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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Radiating Gnome" data-source="post: 5639552" data-attributes="member: 150">Round 2, Match 2: BriarMonkey vs. PourJudgement by RadgnomeIn this round we've got a fairly conventional adventure (Consequences at Court - CC) stacked up against one that's a very different concept (Expiation - EX). They're both strong entries, lets see how they stack up.[sblock]IngredientsSwingset - Both entries have swings -- CC uses them as a landmark, EX as a accouterment for Rajas. The Jhoola is a cool twist on the idea, turning a problem ingredient into something that feels appropriate to the game, so EX has an advantage there. Four and Twenty Blackbirds -- I prefer the use in EX for the four-and-twenty blackbirds because it's not taken straight out of the nursery rhyme (baked in a pie). The use in CC works, but the use in EX is more interesting to me. Another Advantage EX.Rakshasa Prince -- Both are using this ingredient very well.  No advantage to anyone.Field of Stars -- The jewel-encrusted gown, "field of stars", from CC, edges near one of my cardinal sins in Iron DM -- disposing of an ingredient by naming something unrelated -- so , a gown is not a field of stars, but we call it that, and now it is.  There could also have been a pair of dancing shoes called the "Swing set". In this case, because the field of stars is based not the description of the dress, it's not quite so egregious, but to my mind it's borderline.  The use in EX is the astral setting of the whole adventure…it's satisfactory, but could have been stronger, too.  I'm not going to give either an advantage for this one. Consequences -- I have to give this one to CC. The whole adventure is written to create a situation where the PCs have choices and those choices have consequences -- a sort of balancing plane where each step shifts the position of all pieces on the board. Very cool. Strand of Prayer Beads -- The strand of beads in CC is well used as an important dingus for the adventure, but the beads in EX are much more interactive and interesting than the beads in CC. Another advantage EX. Overall, the ingredients seem to fit much better into EX than they do into CC, so there's a clear leader at this point, however ….UsabilityI really like the creativity that EX shows -- it's a great entry, and the way it matches ingredients together is picture perfect for Iron DM, but an adventure should also be something we can imagine using. EX read like a piece of art designed in the shape of a tool, but never intended to be used as that tool -- a sort of jeweled and decorative sword of state, more accessory than weapon. I mean, to use this we would have to be in a situation where we're playing an RPG with a Hindu-type setting and cosmology (pretty rare), and be playing in a situation where a solo adventure for one party member makes sense -- I know that's not unheard of, but I don't think I'd ever do it with my group.  CC is a much more usable, traditional adventure, and that's a pretty important advantage. Creativity -Honestly, I think this is a wash.  CC bit on the "consequences" idea and really lays out an adventure where the players actions and choices have consequences -- a hugely important RBDM value. I wish the ingredients were used a little better, but it's still a very creative, solid entry. EX is also very creative, very cool, and I find the way the ingredients are matched to be excellent.  I only wish some of the elements of the adventure were written to make it easier to use -- it could easily have been written as an adventure for an entire party trying to restore a deceased comrade to life, and that would at least have eliminated one of the two elements that makes it unusable. OverallThis is a tough call.  CC has solid but mostly not excellent ingredient use compared to EX's better performance there. But I think CC is the more playable, useable, serviceable adventure. I suspect this one will come down to a split vote for the judges. For me, in the end, I'm going to have to give the use of ingredients a little more value, and give my nod to EX and Pour. -rg[/sblock]</blockquote>

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