Thasmodious
First Post
Thanks for the judgment and the contest. I've really enjoyed it. Congratulations to Wulf, your entry was really good, good luck in the finals, sir.
I agree with much of the judgment and when I read Wulf's entry I thought my defeat was probable, unless the judge was put off by the HP homage. What I liked about yours Wulf, is that you had a strong direction. You clearly wrote a light-hearted spoof and it held that direction throughout. Mine started considerably more serious, then veered toward a light hearted direction. By the time I wrote it, I didn't firmly set it in one vein or the other. I did like my tavern better, though (although the image of PCs coming across a bunch of people apparently magically sitting in a field was a nice one). Skink was a very good NPC with strong ties throughout and I dropped the ball on how I meant to integrate the flying goblin (his flight and opposition to the PCs was meant to be much more integral). Initially, I had a much stronger idea on the Arrow of Evil Undone, but it didn't jive with the direction I used to link the rest of the ingredients. I was thinking about having it a powerful religious artifact that could effectively undo some great evil act, like a divine wish. The patron of the PCs wanted it because of some terrible evil he committed in his past that he wanted to rectify (by having the PCs kill him with the arrow). Besides that the tone of that was much darker than the rest of the adventure, that seemed a bit too powerful to be a prize in a contest. Kings and clergy would war over such an item.
Also, I had a better idea with the Golden Zipper that just didn't fit with the rest, that of a magical zipper that could be affixed to any surface and as a daily power would act as a Passwall. Affixed to a personal item, like some clothing, it became an extradimensional pocket like a bag of holding.
As to leaving out the puzzle details. That was more a matter of personal style. Different groups are good at and like different kinds of puzzles. I rarely run a puzzle in a published module (I rarely run a published module, but when I do...), and just yank it out and put in my own catered to what my group likes, which is why I left that one up to the DM. I didn't think the particulars of the puzzle was integral to the encounter, just that there was one, imo. But, that's my particulars, I can see why you felt that was a negative omission.
In the end, I think my major weakness in that entry was not picking a particular direction and building the adventure around that, something Wulf did very well. If I had made the entire thing dark, it would have been an interesting contrast with Wulfs, but then some of the ingredients called for a lighter tone.
Anyway, just some thoughts. Happy writing to those still in!
I agree with much of the judgment and when I read Wulf's entry I thought my defeat was probable, unless the judge was put off by the HP homage. What I liked about yours Wulf, is that you had a strong direction. You clearly wrote a light-hearted spoof and it held that direction throughout. Mine started considerably more serious, then veered toward a light hearted direction. By the time I wrote it, I didn't firmly set it in one vein or the other. I did like my tavern better, though (although the image of PCs coming across a bunch of people apparently magically sitting in a field was a nice one). Skink was a very good NPC with strong ties throughout and I dropped the ball on how I meant to integrate the flying goblin (his flight and opposition to the PCs was meant to be much more integral). Initially, I had a much stronger idea on the Arrow of Evil Undone, but it didn't jive with the direction I used to link the rest of the ingredients. I was thinking about having it a powerful religious artifact that could effectively undo some great evil act, like a divine wish. The patron of the PCs wanted it because of some terrible evil he committed in his past that he wanted to rectify (by having the PCs kill him with the arrow). Besides that the tone of that was much darker than the rest of the adventure, that seemed a bit too powerful to be a prize in a contest. Kings and clergy would war over such an item.
Also, I had a better idea with the Golden Zipper that just didn't fit with the rest, that of a magical zipper that could be affixed to any surface and as a daily power would act as a Passwall. Affixed to a personal item, like some clothing, it became an extradimensional pocket like a bag of holding.
As to leaving out the puzzle details. That was more a matter of personal style. Different groups are good at and like different kinds of puzzles. I rarely run a puzzle in a published module (I rarely run a published module, but when I do...), and just yank it out and put in my own catered to what my group likes, which is why I left that one up to the DM. I didn't think the particulars of the puzzle was integral to the encounter, just that there was one, imo. But, that's my particulars, I can see why you felt that was a negative omission.
In the end, I think my major weakness in that entry was not picking a particular direction and building the adventure around that, something Wulf did very well. If I had made the entire thing dark, it would have been an interesting contrast with Wulfs, but then some of the ingredients called for a lighter tone.
Anyway, just some thoughts. Happy writing to those still in!
M if I hear from you both before then.
