Iron DM 2010: All Submissions and Judgments

[Wik]

(I apologize for the last minute nature of the entry - I got called into work last night, and worked on this till 1 am, before finishing it up today... at work! This 24 hour timeline is brutal! )


The Aether Pact

The slime coiled and undulated upon itself, suspended in its viscous tonic. A single eye formed out of a string of exposed muscles, a chaos of electrical impulses flickering to form an impromptu iris. The creature stirred in its abode, the vibrations of the water echoing to form an inhuman voice. “Anything... you... want. And then... we go to... the gates of dawn...”

A man’s hand touched the glass wall of the creature’s home, tapping thoughtfully. “Anything?”

“...anything....” The hollow voice repeated.

“My son?”

“...no. Not your son. He is beyond me....”

The hand curled into a fist. “Then what use are you to me?”

“Not your son... but I... can get you... those who hurt him.”

A long pause. “We have a deal.”



The Aether Pact is a fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons adventure set in the Astral Sea. It is intended primarily for 12th level PCs, although it can easily be adapted for other character ranges. The Adventure is set in the Astral Sea, primarily in the so-called “Deep Astral”. It can easily be transplanted to the second edition Spelljammer campaign setting, and could almost as easily be moved into any nautical-themed setting with only minimal work.

Background

Sehanine’s Tears has long been known as a safe point for Astral Travellers. An archipelago of crystalline islands (“The tears of Sehanine”), the entire formation stretches for several hundred kilometres, and consists of hundreds of islands – the largest being a day’s ride in length, and the smallest no larger than a spelljammer vessel. Many of the larger islands in the archipelago are home to merchant consortiums and townships, which trade with the hundreds of “junkers” – scavengers who prowl the island chain for relics from the Dawn War.

Of course, where there is money to be made legitimately, there are those who would prefer to plunder it, and the Tears are prowled upon by numerous pirate groups. In fact, until a few years ago, these spelljamming pirate fleets (many of them of Githyanki origin) threatened to destroy the townships of the Tears.

Until a single human, known only as “The Man in the Straw Hat” came along. Many tales were told of this man, most of them probably false. Hushed legends were told by the light of a dying sunrod as astral sailors recounted the deeds of the sworn enemy of pirates everywhere. For it was well known that The Man In The Straw Hat hated pirates. And the legend slowly spread.

The townships, while unsure of this privateer’s motives or origins, were more than happy to allow The Man to his hunting. However, six months ago, he began to target ships that had no pirate affiliations. The pirate-hating Man in the Straw Hat had gone rogue, and was brutally destroying merchantmen, junkers, and naval ships. Very little was left behind, except for mangled corpses and the skeletons of ships that had been torn apart from within.

Something had to be done. A man once widely regarded as a hero had to be brought to justice. Naturally, adventurers were contacted...

Synopsis

The PCs are hired by one of the Townships of Sehanine’s Tears to capture or kill the Man in the Straw Hat, and discover why he has begun to prey indiscriminately. They are given a Spelljammer to help them in this task. The PCs spend time and money outfitting this ship, doing their best to make it appear as a pirate ship to better attract The Man in the Straw Hat (as he still prefers to target pirate craft).

Before they leave, they are approached by an oracle, who presents a cryptic message to the party.

The party then prowls the astral sea, among the shimmering crystalline islands, trying to find The Man. While following clues, they eventually come across his fabled hideout. While exploring his hideaway and uncovering clues as to his nature and background, they encounter a strange arcane gate. A mysterious being from another plane asks to possess one of the PCs, in the hopes of being able to destroy the force that is now driving the Man in the Straw Hat. Provided a PC accepts this offer, the PCs are nearly magnetically pulled towards their quarry... but they have to magically contain the creature crawling beneath their comrade’s skin, and do so through arcane tattoos.

Eventually, the PCs are able to track down their quarry, and a battle ensues. The PCs, outmatched against an enemy that has the power to explode spelljamming vessels with strange electric energy, have to sneak up on their foe by using the crystalline islands as cover, before launching an all or nothing raid upon The Man’s warship.

Sehanine’s Tears

This adventure takes place in Sehanine’s Tears. Each “Tear” is an island, ranging from tiny (no larger than a spelljamming vessel) to large (easily large enough to serve as a base for a city or town). The islands are composed of thick rock laced with veins of multi-coloured crystal. These crystalline veins sparkle and seem to have an inner light. As these light sources refract off one another, the final result is a prismatic effect that seems to cloak the entire archipelago in an ever-changing rainbow.

Many of the Tears house small villages consisting of “Junkers” – scavengers who search for relics from the Dawn War between the gods and primordials. And there are quite a few islands that contain ancient ruins from that era. In fact, it is whispered that the Tears were once one large planet that was abandoned by the gods to the horrors of the primordials in exchange for a tactical advantage in the larger war.

Throughout the Tears, one can find strange creatures – gigantic whales sing songs as they fly through the astral islands, “astral dolphins” that seem to be flying manta rays that frolic in the wake of a spelljammer’s path, and chromatically-plumed birds that circle flying craft.

The Tears are one half of the setting of this adventure (the other being the PCs’ ship itself), and it is recommended that the GM go all out in describing their otherworldly nature.

Act I

The PCs are in one of the townships of the Tears of Sehanine when they are approached by the Lord Mayor with an employment opportunity. He quietly (and secretively – for his plan to work, secrecy is needed) explains to them the legend of “The Man in the Straw Hat” (feel free to invent all sorts of pirate-hunting tales, many of which contradict each other). He then informs the PCs that, within the last few months, the Man In The Straw Hat has been carving a swath through the tears, targeting pirate and non-pirate alike.

The Lord Mayor wants the PCs to capture (if possible) or kill The Man In The Straw Hat, and put an end to his attacks on merchants and junkers. To assist them in this, he grants them a Spelljamming vessel, and suggests the PCs make it look like a Pirate Ship, to act as bait.

The PCs then have to outfit their ship, doing everything in their power to make it look like a pirate ship. They could try to hire an appropriately pirate-themed crew, and will probably want to take time to refit their ship to make it appear more menacing than it really is. Along the way, they hear many tales of their quarry... many people are dismayed that their former hero has “gone rogue”.

During this part of the adventure, the PCs will be hounded by a Githzerai monk who claims to know the secret of victory. Should the PCs pay his asking price (whatever works in your campaign), he will go into a trance and speak the vital clue to the PCs’ success – “When the forces of energy meet, Danger is at three feet distance”. Of course, the PCs have no idea what this means, and the Githzerai prophet is happy as a clam.

Eventually, the PCs take to the astral sea in search of The Man in the Straw Hat, along with two other ships – the hope being that the fleet will be able to outnumber and capture their target.

The Clue

The Mystic’s clue, “When the forces of energy meet, Danger is at three feet distance”, suggests one thing, but means another. The clue speaks of when the two alien entities (described below) are brought together, the only way to end the crisis is to close the gap to within three feet. However, it is worded in such a way as to suggest that bringing the entities together would actually be the cause of the danger. The key to the puzzle is the use of the word “distance” in relation to the word “Danger”. Hopefully, PCs will figure this out. If not, well... that's their problem.

Act II

The PCs sail the Astral Sea for a while, doing their best to pretend at being pirates. They might intimidate Merchantmen ships sailing past, dock in harbour towns and play the part of marauding brigands, and so on and so forth. The PCs might even have to try to curtail the activities of their companion ships, who are taking to the role of “pirates” a bit too readily.

During this time, they will come across the wrecks of The Man in the Straw Hat’s victims. Some of these ships are pirate ships, but others are galleys and merchantmen. Each ship seems pulled apart, with many magnetized balls of iron (consisting of the nails and other metal ship bits) found scattered throughout, floating in astral space like cannonballs amongst the rotting bodies of sailors.

Eventually, the PCs come across the ship of The Man of the Straw Hat. As they approach (perhaps wondering about their oracle’s words), their enemy’s ship fires bolts of lightning at the PCs’ allies. The PCs watch in horror as their companions’ ships are torn to pieces – when a ship is hit by lightning, it seems almost as every piece of metal in the craft becomes heavily magnetized... and is pulled towards every other metal piece in the ship. The PCs watch as their companions’ ships are pulled apart, and listen in terror to the cries of mangled astral sailors.

The PCs should realize they are far too distant to their enemy to close, and hopefully are able to beat a hasty retreat. If they decide to close with The Man’s ship anyway, he will fire a bolt at them – however, there is not enough energy left (it’s already been used on two ships) and the PCs’ ship merely shudders and suffers crippling damage... but enough to be repaired. In either case, the PCs are abandoned by The Man, who seems to be heading in a certain direction.

Act III

The PCs either escape the Man’s ship and accidentally stumble upon his hideaway, or they need to hold up there for repairs. In either case, they come across a typical “pirate’s cove” – a hollowed out hunk of space rock that has been excavated to accommodate a crew. They explore this dungeon in a sort of extended skill challenge, learning many clues about The Man in the Straw Hat’s nature, as well as realizing that this hideaway contains ancient ruins that date back to The Dawn War.

While they explore, the PCs can uncover much about their quarry – such as the fact that he was once a very honourable warrior (a knight, in fact), or the fact that his family was murdered by pirates in front of his eyes. The PCs also learn that the Straw Hat was worn by his eldest son, and that The Man wears it out of love. They will also learn, from the few mutilated bodies found in an old barracks, that The Man has had a change of character in the last few months and has become very violent towards even his own crew.

How the PCs learn this information is up to the GM to determine, based upon the skills and abilities of the PCs. Suggestions include information gained through magical rituals, family portraits depicting a happier time, or even the clichéd “journal log”.

The PCs will then uncover an ancient gate dating back to the Dawn War. This gate will energize into life as the PCs approach. Small metal objects will hurtle through the air and attach to the gate's frame, as a hollow voice will ring out.

This voice reveals itself to be a life form from a distant plane (perhaps the Far Realm) who has lost its “Shadow” This shadow, it says, has fled into the Astral plane and now lends its powers towards a misguided mortal soul. The voice tells the PCs that the Shadow seeks to find a way to the Gates of Dawn, opening a rift that would cause both the Shadow’s home plane and the Astral plane to mix – which would destroy both planes.

The voice then explains that it needs to attach to its shadow once more, but that (much like it's shadow) the energy of the planes is hazardous, and to do so it must possess a mortal frame. Naturally, PCs will be loathe to volunteer.

The voice has absolutely no concern for human life, and is cold and compassionless. It does not understand human ways of thinking, and does not see a need to preserve the body that it possesses - to do so is irrational (like trying to save a single rain drop in a downpour). However, it will suggest that there is a way to prevent the death of the carrier - a special series of arcane tattoos that will contain this form's power.

(Or, if you want to be a bit more of a rat bastard, this alien could posess the first character to touch the gate - taking residence in the PC's hand. It would then inform the PC of the magical tattoo ritual).

The Tattooed Hand

This alien will take residence in the hand of the PC holding the entity. The entity will use the PC's hand to "point" towards its shadow, and will occasionally seize control of the hand in the heat of a battle or confrontation. PCs will have to contain this alien entity with arcane tattoos - and the longer the PC is "possessed", the more intricate these tattoos need to become, lest the alien parasite truly begins to take over and infect the PC (the host doesn't want this, either, as too much of a connection to this plane of existence will corrupt it, and make it unable to go back to it's dark matter realm).

These tattoos COULD just be window dressing, but to make them more interesting, it is recommended that the GM create an ongoing skill challenge to tattoo the possessed PC. Depending on which skills are used to make the tattoo, the character could inherit different pionic powers from the parasite creature. All of these powers should be based around electricity and magnetism - the main powers of this creature (and the shadow).

For example, a character using Arcana to make the tattoos could figure out a way to channel those magnetic powers to make a lightning bolt magic item daily the possessed PC could use; use of dungeoneering could give magnetic powers (as the character uses complex mathematics in his tattoo formula); while thievery could prevent the possessed character from losing control of his hand in key scenes. Failures in this skill challenge could have adverse effects - let your rat bastardtry run wild!

What's Going On

The Man in the Straw Hat had spent the last several years hunting pirates, murdering them in cold blood to avenge the death of his family. During his years of revenge, he hardened and lost much of his humanity. the good, noble astral knight he once was had died with his family - what was left was a focused killer. However, he still retained his old morals - particularly "never hurt the innocent".

He would work on his hideaway from time to time, putting his crew to work excavating ancient rooms. And in one such room, he found a gate. And, foolishly, he activated the gate.

A creature appeared on the other side of the gate, a strange coil of muscle that could form appendages and organs at will. This creature told the man that their planes were anathema to one another - were the man to enter the creature's plane, he would surely combust violently, and vice versa. But the creature had a plan, and set the Man to work building a device to contain the creature.

This device was simply a large holding tank hooked up to an electrical generator, which the creature filled with a viscous, pinkish fluid from its home plane. The creature entered this tank, and promised The Man great power.

In the last few months, the Creature has been teaching The Man "The Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Theory", as the creature comes from a plane of energy. Harnessing the creature's energy, The Man has found he has complete control over every last piece of metal within a kilometre of his ship - which he has been using to tear apart enemy ships. However, this power (as well as his nocturnal conversations with an alien entity) have drive The Man at least a little insane. He has come to believe that every ship is a danger, a potential breeding ground for pirates. As such, they must all be eradicated.

Final Confrontation

The PCs must sneak up on the Man's ship, although if they are attacked by the Man's magnetic powers, they will find that the tattooed hand (at the whim of the controlling PC) can deflect these attacks - and even perform the same attack on The Man's ship (which will likewise be deflected).

the two ships will hurtle towards one another, and a boarding battle will begin. The PCs will probably remember their earlier warning, though it will seem cryptic. As they battle crazed crew members, The Man will throw lightning bolts at the party. The PC with the tattooed hand will shed an aura that makes him (and any within the aura) immune to such attacks. Meanwhile, the alien in the large jar will magnetize PCs' weapons and fire them as projectiles, all the while telepathically informing the PCs that they are being "illogical".

For the PCs to succeed, they must get the tattooed hand within three feet of the jarred alien - doing so will cause a magnetic force to occur between them, pulling the tattooed alien out through the PCs skin (which leaves no mark - it is, after all, just energy) while the alien within the jar will be pulled out through the glass. When the two forms meet, they explode in a burst of energy that deals just enough damage to be scary to anyone within around fifteen feet.

How the PCs choose to deal with The Man is up to them

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Judgement: Round 2 Match 3
Green Dice vs. Pro Paladin
Judge: Radiating Gnome

Let Sleeping Cubes Lie (LSC) vs. Winter's Grasp (WG)

Every set of ingredients sets a tone, and this set is no different. Reading these entries, though, I found I was frustrated by the elides of some of the more difficult ingredients. It's interesting that certain ingredients, that look simple at first glance, are apparently so difficult to weave in to a final product.

Here's what I'm talking about -- look at the Rope Ladder ingredient in both entries.

In WG, we have a very interesting monster, the Rope Golem -- but in the description in the entry, the rope golem provides a rope stair, rather than a rope ladder -- right? "When it reaches the wall the Golem drops to one knee as if praying, forming stairs with its hand, knee and bowed head." So, that's a cool visual, but it's still a stair, not a ladder. It would have been easy to write this description differently and make it a ladder, perhaps a ladder up the legs, back, and eventually arms of the golem as it stretches and leans itself against the wall (which would make the wall taller and more intimidating -- after all, if the golem can stoop to make a staircase up the wall and still reach out and swat at defenders, it's not much of a wall; if the golem provides a ladder by stretching out straight, arms upraised, it can be a much taller wall, one the golem on it's own has very little hope of breaching).

In LSC, the rope ladder is a dingus used to teleport back to the evil patron wizard's tower. It's described as a ladder, it looks like a ladder, but for all of that, it's purpose in the adventure is never actually to be a ladder -- it could have been a teacup or porch swing for all the difference the actual ladder-ness of the ingredient makes to the adventure.

Admittedly, some of these ingredients are deceptively tough when presented together -- the gelatinous cube and the topiary maze are one example that could be especially challenging -- a creature that is designed to live in stone mazes, and a maze made of plants the creature could eat . . . finding a way to work that challenge out gracefully is what IRON DM is all about.


So, anyway, the ingredients.

Gelatinous Cube -

In WG, the cube is Zhela, the awakened, psionic, polymorphed gelatinous cube that rules the city for incapable prince. This guy is an interesting opponent, he never really behaves or acts in he advetnure like a gelatinous cube -- that part of his nature never really matters. At the end, he is brought out to fight for the city and create a distraction, but he could just as easily have been a dragon. Good use of the ingredient would have made it important that he was a gelatinous cube, not a coincidence.

In LSC, the city in the adventure was once threatened by a "large" gelatinous cube, which was imprisoned under the city by the sacrifice of Fribarrin. Now, as the PCs start to explore the city, "small" gelatinous cubes attack from time, making life in the city challenging. In this case, at least, the cube seems to be doing cube-like stuff. In the background, it was responsible for the cleanliness of the city and throught that it's prosperity. I wish I had a clearer idea of what "large" and "small" cubes look like -- are we talking the usual D&D size scale? If so, the typical large creature is horse sized (hardly a threat to a city) and "small" would be kobold sizd -- kobold-sized cubes prowling the city streets trying to engulf the city's cat population sounds entertaining but not quite as dramatic as it was intended. Still, in this case, the cubes are being cubes, so advantage LSC.

Topiary Maze -

In WG, the evil druid has a maze of plants the players must penetrate. It's there, it works -- it's not connected well to other ingredients, but it's functional. In LSC, however, the maze is not a topiary maze, it's the system of sewers and canals under the city, and they're lined with moss and lichen. Not really a topiary maze at all. Advantage WG.

Selfless Pretender -
Both adventures used "pretender" as someone who pretends, rather than as someone who makes a claim to a throne without the appropriate bone fides. And that's cool, it works. In WG, the pretender is the awakened, polymorphed, psionic gelatinous cube -- who pretends to be human, servant and friend to the prince, and who fights in his true form to save the city in the end. In LSC, the pretender is Zaabarrin, grandson of Fribarrin, wizard, and evil wanker who uses the party to further his own evil designs on the city.

The two uses are roughly equivalent, although the deceptive patron is such a cliche, I'm inclined to give a very slight advantage to WG, if we need a tie breaker.

Entitlement -
The concept ingredients are usually tricky, and this one is no exception. In both cases, LSC and WG, the ingredient is really part of the background, not the actual adventure the players move through, although it's a more immediate component of Zaabarrin's motivations than it is any of the primary forces in WG. I don't find either use better than the other, both could have made much better use of this ingredient.

Ring of the Ram -
WG makes better use of the Ring of the Ram, making it an important tool and item at several points in the adventure. The ring is used to reach the druid, to weaken the golem, etc. So, Advantage WG.

Rope Ladder -
I already discussed this one in my intro. Neither entry has an advantage.


All in all, the ingredients are a pretty close match, but WG seems to be edging out LSC.


Creativity

There were things to like in both adventures. I especially like the rope golem, and I like the imagry of it helping to breach the wall. Neither adventure really sings to me, overall, though. The awakened, psionic, benevolent gelatinous cube is, at the end of the day, a little silly -- and the adventure doesn't seem to make use of that silliness, which would have helped. The trope of the NPC who asks the party to do something for him and who turns out to be the bad guy is a well-worn cliche. In the end, I think WG has an edge here -- there seems to be more there that I haven't seen before. So, advantage WG.

Playability --

Both entries use backstory a whole lot, and there's a whole lot of exposition that has to be delivered to the players, and that they don't get to play through. I think, though, that there's actually more for the players to do in WG -- in LSC the players move from encounter to encounter without much of their own agency, but WG seems to leave open more space for the players to be creative and engaged, rather than passengers. So, advantage WG here as well.


Conclusion:

Winter's Grasp has edged out Let Sleeping Cubes Lie, so Pro Paladin advances.

 

[Pbartender]

IN SPACE, NO-ONE CAN HEAR YOU SOLVE V=IR

The ingredients for this adventure are split mainly into two groups. First there is the pirate angle, with the fake pirate ship (the PCs use this as a disguise to approach the space station), the tattooed hand (the identifying mark of a pirate group that can be pumped for resources), and the man in the straw hat (the weakest ingredient of the six… he’s really just there to introduce the lightning monster with his death). This group isn’t as integral to the adventure as it could be – they could feasibly be replaced in all sorts of different ways without significantly changing the plot, but more on that later – but the way they’re tied together into a cohesive group is great.

Second, there’s lightning monster alien, with the foundations of electromagnetic theory (which are the basis for the monster’s strange abilities, the clues for finding the solution to the monster, and the solution itself), the alien in a jar (the Leyden jar trap, once the alien monster is caught within it), and “DANGER: Stand 3 ft. distant” (warning signs that can subtly reveal the alien’s location). Again, I love the way you’ve tied these ingredients together so thoroughly… They’ve been blended to the point that it’s almost as if they’re a single ingredient. Plus, they’re central and necessary to the plot of the adventure.

Alright. Enough of that. On to the fun stuff.

When I read this adventure, the first thing I though was: “This would be good for a Star Wars adventure… But it would be perfect for Star Trek.” With just a little variation, I could just envision a classic original series Star Trek episode along these lines: A starbase at the edge of Federation space… Refugees fleeing in terror by starship… The starbase abandoned, except for a handful of Ferengi desperately trying to haul away anything valuable that’s not bolted down (and a few things that are)… A completely alien and misunderstood creature made out of electricity that accidentally kills innocent red shirts… It’s all right out of the 1960’s Star Trek script writing playbook. That’s not necessarily bad. That sort of association can be great for helping both the players and the DM envision the NPCs, the scenery and the action. Plus, it can really pump up the energy of an adventure and suck the players into a little bit more immersion, if they and the DM are at least passingly familiar with the genre you’re stereotyping. Just be careful, though, if you decide to embrace that route… For everyone who gets energized by that sort of niche stereotyping, there’s someone else who is completely turned off by it. In this case, you got lucky.

That’s brings me to my next point… Pseudoscience! I happen to be a high-voltage electronics technician with a Physics degree who works at a particle accelerator laboratory. “Oh no,” I hear you say, “I’m doomed!” On the contrary, this adventure gets full credit for coming up with a Leyden jar, despite some of the other technical gaffes. That in of itself, shows that the research was done, however hurried, in an attempt to get it right. It just needs a little more time for research and expert consultation to get the details right. At any rate, here’s the trick with science and pseudoscience in adventures and fiction: You don’t actually need to know anything to be an expert… You only need to sound convincing. Get the basics down, and so long as the rest of the details technically sound right, you’re okay. There’s just one caveat: If you are introducing something real, like a Leyden jar, make sure you get that part right. (You do.)

Now the playability of the adventure is fine. You provide one obvious solution for getting onto the station, and for investigating the answer to the mystery of the alien. But there’s one or two spot you need to keep an eye on… First, in a game, no one likes standing by and watching an NPC die out of hand. Instead, consider having the lightning creature in the process of attacking the man in the straw hat when the PCs arrive. That gives them a chance to save his life, and gain his admittedly loopy cooperation as a reward should they succeed. Also, the one spot you stayed fairly narrow was in the solution to taking care of the alien, with a clearly delineated list of steps that need to be taken. Don’t forget to keep other options open… Communicate with it using high frequency amplitude modulated electro-magnetic waves (AM radio!)? Subdue it using EMPs generated from the station’s fusion generator and channeled through the primary sensor array? Lead it to an escape pod with a trail of calculator battery bread crumbs, and then eject it out into space? You get the idea.


THE AETHER PACT

Here, the man in the straw hat is again the weakest ingredient, the hat itself being a vague connection between the man and his dead son who he’s trying to avenge. The remaining ingredients are fairly well used and linked together… The PCs’ fake pirate ship is used to lure in the man in the straw hat. The alien in a jar in the mean little beasty that’s allied itself with the Man in the Straw Hat. The Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Theory are what the alien teaches the Man so that he can destroy ships by tearing out all their metal bits. The tattooed hand contains a second alien creature that possesses a PC and helps to capture the jarred alien. “Danger is at three feet distance” is a misleading clue to let the PCs know they must get very close to the jarred alien to be safe from its attacks.

Moving along…

First, let me day that Spelljammer + Cthulhu-ish Pseudo-aliens == Awesome. (Unless you happen to be one of those foolish people who absolutely hates Spelljammer… But those sorts of people hardly count anyway.) Second, the crystalline islands of Sehanine’s Tears are a fantastic setting. Style-wise, there’s really not much else to say here.

For playability, there’s two big sticking points… The first is the flat out fiat that leaves the PCs’ ship damaged instead of destroyed during their first encounter with the Man. Given 4th Edition rules, there’s plenty of ways to make the magnetic attack devastating, while still giving the PCs a chance to escape before it destroys their ship. Using something like the Medusa’s petrifying gaze attack would be a good start – first the ship is slowed, then immobilized, then destroyed each cumulative failed saving throw. Or, the ship can first be grabbed with a magnetic attack and then dealt automatic damage every round until the grab is escaped. The trouble will be if players decide to stick around and fight to the end. If they are winning, the Man can always retreat early before there’s even a chance of him winning. If they are losing, you have to be prepared for their ship being demolished – is reasonable for the Man to leave them for dead, but they’ve survived?

The second is the mechanism itself for destroying ships. By giving a specific non-mechanics reason for the devastating attack, you leave yourself open to equally non-mechanical solutions. For example, once the nature of the attack was revealed, the first thing I or my players would think was, “Let’s get a ship with no metal in it! Or at least, no iron! Hey, don’t elves build organic living ships?” If the DM has the flexibility and poise to handle it, this sort of situation can lead to great plans and adventures, but it can also cause disaster, if the DM isn’t prepared for it and panics… It’s something to keep an eye on.

So.

You guys give me a tough choice. Overall, I think both entries are more or less equally good in their own way. I’m going to award this round to IN SPACE, NO-ONE CAN HEAR YOU SOLVE V=IR, and here’s why:

The AETHER PACT altered the wording of two of the ingredients in ways that distinctly change the possible meanings of the ingredients. “Foundations”, for example, has a wider variety of possible definitions than “Fundamentals” does. While “Danger is at three feet distance” is a complete rephrasing of “DANGER: Stand three feet distant”. I’m all for creative and clever interpretations of ingredients, but the wholesale rewriting of ingredients isn’t kosher. I know it’s a technicality, but I feel the entries are both good enough that I need such a technicality to make my decision.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Third Round Match 1
Iron Sky vs. Sanzuo

cyclops
celestial arena
reformed satyr
unwelcome advances
carpenter's mallet
Two djinn one bottle

 

[Iron Sky]

Eat It, Sanzuo

Brief Synopsis
The party finds a djinn bottle and are taken to Celestia where they must win a series of staged arena battle-games to win the djinn's arena and freedom from an ex-djinn cyclops.

Pan Neek
Pan Neek was a typical satyr, frolicking and dancing and seducing anything that walked through the forest. However, one day a straight-laced priest of Erathus entered the forest to convert the heathens and changed Pan's life. Missionary Sodom Grimsin preached of hellfire and damnation for the satyr's heathenish, carefree ways. Most of the satyrs laughed, but Pan turned his back on the way of his peoples, swore off women, and traveled back to the nation of Puritania with Grimsin.

There he saw the wonders of civilization; aqueducts, bakeries, sexual repression, crime, running water, taxes, markets, arbitrary legislation, and especially the arena. He spent his days immersed in the blood and sand of the arena, his nights dreaming of owning an arena full of sweaty, muscular gladiators of all races battling it out at his whim with creatures from all across creation cheering them on. Against Grimsin's protests, he began to build his own arena.

The Puritanians laughed as he began to build his own arena, but he wasn't deterred. For decades he worked alone, building it up from scratch. The arena was nearing completion when a burning figure fell screaming from the sky and thudded into an alley nearby. Undetterred by the omen, he took the bottle that was clenched in the corpse's crispy hand and instantly, in a flash of smoke and light, there was a... cyclops?

Eyevan the Djinnius
Eyevan the Djinnius was renowned amongst the cyclopes as being “the smartarest.” While playing a drinking game, he won a magical lamp out of which a djinn appeared and offered a single wish. Being the smartarest cyclops of all the cyclopes, Eyevan thought and thought and eventually, with a hideous grin, wished for “all da vishes in the voold” (DM note: Eyevan has an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent).

The djinn grinned back and in a flash produced the Djinn Wish Ordinance Manual and flipped to Article 1: Any customer that wishes for more wishes shall be made a wish-granting djinn, bound to a suitable container, for the propagation of the species.

In an instant Eyevan was a djinn, trapped in his own beer bottle. Many years and misadventures later that, while interesting and occasionally disturbing, aren't relevant to the current events, Eyevan's bottle was discovered by Pan Neek.

“What is it you wish, baby?” Eyevan said, upon appearing.

Pan instantly realized he had an opportunity to make his yet-unfinished arena a reality. “I, like so wish that once I totally finish this arena and put these tools down for good that it will be, like, the best arena ever and that I'll, like, live forever and be, like, invulnerable” (DM note: Pan has an exaggerated California surfer accent, a faint lisp, and exaggerated feminine hand-gestures).

Eyevan slipped back into his bottle quickly, skimmed through the Djinn Wish Ordinance Manual, and found the article he was looking for. Article 4: Any customer that wishes for immortality shall be made an immortal djinn, bound to a suitable container, for the propagation of the species. He also referenced Article 7: Always give the customer more than they ask for. Customer satisfaction first! He frowned as he read Sub-article 12a: Wishes are final but must include an associated escape clause with some marginal degree of plausibility.

He then read the infamous Sub-article 15b-7: Djinn are bound to their respective container for eternity, though some exceptions may apply and the revised amendment to Article 27: Should a newly-bound djinn find a suitable replacement within one hundred(100) years of being bound and before one hundred(100) wishes are fulfilled, they shall be returned to their previous state. The replacement djinn is subject to the same terms, though any number of years or wishes already served by said previous djinn will apply to the same term and wish limits.

Eyevan quickly figured out his plan to take the Arena for himself and get out of his bottle in the same swoop.

Mt. Celestia Arena, sponsored by Kord – preferred God of Strength since Creation!
Pan's wish for “like, the best arena ever” made Eyevan figure the best place for it would be the best, ”goodest” place in creation – Celstia.

Eyevan transported the arena to Celestia, gained the sponsorship (and zoning-board assistance) of Celestia resident/God Kord – worshiped by cyclopse everywhere! Pan worked hard and was just hammering in the last few nails to finish off the arena when Eyevan, using a fuzzy gray areas of several other amendments and sub-articles, granted Pan his invulnerability (by making him formless and unable to interact with normal matter) and immortal (by binding him to the bottle in Eyevan's stead) in advance of what was agreed upon.

Eyevan told Pan: “Hah, fooled you.You must now grab your tool and finish your arena or be doomed to take my place in the bottle for eternity.” Pan tried to pick up his hammer, but his hands passed right through it. Eyevan scooped it up for himself and tucked it into his belt, then grabbed the bottle and hurled it off Mount Celestia, far out into the Astral Sea.

Decades later...

Adventure Synopsis
0) Hooks
1) Blue Djinn Fridays
2) We Will, We Will Rock You
3) The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
4) Stop, Hammer Time!

Hooks
1) The party, while searching for a tavern or inn comes across a small tavern with ducks all around it and a 12-inch tall man on the bar playing a tiny piano. The bartender asks if they want to buy the special, cheap, and gives whichever PC buys it the djinn bottle containing Pan Neek.
2) While in the ocean or along the shore, the party spots a bottle floating in the water. When they scoop it up, Pan Neek pops out.
3) When the party are buying supplies or magic items, the merchant sells them the djinn bottle, “real cheap”.

1. Blue Djinn Fridays
When one of the party members touches the bottle, a plume of blue smoke billows out of it, forming a transparent, insubstantial satyr. He's wearing a gaudy pink and yellow jacket, tight sky-blue pants, and a bright red headband with matching arm-warmers.

“You guys have, like totally summoned me. I can grant you any wish, but if you are nice people at all, gosh, I could really use your help.”

Without giving them a chance to reply, Pan reveals his plight to the most attractive male character.

“So, handsome, here I was, minding my own business, making this totally spectacular arena, you know hammering and pounding – I love using my tools – when I found this darling bottle that summoned this brute that offered me a wish and then did just terrible things when I, like, asked for my arena to be the best one ever once I was done, and for immortality and stuff..

“Anyway, you would be such dears if one of you could just wish to go to the Mt. Celestia Arena, it would just mean the world to me and if you can help get me back to my normal self, I can reward you handsomely.”

He says the last bit with a suggestive look at one of the male PCs. If any of the PCs react to his flirtation, he says “playing hard to get I see” and focuses his attention on them for the rest of the adventure.

If the party doesn't agree right away, he says – as fast as he can:

“If-you-wish-to-go-to-the-arena-say-what.”

If that doesn't work, he starts begging. If the party doesn't eventually give in, they're, like, totally heartless bastards and can go to hell. Otherwise, Pan teleports them to the arena.

2. We Will, We Will Rock You
With reference to Article 7, Pan takes the party straight to the action of the arena, right in the middle of a match in progress. The current battle is between an old red dragon and its dragonborn followers and a mob of demons. The party must escape the arena while avoiding the carnage, breath weapons, burning auras, and collapsing arena obstacles and pillars to get out of the middle of the fight.

Meanwhile the crowd of thousands cheers, throws debris, coins, food, weapons, and the like at the players and the combatants. Loud music booms and the crowd stomps in time. Throughout it all, a pair of unseen announcers voices booming out with a play-by-play:

“Ah, the classic pillar-to-the-face trick, we first saw that back in '75 Nightmares vs Ogres and its become a staple of most team's playbooks since then...” “That's right Ted...”
“Oooh, that's gotta hurt!”
“That Mezzodemon can't be happy about that one, his last offensive push barely put a dent in the tough Dragonkind defense.”
“First down! Looks like the Vrock is outta there, let's see who gets the next kill!” “My gold would be on that Dragonborn Flanker, given his numbers from last season...”
Etc.

In a floating crystal box high above the arena, a cyclopse on a blinged-out throne, a black-glass monocle, and a full set of golden teeth watches the action, occasionally talking with the cyclopse around him, sometimes talking into a Sending Stone (link), and once or twice getting in on the action by dropping a boulder into the arena.

Once they have gotten out, Pan explains the predicament further, resting his insubstantial hand on a PCs as he talks.

“That horribly dressed cyclopse up there is Eyevan the Djinnius, the awful meanie that trapped me in this bottle. Ugh, the bottle has this horrible smell of gross stinky giant that I just cannot get rid of. Anyway, while you guys were fighting your way out of that mess, I found out that the Hammer Challenge is totally starting tonight – three rounds of hot and heavy man-on-man, team-on-team, single-elimination action – and the winners get Eyevan's Hammer.”

He points to a massive hammer made of beaten gold and studded with gems that sits in a display case behind Eyevan's pimpin' throne.

“So the Djinn Wish Ordinance Manual Sub-article 12a totally says that anyone who is given a wish gets, like, a way out of it. There's like 5 boards under the north bleacher that need to be hammered into place that Eyevan used as my loophole and then the arena is done and I can get out of this awful bottle. Unfortunately, I can't do it – he passes his hand on one of the male PCs' chest for a second, then presses his hand through – and to make matters worse, it has to be my tools that finish the repairs! The good news is that, through a loophole in the Hammer Challenge liability and disclosure agreements, you can ask for my hammer back instead of that hammer. You can grab my tool and use it to pound our way through my loophole!"

If the PCs suggest that they just wish to have the arena repaired, he'll pause and say: “If I fulfill 100 wishes then I'm so bound to this bottle it'll be forever. I was actually afraid that getting you all here would be the 100th – between all the ones that'd have been done between me and Eyevan – but we're so lucky it wasn't. Everyone is like, so selfish, you are the first ones I finally got to come here *cough* and survive *cough* I'm desperate! He puts his hand on one of the male PC's shoulder when he says this.

Presumably if the players have agreed to come this far, they'll enter the challenge to get Pan's hammer.

3. The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Once the party enters the challenge, they will have a couple hours to prepare and explore the arena. The arena is massive thanks to Pan's wish, almost a small city full of shops, inns built into the walls, docks for spelljammers, and more. This exploration could be roleplayed, or could be a skill challenge to avoid getting in fights with unruly extraplanar creatures amped up from the games, to find the unrepaired section of the arena, and/or scout out the cyclopse and the others who have entered the Challenge.

The Challenge itself is a single-elimination set of matches with each match having different rules and teams the players face. Presumably, there are other teams out there, but the relevant ones that the players will face are:

Match 1, vs Jason and the Arrrgonauts
In the first match, whichever side occupies the majority of the five marked “victory areas” at the end of a round wins the match. The locations are at various interesting places around the arena: one atop a fifty-foot marble pillar, one at the bottom of a fifty-foot pit, one in the center of a bridge over a burning field, one in the debris right next to the arena wall(see below), and the last just sitting out in the open in the center of the arena with sweet grass and beautiful flowers around it.

Jason is a huge human with a bronze shield adorned with skull-and-crossbones, a huge spear, a cutlass, a horse-hide crest helmet, an eye-patch, a billowing red cape, a bare rippling chest covered in tattoos of gods, maps, skull-and-crossbones, vases, and a sculpted beard dotted with beads. His men are similar but don't get as much screen time. They shout to each other dramatically as they fight in slow motion shouting things such as:
“Avast, hold the phalanx mateys!”
“Arrrgonauts! Ready your grog and drink hearty... For tonight, we drink in hell!”

Match 2, vs Pun-pun's Punishers
In the second match, there are three banners along the middle of the arena and each side must take two banners back to an area near where they entered the arena. At the end of a round where one side has two banners in their area, they win.

Pun-pun is an ordinary looking kobold that happens to be a practically immortal epic solo through highly-optimized shenanigans. Fortunately his incomparable power and the lack of any real threat makes him lazy. He just walks casually towards one of the banners, ignoring the fight aside from repeating whatever attack players make against them with some extra damage tacked on to prove his superiority while his massive kobold swarms harry the players.

Match 3, vs Dolly the Sheep
The final match a simple deathmatch, whichever side is standing at the end wins.

Their enemy is Dolly. Dolly is the offspring of an ancient primordial beast. She looks like a normal sheep (with an extra nippy bite), but every time she takes damage she splits into two clones (each with half the hit points of the original). Each clone is also split after damage is dealt until the arena is swarming with sheep.

The arena crowds: the crowds are always excited and rowdy any square within a couple of squares of the arena wall is difficult terrain and they take attacks as random things are thrown into the arena. Also, the crowd gets extra excited on critical hits and misses. On a critical hit, the crowd throws some coins or gems that the party can collect after the fight and also throw things at any target that is critically hit. They throw things at any creature that critically misses.

The announcers: The announcers give constant play by plays on whatever happens. One way of handling it would be to describe the players and enemy's actions only via the announcers recaps of it with other random spice added on for humorous effect.
Ex: “Wow, Bill, that elf really winged that Arrrgonaut with his bow” “Yeah Ted, too bad Jason was shouting 'This is ARENA' and kicking the drow into the pit at the same time!” “Dang, those sheep can bite, looks like these guys are taking a bleating!” “Sure are Bill, reminds me of the time that gibbering mouther escaped into the crowds last year, boy was that a riot.”

4. Stop, Hammer Time!
When the party succeeds, Eyevan lowers his crystal observation box and brings out his golden hammer, ready to give it to the party. When the party asks for the other hammer, his expression falls and he glares at the party, but gives the hammer to keep the crowd from rioting. He leaves before they do, saying only, “I'll be back.”

As soon as the party leaves the public eye, Eyevan pursues the party through the under-bleachers, trying to catch the party before they can find the last boards and nail them up with Pan's hammer. Pan lets them know that if they can get the last boards up before Eyevan catches them, the cyclops will be pulled back into the bottle and Pan will be free.

The party may make skill checks to avoid the cyclopse as long as possible, the more successes they get determining how far they get before the cyclopse catch up.

The party is probably worn out from the previous 3 fights and the cyclopse are powerful and Eyevan still has remnants of power from being a djinn years before. When battle is joined, Eyevan always has something to say when he attacks with his hammer and flaming axe depending on what's happening: “Time to get hammered,” “Get two a da' choppa',” “You're fired,” “You're getting boulder,” “Time to get paid; you're broke,” “Brace for the axe-plosion,” “Your sentence will end with an axe-clemation point,” etc.

Pan is unable to assist, aside from warning them right after they get hit and cheering, hooting, and catcalling his favorite male PCs.

Conclusion
When the party finishes the battle, Pan Neek regains his original satyr form. After running around for several minutes saying "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod", he takes over the arena and rewards the party handsomely for their help. Any surviving cyclopse flee and Eyevan's bottle has mysteriously disappeared as well, but that's a story for another adventure.

Cyclops – Eyevan the Djinnius, the djinn who used Djinn Wish Ordinance Manual loopholes to bind Pan to the bottle instead of him.
Celestial Arena – The arena that Pan was originally building that was taken to Mt. Celestia, then run by Eyevan. The party is attempting to get it back for Pan.
Reformed Satyr – Pan, who gave up the wilds and sex for the arena and sexual repression(celibacy). Also, he is trying to regain his original satyr form rather than djinn form.
Unwelcome Advances – Eyevan giving Pan his immortality and invulnerability in advance of what Pan wished for, forcing him to replace Eyevan in the bottle. Also, Pan's (likely) unwelcome advances on male PCs.
Carpenter's Mallet – The mallet Pan needs to finish his arena and get out of Eyevan's wish-trap and bottle.
Two Djinn One Bottle – Eyevan was bound to the bottle that Pan is now trapped in and will be returned to it again if the party can get Pan out.

 

[Sanzuo]

Iron Sky Sucks​

This is a 4th edition D&D adventure for upper heroic-level to lower paragon-level PCs.

Summary
The player characters are slaves forced to do battle in a celestial arena. Only by dealing with the monstrous characters sharing their fate can the party hope to escape.

Set Up
On the celestial plane of Chernoggar, Bane, the god of war and Gruumsh, the god of destruction wage a constant struggle. Within this plane is the fortress-city of Clangor and within this city is the arena, known throughout the planes. The arena is operated by the Hobgoblin exarch, Maglubiet, and his army of goblinoids. Here they hold captured slaves from all over the planes to do battle in the arena for the goblinoids' own pleasure.

The player characters begin this adventure as slaves of the goblinoids. How this has occured is left up to the DM. They could have been captured while in the Astral Sea on a previous adventure, or maybe how they were captured is left ambiguous and the party's first meeting together is in the slave pens of the arena. They are, of course, to fight as gladiators. None of their captors or spectators expect them to live for very long, but the party's survival depends on their ability to whether the harsh life as a gladiator-slave.

The first match is set to go underway immediately. The player characters are given no time to prepare or equip themselves and are thrown out onto the field completely bare.

The First Battle
The first battle is practically a free-for-all melee. The party is dumped into the sand of the battlefield with dozens of other rabble. This match serves as a precursor to the more refined battles later on. It also serves to illuminate the more skillful competitors in the eyes of the arena masters.

The party is shoved out into the arena with no weapons or equipment. There are, however, rusty weapons and shields littering the battlefield. During the battle the player characters may search for a weapon of choice as a move action. There will be several simple encounters followed by a difficult one with no short rest.

Once all the other opponents are defeated, the party will be announced the winners (or they will die) and they will be ushered into the dungeons below the arena.

The Dungeon
After the first battle the party is free to roam the gladiatorial prison beneath the arena. This area for the slaves is a jumbled warren of dungeon cells and is highly disorganized and chaotic. The bugbear guards serve merely to keep the prisoners within the dungeons proper, what happens within is not their concern. Monstrous creatures roam freely in the darkness and fatalities amongst the prisoners are common. This is more-or-less a persistent dungeon which the party can explore between bouts. They may even aquire better items and equipment for their curiosity. They are even given a cell to rest in relative safety. However, it should be noted that the party is limited in time, and taking an extended rest automatically moves the party to the following day where more matches await.

Whether they explore the dungeons or decide to simply rest, they will either come upon, or be visited by several key NPCs who hear of the player characters and their fortunate victory.

The first is the satyr. The satyr is a former slave master who displeased the goblinoids and was cast down into the dungeon with the rest of the slaves. He now wishes to bring down the arena, but requires the help of a capable group of adventurers. He knows of a magical, but unassuming carpenter's hammer that is actually a powerful artifact. It was used in the initial construction of the arena, but can also be used to destroy it. He wishes the party to find the hammer so that he can realize his dream of destroying the arena. There are two djinni that the satyr believes may know where the hammer lies.

The djinni are a pair of brothers who were forced as slaves to help with the construction of the arena. They helped create the carpenter's hammer and know how to re-aquire it. If the party wants their cooperation, however, they will have to help them. Since their enslavement, the two djinni have been bound and forced to share a single bottle. This bottle has come into the possession of a cyclops who uses it as a drinking flask. This cyclops also happens to be the current arena champion. With their bottle, the djinni could cast a ritual taking themselves and the party, if they wish, to the elemental chaos from whence the djinni hail. If the party agrees, the djinni will provide them with a valuable clue to find the hammer.

Finally, there is the cyclops, who is the long-standing arena champion. He loves menacing the other gladiators with promises of horrific death. He offers to spare certain contenders if they perform “services” for him. Neither of these fates are desirable. The cyclops will taunt the party and make offers to them that if they become his personal slaves, he will spare them in the arena.

The Plan
The satyr and djinni suggest that the party use their spare time, either that day or the following, to acquire the carpenter's hammer, as it is unassuming and will probably not be well guarded. The party can find the hammer on some minor laborer protected by guards working deep within the dungeon. As for the djinni's bottle; the party must wait for a more opportune time before they have a chance to acquire it.

The hammer will eventually be found, but depending on the method the player characters choose to acquire it (through guile or force) the outcome of the mission will effect their ability to operate within the arena from that point forward. If they are caught doing any shenanigans, they will be severely punished and kept on a much shorter leash. Their captors will resist killing the player characters for their infractions. After all, unruly slaves and escape attempts are to be expected.

The Following Day
The party taking an extended rest signals the transition to the next day. The party is due to participate in a series of unimportant matches. This will be handled via skill challenge. A success resulting in the player characters retaining health, healing surges, and acquiring a number of useful items. A failure will result in the loss of healing surges and no new equipment or items.

The satyr will take that point to tell the party about his plan for the cyclops. The satyr is convinced at this point that the party are the only ones remotely capable of defeating the arena champion, but he also believes that the party will need help. Through the satyr's natural talents and experience, he has become intimately familiar with the cyclops' “appetites.” The night before the party is due to face the arena champion, the satyr is planning on holding a soiree in the cyclops' honor. Using his skills, the satyr will make sure that the cyclops indulges, in excess, his every appetite. This will hopefully give the party an edge in the upcoming match.

The Cyclops
How soon the party faces the cyclops is entirely up to their performance in the arena. It should become quickly apparent that the party is able to deal with any minor threats without too much trouble. This sets up their eventual match with the cyclops.

No one expects the player characters to succeed in this battle, however they did not count on the cyclops still recovering from his evening of revelry with the satyr the previous night. This gives him substantial combat penalties and gives the party a fighting chance. The player characters do not necessarily need to defeat the cyclops, they merely need to acquire the bottle he keeps on his person. Though, defeating him is the surest way of doing this.

After acquiring the bottle, the djinni will appear and begin the ritual to open a portal to the elemental chaos. At the same time the satyr will begin using the hammer to collapse the arena. The party must fend of waves of goblinoid guards and defend the djinni so that they can complete the ritual. Once the ritual is complete, the portal will open and cast the party into the elemental chaos and onto another adventure.

Ingredients
cyclops - The gladiatorial champion that the PCs must defeat
celestial arena - Clangor Arena, located in the celestial domain of Chernoggar
reformed satyr - A former slave master and engineer who wants to destroy the arena
unwelcome advances - the ominous rumors of what await the PCs if they do not defeat the cyclops.
carpenter's mallet - An unassuming mallet with the magical power to craft (or destroy) mighty structures
Two djinn one bottle - two djinn forced to occupy the same living space and compete in a ridiculous contest. They offer a possible escape route for the PCs, once they've defeated the cyclops

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Round 3 Match 1: Iron Sky vs. Sanzuo
The Roommate Special Edition

*This is the first round that will have three judges rather than one. Each judge will drop in his or her judgement for the round, with the third judge also writing a summary of all three and making the final declaration.

I believe we've used a best practice in the past of putting our individual judgements in spoiler blocks to help make sure that our individual judgements are not influenced by what other judges may have already put online. I'll continue that practice.

[sblock]
Okay, the two entries are Eat it, Sanzuo (EIS) and Iron Sky Sucks (ISS).

I should say that I had considered an ingredient that was "your opponent's username" or something like that, so the idea that you guys chose to make your entry titles a jab at each other tickles me. Well played, gentlemen.

All right, with some trepidation due to the nature of the ingredients I posted in a moment of poor judgement, lets see what you guys have cooked up . . . .

Ingredients:

cyclops
In EIS, the cyclops is Eyevan, the Cyclops-turned-djinn who has tricked Pan into becoming a Djinn in order to take over the arena and free himself from wish-granting duties. The name is cute, and I like the personality . . I have a few reservatiosn about how much of the story of Eyevan is just exposition for the adventure, and his nature as a cyclops never really becomes relevant (he could have been just about any type of being), but he's good fun.

In ISS, the cyclops is the gladitorial champion that the players must earn their way up to face, and then defeat. He works for the sake of inclusion, but lacks the color and texture of the cyclops in EIS, so EIS wins this ingredient.

celestial arena
This ingredient was meant to be intentionally ironic and tricky -- an arena in a celestial (heavenly) setting. In EIS the arena has been move to Mt. Celestia, which works, but the arena as described doesn't doi a great job of being the celestial version of an arena -- it just happens to be there. Meanwhile, ISS has the arena set in Chernoggar, a plane of eternal war found in the astral sea -- and that's celestial in that it's in the heavens -- but if anything that usage is just about as thin as EIS -- it's an arena, it's someplace that is arguably celestial, but that's as far as it goes. No advantage here.

reformed satyr
At first blush, EIS appears to have a pretty strong advantage here. Pan is developed, very much a satyr, and has a strong, connected role in the adventure.

I did have a few misgivings about Pan -- given his unwelcome advnaces on the male members of the party, he seems to not be so much reformed as he is "playing for the other team." There's a real trick here -- once you include the next ingredient. Pan is both reformed and the source of unwelcome advances? Then, how is he reformed?

In ISS, the unnamed satyr has a role to play, but he's not as well developed or integral to the story. He's not really a reformed satyr either -- he's a reformed slavemaster who happens to be a satyr . . .

In the end, I'm not super satisfied with either application of the reformed satyr. No advantage to anyone.

unwelcome advances
I'm amused by the application of this in EIS -- using "advnace" to mean the powerups that are such a huge part of making monsters in 3.5. Making them unwelcome is pretty cool. The addition of the flirtatious advances of Pan -- which undermine his "reformed" status, add another layer here.

In ISS, the unwelcome advances are a vague threat made by the cyclops should they lose the battle. Given that these are not likely to be something the party actually encounters, I don't think this works as well as the advances do in EIS. So, Advnatage EIS.

carpenter's mallet
Both entries use the mallet in a signifigant way. The hammer is again a bit stronger in EIS thanks to some more development, so advantage EIS.

Two djinn one bottle
Hee hee hee. I'm a dirty boy.

Ahem. Anyway, in EIS the two djinn are "converted" djinn, the former cyclops Eyevan and the former satyr Pan. They're both bound to a single bottle, but not concurrently -- if Pan can get the party to help him, he will be restored to normal satyrdom and Eyevan will become a djinn again. To my eyes, this skirts the edges of the ingredient a little -- they're both not really djinn, they're never djinn at the same time, etc. But its still pretty cool.

In ISS, the djinn are actual djinn, and they're actually bound to the same bottle. The ingredient is used in a letter-perfect way (they are djinn, they're both in the same bottle at the same time), but . . . there isn't anything in the adventure that builds on the situation they are in -- the pair of them could have been a single djinn in the possession of the cyclops, hoping for rescue and freedom at the hands of the party. So, advnatage EIS.

Overall, EIS has several ingredients that it's using better than ISS, so EIS is ahead on ingredients.

Creativity -

The much more in-depth development of the EIS entry has really helped push that entry over ISS. Characters have names and personalities, etc. Well come. ISS is solid, but EIS is better.

Playability -

I actually think that ISS may have an edge here. EIS depends a whole lot on backstory, both to develop the ingredients and set up the adventure for the party. And once the party gets involved in the adventure, their role is prety straightforward and they aren't going to be doing much that really impacts the direction the story takes.

ISS, on the other hand, gives the party a lot of room to explore the arena set on the plane of eternal heavy-metal warfare. The major combats involve important ingredients (unlike the three battles the PCs face in EIS, which are funny but don't engage any of the ingredients). So, advantage to ISS here.

Conclusion -

IN the end, while ISS has strong points, I think EIS really digs into the ingredients better and gets my vote for winning the match.

So, one vote for Iron Sky.


[/sblock]

 

[InVinoVeritas]

I'll get my judgment up shortly. In the meantime, here are the ingredients for Round 3, Match 2:

Gaslamp
Gaslighting
Deserted Docks
Compromised Magnate
Encroaching Fungus

and...

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Here's my judgment for Round 3, Match 1

[sblock]
I'll try to keep this somewhat shorter than my other judgments. Feel free to ask me more if you need it.

The big thing I see in this case is that in many ways, the adventures are similar. The PCs are fighting in a Celestial Arena, trying to find a Carpenter's Mallet, with the help of Djinn(i). Execution is what is going to win this round.

Both contestants give us a Celestial Arena, which requires finishing/destroying with a Carpenter's Mallet. Both use one version of the Unwelcome Advances (gotta be careful with stuff like that--I still remember my round with Unmentionable Services). However, I also like Iron Sky's advanced wish fulfillment--using the wish power of the djinn is a very strong use of the ingredient. Iron Sky combines the remaining ingredients more tightly: The two djinni in the one bottle are the Reformed Satyr and the Cyclops. Overall, Iron Sky comes out ahead in ingredient use.

As for playability, Iron Sky's ability to write (and write and write) helps out here. We are given more distinct characterizations of the NPCs, world elements through the announcers and the Djinni Wish Ordinance Manual, and a number of discrete encounters that spell out how the adventure flows. Seriously, I know I would never have enough time to write that much.

Finally, for originality and general overall appeal, the campy style of Iron Sky's adventure is held through the entire adventure, but does little to subject the PCs to something they don't want to do.

My vote goes to Iron Sky.
[/sblock]

 

[Pbartender]

"Wonder Twin Powers activate! Form of... Movie critic!"

[sblock]EAT IT, SANSUO

Pros:
Quirky use of ingredients. The ingredients mix well with each other. Very detailed background. Consistant and well written silly campiness.

Cons:
Some ingredients are a bit weak. Excessively detailed background that no-one playing the adventure will likely ever notice or care about. Consistent and mind-numbing silly campiness.

Overall:
An excellent adventure for a one-shot, a gameday, or a convention. I can't see it fitting very well into a regular campaign, unless you happen to be playing Toon.


IRON SKY SUCKS

Pros:
GLADIATORS!, Not Iron Sky.

Cons:
Uninspired use of ingredients. Middling plot.

Overall:
A serviceable adventure for a mid-campaign diversion, but nothing to write home about.


TEH WINNAR == Iron Sky[/sblock]