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Message: <blockquote data-quote="InVinoVeritas" data-source="post: 5212167" data-attributes="member: 41485">Judgment, Round 1, Match 7: Allenchan vs. ajanders First, a little truth: my non-gaming wife had a hand in choosing these ingredients. I took her suggestions and twisted them, slightly, but she wanted to see what happens when you throw a ballerina and a bunny into the mix. The judgment is still all mine, though. Allenchan’s A Gala for Geyron vs. ajanders’ adventure First, the ingredients: Elf Ballerina: The use of A Folk Tale here is well done. Given that Birthe is the changeling and Hilda is the human—but in a story that might not be known to the PCs to begin with—makes for a very clever use. Although, wouldn’t such details tend to be included in the synopsis in the program? (Heck, I’d just wait until I was in the middle of the adventure to ask that, and watch the GM squirm!) Allenchan uses, literally, an elf ballerina, who must be a dancer and happens to be an elf. Solidly done, but ajanders shows the better use by using an actual ballet.  Underwater Path: The underwater path in A Gala for Geyron is an obstacle to be overcome, that cold, slimy, submerged, claustrophobic tunnel. Once again, a very solid use. In ajanders’ adventure, the underwater path is a theme for the murders throughout the adventure, presenting us with three: under the water line at Hoover Dam, in the PATH tunnels under Toronto, and under the Hudson River on the PATH train to the WTC stop. Technically, Toronto’s PATH isn’t underwater, but the PATH under the Hudson definitely is. For making it a theme throughout the adventure, ajanders gets the advantage. Crowded Carriage: The use of the subways for the crowded carriage is strong. In Toronto, the use is again weaker, but trying to catch Michael Corsi in the crowded PATH train under the Hudson makes for good drama. Similarly, Allenchan does a good job. I like the carriage full of combatants, and there’s never enough carriage chases in D&D anyway. In this case, Allenchan also describes the combatants in the carriage, some stats for the carriage, and describes the tempo of the climax. For these additional playability notes, Allenchan shows the better use. Shameless Promotion: Both adventures have a villain who uses connections to society to create a trap for victims. However, Michael Corsi’s “hidden by dirt” ability, although quite useful throughout the adventure to keep the pacing, doesn’t show quite the charisma and magnetism of Vincenzio Macchiata. The model’s blog isn’t mentioned in enough detail this time to counter the whole Gala. Allenchan gets the advantage here. Clever Bunny: My wife just wanted to say that she was disappointed by the utter lack of rabbits in the adventures (although she would have accepted a <a href="http://partiallyclips.com/2002/08/21/mr-hare-3/" target="_blank">hare</a>). However, I didn’t figure that would happen anyway. Stephanie Marten is the Clever Bunny in ajanders’ adventure. She’s a Playboy Bunny, but we meet her as a victim… not particularly clever. There’s the answering machine trick, but I’d hope for something more, you know? She’s still dead. Annissa Ravenna is a little bit less of a “bunny” (although still a socialite) but is more clever, and could be useful as an NPC follower for the PCs. I prefer Allenchan’s use here. The Dark God’s Dirty Dishes: I wanted to see how this would be interpreted. I wondered if we’d just get the Kitchenware of Vecna, but thankfully, we got a bunch of different ideas. There’s Macchiata’s dishing out of secrets. There’s Geyron’s dish-puddles. There’s the debauchery at the gala. There’s Michael Corsi’s victims. All very strong. Allenchan’s multiple uses are very good. Ultimately, though, ajanders makes the ingredient a running theme throughout the adventure. I prefer this use, because it is tightly integrated. Honestly, a generally well done and executed synthesis of the ingredients on both sides. As a note regarding what I like, integrating the ingredients with the adventure’s theme is very strong and quite welcome. Also, although having multiple instances of the same ingredient shows ingenuity, in truth only the most tightly interwoven ingredient will matter. The exception to this would be an ingredient that builds on the previous instance of the ingredient, tying the whole package together.  Playability: Allenchan does an excellent job establishing the action. It starts with the party, moves on to the basement, then out to the carriage. You get a good sense of how everything is supposed to move in the adventure. In ajanders’ adventure, there is also a good flow, with the action beginning at Hoover Dam, moving through Toronto and ending in New York. The difference, as I see it, between the two adventures, is that ajanders spends more time discussing what the PCs can learn when. This helps pull them along to the final climax. In A Gala for Geyron, the PCs don’t have much that they need to learn or do—just kind of be there at the party until the devil arrives. Allenchan is edged out by ajanders here.  Originality: Both adventures do decently here. We’ve seen decadent party murderers and serial-killing cultists before, so the new ground broken is little, but both adventures score very well on execution. Although I may be familiar with such elements, I felt comfortable with using them, in the particular ways they are used. I like them both. General Feel: They both had good, but different feels. A Gala for Geyron is more action oriented. The other adventure (ajanders, giving a name, even a bad one, might help here) is more creepy horror story. In this case, it is mainly the writing that demonstrates the difference. Here are passages from both adventures: From Allenchan: The stage is clearly set. There is no question about what is going on. Yet the general worship of Asmodeus, Macchiata’s rise to power, and the missing ballerina are slightly decoupled.  From ajanders: Here, we also understand what is happening. But we also have a flow of how and why. By learning about Qussuq, we learn about Corsi. We understand why he destroys art and artists before we learn that he does.  In conclusion, this was a hard matchup. Both used the ingredients well, and I didn’t feel that either adventure had any obvious flaws. Well done for both. In the end, the match goes to ajanders for the added attention to the feel of the adventure and evocative prose. However, Allenchan did an excellent job, and was fierce andworthy competition. Congratulations to both contestants. ajanders advances.</blockquote>

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