NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 5207714" data-attributes="member: 50987"><img src="http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-opryland/media-room/pr-photos/AltonBrown_bowling_sm.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/plots-places/277580-iron-dm-2010-all-submissions-judgments.html#post5199043" target="_blank">Kitchen Stadium</a>, where Match 5 is well underway.  Dungeon Masters Wicht and Green Dice are chopping, dicing, and pan-searing the <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/plots-places/277580-iron-dm-2010-all-submissions-judgments-2.html#post5207171" target="_blank">ingredients</a> that Chairman InVinoVeritas has provided, and the smell is...fascinating.  Let's go down to the floor for a closer look.[Spoiler]No, that's not calamari...that is a Fertile Illithid.  I have seen this aberration cooked up in many different ways, from high-fantasy villainy to sci-fi crossovers of deep-space treachery...but never in a maternity ward (hatchery? nest? containment pod?)  In general, these brain-sucking, mind-flaying monsters add a strong Lovecraftian flavor to any dish.  But a "fertile" one?  That is a very specific, very disturbing type of illithid.  Until today, I had never given much thought to the reproductive cycle of these horrible things...and now it's the only thing I can think about.Thanks a lot. ::shudder::Wicht is hammering away at what appears to be a Dilapidated Stableyard.  Is he attempting to clean or repair it for its intended use?  Or is he merely moving the detritus around a bit to suit his fancy?  Whatever he is doing, the horses don't seem to mind.Meanwhile, Green Dice is chatting with one of the show's suppliers, our Kindly Fishmonger.  I suspect they are discussing an aquatic location of sorts...let's listen in...GD:  But I don't want it to be TOO fishy.  Do you have anything a little less...aquatic?KF: You realize I am a fishmonger, right?  I am all about fish and money.GD: Yes, yes, but I want to avoid the usual cliches...Atlantis, mermaid cities, talking fish with coins in their mouths...KF: Are you sure?GD: No...Chairman InVinoVeritas has called for A Thousand Lotus Blossoms to be brought in.  There is much discussion about this ingredient; each word seems to require a judgment call on the part of the DM.  A thousand:  is this an exact number or a vague concept?   Lotus:  there are dozens of types of lotus out there, and they are all very different.  Blossoms:  what kind of blossom, and why the focus on this specific part of the plant?  When you put this plant into a fantasy story, what does it look like?  An ingredient like this gives the DM a great deal of flexibility (and liability.)Next we have a classic ingredient, Interrogation Techniques.  In all of my years of playing D&D, I have seen this ingredient get used in adventures and it rarely works.  DMs seem to like this ingredient far more than the players do--there will be an intricate situation where a hostile NPC has information that the heroes need, but the PCs just hack him to bits on sight.  The challenge with this ingredient will be to make it necessary without railroading...the judge will be looking for situations where interrogation techniques are not just a means to an end, but are the ONLY means to an end.Our last ingredient is a wonderful, dazzling little plot device called The Solitary Flame at the Center of It All.  The first thing I thought of when I saw this ingredient was the magical Clan Relics of the old BECM days...the Forge of Power maybe, or the Crucible of Blackflame.  Ah, those were the days!  But dwarves and halflings have come a long way since the Companion Rules Boxed Set...clans are little more than a footnote in a character's background, if they are mentioned at all, and these awesome relics have faded from the game.But I digress.This ingredient is a trap for the DMs.  The temptation will be to turn it into some sort of McGuffin that doesn't really do anything, or to over-metaphorize it into something that tries to do too much.[/Spoiler]As always, best of luck to our contestants!  This is a great list of ingredients...I can't wait to see what you cook up.</blockquote>

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