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<blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 6745082" data-attributes="member: 67"><p><strong>IRON DM Championship Round: Iron Sky vs. Deuce Traveler</strong></p><p></p><p>I have a bit of a predicament, here. One of these two entries was very, <em>very</em> late. Once upon a time, that would be automatic disqualification. The problem is, that's just not a satisfying way to win a match, let alone a tournament. Normally, I would try to figure out what the offending entry would look like had it been turned in on time, but I think in this case, that would be <em>nothing</em>.</p><p></p><p>Concession was offered and not accepted. I have to assume that the reason for rejecting the concession is that Iron Sky wants to win on the merits of his entry, and is willing to risk losing to a better entry if his doesn't stack up. But a huge part of IRON DM is discipline; I just can't completely let it slide. </p><p></p><p>So, after <em>much</em> deliberation, I've decided that this is what I'm going to do: if either entry is obviously superior, that entry wins. If I have to start splitting hairs to figure it out, I'm not going to do that. The entry that achieved that level of quality within the time limit will win the match and the tournament. </p><p></p><p>Now, to the entries:</p><p></p><p>No, wait. I think first I'm going to talk a little bit about the difference between a contract and a covenant. Basically, it's this: a contract is an agreement between two parties that stipulates what happens if one party fails to hold up its end (generally termination of the contract and/or the application of penalties). Like the contract between IRON DM contestant and judge, as presented in the rules. </p><p></p><p>A covenant has similar expectations, but the failure of one party to meet its expectations neither ends nor nullifies the covenant; even in failure, those expectations are ongoing into the future. The agreement between two IRON DM contestants to compete within the same parameters would be something like a covenant (up to the point both entries are submitted). Now, I'm not trying to harp on this to be mean. Real life happens and it's more important than this game. Rather, I find this is a serendipitous example to showcase a distinction that I intended to make a challenging couple of ingredients out of. </p><p></p><p>Back to the entries:</p><p></p><p>"Never Enough Place" ("Never") provides us with a <strong>Heavenly Body</strong> which is a governing body of deities. This is clever and, as patrons of the adventure, directly relevant to the PCs. This is good. "Saint Vardan's Comet" ("Comet") gives us a comet that both serves as the primary conflict for the adventure and the locale that a major part of the adventure will take place on. This is better. </p><p></p><p>Vardan's isolation as the source of the <strong>Fog of War</strong> allows the ingredient to be used both as a complication to the adventure and a lever the PCs can use to deal with Vardan. This, too, is better than the Shroud in "Never" that hides Cassida or the anti-divination devices that keep Maya from being found (although that is important). </p><p></p><p>However, "Comet" doesn't do so well with the <strong>Sullen Scion</strong>. The character is great (a lawful good villain!), but its history as a scion is just that: history. I like the scion in "Never" much more (even though she is more petulant than sullen). An emotionally teen-aged demigod? That strikes me as the kind of character that could haunt the PCs for <em>years</em>. </p><p></p><p>I liked the cleverness of the <strong>Lawful Good </strong> in "Never" (a commodity that is strongly law-aligned by nature--feels very Planescapey), but it really is just a MacGuffin--and not even an important one. Whereas, the Lawful Good alignment of Vardan is crucial; it opens many doors--and dilemmas--in dealing with the adventure. </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, "Comet" doesn't seem to have used the <strong>Any Given Day</strong> ingredient at all--and if it is in there somewhere, it certainly isn't important. I'm not wholly satisfied with "Never" here, either. The "days between days" interpretation is very intriguing, but calling one eventual one out as the day the PCs figure something out is pretty weak. Still, it's better than nothing...</p><p></p><p>The <strong>Bad Investment</strong> isn't very good in either entry, either. In "Never," the impure ordum is every bit as much of a MacGuffin as the pure ordum--until it isn't. In "Comet," Whizblast's investment in the comet's mineral rights barely affects the adventure--and it doesn't end up being a bad investment at all; we are told that, no matter what happens, Whizblast ends up better for it. </p><p></p><p>I'm not sure that Vardan's sacrifice counts as a <strong>Covenant</strong>; he doesn't really get anything out of it. Except for immortality, of course, but this is never presented as a boon. The Covenant at Creation in "Never" is nebulous, as well. Not only do we never find out what it is, we never even know who it binds. The deities on one side, presumably, but who on the other?</p><p></p><p>"Comet" gives us Whizblast's <strong>Contract</strong> as the means through which this excellent secondary villain enters the adventure, but the contract, itself, isn't very relevant. In contrast, "Never" sidesteps the similarities between covenant and a contract by using "contract" as the thing space is doing as time expands. This makes for a superb plot twist. </p><p></p><p> Which puts us roughly even on ingredients. </p><p></p><p>On to the adventures:</p><p></p><p>I think both adventures would be very memorable for different reasons. I must say, I love the ambition of "Never." It's combination of diverse challenges (admittance into opposed celestial realms, dealing with Cassida, figuring out what's going on, figuring out what to do about it) plus it's <em>fantastic</em> scope make me want to run it, for sure. But I'm a little unsure how to pace it. It seems like it would actually work best as an entire campaign (and there really isn't any reason you couldn't start it off at low levels). I could easily see this thing playing out around other adventures. This is really good stuff. </p><p></p><p>But "Comet" is really good, too. From the slightly campy premise (Armageddon or Deep Impact, anyone?) to its very un-campy array of moral and practical decisions that the PCs will be faced with, this adventure screams, "fun!" Not to mention the wonderful villains, the superb hooks, and the excellent potential for further adventures. And the clockwork soldiers, of course. Oh so good. </p><p></p><p>But is it good enough to stand clearly above its competitor without closer inspection?</p><p></p><p>[sblock]I think so, and here's why: as wonderfully ambitious as Iron Sky's piece is, I think something gets lost in the scope. The main difference between the diversity of challenges and options in "Never" and in Deuce Traveler's piece is that that they are largely isolated (and, hence, linear) in the former, whereas the much tighter structure of the latter allows for each decision to more directly influence future ones. Iron Sky's adventure is memorable because it is an extended bit of amazing. Deuce Traveler's is memorable because it condenses its amazing into a session or few. </p><p></p><p>Iron Sky, I loved your premise. My initial reaction after first reading your entry was a single word: "Wow." But I think that the execution of Deuce's entry is just so <em>good</em> that, since concession was offered and rejected, I must give him the victory for a truly excellent adventure. </p><p></p><p>Which makes Deuce Traveler the IRON DM 2015.[/sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rune, post: 6745082, member: 67"] [b]IRON DM Championship Round: Iron Sky vs. Deuce Traveler[/b] I have a bit of a predicament, here. One of these two entries was very, [i]very[/i] late. Once upon a time, that would be automatic disqualification. The problem is, that's just not a satisfying way to win a match, let alone a tournament. Normally, I would try to figure out what the offending entry would look like had it been turned in on time, but I think in this case, that would be [i]nothing[/i]. Concession was offered and not accepted. I have to assume that the reason for rejecting the concession is that Iron Sky wants to win on the merits of his entry, and is willing to risk losing to a better entry if his doesn't stack up. But a huge part of IRON DM is discipline; I just can't completely let it slide. So, after [i]much[/i] deliberation, I've decided that this is what I'm going to do: if either entry is obviously superior, that entry wins. If I have to start splitting hairs to figure it out, I'm not going to do that. The entry that achieved that level of quality within the time limit will win the match and the tournament. Now, to the entries: No, wait. I think first I'm going to talk a little bit about the difference between a contract and a covenant. Basically, it's this: a contract is an agreement between two parties that stipulates what happens if one party fails to hold up its end (generally termination of the contract and/or the application of penalties). Like the contract between IRON DM contestant and judge, as presented in the rules. A covenant has similar expectations, but the failure of one party to meet its expectations neither ends nor nullifies the covenant; even in failure, those expectations are ongoing into the future. The agreement between two IRON DM contestants to compete within the same parameters would be something like a covenant (up to the point both entries are submitted). Now, I'm not trying to harp on this to be mean. Real life happens and it's more important than this game. Rather, I find this is a serendipitous example to showcase a distinction that I intended to make a challenging couple of ingredients out of. Back to the entries: "Never Enough Place" ("Never") provides us with a [b]Heavenly Body[/b] which is a governing body of deities. This is clever and, as patrons of the adventure, directly relevant to the PCs. This is good. "Saint Vardan's Comet" ("Comet") gives us a comet that both serves as the primary conflict for the adventure and the locale that a major part of the adventure will take place on. This is better. Vardan's isolation as the source of the [b]Fog of War[/b] allows the ingredient to be used both as a complication to the adventure and a lever the PCs can use to deal with Vardan. This, too, is better than the Shroud in "Never" that hides Cassida or the anti-divination devices that keep Maya from being found (although that is important). However, "Comet" doesn't do so well with the [b]Sullen Scion[/b]. The character is great (a lawful good villain!), but its history as a scion is just that: history. I like the scion in "Never" much more (even though she is more petulant than sullen). An emotionally teen-aged demigod? That strikes me as the kind of character that could haunt the PCs for [i]years[/i]. I liked the cleverness of the [b]Lawful Good [/b] in "Never" (a commodity that is strongly law-aligned by nature--feels very Planescapey), but it really is just a MacGuffin--and not even an important one. Whereas, the Lawful Good alignment of Vardan is crucial; it opens many doors--and dilemmas--in dealing with the adventure. Unfortunately, "Comet" doesn't seem to have used the [b]Any Given Day[/b] ingredient at all--and if it is in there somewhere, it certainly isn't important. I'm not wholly satisfied with "Never" here, either. The "days between days" interpretation is very intriguing, but calling one eventual one out as the day the PCs figure something out is pretty weak. Still, it's better than nothing... The [b]Bad Investment[/b] isn't very good in either entry, either. In "Never," the impure ordum is every bit as much of a MacGuffin as the pure ordum--until it isn't. In "Comet," Whizblast's investment in the comet's mineral rights barely affects the adventure--and it doesn't end up being a bad investment at all; we are told that, no matter what happens, Whizblast ends up better for it. I'm not sure that Vardan's sacrifice counts as a [b]Covenant[/b]; he doesn't really get anything out of it. Except for immortality, of course, but this is never presented as a boon. The Covenant at Creation in "Never" is nebulous, as well. Not only do we never find out what it is, we never even know who it binds. The deities on one side, presumably, but who on the other? "Comet" gives us Whizblast's [b]Contract[/b] as the means through which this excellent secondary villain enters the adventure, but the contract, itself, isn't very relevant. In contrast, "Never" sidesteps the similarities between covenant and a contract by using "contract" as the thing space is doing as time expands. This makes for a superb plot twist. Which puts us roughly even on ingredients. On to the adventures: I think both adventures would be very memorable for different reasons. I must say, I love the ambition of "Never." It's combination of diverse challenges (admittance into opposed celestial realms, dealing with Cassida, figuring out what's going on, figuring out what to do about it) plus it's [i]fantastic[/i] scope make me want to run it, for sure. But I'm a little unsure how to pace it. It seems like it would actually work best as an entire campaign (and there really isn't any reason you couldn't start it off at low levels). I could easily see this thing playing out around other adventures. This is really good stuff. But "Comet" is really good, too. From the slightly campy premise (Armageddon or Deep Impact, anyone?) to its very un-campy array of moral and practical decisions that the PCs will be faced with, this adventure screams, "fun!" Not to mention the wonderful villains, the superb hooks, and the excellent potential for further adventures. And the clockwork soldiers, of course. Oh so good. But is it good enough to stand clearly above its competitor without closer inspection? [sblock]I think so, and here's why: as wonderfully ambitious as Iron Sky's piece is, I think something gets lost in the scope. The main difference between the diversity of challenges and options in "Never" and in Deuce Traveler's piece is that that they are largely isolated (and, hence, linear) in the former, whereas the much tighter structure of the latter allows for each decision to more directly influence future ones. Iron Sky's adventure is memorable because it is an extended bit of amazing. Deuce Traveler's is memorable because it condenses its amazing into a session or few. Iron Sky, I loved your premise. My initial reaction after first reading your entry was a single word: "Wow." But I think that the execution of Deuce's entry is just so [i]good[/i] that, since concession was offered and rejected, I must give him the victory for a truly excellent adventure. Which makes Deuce Traveler the IRON DM 2015.[/sblock] [/QUOTE]
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