Iron DM 2010 Discussion Thread

[InVinoVeritas]

Round 1, Match 2 judgment is up.

I have to ask, though... what made this particular set of ingredients so "crazy"?

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Wicht and Green Dice, get ready.

Your ingredients will be posted at 9 PM EDT on Wednesday.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Random thoughts while working:

I see some interesting connections between the various ingredients. I know that a location is not on the list of things that we are supposed to create, but I have an idea brewing in my head for a location that could contain most of the ingredients. It will probably end up being the launching pad for my adventure.

I'm also thinking of using some of my ingredients twice. Once in a straightforward way, and another in more abstract way.

 

[ender_wiggin]

Round 1, Match 2 judgment is up.

I have to ask, though... what made this particular set of ingredients so "crazy"?

You know, after figuring out what all of the ingredients were, I actually really would have liked that set. Pretty much all of them fit very nicely in a rich "setting-within-a-setting" I've worked on and run successfully in the past.

In the beginning, however, I actually had no idea what a helicopter seed was. So I was thinking about goblins riding around in magical helicopters. It was pretty bad.

 

[humble minion]

You know, after figuring out what all of the ingredients were, I actually really would have liked that set. Pretty much all of them fit very nicely in a rich "setting-within-a-setting" I've worked on and run successfully in the past.

In the beginning, however, I actually had no idea what a helicopter seed was. So I was thinking about goblins riding around in magical helicopters. It was pretty bad.

I probably would have used something more metaphorical - probably some sort of steampunk helicopter plans drawn up by a fantasy Leonardo da Vinci. It's EASY to do self-destructive spirals once helicopters are involved... And I probably would have lost, because Iron Sky's tying together of everything using maple wood, and the cello's connection to the earth is absolutely masterful.

Of the ingredient sets so far, I think I would have found the first set the most fun. I had this whole big high-powered wuxia thing dreamed up, where the chronometer is a vast celestial mechanism that keeps track of and defines 'ages' of an empire (in a massive Vlad Taltos ripoff), and the current emperor (the Tiger emperor) dispatches his weretiger agents to sabotage the chronometer and defy the will of Heaven by prolonging his dynasty's reign forever, and the sinister Western bard (from a barbaric land where rulership is hereditary in perpetuity) who gave the emperor all these ideas uses his songbow to slay the old songs, proverbs and oral histories which talk about how the Celestial Bureacracy decreed that the Age of the Tiger would make way for universal suffrage in the Age of the Rabbit...

 

[Iron Sky]

In the beginning, however, I actually had no idea what a helicopter seed was. So I was thinking about goblins riding around in magical helicopters. It was pretty bad.

My original idea was a group of PC wind-surfing on giant seeds down a spiraling chasm underneath a ruin, chasing a shape shifting child prodigy flying on a magic cello. Fortunately, I got a better idea.

My new idea straight out of an over-the-top horror game I ran in d20 Modern where if the party was giving a seed that they could plant in the ground and spontaneously grow a helicopter, they wouldn't be surprised (or wouldn't be surprised for long at least). Thankfully I got past that idea too. I was, however, then fixed on doing it as a Modern adventure.

In my experience with Modern adventures, however, it's way too easy to travel and get around, so even geographical "railroading" is rarely possible. That's why I tried to make the adventure more idea based than location based. I could see why that would be considered a weakness and looking back, that part could use a a lot more polish.

I probably spent 30% of my time brainstorming, doing research, and tying elements together, 30% writing the back story from those bare ideas, 20% writing the adventure part, and 20% editing/rewriting. It shows.

The assassin part could have been easily tied in by having Tannhauser going for the Pope, as well as Rome. A couple sentences to that effect would have made a big difference. I would say that the uses of the Cello to create earthquakes are historical as well (since it was Historical Doppelganger rather than Historical Doppelganger Assassin), but I definitely see the weakness of the assassin part I tied in there.

In retrospect, removing the hook with the Vatican hiring the PCs would have been a good idea, instead of half-assedly trying to keep it shoe-horned in later.

If anyone is curious, I think I spent about 6-7 hours on it in one sitting, then picked it up again 12 hours later and did another hour-or-so of editing and revising before (double) posting it.

Anyway, thank you for judging InVinoVeritas, I appreciate it. Hope all's well with the basement thing Tremorsense and I hope we'll see you around in future Iron DM challenges.

 

[CleverNickName]

I have to ask, though... what made this particular set of ingredients so "crazy"?

I think it was the deliberate randomness of the ingredients. And the very specific nature of the ingredients, too...each ingredient had a descriptor that made it even more random: a sinkhole is tough...an urban one is even tougher.

I probably would have used something more metaphorical - probably some sort of steampunk helicopter plans drawn up by a fantasy Leonardo da Vinci. It's EASY to do self-destructive spirals once helicopters are involved... And I probably would have lost, because Iron Sky's tying together of everything using maple wood, and the cello's connection to the earth is absolutely masterful.

Seriously. When I saw the list of ingredients for that round, I was baffled...and so very thankful that I didn't have to compete in that round. But the more I looked at it, the more fun I think I could have had with it. I would have done some sort of fey-type adventure, where a forest city of griggs is threatened by a sinkhole. And I would have lost, because like you said: Iron Sky's use of maple is brilliant.

Let it be known throughout the realm: Iron Sky knows how to use his wood.

I was, however, then fixed on doing it as a Modern adventure.

I think this was a brilliant decision. And not just because I like to run the occasional D20 Modern game. It is refreshing to read a story that doesn't involve the same party of adventurers, traveling through the same high-fantasy realm and fighting the same demons and undead.

It's risky, but everyone loves a risk-taker. It can certainly give you an edge in the Creativity department.

 

[CleverNickName]

And remember folks: we have room in the contest for ONE MORE PLAYER! If you have been intending to register, but wanted to wait until the very last minute...well, this is it.

If nobody steps forward by Friday evening, I will rise to the challenge. I hate to do this, because I am truly awesome and my writing skill is unmatched. It would be like playing chess with Lex Luthor, or sparring with River Tam. You won't just lose; you will each be broken and humiliated, crying, with your pants pooled around your ankles like an ocean of shame.

If you would be the hero to spare the contestants this fate, please step forward. Otherwise, you have only yourself to blame.

 

[Pour]

Hats off to all contestants, and my skilled opponent! Oh how I wish I could have had maybe 48 hours to spruce my submission up, but, therein lies the challenge hehe. Looking forward to the judging and future matches.

 

[Sanzuo]

or sparring with River Tam

You nerd.