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Message: <blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 529456" data-attributes="member: 11">Drawmack vs. Wicht – Round 1 – JudgmentRight off the bat, Drawmack, I have to say it seems like you had a hard time incorporating the elements of the adventure.  The fact that you had to work such bizarre wishes into the background of your scenario made me wary.  But then again to even get to the wishes part of the background we need to accept that a party of adventurers were seeking to retrieve a rod of wonder (of all things from an evil cleric powerful enough to have access to some wishes (why didn’t he use it to save himself?)The problem with this adventure is that it sets the rod of wonder as the item the action pivots on – but fails to give any uniqueness or special purpose to warrant this desire for its retrieval – not to mention that it plays against character to have some evil cleric named “darkhart” to want a rod of wonder of all things, and to see it as his great weapon (because a great weapon it isn’t).Now, the cool thing about Drawmack’s scenario is that what he describes as “Darkoneuos Heights” reminds me of some old school Gygaxian mega-dungeon – I like his inclusion of other elements that give the place a sense of depth – this is an old school “dungeon complex” with vying factions and different monsters – Darkhart and his kobolds are just part of it.  I like the orcs with the toll of mead – makes me think it wasn’t the first time they met up with adventurers <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />However, the use of the actual Iron DM ingredients seemed uninspired. . . Where did these half-fiend children come from?  What is their story? The awakened rabbit as a guide was a good idea – but the coincidence of the revenge plot and the PCs wanting to go after Darkhart anyway seems too thin.  A better idea might have been a humorous turn when the party realizes that the shadowy figure that wants to hire them is really a cute little bunny!Now wicht’s entry on the other hand, while having a weak hook (or at least no concrete examples to run with), integrates the ingredients much better in his entry.The use of a briarwood to incorporate the briar patch, and his clever fusion of the half-fiend children and the ankhegs and tying that in with the “nature-focus” of the adventure’s protagonist, the rabbit – Though how a rabbit can use a wand is a mystery to me.The stealing of the mead seemed like a weak plot element, but the idea that a party may go chasing “simple beer thieves” and end up fighting giant fiendish insects has a certain charm to it.In this case I have to say the winner is clearly, Wicht – our old “iron horse”.Drawmack, I don’t think your adventure was bad, and I particularly liked the “old school flavor” – but in the end the game is about the use of the ingredients, which was your weak point.</blockquote>

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