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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pbartender" data-source="post: 5226361" data-attributes="member: 7533">IN SPACE, NO-ONE CAN HEAR YOU SOLVE V=IRThe 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 PACTHere, 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.</blockquote>

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