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2018 IRON DM Tournament
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<blockquote data-quote="Gradine" data-source="post: 7516266" data-attributes="member: 57112"><p>[sblock][spoiler]<shakes fist, Dr. Doom style> @<em><strong><u><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=62721" target="_blank">MortalPlague</a></u></strong></em>!!!!!! <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devil.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":devil:" title="Devil :devil:" data-shortname=":devil:" /></p><p></p><p>Congratulations, @<em><strong><u><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=62721" target="_blank">MortalPlague</a></u></strong></em>! Your adventure was, as always, excellent. I'll get you next time!</p><p></p><p>Iron DM is not an easy thing to win consistently. Not only is the quality of competition consistently high, but the ingredients themselves lends the proceedings a wide range of variability. Sometimes, the ingredients trigger some pretty imaginative stuff (I'm actually running <em>A Dream in the Clouds</em> from last year's competition for my group next weekend); some times they leaving me spinning my wheels until I follow the only path I can make out and do all the things I literally <em>just said</em> I wasn't going to do. </p><p></p><p>This time, the ingredient was Dread Ninja.</p><p></p><p>This was the one that caused me the most consternation. I sometimes forget that each ingredient is ultimately weighed evenly; I tend to laser focus on the ingredients that speak to potential NPCs first and foremost, because they and their motivations end up defining the plot. I am typically averse to fantasy settings that <s>homage</s> blatantly ripoff Asian cultures, for reasons I think I've just made obvious, but I couldn't find a way around it this time. I briefly considered a Stephen King-esque story with killer appliances, and I now find myself wishing I had followed that thread instead, but at the time I didn't see a way to make too many of the other ingredients work in that context.</p><p></p><p>So I decided that if they had to be a Ninja then the story and setting had to be at least Japanese-inspired, so I instead decided to lean into that as hard as I could, while doing the culture as much justice as possible; most of the names are used are either historical names or meaningful names (Shodō being the romanization of the Japanese form of calligraphy, for instance). Qi'lin was an attempt to thread the needle between the traditional unicorn (ie, divine forest creature, classical protector of virginity) and the Japanese Kirin, but I'm not as certain I succeeded there.</p><p></p><p>Dread, on the other hand, brought me crashing into Ravenloft. I at least didn't go deep into setting lore and pepper shaker place names; I assumed the Dark Powers and the mists were fairly common knowledge, even for those with only passing knowledge of Ravenloft as a setting. I probably should have placed more emphasis on describing what the standard hook of a Ravenloft adventure is (that is, strangers trapped in a strange land, figure out what haunts the people and resolve it in order to break free), which is the sort of thing I was talking about in my response to last round and yet didn't learn from. At least I didn't lose Iron Sky! Well, not in the proper nouns, anyway.</p><p></p><p>I'll be the first to admit Elder Signpost was phoned in. Maybe with more time I probably could have figured out something more central, but I can't really help that I can't really write on the weekends, and I recognize those are generally the best time for everyone else, so I can't really complain about that. My intended use was the bloody seals on the ancient trees, which help point the way towards Qi'lin's lair. A stretch, at best, but it was one of those things where I just couldn't figure out a better way, and I was hoping I might squeak by with half a point on it and hope either my opponent also struggled with that ingredient, or with another where I could make it up. I think we've all reached that point at some point in our respective tournaments. Obviously that didn't work out for me here, but I'm not sure it would have made a difference.</p><p></p><p>I also struggled to find a way to make the <em>Iron</em> in the Iron Law relevant or essential, and kept coming up blank. Iron Sky's suggestion of linking Iron & Blood is one that I really wish that I had thought of in the moment. Glad to see at least Deuce Traveler catching the Mistborn reference. I also probably, in retrospect, would have had Nagato be the one manipulating the ink. This gives him a way to be more directly relevant to the adventure, and more personally foiled by the Iron edicts.</p><p></p><p>I did have one last comment for Iron Sky. You mentioned in your previous judgment that your critique must be frustrating to read, and that's definitely held true, though maybe not for the reasons you might think. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a lot of the constructive feedback and suggestions I've gotten from you, especially this round (again, the Iron-Blood connection is inspired, and you don't know how badly I've been kicking myself for missing it!). What has frustrated me a little, however, is the seemingly irreconcilable differences in our respective DMing styles (or, more to the point, between the playstyles of our respective players). The notion that the existence proactive, altruistic adventurers being so rare, so mythical (like a unicorn, perhaps? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> ), so <em>odd</em> as to be worthy not only of mention but also <em>demerit</em>? Believe when I say that that concept is as foreign and alien to me as such players' existence seems to be to you. You are right about one thing; I have no doubt that my players would be more than happy to follow any of the hooks I've presented in these adventures. I get that "sense of wonder or mystery" is not of universal appeal to players, but... it's not that uncommon? Is it?</p><p></p><p>I add this more as a statement than a critique of your critiquing; I certainly respect that you have the right to judge any way you see fit. But I'd certainly love to serve as a judge myself one day, and so I find myself turning a critical lens to the styles and methods of critique of others (in spite of initially thinking I would follow the same style, I ultimately find myself being somewhat put off by Deuce Traveler's quantitative method, as another example). Of course, as I know at least Rune is well aware, I over-analyze <em>everything</em>, so feel free to take all of this with a grain of salt. </p><p></p><p>Ultimately, this is a fun competition, and I certainly had a lot of fun, even if I didn't end up super happy with my last two adventures (at least not as Iron DM entries), and I appreciate the work all three of you put into this, and as I have followed in all each of your footsteps as contest winners, so too do I hope to follow in your footsteps as contest judges at some point in the future. In both cases, I've had very big shoes to fill. So thanks to all of you (and to all of the other contestants) for making this another great contest!</p><p></p><p>I hope to see you all next year!</p><p>[spoiler][/sblock][/spoiler][/spoiler]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gradine, post: 7516266, member: 57112"] [sblock][spoiler]<shakes fist, Dr. Doom style> @[I][B][U][URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=62721"]MortalPlague[/URL][/U][/B][/I]!!!!!! :devil: Congratulations, @[I][B][U][URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=62721"]MortalPlague[/URL][/U][/B][/I]! Your adventure was, as always, excellent. I'll get you next time! Iron DM is not an easy thing to win consistently. Not only is the quality of competition consistently high, but the ingredients themselves lends the proceedings a wide range of variability. Sometimes, the ingredients trigger some pretty imaginative stuff (I'm actually running [I]A Dream in the Clouds[/I] from last year's competition for my group next weekend); some times they leaving me spinning my wheels until I follow the only path I can make out and do all the things I literally [I]just said[/I] I wasn't going to do. This time, the ingredient was Dread Ninja. This was the one that caused me the most consternation. I sometimes forget that each ingredient is ultimately weighed evenly; I tend to laser focus on the ingredients that speak to potential NPCs first and foremost, because they and their motivations end up defining the plot. I am typically averse to fantasy settings that [s]homage[/s] blatantly ripoff Asian cultures, for reasons I think I've just made obvious, but I couldn't find a way around it this time. I briefly considered a Stephen King-esque story with killer appliances, and I now find myself wishing I had followed that thread instead, but at the time I didn't see a way to make too many of the other ingredients work in that context. So I decided that if they had to be a Ninja then the story and setting had to be at least Japanese-inspired, so I instead decided to lean into that as hard as I could, while doing the culture as much justice as possible; most of the names are used are either historical names or meaningful names (Shodō being the romanization of the Japanese form of calligraphy, for instance). Qi'lin was an attempt to thread the needle between the traditional unicorn (ie, divine forest creature, classical protector of virginity) and the Japanese Kirin, but I'm not as certain I succeeded there. Dread, on the other hand, brought me crashing into Ravenloft. I at least didn't go deep into setting lore and pepper shaker place names; I assumed the Dark Powers and the mists were fairly common knowledge, even for those with only passing knowledge of Ravenloft as a setting. I probably should have placed more emphasis on describing what the standard hook of a Ravenloft adventure is (that is, strangers trapped in a strange land, figure out what haunts the people and resolve it in order to break free), which is the sort of thing I was talking about in my response to last round and yet didn't learn from. At least I didn't lose Iron Sky! Well, not in the proper nouns, anyway. I'll be the first to admit Elder Signpost was phoned in. Maybe with more time I probably could have figured out something more central, but I can't really help that I can't really write on the weekends, and I recognize those are generally the best time for everyone else, so I can't really complain about that. My intended use was the bloody seals on the ancient trees, which help point the way towards Qi'lin's lair. A stretch, at best, but it was one of those things where I just couldn't figure out a better way, and I was hoping I might squeak by with half a point on it and hope either my opponent also struggled with that ingredient, or with another where I could make it up. I think we've all reached that point at some point in our respective tournaments. Obviously that didn't work out for me here, but I'm not sure it would have made a difference. I also struggled to find a way to make the [I]Iron[/I] in the Iron Law relevant or essential, and kept coming up blank. Iron Sky's suggestion of linking Iron & Blood is one that I really wish that I had thought of in the moment. Glad to see at least Deuce Traveler catching the Mistborn reference. I also probably, in retrospect, would have had Nagato be the one manipulating the ink. This gives him a way to be more directly relevant to the adventure, and more personally foiled by the Iron edicts. I did have one last comment for Iron Sky. You mentioned in your previous judgment that your critique must be frustrating to read, and that's definitely held true, though maybe not for the reasons you might think. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a lot of the constructive feedback and suggestions I've gotten from you, especially this round (again, the Iron-Blood connection is inspired, and you don't know how badly I've been kicking myself for missing it!). What has frustrated me a little, however, is the seemingly irreconcilable differences in our respective DMing styles (or, more to the point, between the playstyles of our respective players). The notion that the existence proactive, altruistic adventurers being so rare, so mythical (like a unicorn, perhaps? ;) ), so [I]odd[/I] as to be worthy not only of mention but also [I]demerit[/I]? Believe when I say that that concept is as foreign and alien to me as such players' existence seems to be to you. You are right about one thing; I have no doubt that my players would be more than happy to follow any of the hooks I've presented in these adventures. I get that "sense of wonder or mystery" is not of universal appeal to players, but... it's not that uncommon? Is it? I add this more as a statement than a critique of your critiquing; I certainly respect that you have the right to judge any way you see fit. But I'd certainly love to serve as a judge myself one day, and so I find myself turning a critical lens to the styles and methods of critique of others (in spite of initially thinking I would follow the same style, I ultimately find myself being somewhat put off by Deuce Traveler's quantitative method, as another example). Of course, as I know at least Rune is well aware, I over-analyze [I]everything[/I], so feel free to take all of this with a grain of salt. Ultimately, this is a fun competition, and I certainly had a lot of fun, even if I didn't end up super happy with my last two adventures (at least not as Iron DM entries), and I appreciate the work all three of you put into this, and as I have followed in all each of your footsteps as contest winners, so too do I hope to follow in your footsteps as contest judges at some point in the future. In both cases, I've had very big shoes to fill. So thanks to all of you (and to all of the other contestants) for making this another great contest! I hope to see you all next year! [spoiler][/sblock][/spoiler][/spoiler] [/QUOTE]
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