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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Radiating Gnome" data-source="post: 7845159" data-attributes="member: 150">Round 2 Match 1 Judgement by Radiating GnomeThis was a certified sh@#show set of ingredients, and I think it's always interesting to see how people work with challenges that are so complex. Add to it the idea that both candidates took the risk of not creating the adventure in a typcial D&D-pathfinder setting, and this looks like it's going to be a very fascinating challenge.  Having said that -- when I see choices like choosing a modern setting or a game system that is as distinct as Pendragon -- I go into the entry looking for a reason why it had to be that way -- something that makes the divergent choice the best choice.  So, What we have is "Love Enternal" by Wisdom Seeker and "Arrow, by Versace" by Iron Sky. At first blush, I struggled with both entries.  Arrow was a tough read, a puzzle to solve as much as it was an adventure to run.  And Love appeared to be a sort of series of poorly connected episodes, rather than a coherent adventure.  I had to go back and trace through both a few times to make sure I'm getting it.  As for ingredients:Laconic Sphynx - I tend to like the Sphynx in Arrow -- the riddles are created by leaving off a word, a sort of nod to the challenging "laconic" part of the ingredient. But the idea that he tags along in an RV and that becomes the reason for the caravan.... that feels fairly forced, and doesn't make a ton of sense.  Meanwhile, in Love, we have the almost completely silent Sphynx Derull, who guides the party through the astral plane without speaking. Right up to the point where she explains after all.  Phix is more interesting, so an edge for Iron Sky here. Thieving Caravan - I enjoyed the image of the troll-led bandit caravan parading around the countryside stealing everything that isn't nailed down.  And the sphynx-forced RV caravan was awkward and kind of pointless, except as a source of a goofy challenge to overcome for no strong plot reason. So, Wisdom Seeker's use is stronger.  Astral Jaunt.   - Meh.  Both used it, both felt like the adventure could work just fine without the jaunt.  Nobody did this one especially well. Last Crownbearer - I am just not sure how the Crown bearer works in Arrow -- a crown appears bu doesn't appear to be a meaningful element -- and the crownbearer challenge in Love is interesting, but could have been clearer, too. So, another bit of advantage for Love. Affluent Troll - I really liked the troll in Love, as I said.  He has personality and is a target for interaction different from other interactions with trolls.  I don't see much reason why he needed to be a troll, per se -- could have been an ogre just as easily. And that's a little disappointing. Meanwhile, in Arrow there is a troll who is also an internet troll.  Of sorts. Clever. I see what you did there. Both parts of Jotunn's troll-ness are under developed. I'm going to give Love the advantage here, because it was more fun, but neither solution is great. Crystal Seal - Sigh. I wanted to like the one in Love better -- but combining the seal and the crown in a single item in this case is more confusing than anything else. Arrow has crystals all over the place, and even though that's a risk, i do think that they have the edge over Love  in this case. Fountain of Love - Again, Arrow is stronger in this case, with the integral fountain of love -- it's integral to the story in a way that the fountain in Love is not.  So, overall, I score ingredient use as a unhappy tie.  Ugh. Creativity/PlayabilitySo, remember what I said about divergent game systems and settings?  Yeah.  That. Pendragon, as I recall, is a game that is very much invested in the interal conflicts as much as external ones.  It's about temptation and human weakness in a way that makes it's fans much more interested in it over a game like D&D.  But I see nothing in Love that draws on those sorts of conflicts.  The adventure reads very much like a D&d adventure until some unnecessary mechanical note tells me how to represent something in the Pendragon system (the troll is a small giant with a small adjustment, etc). The best reason I can see for Love to be written as a Pendragon adventure is because the sort of episodic travel adventure it describes is thematic for an arthurian adventure. But that doesn't seem to be enough. Meanwhile, Arrow is a modern adventure and it truly needs to be. The core idea, a lot of the scenes -- even when they involve a creature from mythology, are very modern in sensibility and flavor and use.  For all of it's rough edges, it seems stronger to me in that way. So, for that reason I'm going to give the edge to Iron Sky for this one. Both are interesting, and I really wanted to like Love more, as I have fond memories of Pendragon, but I think Arrow works just better enough to squeak past, in my estimation.   -rg</blockquote>

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