the motives of the Wights -- do they really just want to get along with the living? What do they feed on, if anything? What are their goals for the future?
Both are engaging, interesting, and ask some cool questions -- great ingredients for both, so again, no advantage to either entry.
Wide Depression - I'm not going to go into as much detail here. Both use the wide depression as a location. In ToG, the wide depression is a briar-filled dry moat called the "Thistleditch". And in VDH it's the namesake hollow -- and even lower, Murky swamp. Both are using the depression as a location, both play a minor supporting role in the story. I think these are roughly equivalent usage as well.
Recalcitrant Infant - in ToG the "infant" is the wyrmling dragon Zuan-zhinde. This is an interesting interpretation, but infant is much more specific than "young" and the dragon Zuan has goals and feelings and motives that are far too complex to be comfortably labeled "infant". So, this is a bit on the weak side, however fun the dragon themself might be.
In VDH, the infant in question is the son of Piquette and Boltan, who has been infected with Bolton's swamp-thing-ness and who can only feed on swamp gasses, and who therefore is starving. The little swamp thing encounter is one of the core encounters of the story, and Piquette is important in other parts of the story, so this becomes a key moment of relationship building. And, this infant is a true infant -- helpless, unable to communicate, and for all appearances powered by farts.
So, neck and neck for so long, VDH has stretched out and has an advantage over ToG in this ingredient.
Garden-fresh Greens - In VDN Piquette's vegetables are the best in the region, and that's an important part of her business. In ToG the greens are the produce of the wights, presumably rich because of their necro-druidic gifts and because of the fertilizer provided by the barrow. I think the two uses are roughly the same -- a curiosity, a detail, another minor player.
Moldy Tapestry - The moldy tapestry in ToG is the moldy "tapestry of doors" that Kizar/Vagabond is using to raid the barrows of his people. In VDH, the Moldy Tapestry is some loot found in the Smuggler's Cache, a sort of afterthought that might be valuable to elven buyers. While KIzar's tapestry is not a crucial part of the story, it does have some active and engaged impact on the story, which I didn't see in the case of elven tapestry. In neither case the idea that it was moldy didn't seem to matter, but I think the Tapestry of Doors was better, so this ingredient is an advantage for ToG.
Smuggled Elixir - In VDH, the smuggled elixir is the blood from the poor that the vampires need to continue to be good citizens in Dolgan's Hollow. In ToG, the smuggled elix[ir is purchased from the Vagabond, but I don't see where it's developed beyond that. There's a suggestion that trying to root out a smuggling ring might be a further adventure, but I don't think that counts as part of this adventure.
So, I think the elixir in VDH is stronger, so one more advantage to VDH.
The ingredients are both pretty solid in both entries, and while I'm giving a slight advantage to Vampires of Dolgan's Hollow, it's a narrow margin.
Creativity, Playability, and Presentation
Man, these are two solid entries. Both present moral complexity and a great mix of story and minor encounters to make it really work as a D&D adventure.
I really dug the Vagabond as a character -- wight grave robber trying to steal treasures out from under other green-thumbed wights. I mean, what's not to love? I think the village of wights leaves me with some questions, but Kizar is cool.
I dug the Lodz, the hapless mayor that everyone seems to like. I dug the moral quandary presented by the story of blood smuggling to keep vampires docile.
Both were presented well, clearly written and made good use of limited word count to throw a lot of ideas at the wall.
I think they're very close. It's easy to fault each for the apparent unconnected nature of some of the encounters -- The young gold dragon Zuan-zhinde, for example, seems to be not-so-well integrated into the core storyline of the adventure. And in VDH, one of the core factions in the story is Malinar the monster hunter, who oddly enough seems to be a critical story element who happens to be only tangentially connected to any of the ingredients. That's not a concrete problem, but it does point at things that might have been opportunities for more tightly woven adventuring.
So, it's a tough call.
I really dug the Vagabond as a character -- wight grave robber trying to steal treasures out from under other green-thumbed wights. I mean, what's not to love? I think the village of wights leaves me with some questions, but Kizar is cool.
I dug the Lodz, the hapless mayor that everyone seems to like. I dug the moral quandary presented by the story of blood smuggling to keep vampires docile.
Both were presented well, clearly written and made good use of limited word count to throw a lot of ideas at the wall.
I think they're very close. It's easy to fault each for the apparent unconnected nature of some of the encounters -- The young gold dragon Zuan-zhinde, for example, seems to be not-so-well integrated into the core storyline of the adventure. And in VDH, one of the core factions in the story is Malinar the monster hunter, who oddly enough seems to be a critical story element who happens to be only tangentially connected to any of the ingredients. That's not a concrete problem, but it does point at things that might have been opportunities for more tightly woven adventuring.
So, it's a tough call.
One Judge's Vote:
In the end, I think I favor Vampires of Dolgar's Hollow. Trouble on Green Hill is almost as good in all of the ways it doesn't just match VDH shot for shot. But the couple of things that I preferred in VDH were the slightly better use of the ingredients, a morally ambiguous and interesting story, and a red herring that I really want to believe was intentional.
I mean, Piquette. That's so painfully close to pipette in a story about vampires and blood, and draining blood.... And Piquette isn't at all involved in the smuggling plot -- but players who see that name will be just like me, unable to shake the idea that the DM is being cute and clever and signaling that this is where the smuggling is. Total red herring. If that's not intentional, you must never tell me. Lie to me, please.
So, I'm casting my vote for Vampires of Dolgar Hollow, FitzTheRuke's entry. J.Quondam, you're an excellent competitor and at least as far as my vote goes you were only edged out by a small margin. Thank you both for your entries.
I mean, Piquette. That's so painfully close to pipette in a story about vampires and blood, and draining blood.... And Piquette isn't at all involved in the smuggling plot -- but players who see that name will be just like me, unable to shake the idea that the DM is being cute and clever and signaling that this is where the smuggling is. Total red herring. If that's not intentional, you must never tell me. Lie to me, please.
So, I'm casting my vote for Vampires of Dolgar Hollow, FitzTheRuke's entry. J.Quondam, you're an excellent competitor and at least as far as my vote goes you were only edged out by a small margin. Thank you both for your entries.
-rg
