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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imhotepthewise" data-source="post: 6911459" data-attributes="member: 976">After 4 years of competing, I am honored to be found worthy of moving forward out of the first round. [MENTION=786]GuardianLurker[/MENTION] is a tough opponent. I feel lucky to have inched ahead of him.As you say, the 750 word count is brutal.  I cite that as the reason some of the sentences in my entry are not quite all there.  Hizzhonor the judge [MENTION=60965]Iron Sky[/MENTION] zoomed right in on the sentence I found to be the weakest in the writeup.I delight in finding reasons to use real world places for adventures.  I have known about the Kentucky Bend for some time now, and am glad this entry gave me a chance to work with it.The percentages of back story to adventure is something I have been criticized hard for in previous entries.  I fought hard to avoid a railroad adventure.  Like [MENTION=786]GuardianLurker[/MENTION], I could have used more word space to flesh out the backstory so I could make a better adventure.As to the adventure, I wanted to offer the PCs choices.  I started DMing in 1979 as a “No!” DM running very linear adventures.  Today, thanks to [MENTION=2]Piratecat[/MENTION] and Dungeon World, I am a “Yes!” and a “what do you do?” gamemaster, letting the characters lead the story.As to the ingredients (I am soooo happy I did not draw the Pink Socks!):Hungry Darkness is Belle, who I saw as a not so powerful vampire as very smart and crafty.  She’s in it for the long haul, not seeing an easy way out the fix she is in.  Not so interested in making a meal of Preacher, because it is too much effort to take down a holy man when there was easier prey around.Doomsayer is Preacher, who I saw as a con artist trying to survive in a bad spot.  Not a spellcaster, holy man, or even physically threatening, he took on a persona he knew would make him interesting as food.  The holy book, chosen for its looks not its content (any one see city street preachers and their well worn bibles?) is only part of his costume.  Belle doesn’t bother to check its potency, and the lesser vampires assume since she doesn’t attack him they shouldn’t either.  He keeps up the show daily to keep from being eaten. If he knew a way out, he would take it.  He may have inadvertently come up with an epiphany concerning Belle without really realizing it.Starless Stream was very hard, just sayin. I was originally going to use a paddlewheel riverboat on a dark river, but couldn’t make it work.Arcane Gambler. I wish I could claim being the originator of hexslinger, but Shane Hensley’s excellent Deadlands is the source for that.  If you don’t know it, you should.  Mike is a conniving bastard, but knows some facts that could work out well for him.Dry Water was the hardest. I thought of it waking early in the morning and it switched me from the riverboat to the bend.  I was thinking of the old spell Airy Water.  As far as doable, the Mississippi is about a half a mile wide between New Madrid Missouri and the Kentucky Bend.  I would imagine I would have to have a very indulgent DM to cast a spell of that magnitude.Forged Pardon.  This also came to me waking early.  The holy book is a total sham.  It is only dangerous because the vampires think it is.  If they bothered to approach Preacher, they would easily find this out. So, I can’t apologize for giving the PCs free rein.  Good NPCs make good adventures, and this entry has plenty of options for good roleplaying, combat, stealth, or magic use.As a DM, I would love to see some players hoist Mike on his own petard and expose him to the vampires at a point that would do him the least good.  I see him as the real bad guy in this adventure.  He has options, but the PCs could kick the chair out from under him if they play well.Thanks for allowing me to play.</blockquote>

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