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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 5633310" data-attributes="member: 67">Round 2, Match 1: howandwhy99 vs. Waylander the SlayerWell, once again, we have an entry that breaks a rule, and this time, it's a cardinal one—the time-limit!  This is a big deal, because twenty-five extra minutes can make a world of difference in an entry and there really is no way to know just what the entry might have looked like if it had been submitted on time.  But, there is a tradition in such cases of giving the opponent the option of advancing automatically and, should that opponent opt not to do so, to judge the entries on their merits, as we would in any other match.Thus, this match comes to judgment.First, the ingredients.  To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed in the overall usage of ingredients during the first round of this tournament.  Sure, there were some good uses, but many more that were passable, but uninspired.  This was particularly disappointing in the cases of the thematic ingredients—ingredients that have the potential to be woven through an entire entry were often included in passing—given minimal consideration, if not exactly tacked-on.At last!  In this match, we have an entry that actually builds everything upon one of these thematic ingredients!  Which one?  Read on...Breeding GroundNot this one.  Both entries feature the breeding ground solidly; and it serves two uses in Waylander's entry; both as the aerie and as the plague-victims, themselves.  Now, some judges may not like to see multiple uses of an ingredient, but I actually do—provided that they are woven well as thematic iterations (feeding each other, in essence).  That's not really the case, here, though.  They are distinct uses and neither is superb (although, I do like the plague, itself).  howandwhy99's breeding ground is...well, it's a place.  Not an insignificant place, particularly in a game that puts extra importance on places, as his does.  But, ultimately, a place.Disreputable DragonNot this one, either.  howandwhy99's dragon is a great character, with wicked motivations and great potential to drive the adventure, but I don't get how his being disreputable affects the PCs.  It could, potentially, particularly if he is trying to trick the PCs into governing the city-state (as described in the hooks), but that's not really mentioned, or even insinuated.On the other hand, Waylander's dragon isn't even really disreputable, at all.  Okay, so it broke a pact.  There is no mention of how this affects his reputation, or how such a reputation affects the adventurers.  And, if we are to view this dragon as disreputable, what's the deal with having it heal the plague?  Just doesn't seem to work.  I've got to go with howandwhy with this one.LostThis is a thematic ingredient, but not a particularly well-implemented one.  In Waylander's adventure, I never even got the sense of being lost, at all.  The romp through the jungle looks fun, but it's no bewildering maze.  Oh, that's right.  The aerie is hidden away.  Lost.  Right.  But, it didn't really need to be, for the adventure to work, so no good on this ingredient.Okay.  I take it back.  howandwhy does use this ingredient well.  Here's why:  Lost basilisk—major plot point?  Check.  “Cracked Lands” for PCs to possibly get lost in?  Check.  Layers of political intrigue and schemes for the PCs to get lost in?  Hell, yes! This ingredient serves as an underpinning for the entire adventure and is so subtle, I didn't even really notice it when I started typing.  Now, that could mean that I'm inferring something that the author didn't even intend.  Really, I don't care.  What matters is that it's there!  And this isn't even the ingredient I was talking about, earlier!Wounded PetI like howandwhy's basilisk, and, if I accept that a dragon would have a basilisk pet (why not?), it all makes sense, but I'm not sure how it got blinded.  I assume the lizardfolk did it, because they were tired of being turned to stone and didn't need it to be able to see to breed.  That makes sense to me, but I don't remember reading it, anywhere.Waylander's wounded pet is potentially important to the adventure, as well—and serves as a fun hook, if the DM opts to use it.  But, the pet, itself, does not actually play as significant a role to the whole of this adventure, so, again, howandwhy takes the edge.WitchlordWaylander's witchlords have the feel of an impersonal, faceless organization.  Not exactly, nameless, they lack something of a personality, but this works in their favor, when you get down to it.  It only serves to make them more ominous.How about howandwhy?  Well, his Witchlord is not only a major player, it is one of the primary factions driving the real meat of the adventure—the intrigue.  Add to that some real character development (particularly in the way of motivations), and I've got to side with howandwhy, again.InstitutionalizationWaylander's use of this ingredient is a disappointment.  He gives us an institutionalized individual, but no detail on institutionalization, itself—nor any mention how it should affect the PCs.In contrast, this ingredient is the adventure, for howandwhy.  Deftly woven with the Lost theme, this second theme becomes an amazing foundation for the entire scenario.  Ignoring the traditional definition, howandwhy gives us a literal interpretation that not only involves the PCs, it adapts them—hell, the whole game—to its way of playing.  Clever, right?It makes me giddy.I don't think there's any question that howandwhy uses the ingredients better in this match—and not just better, but, in two cases, brilliantly.So, what about the hooks?  The adventure?  The style?Waylander's entry had good hooks, particularly the wounded pet hooks.  It would be hard not to follow up on that note.  howandwhy had some very meaty hooks, as well—intriguing (literally) and, frankly, fresh.Waylander's adventure is fairly strait-forward, but combines several elements—investigation, exploration, and good imagery—in what looks to be a fun adventure.  howandwhy steps out of the box, giving us an adventure that takes years of game-time to play out!  This is a risky approach.  It would require a lot of work to fit it into most campaigns, but, man, what a blast if you pull it off!  This is the kind of solid creative-thinking that one hopes to see in an Iron DM Tournament.Waylander's entry is good.  I've certainly seen worse win in the second round in past tournaments.  I like it.  I want to run it.  But, I can't ignore the fundamental awesomeness of howandwhy's entry.  It's not perfect—some might view it as overly ambitious.  It definitely won't work for most campaigns.  But, there is a lot of really good stuff in there.Yet, I can't ignore the extra twenty-five minutes, either.  Once Waylander agreed forgo automatic advancement and have the entries judged on merit, it is not fair to howandwhy to hold the time-limit against him.  But, it is also not fair to Waylander to judge an oponent's entry on merits that it might not possess if it followed the same rules that Waylander's did.Just what is fair, then?  The only thing I can do is guess—guess what howandwhy's entry would have looked like with twenty-five less minutes of polish—of work.  Do I think that, if submitted by 6:45, this entry would still have been superior to the other?  It certainly would be harder to read.  It may have had some ideas that were somewhat hard to follow.  There might have been some painfully tacked-on ingredients.  But, overall?[spoiler]I think that the good things that this entry does are so fundamental that they would have had to have been present from the very beginning.  It might not have been as polished, but the underpinnings of (ingredient-based) themes that run through the entry would still shine through.  It might take even more work to make it work, but the game could still be run—and would still be loads of fun.I would bounce most entries—even the very good ones—at this point.   I would bounce, for example, howandwhy's first round entry without hesitation.  It was good, but not good enough that it would outweigh being twenty-five minutes past deadline.  Very few entries pull off what this one has and I don't think I could see most entries—even the very good ones—being so fundamentally solid that that extra twenty-five minutes wouldn't matter so much.  But this is a very special entry.I have to go with howandwhy99's DragonChess in this match.[/spoiler]</blockquote>

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