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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Radiating Gnome" data-source="post: 5235265" data-attributes="member: 150">Attack of the Commie Mushrooms (ACM) by Pro-Paladin vs. Unnamed Entry (UE) by AjandersLong weekends are great . . . sorry judgement has been slow coming. I'm still the first judge across the finish line, though.  <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=";)" />[sblock]Ingredients:Gaslamp - both entries use gaslamps pretty well.  No advantage. Gaslighting - ACM misses the real meaning of the term Gaslighting - which is trying to convince someone they're losing their minds by changing their environment and telling them that it's not changing.  UE seems to be a little off the mark, but is closer, so advantage UE.Deserted Docks - Both entries use deserted docks, but in ACM, the docks are only docks because that's what they're called -- the docks are being converted into an open air shopping mall.  They're not really docks in much more than name. Advantage UE.  Compromised Magnate - UE's recap claims three, but neither Ergot nor Xycene are really magnates of any kind, so it's a good thing that Gresston is.  ACM has Haverton, who works pretty well.  No Advantage.  Encroaching Fungus - again, both entries use fungus as a major threat.  No advantage.  [Picture of Zappy Chick] - in both cases, the picture is of the big bad -- well used. I find that Xycene doesn't succeed at capturing the personality of the picture as White Night does, so advantage ACM.Overall, the ingredients favor UE.  Creativity - There's a lot to like about both of these entries, and I'm finding it hard to pick one I like better over the other.  The formatting and editing glitches (as well as the lack of a name) bother me about UE -- it's hard to read, and that gets frustrating quickly.  But the ideas in it are pretty good.  Meanwhile, ACM has the advantage of completeness -- the inclusion of suggested PCs is an interesting touch, and is an example of the sort of polish that serves this adventure well.  But beneath the polish, is it as creative and interesting as UE? In the end, I don't quite think so.  I find the commie plot -- which fits perfectly into the genre -- doesn't really surprise me -- it relies a lot on cliche and well-worn tropes.  Femme Fatale, commies bent on destroying the US, etc.  Meanwhile, UE has shadow-inflused bloodthirsty myconids that are going beyond the agreed-upon bounds of their fey pack with the Eladrin planning to bring down Gresston's big wheat operation.  There are layers and things that I don't feel like I've seen quite so many times before. Playability - I think ACM has a real advantage here.  One major blind spot in UE is the problem of conveying the tension between the Eladrin and the Myconids to the players -- that's one of the most interesting interactions in the adventure, but it will be almost completely invisible to the players.  It's also going to be hard to convey the importance of the way the Eladrin are subtly trying to control Gresston.  ACM is a nice, neat package and could probably be dropped on the table and played pretty much as written -- it even has an early encounter (the bank job) set up as filler (to complete the session) that is not really tied to the overall plot or an ingredient, but is there to give the session the right sort of shape.  Conclusion - This is a tough one.  I really expected to land on the side of ACM at first glance.  The polish and completeness of the entry made it feel like the obvious choice.  But a more in-depth look, peeling back the problems with UE's presentation brings me around to casting my own vote for Unnamed Entry by Ajanders, based on the creativity of the entry and stronger use of the ingredients.  -rg[/sblock]</blockquote>

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