Fall '03 Iron DM Tournament -- Wulf Ratbane is Iron DM!

[el-remmen]

Whew!

As long as there is no chance for me to face Wicht. . . I am happy. I mean, as long as I can defeat Rune - I can count on Wulf's rotten luck to win me the tournament.

Also, seeing all these "well-known" names in this tournament has made me decide that even though it violates our guideline about how close these competitions should be to each other - that I will run a "holiday IRON DM" in December - but my ruling will be no one who has taken part in a IRON DM more than once can apply and I am going to take total newbies over those who have played before in the application process.

 

[Macbeth]

Whew!

As long as there is no chance for me to face Wicht. . . I am happy. I mean, as long as I can defeat Rune - I can count on Wulf's rotten luck to win me the tournament.

Also, seeing all these "well-known" names in this tournament has made me decide that even though it violates our guideline about how close these competitions should be to each other - that I will run a "holiday IRON DM" in December - but my ruling will be no one who has taken part in a IRON DM more than once can apply and I am going to take total newbies over those who have played before in the application process.

So since this was my first Iron DM, I could enter again for the Holiday Iron DM? (Assuming there aren't too many newbies) Great! I'll be looking out for it.

 

[Pielorinho]

I think that's a fine idea, Nem. Writing entries definitely gets easier with experience, and gives a real advantage to folks who've gone through a couple tournaments previously.

Daniel

 

[mythago]

Wow. Tough call.

nemmerle, I think that would be a fine idea.

 

[Rune]

Excellent entries! Congrats to Wulf for finally beating that pesky Wicht!

I'm good to against Nemm today, but failing that, it'll have to be thursday.

Or a week from today.

Now...a note on "borrowing" from literary sources. Frankly, I have never seen any reason to get so defensive about it. Incognito started it all by disqualifying someone who did an alegory of an alegory. A pity, I thought. It was rather innovative. I've always believed that, short of actual plagiarism, there's nothing wrong with drawing on previous works. Let's face it. ALL literature, in all of its forms, is built on the backs of previous literature.

Additionally, it's a risk to draw too heavily upon previous works, anyway. If the contestant doesn't do it well (which generally means subtly, and not too heavily), it's guaranteed to be a poor entry.

One final tangent.

On the matter of the "diseased paladin." I would have played around with the definition of "diseased," probably settling on some sort of corruption of the mind or soul, something that would lead to fallen paladin-status if left unchecked. Or somesuch.

In short, I was looking for an innovative way around the paradox and was, for whatever reason, a bit unsatisfied with the way both entries handled it. It was a tough ingredient, and intended to be. Since both contestants were similarly handicapped, I do not regret my decision to include it.

 

[Rune]

One more thing...Nemm.

Is that Holiday IRON DM going to be outside of the cycle, or is the champion of this tournament going to be in that one?

If the champion of that one is outside of the cycle, what do we do with him/her when the next tournament comes around? Would that champion and the champion of this tournament get automatic entries into Iron DM Spring?

 

[mythago]

Now...a note on "borrowing" from literary sources. Frankly, I have never seen any reason to get so defensive about it. Incognito started it all by disqualifying someone who did an alegory of an alegory. A pity, I thought. It was rather innovative. I've always believed that, short of actual plagiarism, there's nothing wrong with drawing on previous works. Let's face it. ALL literature, in all of its forms, is built on the backs of previous literature.

Well, to a point. There's retakes on classic works, there's the fact that there are only [n] plots anyway, and there are new twists on old tales, but you don't want to cross that line between inspiration and copying. (And speaking as a writer, it's darn embarassing to realize that your clever original idea was done verbatim by somebody else. )

I don't think there's a thing wrong with paradoxical ingredients that can be gotten around with a little cleverness. Maybe it's just the lawyer in me saying "Define 'disease'," but to me that's different than asking for a chaotic evil paladin.

 

[Pielorinho]

I agree with Mythago on this. An obvious homage is fine by me IF it adds something to the original -- I dinged Wicht's field of poppies because it didn't go much at all beyond the Wizard of Oz poppies, whereas Wulf's Cthulhu references added a couple cool things onto the Cthulhu mythos.

And I recommend reading the novel referenced above in spoilertext -- it's fantastically good.

Daniel

 

[Wicht]

One more thing...Nemm.

Is that Holiday IRON DM going to be outside of the cycle, or is the champion of this tournament going to be in that one?

If the champion of that one is outside of the cycle, what do we do with him/her when the next tournament comes around? Would that champion and the champion of this tournament get automatic entries into Iron DM Spring?

I have been thinking for a while that instead of defending his title, the previous champion should become the judge of the next tournament.

 

[el-remmen]

One more thing...Nemm.

Is that Holiday IRON DM going to be outside of the cycle, or is the champion of this tournament going to be in that one?

If the champion of that one is outside of the cycle, what do we do with him/her when the next tournament comes around? Would that champion and the champion of this tournament get automatic entries into Iron DM Spring?

Since I plan to win this one - it won't matter.

But seriously, I will let the next judge handle it how they feel best fits the situation - and that judge might even be - so really what I am saying is "I'll think about it." - Personally, I am all for giving some new folks a chance - so maybe the winner of this one (which will likely be me - is that joke getting old yet?) can just sit out or take his chances getting a "regular slot" - allowing the winner of the "newbie tournament" get the guaranteed seat.