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IRON DM 2013--Entries, Judgements, Commentary, & Trash-Talk
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<blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 6161249" data-attributes="member: 67"><p><strong>Championship Match Judgement: Wicht vs. Radiating Gnome</strong></p><p></p><p>Oh boy. This is going to be a close one. It appears as if I find myself faced with the age-old IRON DM dilemma—whether to rule in favor of the superior ingredients use, or the better adventure. To make it more difficult, both entries are actually really close in both categories.</p><p></p><p><em>I'll start with the ingredients:</em></p><p></p><p>In Wicht's piece, “The Luck of the Mighty,” (henceforth, “Luck”) the <strong>Anachronism</strong>, or, rather, anachronisms, manifest themselves as armies of the dragon-villain. Warriors of the past—and the future. Other than to add flavor to the adventure, this seems not to be that important to the adventure, however. If the armies were anything else, it would play out just the same. This is doubly regrettable, because it actually seems to weaken the significance of the Actuality Hook, which <em>could</em> have been an interesting focus for the adventure. Radiating Gnome's “Something Wicked Comes to Mars” (henceforth, “Something”) does a much better job with this ingredient. In this case, the <em>PCs</em> are the anachronisms—a far more compelling use!</p><p></p><p>The <strong>Successful Enterprise</strong> in “Something” is far less compelling. It makes for great scenery (and plays in with the carnival setting that the title implies). But, in the end, it's really only scenery. “Luck” manages something more potent, if far less predominant. The successful enterprise of the cheating gambler, Leon Talstiv, is but a small section of the adventure, but it changes <em>everything</em>. The only problem here—and it's a big one—is that it's set up to be inevitable. I think the scenario would play much better if the PCs actually had a chance of foiling it.</p><p></p><p>In “Luck,” we are presented with not just one <strong>Figment</strong>, but a choice of one and a palace full of them. While flavorful, the importance of the Morphic Palace is really only atmospheric. Don't get me wrong—it's great atmosphere—but, again, really just scenery. And calling a sword made of negative energy a figment is a stretch—although, because it's <em>negative</em> energy (void?), I can see it. In the end, though, the ingredient suffers from being stretched too far. It's not a thematic ingredient, so I suppose I'm meant to pick whichever one I like best.</p><p></p><p>“Something” gets around this by actually making it a thematic ingredient. And, in a rather clever—if gimmicky way. Yes, there's the Illustrated Man and his tattoos. There's Moundshroud and the amusement park, itself. These are mere echoes of the whole adventure, however. The unusual convention scenario is a bit of a gamble, but, I can see it being pulled off successfully—trick the players into thinking they are playing two separate games (a meta-figment, if you will). Mix them up, split them up again, then combine them at the end. It could work.</p><p></p><p>Regrettably, “Something” doesn't quite pull off the <strong>Insufferable Ally</strong>. First of all, I'm really not sure how Moundshroud qualifies as an ally—aside from serving as a <em>deus ex machina</em> in the early (split) scenarios, he mostly just spectates and taunts the players. I don't even get a sense of just how he is insufferable—we definitely needed to be <em>shown</em> more. In this sense, he is <em>infuriating</em>, but not necessarily insufferable.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, “Luck” shows off it's strongest ingredient, here. Levortin “I really love how his name is used to convey his character” Goldmanse VII comes off as truly insufferable ally throughout the entire adventure, first as an incredibly annoying super-NPC, and then as a total liability. Brilliant! That's one great character!</p><p></p><p>...Which brings us to the uninspired, <strong>Something Wicked</strong> in “Luck.” Okay, it is interesting that the villain is one of the psypossessors alluded to in Wicht's round 2 entry (in case you all didn't notice, all three of his entries form a sort of short adventure-path). The thing is, this one isn't given nearly enough attention to feel fleshed out and interesting. Even it's motivation seems kind of weak.</p><p></p><p>On the other hand, “Something” takes the ingredient and runs with it. I find it interesting that the piece went so thoroughly toward Bradbury, rather than Shakespeare, with its inspiration. As a villain, though, the Illustrated Man in this entry is not well enough defined—neither in personality, nor motivation—to really qualify as interesting. I find this particularly strange, given that hewing a little closer to the thematic elements of the inspiring source material actually could have helped. Ultimately, there's a lot of homage, but it isn't tied together well enough to feel more than superficially thematic and the ingredient—which is meant as a theme for the entire piece, suffers for it.</p><p></p><p>And then, there's the <strong>Singularity</strong>. In “Something,” it is used as a power-source for the amusement park that also doubles as the means of transporting the PCs through time and space on their grand scavenger hunt. This usage works. In “Luck,” it is similarly used as the Actuality Hook—the means through which the dragon amasses a needlessly anachronistic army. This usage is fairly weak—but it's really more of a throw-away, anyway. There <em>is</em> a singularity that is the focal point of the entire adventure (really, the main challenge of the entire adventure)--and that, of course, is the gods-blessed (and cursed) Levortin “Seriously, this is a brilliantly efficient way to convey personality” Goldmanse VII.</p><p></p><p>So, that's it. The ingredients in “Luck” are, in general, a little more cleverly implemented, a little more tightly interwoven, and a little more inspired than those in “Something.” The adventure is a little linear (on its surface), but looks fun. Meanwhile, “Something” has a very creative approach to the structure of the adventure—and looks like it could be a ton of fun, in a <em>Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure</em> kind of way.</p><p></p><p>[spoiler]I like it. But it's not enough. It's just far too sloppy—really, unfinished. I feel like the ideas in it could really have shaped up into something special, but the entry really <em>needed</em> another pass of editing. There are sections that are incomplete, a lot of the really good ideas are under-developed (like the hooks; they really should involved some PC decision), and details that would help the DM run what could be a challenging setup are often lacking. It feels rushed. Frankly, I think this entry was just a little bit too ambitious and it didn't quite work.</p><p></p><p>Radiating Gnome, you know your stuff—and your continual willingness to push the boundaries of what an entry can and should be is commendable. Your skill at doing so is remarkable. But, the thing about taking risks is, sometimes they don't work out. Them's the breaks.</p><p></p><p>And, anyway, Wicht's adventure is actually a little more complex than it at first appears. That bit I said at the beginning about having to choose between better ingredients or a better adventure turns out not to be quite accurate. On the surface, the adventure is just a trek to collect some tools and then slay a foe. That's pretext. This adventure is really about getting along with an unlikeable NPC because you have too—something that (in my experience) most PCs will go to great lengths to avoid throughout an entire campaign. In its own way, this adventure presents no less of a paradigm-shift in adventure-expectations than does Radiating Gnome's entry. The difference is, this one is (mostly) polished and just very well-presented.</p><p></p><p>Congratulations, Wicht. You are 2013's IRON DM![/spoiler]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rune, post: 6161249, member: 67"] [b]Championship Match Judgement: Wicht vs. Radiating Gnome[/b] Oh boy. This is going to be a close one. It appears as if I find myself faced with the age-old IRON DM dilemma—whether to rule in favor of the superior ingredients use, or the better adventure. To make it more difficult, both entries are actually really close in both categories. [i]I'll start with the ingredients:[/i] In Wicht's piece, “The Luck of the Mighty,” (henceforth, “Luck”) the [b]Anachronism[/b], or, rather, anachronisms, manifest themselves as armies of the dragon-villain. Warriors of the past—and the future. Other than to add flavor to the adventure, this seems not to be that important to the adventure, however. If the armies were anything else, it would play out just the same. This is doubly regrettable, because it actually seems to weaken the significance of the Actuality Hook, which [i]could[/i] have been an interesting focus for the adventure. Radiating Gnome's “Something Wicked Comes to Mars” (henceforth, “Something”) does a much better job with this ingredient. In this case, the [i]PCs[/i] are the anachronisms—a far more compelling use! The [b]Successful Enterprise[/b] in “Something” is far less compelling. It makes for great scenery (and plays in with the carnival setting that the title implies). But, in the end, it's really only scenery. “Luck” manages something more potent, if far less predominant. The successful enterprise of the cheating gambler, Leon Talstiv, is but a small section of the adventure, but it changes [i]everything[/i]. The only problem here—and it's a big one—is that it's set up to be inevitable. I think the scenario would play much better if the PCs actually had a chance of foiling it. In “Luck,” we are presented with not just one [b]Figment[/b], but a choice of one and a palace full of them. While flavorful, the importance of the Morphic Palace is really only atmospheric. Don't get me wrong—it's great atmosphere—but, again, really just scenery. And calling a sword made of negative energy a figment is a stretch—although, because it's [i]negative[/i] energy (void?), I can see it. In the end, though, the ingredient suffers from being stretched too far. It's not a thematic ingredient, so I suppose I'm meant to pick whichever one I like best. “Something” gets around this by actually making it a thematic ingredient. And, in a rather clever—if gimmicky way. Yes, there's the Illustrated Man and his tattoos. There's Moundshroud and the amusement park, itself. These are mere echoes of the whole adventure, however. The unusual convention scenario is a bit of a gamble, but, I can see it being pulled off successfully—trick the players into thinking they are playing two separate games (a meta-figment, if you will). Mix them up, split them up again, then combine them at the end. It could work. Regrettably, “Something” doesn't quite pull off the [b]Insufferable Ally[/b]. First of all, I'm really not sure how Moundshroud qualifies as an ally—aside from serving as a [i]deus ex machina[/i] in the early (split) scenarios, he mostly just spectates and taunts the players. I don't even get a sense of just how he is insufferable—we definitely needed to be [i]shown[/i] more. In this sense, he is [i]infuriating[/i], but not necessarily insufferable. Meanwhile, “Luck” shows off it's strongest ingredient, here. Levortin “I really love how his name is used to convey his character” Goldmanse VII comes off as truly insufferable ally throughout the entire adventure, first as an incredibly annoying super-NPC, and then as a total liability. Brilliant! That's one great character! ...Which brings us to the uninspired, [b]Something Wicked[/b] in “Luck.” Okay, it is interesting that the villain is one of the psypossessors alluded to in Wicht's round 2 entry (in case you all didn't notice, all three of his entries form a sort of short adventure-path). The thing is, this one isn't given nearly enough attention to feel fleshed out and interesting. Even it's motivation seems kind of weak. On the other hand, “Something” takes the ingredient and runs with it. I find it interesting that the piece went so thoroughly toward Bradbury, rather than Shakespeare, with its inspiration. As a villain, though, the Illustrated Man in this entry is not well enough defined—neither in personality, nor motivation—to really qualify as interesting. I find this particularly strange, given that hewing a little closer to the thematic elements of the inspiring source material actually could have helped. Ultimately, there's a lot of homage, but it isn't tied together well enough to feel more than superficially thematic and the ingredient—which is meant as a theme for the entire piece, suffers for it. And then, there's the [b]Singularity[/b]. In “Something,” it is used as a power-source for the amusement park that also doubles as the means of transporting the PCs through time and space on their grand scavenger hunt. This usage works. In “Luck,” it is similarly used as the Actuality Hook—the means through which the dragon amasses a needlessly anachronistic army. This usage is fairly weak—but it's really more of a throw-away, anyway. There [i]is[/i] a singularity that is the focal point of the entire adventure (really, the main challenge of the entire adventure)--and that, of course, is the gods-blessed (and cursed) Levortin “Seriously, this is a brilliantly efficient way to convey personality” Goldmanse VII. So, that's it. The ingredients in “Luck” are, in general, a little more cleverly implemented, a little more tightly interwoven, and a little more inspired than those in “Something.” The adventure is a little linear (on its surface), but looks fun. Meanwhile, “Something” has a very creative approach to the structure of the adventure—and looks like it could be a ton of fun, in a [i]Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure[/i] kind of way. [spoiler]I like it. But it's not enough. It's just far too sloppy—really, unfinished. I feel like the ideas in it could really have shaped up into something special, but the entry really [i]needed[/i] another pass of editing. There are sections that are incomplete, a lot of the really good ideas are under-developed (like the hooks; they really should involved some PC decision), and details that would help the DM run what could be a challenging setup are often lacking. It feels rushed. Frankly, I think this entry was just a little bit too ambitious and it didn't quite work. Radiating Gnome, you know your stuff—and your continual willingness to push the boundaries of what an entry can and should be is commendable. Your skill at doing so is remarkable. But, the thing about taking risks is, sometimes they don't work out. Them's the breaks. And, anyway, Wicht's adventure is actually a little more complex than it at first appears. That bit I said at the beginning about having to choose between better ingredients or a better adventure turns out not to be quite accurate. On the surface, the adventure is just a trek to collect some tools and then slay a foe. That's pretext. This adventure is really about getting along with an unlikeable NPC because you have too—something that (in my experience) most PCs will go to great lengths to avoid throughout an entire campaign. In its own way, this adventure presents no less of a paradigm-shift in adventure-expectations than does Radiating Gnome's entry. The difference is, this one is (mostly) polished and just very well-presented. Congratulations, Wicht. You are 2013's IRON DM![/spoiler] [/QUOTE]
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