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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gradine" data-source="post: 8153995" data-attributes="member: 57112">Judgement for Round 1, Match 2: Kobold Stew vs. humble minionThis has probably been my toughest match for me to judge so far. Let me begin by stating that both of these adventures are very well done. There are some structural issues here or there, to be sure; there's always going to be gaps with such a small word limit. I have to admit, however, that I'm going to be probably a little over-critical of the way ingredients have been used in these adventures. There's nothing too terrible here, but some of the interpretations were being a bit too clever or else altered in such a way as to change the ingredient. This isn't a good thing, and I'd caution all players (either those moving on or dedicated to trying again next year) to take something instructional from this judgment. Let's break down each ingredient, and how it's utilized in [USER=5948]@humble minion[/USER]'s "Go Hard or Go Gnome" (hereafter "Gnome") and [USER=23484]@Kobold Stew[/USER]'s "Swarming in the Suntower" (hereafter "Suntower").Flowering TowerHere we see a sin by subtraction. Note that the active verb "Flowering Tower". "Suntower" gives us a tower, and it is a flower. It is not however, flowering. "Gnome", on the other hand, gives us a tower that is definitely flowering; in fact, that flowering is how the players know they're on the track. I'm not sure why it needs to be a tower, but it's still a fairly strong usage.Civilized MagicAnd here we see a sin by addition. "Gnome" gives us "civilized magicians", which again, you will note, is not quite the ingredient. The Watchers here do want to civilize the magic in question, but that magic is, in and of itself, very uncivilized. "Suntower" gets a bit closer to the mark, but makes maybe one too many leaps of logic, wherein artifice = technology = civilization = civilized. Still, it's not too bad. In both cases, the magic is tied pretty closely to the gnomes. While I can (and have, and will continue to) nitpick at the actual ingredients themselves, it must be said that there's a lot of really great examples here of tying ingredients into each other.Rampaging GnomesBoth adventures here use their gnomes as villains. "Suntower's" gnomes both enlarge to fight the party for... reasons. They certainly do more rampaging than the gnomes in "Gnome", at least. Many things come to mind when I think of "rampaging", but chastising drunk horny teenagers and calling the cops on them aren't among them. The gnomes in "Gnome" being (garden) gnomes fits thematically with the setting; one could theoretically replace these gnomes with, say, disguised duergar (would explain the enlarge), but remember above; the gnomes are tied to the artifice bomb (a very gnomish thing), so again, it fits in well enough.Divine PestilenceThe Divine Pestilence in "Gnome" is far more of a curse than a pestilence, and is in fact called out as such at the end of the adventure. The Divine Pestilence in "Suntower" is also... quite the stretch. I'll sidestep whether Druids are Divine (which has never been consistent in D&D lore), swarms of rats as pestilence (rather than carriers of said pestilence). It works, to a point, though I'm not really sure why they had to be rats in the first place.Triple CrossSome behind-the-scenes stuff: this ingredient was originally "Triple Agent". I changed it to "Triple Cross" with the hope someone would run with an alternate implementation of it. Instead we get a straightforward triple cross and a... well, really just two sides double-crossing each other. In "Gnome", Lobdibble tricks the players, betrays his colleagues, and then betrays the players again. It is a legitimate triple cross. On the other hand, I don't really see the that third dimension in "Suntower". The gnomes are tricking and planning to kill the PCs (more as a byproduct of their plan) from the outset. They even seem prepared to deal with them if they actually walk out alive. The PCs can decide to help the druids and double cross, but it's still not a triple cross.Fool's Errand"Suntower" turns its entire adventure into a Fool's Errand, until the PCs decide to talk to/help the druids. This normally is a pretty strong use, but the trick about making a good Fool's Errand work in an adventure is dropping enough hints that the PC might figure out and subvert it. We aren't given any reason to question the gnomes at the beginning, and even if they do... it means the adventure doesn't happen. "Gnome's" Fool's Errand suits the terminology a little better, but also presents an interesting obstacle for the player. They either take the bait and end up on the wrong foot when the climax falls, or they realize it for what it is, and in doing so gain reason to be suspicious of the gnomes moving forward. This creates such an interesting role-playing dynamic, and I think is, fundamentally, the best use of any ingredient in either adventure.At the end, these adventures are relatively even on ingredients; with maybe "Gnome" having the edge on the basis of that strong Fool's Errand. This one is likely to be decided upon the basis on their respective qualities as an adventure."Suntower" is a relatively straightforward adventure, with a hook-dungeon-twist-climax structure. "Gnome" is considerably more complex, but complex does not always mean better (nor does straightforward always mean bad). In this case, however, I really enjoy how this one is layered. Lobdibble is a cursed Watcher, and depending on how brushed up on their Buffy lore the players are, is probably someone to be believed. Collecting the future Watchers make it clear these are the priggish, naughty word flavor of Watchers, but Lobdibble is specifically called out as seeming different. This opens the players up for that later triple cross, when Lobdibble turns on the other Gnomes to pretend to the side with the players. I'm not a fan of how the players cannot prevent the first half of the ritual, but it's necessary setup for the climax, which seems like it would be an absolute blast to play through; riling up and encouraging party-goers while keeping them protected from the obnoxious watcher gnomes as well as the actually very dangerous Lobdibble. Even more importantly, however, is that I understand the stakes and motivations. The Watchers are stuffy and officious and want to corral and restrict what they see to be a wild (and, it must be noted, feminine) magical power. That's pretty bad, especially from the perspective of a typical Buffy RPG character. Add in Lobdibble, whose desires and actions are even more diabolical, and you've got even clearer stakes. The stakes in "Suntower", on the other hand, are muddied. It's called out that the Suntower (honestly I just now got that pun, and I applaud it heartfully) is the rightful home of the rat druids, and it's pretty clear that the gnomes want the tower cleared so they can move in themselves. Except... I don't know why they want it? Or why it even matters? I guess it could be inferred that the Suntower bears some sort of primal magical energy, but even then... what would the Clarke's Third Law Gnomes care for that? It's entirely possible that this explanation existed in an earlier draft, and cut for space. If that's the case, it's something that I at least (not speaking for my fellow judges) would have preferred to have over, say, some of the mechanical information (such as how many rats of what level on how many floors). As it is, I'm hard-pressed to figure out a motivation for these gnomes, nor what the consequences of their success would be.[SPOILER="Final Judgment"]Therefore, I have to grant the win in this match to [USER=5948]@humble minion[/USER] for their entry, "Go Hard or Go Gnome".[USER=23484]@Kobold Stew[/USER], you put up a valiant effort, but it was just missing that extra context that would have made this a much tougher decision for me. That wild climax in "Gnome" would've still be hard to top though.If you do continue to compete in future years, and I hope you do, I would you encourage you to build on your strengths. You managed to turn what initially to me seemed like a weaker set of ingredients, and built them into a interwoven structure wherein each ingredient bolstered the last. For instance, I could've replaced the gnomes, if not for their connection to the "civilized" magic. The druid rats were a huge stretch for "Divine Pestilence", but put them in a tower made out of a flower, and it works. I don't want to triviliaze that by making it seem like an easy thing to do; it's not. The biggest problem for me is that these two disparate structures didn't fully connect for me. Build on that skill, and you'll be sure to go further in future runs.As it is though, a congratulations to [USER=5948]@humble minion[/USER] and good luck as you move on to the next round! [/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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