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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 7317514" data-attributes="member: 67">Round 2, Match 2: Gradine vs. Iron SkyOnce again, we have another tight match – perhaps the tightest yet of this tournament. We have two excellent adventures that are both pretty close to each other with regard to ingredient-usage. As I set out to write this, I have no idea which is the winning entry. I need to address something before I get into it, however. I haven't specifically called out whether or not subtitles that convey adventure-relevant material counts against the word-limit. Until now, it's been an intentional gray area that hasn't been relevant. Now, though, Gradine's entry runs slightly over if I do. I don't really feel the need to do so in this instance, though. The information conveyed is very brief and only imparts system, setting (as summed up in a single word), and a level-appropriate range. I'd have even been okay with an advised number of PCs being referenced. This kind of information is important for the running of the adventure, but isn't really part of the adventure, either. It's not egregious, and won't be penalized. If it was egregious, it would have been. Now, the ingredients: Harbinger. A harbinger is a forerunner who heralds the coming of someone else. Or, of change, itself. "Dreams in the Clouds" ("Dreams") doesn't really have anyone in either role, although the wandering plot-hook – er, mysterious traveler – comes kinda close, if you squint hard enough. As do the PCs, themselves. "Deep Crude" ("Deep") does far better. I'm pretty sure that the harbinger is meant to be Isaiah, but Hadrian actually fits a bit better. Either way, the ingredient is central to the adventure, and, thus, to the PCs. Crude Map. This one goes to "Deep," as well. "Dreams" gives us a flavorful map that fits the adventure well and serves to highlight the dream-like setting the PCs find themselves in. But it need not be crude to function in the adventure and it's necessity is questionable to begin with, given that travel is done by thought. Whereas, the GPS coordinates provided by the loaded dice in “Deep” not only fit the bill in their own right, their inaccuracy doubles down on the crude component and, of course, the actual crude at the destination compounds it. Better yet, most of the adventure comes out the pursuit of the map's buried treasure. Convergence of Clouds. "Deep" uses this ingredient pretty cleverly, as Hadrian's hacking of governmental server farms. As the catalyst that sparks all of the conflict in the adventure, it is certainly relevant, but it is weakened by the timeline. Had it not happened before the PCs show up, it would be much better.In "Dreams," I never understood why the festival of the cloud giants was going on in the first place, but the fact that it is becomes a pretty big deal for the adventure. Must it be a convergence? Yes, because politics. Must it be clouds? Well, yeah. Because cloud giants (which tie in well with the fairy tale ingredient, but we'll get to that). Well done. Fatal Flaw. I was a little disappointed with how this ingredient was handled in both entries. In "Dreams," it appears literally, as a flaw in the dragonshard that could actually prove fatal to Goffroc. As a piece of the social puzzle that makes up the latter part of the adventure, the relevance to the PCs is pretty significant, if the PCs have a reasonable chance of finding out about it. What disappoints me is that there is also room here to tie in a character flaw of Goffroc that leads to his downfall, but I'm not really seeing it. Zeckran or Aughra might qualify, but barely. Frankly, it feels like a missed opportunity. But, "Deep" is perhaps too subtle, here. It's characters have flaws hinted at and, in particular, those suggested flaws in Hadrian (his general hubris, his gambling and, especially, his need to hack) do bring about his death (although not necessarily his downfall). But, as with the convergence of clouds, its relevance is undercut by timing it to occur before the PCs show up. Of course, Isaiah's father's heart defect also fits, but is completely buried in the backstory. Compromised Position. This ingredient is the one I found hardest to identify in both entries. In "Dreams," the situation that seems to fit best is the agreement with the Drow to access the Crystal Keep. It opens up the social puzzle. Its relevance is clear. "Deep" throws around quite a few dangerous situations, though none of them seem like over-run defensive positions. The ever-narrowing sets of coordinates lead to a kind of compromised location (in that it is in the middle), I suppose. But it's kind of weak. Fairy Tale. The love story of two gay men in "Deep" is another clever interpretation of an ingredient ("Deep" has a few of those), but, other than providing emotional weight to the adventure, it doesn't seem to matter much. And, even if it did, it would work just as well if either Isaiah or Hadrian were a woman. Or simply not lovers. Meanwhile, "Dream" is pretty much all fairy-tale (in that it happens in a faerie-realm, but in other ways, as well). Now, I'm a sucker for such things – and for dreamscapes – in RPGs, but I'm not going to focus on the scenery. Instead, I want to talk about the giants – and Jack. Specifically, the subset of folk- and fairy tales known as Jack tales (one of which being Jack and the Beanstalk). The protagonist in these stories survives – and comes out on top – by virtue of his wits and quick-thinking. And that's exactly what the PCs get to do in this adventure. In fact, a violent course would likely be suicidal (or maybe not, depending on what mid-level means and whether or not the PCs can divide their enemies into smaller groups – but that, too, would require wits and quick-thinking). At any rate, it all works on a more-than-superficial level. The only thing that would make it better would be if the PCs needed a giant beanstalk to get up to the clouds (when I adapt this for my table, they will!). Loaded Dice. Zeckran's dice in "Dreams" play a pretty significant role in the social puzzle, but are ultimately just a piece of it. Hadrian's loaded dice in "Deep" are a whole lot more directly relevant by virtue of being the tool with which the PCs unfold the adventure. "Dreams" edges "Deep" out in the ingredient-usage area by a margin of 4:3. The adventures:At first pass, "Deep" appears to throw up a pretty significant red flag: the entire first half is taken up by background exposition! It is, at least, in the form of a monologue, so, if the PCs are willing to patiently hear it all (which is a big assumption!), they will at least get all of the relevant information. Still...the entire first half! Not a good sign!The second half is so efficient at conveying usable information, though, that I can't really conclude that the first half damaged the entry. Added to that, the actual structure of the adventure works well. At first linear, all of the early action serves to propel the PCs further into the adventure. Then, the PCs get to solve a nifty puzzle (and later figure out why it is inaccurate and solve that, too). There appear to be no other paths forward, so I do wonder what happens if they can't figure it out, but it doesn't seem insurmountable. It would be less satisfying, but an NPC could figure it out. After that, the scope opens up to something that looks like a sandbox. It's still technically linear, since the various events aren't tied to the specific locations, but it won't feel linear, so that's okay. As it turns out, "Deep" is quite a solid adventure. However, "Dreams" is also a solid adventure. An early exploration section leads to a social encounter, wherein the PCs learn about the real stakes of the adventure (unless they skip that part, because the adventure actually is set up as a sandbox). And then they get up to the Crystal Keep and its social puzzle. If the DM is liberal with information that will help the PCs make decisions, this part could have an enormously (because, giants. Get it?) satisfying pay-off. If they instead blindly stumble into a solution, it works – just without the satisfaction part. (I do wonder, though, how the giants can promise to leave a place they refuse to believe they're in – or how they would pull it off, anyway.)They're both really good adventures. I think the hooks are where we can find the difference. "Deep" gives us the old standby: greed. It's a good hook, but it assumes (as the adventure explicitly does) a mercenary motivation on the part of the PCs. It's the only thing offered throughout the adventure to keep them motivated. "Dreams" has a more universal hook. Not the mysterious traveler – that's just another trapping of the fairy tale. Once in the Expanse (by whichever pretext), exploration of the unknown and a sense of wonder provide a more widely-applicable motivation until the PCs find out about the life-or-death stakes (which personally involve them) that will carry them through the rest of the adventure. All of this makes for a fantastic adventure that is just ever-so-slightly better than “Deep.”Iron Sky, you put up an excellent entry, certainly of high enough quality to handily win against your average Round 2 entry. But Gradine's was far from average. He really stepped up his game and gave us an outstanding entry that is likely to be well-remembered by players and DM, alike. By the barest of margins, he takes the match. Gradine advances to the championship round.</blockquote>

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