Wicht
Hero
We come to the last round, and two good entries, Deuce Traveler’s “The Hulk,” going up against Rune’s “With Strange Aeons…”
I will be sticking with my point system of scoring, grading on Rules, Ingredient Use, Usability, and Style.
As far as Rules, both entries were on time and under the word count. So we’re good there, and both get the full points.
So let’s look at the ingredients.
Beginning with ancient curse, Rune jumps into an early minor lead. While both entries do have a curse, I don’t really consider a hundred years ago all that ancient. I do have some difficulty with Rune’s idea that the city has been simmering in rebellion for such a lengthy period of time as is implied, but the sleeping behemoth entry does double duty as an additional curse and so makes up for this. 2 points to Aeons, 1 point to Hulk.
Moving onto the ingredient, Moonlight Serenade, Deuce catches up a little. While Deuce Traveler’s serenade is not actually, technically, a serenade, it does play a pivotal part in the adventure. Whereas Rune uses it as background information that may or may not actually have any meaning to the PCs. So 1.5 to Hulk, and 1 to Aeons.
In the ingredient Hate Story, we again see a stronger usage in Hulk, with the hatred of the village being a real palpable thing that the PCs will have to deal with. The usage in Aeons is a bit different; the story being told magically creates hatred. This hatred is going to fester into rebellion, though again, I am called to wonder why it would take so long, many generations, for the magic to actually create a rebellion, and why would the wizard want to create a rebellion, thus killing his golden goose of immortality. I know the background says he wants to fill the vacuum and rule himself, but it seems like such a slow and stupid way to go about it. Anyhow, I give Hulk 2 points for this ingredient, and 1.5 to Aeons. For those keeping track, that brings the two entries into a tie.
The tie is maintained with sanctioned kidnappings. Though the ingredient is more background in Hulk, it is nevertheless background that is going to directly affect the PCs in a powerful way. Both get 2 points for the kidnappings.
With Dirty Laundry, Hulk moves ahead into the lead for the first time. The dirty laundry of Aeons is fairly weak sauce. A washerwoman takes some laundry she is supposed to be cleaning and puts it on. But there is no actual indication its all that dirty, indeed it shines like the stars. Hrm. The dirty laundry in Hulk is metaphorical but its pretty dirty and the PCs are going to get their hands full of it, so to speak. 2 points to Hulk, 1 to Aeons.
Hulk is going to maintain the lead with awakened behemoth. The behemoth of the ship awakens and the PCs must navigate it. The Behemoth in Aeons may or may not awaken depending on the actions of the PCs, and the PCs may or may not have to deal with it. 2 points to Hulk, 1.5 to Aeons.
So what about Unstable Cargo? Again, I think Hulk’s use is stronger. The cargo in the ship is indeed unstable and the PCs must deal with it. The cargo on the boat, in the figure of the cultist is unhinged, and I guess mentally unstable, but its just a little weaker than it could have been. 2 to Hulk, another 1.5 to Aeons.
The final ingredient is sail of stars. In both cases, I think the use is good, though the sail in Hulk is again something the PCs may have more direct interaction with. But I’ll give both 2 points.
As we head out of the Ingredients phase, Deuce’s Hulk has the lead. Let’s see if it can keep it.
I am going to reverse my normal order and deal with style first. How well do I like each adventure’s style? This is a mixed bag here for me.
With Hulk, I gotta admit I find the second half much more interesting than the first half. I understand the importance, story-wise, of the first half setting up the second half, but I suspect that groups which find the first part fascinating are going to not really appreciate the second part of the adventure, and those that are captivated by the exploration of the ship are going to find the interaction with the tribe’s men tedious. But the exploration of the ship hits a lot of good, solid notes with me, and I am going to give the whole of it 4 out of 6.
Rune’s Aeons, I also think has a problem with two parts not meshing well together, but whereas in Hulk it was two separate chapters, in Aeons it is two separate storylines that don’t necessarily complement one another. It’s a strange sort of thing with me – I like each individual piece of Rune’s Aeons, but the whole of it suffers. The beast at the bottom of the sea being real feels almost tacked on to a different, better story, and I think that the curse on the city loses some of its edge because of it. I almost wish that the wizard was working to awaken some behemoth through the sacrifice of the king by the rebellious city folk; some complicated ritual requiring regecide. As it is, I am going to give Aeons only 4 out of 6 also. In this case, I wish the author had left the peanut butter out of my chocolate, or had blended it better.
And now we come to usability, and I left this to last because I think one is clearly better than the other and makes the winner clear to me.
Rune’s Aeons suffers from the problem of too much backstory and not enough adventure. Its not bad, though parts are a bit convoluted, and I think I could make it work, but I would have to put some work into it to do so; changing up a few parts of the storyline, and adding in some more ways for the PCs to interact with the story.
Deuce’s Hulk, on the other hand, I could take and run with it. In fact, reading it, if I ran Traveler games, I would be wanting to run with it, and I can see adapting the general story-line to any number of systems and getting a good result. I do think that the weakness is felt in the heavy social requirements of the first half not gelling with the suspense of the second, and I would definitely make the first chapter short and sweet, but the first chapter serves a solid setup to that second chapter and helps make the pay-off richer, so I can live with the clunky meshing of the two halves.
For usability, I am going to give Rune’s 4 out of 6, but Deuce gets a solid 6 out of 6 and retains his lead in the points, and has my nod for this contest.
Rune’s “With Strange Aeons…”
]Rules: 6/6
Ingredient Use: 12.5/16
Style: 4/6
Usability: 4/6
Total 26.5/34
Deuce Traveler’s “The Hulk.”
Rules: 6/6
Ingredient Use: 14.5/16
Style: 4/6
Usability: 6/6
Total: 30.5/34
I will be sticking with my point system of scoring, grading on Rules, Ingredient Use, Usability, and Style.
As far as Rules, both entries were on time and under the word count. So we’re good there, and both get the full points.
So let’s look at the ingredients.
Beginning with ancient curse, Rune jumps into an early minor lead. While both entries do have a curse, I don’t really consider a hundred years ago all that ancient. I do have some difficulty with Rune’s idea that the city has been simmering in rebellion for such a lengthy period of time as is implied, but the sleeping behemoth entry does double duty as an additional curse and so makes up for this. 2 points to Aeons, 1 point to Hulk.
Moving onto the ingredient, Moonlight Serenade, Deuce catches up a little. While Deuce Traveler’s serenade is not actually, technically, a serenade, it does play a pivotal part in the adventure. Whereas Rune uses it as background information that may or may not actually have any meaning to the PCs. So 1.5 to Hulk, and 1 to Aeons.
In the ingredient Hate Story, we again see a stronger usage in Hulk, with the hatred of the village being a real palpable thing that the PCs will have to deal with. The usage in Aeons is a bit different; the story being told magically creates hatred. This hatred is going to fester into rebellion, though again, I am called to wonder why it would take so long, many generations, for the magic to actually create a rebellion, and why would the wizard want to create a rebellion, thus killing his golden goose of immortality. I know the background says he wants to fill the vacuum and rule himself, but it seems like such a slow and stupid way to go about it. Anyhow, I give Hulk 2 points for this ingredient, and 1.5 to Aeons. For those keeping track, that brings the two entries into a tie.
The tie is maintained with sanctioned kidnappings. Though the ingredient is more background in Hulk, it is nevertheless background that is going to directly affect the PCs in a powerful way. Both get 2 points for the kidnappings.
With Dirty Laundry, Hulk moves ahead into the lead for the first time. The dirty laundry of Aeons is fairly weak sauce. A washerwoman takes some laundry she is supposed to be cleaning and puts it on. But there is no actual indication its all that dirty, indeed it shines like the stars. Hrm. The dirty laundry in Hulk is metaphorical but its pretty dirty and the PCs are going to get their hands full of it, so to speak. 2 points to Hulk, 1 to Aeons.
Hulk is going to maintain the lead with awakened behemoth. The behemoth of the ship awakens and the PCs must navigate it. The Behemoth in Aeons may or may not awaken depending on the actions of the PCs, and the PCs may or may not have to deal with it. 2 points to Hulk, 1.5 to Aeons.
So what about Unstable Cargo? Again, I think Hulk’s use is stronger. The cargo in the ship is indeed unstable and the PCs must deal with it. The cargo on the boat, in the figure of the cultist is unhinged, and I guess mentally unstable, but its just a little weaker than it could have been. 2 to Hulk, another 1.5 to Aeons.
The final ingredient is sail of stars. In both cases, I think the use is good, though the sail in Hulk is again something the PCs may have more direct interaction with. But I’ll give both 2 points.
As we head out of the Ingredients phase, Deuce’s Hulk has the lead. Let’s see if it can keep it.
I am going to reverse my normal order and deal with style first. How well do I like each adventure’s style? This is a mixed bag here for me.
With Hulk, I gotta admit I find the second half much more interesting than the first half. I understand the importance, story-wise, of the first half setting up the second half, but I suspect that groups which find the first part fascinating are going to not really appreciate the second part of the adventure, and those that are captivated by the exploration of the ship are going to find the interaction with the tribe’s men tedious. But the exploration of the ship hits a lot of good, solid notes with me, and I am going to give the whole of it 4 out of 6.
Rune’s Aeons, I also think has a problem with two parts not meshing well together, but whereas in Hulk it was two separate chapters, in Aeons it is two separate storylines that don’t necessarily complement one another. It’s a strange sort of thing with me – I like each individual piece of Rune’s Aeons, but the whole of it suffers. The beast at the bottom of the sea being real feels almost tacked on to a different, better story, and I think that the curse on the city loses some of its edge because of it. I almost wish that the wizard was working to awaken some behemoth through the sacrifice of the king by the rebellious city folk; some complicated ritual requiring regecide. As it is, I am going to give Aeons only 4 out of 6 also. In this case, I wish the author had left the peanut butter out of my chocolate, or had blended it better.
And now we come to usability, and I left this to last because I think one is clearly better than the other and makes the winner clear to me.
Rune’s Aeons suffers from the problem of too much backstory and not enough adventure. Its not bad, though parts are a bit convoluted, and I think I could make it work, but I would have to put some work into it to do so; changing up a few parts of the storyline, and adding in some more ways for the PCs to interact with the story.
Deuce’s Hulk, on the other hand, I could take and run with it. In fact, reading it, if I ran Traveler games, I would be wanting to run with it, and I can see adapting the general story-line to any number of systems and getting a good result. I do think that the weakness is felt in the heavy social requirements of the first half not gelling with the suspense of the second, and I would definitely make the first chapter short and sweet, but the first chapter serves a solid setup to that second chapter and helps make the pay-off richer, so I can live with the clunky meshing of the two halves.
For usability, I am going to give Rune’s 4 out of 6, but Deuce gets a solid 6 out of 6 and retains his lead in the points, and has my nod for this contest.
Rune’s “With Strange Aeons…”
]Rules: 6/6
Ingredient Use: 12.5/16
Style: 4/6
Usability: 4/6
Total 26.5/34
Deuce Traveler’s “The Hulk.”
Rules: 6/6
Ingredient Use: 14.5/16
Style: 4/6
Usability: 6/6
Total: 30.5/34
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