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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 8385246" data-attributes="member: 67">Judgement for Round 2, Match 1: Wicht vs el-remmenThese are both big adventures. And not just because of the giants and behemoths. The scope of both of these adventures is very ambitious. Moreso in el-remmen’s “Don’t Have a Cow, Man?” (“Cow”) than in Wicht’s Diplomacy’s Cold Crown (“Crown”). As one would expect from a mini-campaign, I suppose. Even so, there is at least as much going on in “Crown”, despite it’s adventure-scale format.Big Adventure, Small Campaign[spoiler]But what, exactly, does “Cow” mean by calling itself a mini-campaign, anyway? As things stand at the start, the time-pressure is already on; if the players don’t change things within the next day, consequences will be dire. Perhaps this is meant to act as the seed to a campaign that will play out based on the consequences of the PCs choices? Perhaps it is but an adventure within a setting meant to be a campaign? Like I said: ambitious.As is my wont, I’m going to start with hooks and stakes, but these are tied in so tightly with their adventures that I’m going to need to look at each independently.First, “Cow”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a campaign begin in medias res. This is an interesting approach, as it immediately puts the PCs into the midst of the social conflict that is the framework for this campaign. This is good. The lack of context that this creates can easily be filled in and all is well.The stakes of the conflict are also tied in with that introduction, although the PCs aren’t likely to know it immediately. So far, good.The entry is set up to be very open in allowing the PCs to follow their own goals and approaches to achieving them, despite the preordained origin of their involvement in events. This is also good.And the setting itself is so very rich. The caste-struggles that define it are manifest not only throughout the background, but also in the very systems of control that the PCs will interact with. All very good stuff.But about that background…A significant chunk of this entry is devoted to explaining it. And the players are going to have to know all of it to really get a sense of things. Or, at the very least, every time they want to do something that the elitist’s elitist gods have arbitrarily decreed is against the rules, someone is going to have to appear to inform them why they can’t or (shouldn’t). That is a potential speed-bump. Or, more likely, a series of them.That’s a challenge, but it’s not insurmountable. What might be insurmountable would be the part that happens first: getting players to buy into a whole campaign played with underwhelming characters. It looks like it would be a great experience to my DM-eyes, but I sure don’t know how I’d sell it.[/spoiler]Big Adventure, Small Ripples[spoiler]”Crown” gives us a pretty specific hook, too, but the trappings are generic enough to work with pretty much any setting that hasn’t deliberately been designed to avoid fantasy tropes.Once inside the adventure, we get a dense web of NPCs and factions that form an interconnected series of complications and relationships. The PCs are turned loose into this precarious dynamic and must navigate various NPC shenanigans while furthering their own goals in whatever ways they see fit.The stakes are clear right from the hook: war, peace, or something in between. The mechanics for achieving those stakes are clean, although it might help to have some guidance on how many diplomacy points could potentially be earned (or lost) per NPC and/or faction.What really makes the structure of this adventure stand out, though, is the intricacy with which the PCs developing relationships and actions will affect all of the others. It’s complex, but cleanly presented.I do wonder one thing, however. If Isholter enters the race on the last day, surely it’s evident to everybody that he can’t get enough points to win. It should be obvious he has an ulterior motive. Are the spectators hoping to see a fight, or what?[/spoiler]Ingredients[spoiler]Slippery Slope is a tricky one. It has the potential to be an interesting thematic ingredient, or, most likely, an action set-piece.We definitely get the set-piece in “Crown”. It certainly makes sense within the context of the adventure and it also certainly looks fun.“Cow” provides us a slippery slope in the broadest sense: the actions of the PCs will lead to bad consequences. I suppose this could be part of a theme, but it’s certainly not the theme of moral argument that the ingredient would suggest, because the actual choice doesn’t matter much. They all lead to bad things happening (although, option 3 actually does presumably lead to future moral degradation).But it’s not quite nihilism, either, because it isn’t necessarily entirely bad? I don’t know. Maybe the theme is: Everything sucks when the gods are active — and suck.If we didn’t have anything else, I think this would be better than the slope in “Crown”.But “Crown” has more to give us here. It provides us at least one moral slope for the PCs to slip down in the form of betting (and their potential to influence related events after). In addition, in the more general sense, the interconnectedness of each of the NPCs and complications in this adventure are such that the entire structure is a series of PCs’ decisions that will necessarily influence each of their future ones. When your ingredient provides the framework for the entire adventure, you know you’ve nailed it.After that, things swing toward “Cow” a little bit. “Crown” has a couple of Morale Checks that come in the form of potential outcomes to the PCs’ relationship with Koltabl and with the court. Both depend on removing Hirokol’s influence over his debtors. It’s a good element in the adventure, but I’m not sure it fits the ingredient entirely well, especially the “check” part, since it seems automatic if conditions are met.Meanwhile, “Cow” gives us some runestones that serve as checks in the sense that they are redeemable for money, and also in that the PCs can target them to check the morale of their recipients (as in stop it from spreading) by stealing them. What really works here is that this particular ingredient says a lot about the social structure of the setting simply by existing as a system of control. The ruling class uses these “rewards” as a means of making the oppressed accept and even desire the oppression. It’s disturbing, but entirely believable. It’s also kind of fun that this option is a perversion of the Robin Hood thing: Steal from the poor to stick it to the rich.The Limbless Beasts of “Crown” work within the adventure slightly better than in “Cow”(in that they fit the context very well and also have a mechanical synergy with the frost giants (who are immune to cold) that the PCs probably won’t have.The gods-punished dragon works, too (and it’s nice to see the possibility of wrecking things by healing its wings). I do wonder if this dragon is also a manifestation of the favor of the gods (like the aurochs) and, if so, could it likewise be vanished?At any rate, the fact that this ingredient is singular counts for something. In the end, I find both entries about even on this one.“Crown” is less impressive with it’s Heavy Crown. It’s role is as a Macguffin within the adventure, which inherently means it could take any form. It’s role plays a big part in complicating the PCs’ lives, to be sure (especially if it happens before the worm goes missing), but it could be anything. As an aside, why is it fiery? Is it meant to be uncomfortable for frost giants? That’s an extra kind of heaviness, I suppose.“Cow” has a heavy crown that actually makes the PCs using it fatigued (especially given how weak they are). It actually matters that it is a crown (since it controls the kaiju). It is strongly connected to the morally-degrading slippery-slope path and the practical consequences of the PCs being subpar heroes. This is superior.Speaking of Subpar Hero, “Cow” sets this up before the adventure even begins. Dodging the potential buy-in difficulties I mentioned earlier, this is a very clever way to make sure the ingredient is always relevant.“Crown” has a champion who is not a hero, but definitely does (intentionally) perform below expectations. He’s a very good character and an excellent portion of the adventure, but he’s not that great as an ingredient. But he is singular, so that counts for something.The Vanished Behemoth that is Koltabl’s frost worm in “Crown” is a good implementation, however. The tie-ins with the other complications are delicious (the stolen crown and the PCs’ potential bets against Kiltabl, in particular).But this is only a part of the adventure, and “Cow” managed to make the absence of it’s behemoth loom over the entirety — even to the point of embodying the stakes of the scenario.And the same is true of Tomorrow’s Match. The time-pressure is important to both entries, but it’s establishment at the very start of “Cow” makes it more integral to the whole. As with the vanished behemoth, it is ever-present.Ironically, the strength of this ingredient might be a structural weakness for the adventure/campaign; a single day just doesn’t seem like enough time to do all of the things that this scenario promises. Be that as it may, however, it is a strong ingredient.So, that’s one excellently used ingredient in “Crown” over a good one in “Cow”, one tie between two pretty good ingredient usages, and five very good ingredients in “Cow” over four slightly-less-very good ingredients in “Crown”. And one that is replaceable.[/spoiler]I really hope I’m not the tie-breaker[spoiler]I thought I knew which way this was going when I started writing.Wicht’s entry is extraordinary. The adventure is elegant and, frankly, essentially flawless. The ingredients are, on the whole, strong. And one of them exemplifies everything I look for in an IRON DM ingredient’s implementation.But el-remmen’s entry is also very strong. The adventure/campaign is not flawless, but is still very good and the slight edges on those ingredients really add up.Do they add up enough? I guess I have to figure out how much better the adventure in “Crown” is vs. how much better the ingredients are in “Cow”.…I’ve done some soul-searching and I’m going to have to side with excellence. “Cow” never fails to be good, but I don’t think it’s numerous slightly-better ingredients outweigh the excellence of the adventure presented in “Crown”, given that only one of its ingredients is actually not very good and another one is exceptionally excellent.This is a tough call. Part of me really hopes I’m the minority vote. But my vote is for Wicht in this one.…Alas, I am not fated to vote in irrelevance. [USER=11]@el-remmen[/USER], no one knows better than you what this is all about and your skills do not disappoint. I’d be equally happy to see further entries from you or to see you get back into the judge’s saddle again. It has been a pleasure.For now, however, [USER=221]@Wicht[/USER] advances to the championship round![/spoiler]</blockquote>

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