Holiday Iron DM!!!! {Final Judgment Posted!}
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
My apologies to d20 Dwarf . . . but mirthcard you are in. . .
I will be away most of Monday and all of Tuesday - so I would like to get all of the round one's done before the more difficult ot arrange round 2 begins on Thursday or Friday.
Anyway,
The time is 1:48 pm (by my clock) - you guys know the rules
KDladage vs. Mirthcard (alternate) Ingredients
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dwarven Bandits
Women’s Clothing
Scroll of Miracle
Simulacrum
Naga
Ancient Monk
Good luck!
I will be away most of Monday and all of Tuesday - so I would like to get all of the round one's done before the more difficult ot arrange round 2 begins on Thursday or Friday.
Anyway,
The time is 1:48 pm (by my clock) - you guys know the rules
KDladage vs. Mirthcard (alternate) Ingredients
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dwarven Bandits
Women’s Clothing
Scroll of Miracle
Simulacrum
Naga
Ancient Monk
Good luck!
Mirth
Explorer
Woo Hoo! I'm a contender!
Sorry Wil / d20 Dwarf. Good luck KD. Big fan of Umbragia, so I'm more than a bit intimidated by this pairing. Hope I can provide the goods after all my annoying begging.
Between this and giving Asgard 8 a final edit, I've got a busy night & day ahead of me. See youse guys tomorrow.
Sorry Wil / d20 Dwarf. Good luck KD. Big fan of Umbragia, so I'm more than a bit intimidated by this pairing. Hope I can provide the goods after all my annoying begging.
Between this and giving Asgard 8 a final edit, I've got a busy night & day ahead of me. See youse guys tomorrow.
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Arwink vs. Rune - Round 1 - Judgement
Okay, I’ll jump right into it. . .
The use of the wedding as the adventure hook while probably the most obvious way of getting the PCs involved is still most likely the best, and so right off the bat I had to give Arwink the advantage over Rune.
The “just happening upon” a person (which is what Rune uses) is the typical contrived scenario that can make an adventure seem lackluster and well, too much like an “adventure” instead of a seamless inclusion in a campaign, while a wedding can be a follow up of a different adventure or seem to be a side-part of a greater adventure the party has been recently involved in. However, the means by which the party gets the wedding gift (the ring of sustenance) in Arwink’s entry also seems a bit contrived if one uses the “charmed local lord” as the means to have the party deliver the gift. It seems to me that the key here is to get the party to deliver the gift without it seeming suspicious or out of the ordinary.
Of course, another hook that Arwink did not think of is if the party were hired to steal the item secretly or some other of the wedding gift.
To take a step back, I found the set-up for both entries to be kind of weak. Arwink’s scenario is a bit unclear – what exactly is Enana (the grand-daughter), a one-quarter elemental? What is her class and maybe some of her powers? I know I said stat-blocks were not required, but some indication of what important NPCs can do can be essential to allowing whomever develops this adventure to explore the various possibilities in the scenario. I have to ask myself the question as to why Gelanis stuck around all this time. Seems to me she’d be pretty powerful and have sufficient power to go off and find some other means of returning to her home plane – or if she is the sequestered type (preferring to live alone out in the wilderness) how would she arrange for the ring to be made or delivered?
Rune’s adventure set-up has that fairy-tale feel that I have come to expect from such a creative mind. However, I can’t help but wonder if the evil grandmother knew the river spirit was evil as well – or why she wanted to prevent the wedding (as opposed to try to gain an ally)? Having her be captured within the branches of the gargantuan treant is a neat idea – but I have a hard time understanding exactly how it would work. Is the treant constantly moving his limbs and branches to keep her locked in? How was a clock built in the treant? Was the tower just placed within the branches? Or was it actually made from the treant? ( I honestly don’t see how the treant would allow that).
Arwink’s use of the clock tower, sticking up out of the lake that covers a now-flooded village, while less purely creative than Rune’s treant clock, creates more of a mystery for the characters to explore, as opposed to just being quirky scenery in the adventure like Rune’s is.
Where Arwink’s entry really shines and surpasses Rune’s, however, is in his exploration of the social aspects of the wedding, along with setting up situations for exploration and adventure. One can only imagine the types of folks that might be found at such a wedding, while the lonely treant’s use in the that role-playing encounter is sweet. “the concept of explaining love and loneliness or trying to give relationship advice to a thousand year old treant should be a unique experience for even the most jaded adventurer.” – is right on the money and the unique flavor that makes an adventure memorable.
I found I really liked how the evil river spirit in Rune’s scenario fell in love with his own daughter –the spitting image of his bride – again this is the kind of fairty-tale element that I like in an adventurer of this ort – but I don’t think it should matter if he knows it is his daughter – he is evil and a river spirit – what does he care about incest taboos – however, the treant may care and maybe that should have been the fulcrum upon which the treant’s view of his old friend pivots.
The kidnapping and the bargaining for the information should set up an excellent scenario in arwink’s entry – though if the party has the proper magical items or spells – the discovery of where the kidnap victim is might be too easy – allowing them to defeat Gelanis and then free captive – the marid should have some other trick up her sleeve as well to make this work.
So, in the end – I have to give this round to Arwink – Unfortunately, Rune’s entry suffered because it was merely a sidetrek - not because a sidetrek cannot beat a long adventurer – but because the elements seemed crammed together into a scenario which would either be a straight up fight – or a careful negotiation with an NPC he did not take much time to develop or give any motivation to (the river spirit). Now Arwink’s NPCs did not seem to leap out at me either (except maybe the treant), but the potential for interesting scenes and locales – gave his entry the bit it needed to be superior.
Better luck next time Rune. . .
Congrats Arwink – you advance to the next round.
Okay, I’ll jump right into it. . .
The use of the wedding as the adventure hook while probably the most obvious way of getting the PCs involved is still most likely the best, and so right off the bat I had to give Arwink the advantage over Rune.
The “just happening upon” a person (which is what Rune uses) is the typical contrived scenario that can make an adventure seem lackluster and well, too much like an “adventure” instead of a seamless inclusion in a campaign, while a wedding can be a follow up of a different adventure or seem to be a side-part of a greater adventure the party has been recently involved in. However, the means by which the party gets the wedding gift (the ring of sustenance) in Arwink’s entry also seems a bit contrived if one uses the “charmed local lord” as the means to have the party deliver the gift. It seems to me that the key here is to get the party to deliver the gift without it seeming suspicious or out of the ordinary.
Of course, another hook that Arwink did not think of is if the party were hired to steal the item secretly or some other of the wedding gift.
To take a step back, I found the set-up for both entries to be kind of weak. Arwink’s scenario is a bit unclear – what exactly is Enana (the grand-daughter), a one-quarter elemental? What is her class and maybe some of her powers? I know I said stat-blocks were not required, but some indication of what important NPCs can do can be essential to allowing whomever develops this adventure to explore the various possibilities in the scenario. I have to ask myself the question as to why Gelanis stuck around all this time. Seems to me she’d be pretty powerful and have sufficient power to go off and find some other means of returning to her home plane – or if she is the sequestered type (preferring to live alone out in the wilderness) how would she arrange for the ring to be made or delivered?
Rune’s adventure set-up has that fairy-tale feel that I have come to expect from such a creative mind. However, I can’t help but wonder if the evil grandmother knew the river spirit was evil as well – or why she wanted to prevent the wedding (as opposed to try to gain an ally)? Having her be captured within the branches of the gargantuan treant is a neat idea – but I have a hard time understanding exactly how it would work. Is the treant constantly moving his limbs and branches to keep her locked in? How was a clock built in the treant? Was the tower just placed within the branches? Or was it actually made from the treant? ( I honestly don’t see how the treant would allow that).
Arwink’s use of the clock tower, sticking up out of the lake that covers a now-flooded village, while less purely creative than Rune’s treant clock, creates more of a mystery for the characters to explore, as opposed to just being quirky scenery in the adventure like Rune’s is.
Where Arwink’s entry really shines and surpasses Rune’s, however, is in his exploration of the social aspects of the wedding, along with setting up situations for exploration and adventure. One can only imagine the types of folks that might be found at such a wedding, while the lonely treant’s use in the that role-playing encounter is sweet. “the concept of explaining love and loneliness or trying to give relationship advice to a thousand year old treant should be a unique experience for even the most jaded adventurer.” – is right on the money and the unique flavor that makes an adventure memorable.
I found I really liked how the evil river spirit in Rune’s scenario fell in love with his own daughter –the spitting image of his bride – again this is the kind of fairty-tale element that I like in an adventurer of this ort – but I don’t think it should matter if he knows it is his daughter – he is evil and a river spirit – what does he care about incest taboos – however, the treant may care and maybe that should have been the fulcrum upon which the treant’s view of his old friend pivots.
The kidnapping and the bargaining for the information should set up an excellent scenario in arwink’s entry – though if the party has the proper magical items or spells – the discovery of where the kidnap victim is might be too easy – allowing them to defeat Gelanis and then free captive – the marid should have some other trick up her sleeve as well to make this work.
So, in the end – I have to give this round to Arwink – Unfortunately, Rune’s entry suffered because it was merely a sidetrek - not because a sidetrek cannot beat a long adventurer – but because the elements seemed crammed together into a scenario which would either be a straight up fight – or a careful negotiation with an NPC he did not take much time to develop or give any motivation to (the river spirit). Now Arwink’s NPCs did not seem to leap out at me either (except maybe the treant), but the potential for interesting scenes and locales – gave his entry the bit it needed to be superior.
Better luck next time Rune. . .
Congrats Arwink – you advance to the next round.
