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IRON DM 2022 The Tournament Thread
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<blockquote data-quote="Wicht" data-source="post: 8751773" data-attributes="member: 221"><p>For any newcomers who don’t know how I judge matches, I use an arbitrary and subjective point system to help me with my thoughts. I award points as follows</p><p></p><p><strong>Followed the Rules:</strong> Wordcount, time limit, etc. (6 points)</p><p><strong>Ingredient Use:</strong> Were all the ingredients legitimately used as a necessary part of the adventure? (up to 2 points per ingredient)</p><p><strong>Useability:</strong> How easy could a GM plop the adventure down into their game? (6 points)</p><p><strong>Style:</strong> Personal preference – how much does the presentation and adventure appeal to the judge (6 points)</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong><u>IRON DM 2022 Round 1, Match 1</u></strong></span></p><p><em><strong>Rune vs. J.Quondam</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Before ever the entries were posted, I was curious as to how this would play out. [USER=67]@Rune[/USER] is a veteran of the contest, both as judge and contestant, and experience counts for something. [USER=7030100]@J.Quondam[/USER] is a first time entrant, and that first go can be a bit rough on some. It is not unusual for a first entry to be a bit on the rough side, so there was the question as to whether or not it would be a lop-sided contest. Thankfully, from my perspective it was not, and as I read through I was pleasantly surprised at the newbie’s entry. But was it good enough…?</p><p></p><p>Let’s see what we have. Rune gives us “<strong><em>Wicked Trinity</em></strong>” (hereafter <strong>Wicked</strong>). Bad dreams compel the PCs to seek out a hermit who makes a golden saw so they can go to a cave and cut down every mushroom therein while an evil demon gives them more bad dreams and rots their clothing. There is a dragon sleeping in the cave, bad food and bad neighbors.</p><p></p><p>J.Quondam’s offering, “<strong>The Three Omens of the Spirit Nobles</strong>” (hereafter <strong>Omens</strong>) presents the age-old dilemma of lumberjacks vs. the woods, with the woods being defended by fae elves who have summoned powerful spirits to destroy the village. The PCs must journey to the fairy land and either placate or overcome the spirits, or else placate the fae. There is intrigue in the village, intrigue in the fairy world, and intrigue with the spirits, and there may also be some combat.</p><p></p><p>Both entries were turned in on time, and under word-count, so let’s get to some critiquing…</p><p></p><p>[spoiler=”THE INGREDIENTS”]</p><p>Looking over the various ingredients, my first impression is that neither of the entries used the ingredients perfectly, but one was a little better than the other.</p><p></p><p>The first ingredient was <strong><em>wet dragon</em></strong>. The dragon in <strong><em>Wicked</em></strong> is a dragon who is trapped and being tortured with a water torture. While the dragon is mentioned as a possible weapon to be used by the demon, it seems to mostly spend the adventure sitting there being tortured, providing a potential hook for, and this seemed a little odd, after the adventure was over. The use of a wet dragon in <strong><em>Omens, </em></strong>being a sea serpent, is far from inspired, but it does fit and the sea serpent is fleshed out with motivations, personality and is one of the three nobles the PCs must confront. Advantage here to Omens.</p><p></p><p>In the ingredient, <strong><em>gold-plated saw, </em></strong>the advantage swings the other way. The saws of <strong><em>Omens</em></strong> are rather lackluster, being nothing more than badges, and thus window dressing. In <strong><em>Wicked</em></strong>, the saw is a necessary weapon for cutting down the malevolent fungi. The necessity of it being gold-plated, or a saw, seems somewhat forced, though it is true that gold does not corrupt as readily as other metals and certainly saws work better to cut down fibrous matter, though axes seem like they ought to also work. Still and all, <strong><em>Wicked</em></strong> gets the nod here.</p><p></p><p>Then with forest mushrooms, we go back the other way. I must say that I was more than a little disappointed with Wicked in this regard. A Forest Mushroom is a mushroom which grows in a forest. Wicked makes it a Forest of Mushrooms, flipping noun and adjective, and moreover makes all the mushrooms to be cave mushrooms, an entirely different beast, so to speak. Omens on the other hand makes the mushrooms into a fairy ring, and the method of travel from one world to the next. While the mushrooms are integral to both adventures, the too-clever-by-half changing of the mushrooms from forest to cave in <strong><em>Wicked</em></strong> makes me give this ingredient entirely to <strong><em>Omens</em></strong>.</p><p></p><p>I also have to somewhat give the nod to Omens for Icy Temper, though point wise its going to be a wash. Though I think the use of temper as an ice bath for a weapon to be clever in <strong><em>Wicked</em></strong>, I note with some disappointment that it is a thing done by someone other than the PCs. This is a lost opportunity, having the PCs sitting around watching someone else make a weapon when the PCs should be the ones meeting the demands of weapon creation, even if directed by the wise hermit. I am not overly thrilled by the use in <strong><em>Omens</em></strong>, being simply an ice creature with a temper, and think it could have been made a little more important, but still… The advantage is there, even if only slightly.</p><p></p><p>There is a more clear advantage, I think, in <strong><em>living cave</em></strong> to <strong><em>Omens</em></strong>, though the use in both might seem somewhat similar. The cave in <strong><em>Wicked</em></strong> seems more possessed than living, though maybe it was living before and will be living after being exorcised. But I don’t get a good feel for how it is living or what the ramifications of that are. In <strong><em>Omens</em></strong>, though I get a clear sense of an elemental being in the shape of a cave, which can fight with its own being, and which is also protected by an ecosystem of earth-elementals. Heavy nod to <strong><em>Omens</em></strong> here.</p><p></p><p>I think both adventures make decent use of <strong><em>terrible triad</em></strong>, and though point wise I’ll give full points to both, I think if I had to fall down on one or the other <strong><em>Omens</em></strong> would get nod once more, mostly because while the true-names of the demon, also being its nature, is good; having each of the triad being an actual obstacle is a little better. On the other hand, <strong><em>Wicked’s</em></strong> triad is more classically terrible in nature, but the threat of total destruction wrought by the spirits is pretty terrible, so again, point wise a wash, but slight personal nod to <strong><em>Omens</em></strong>.</p><p></p><p>So coming out of Ingredients, Omens has an advantage. [/SPOILER]</p><p></p><p>[SPOILER=”USABILITY AND APPEAL”]</p><p>Let’s examine the two offerings for both their usability and their appeal.</p><p></p><p>I will state up front that I am not familiar with the Dungeon World system specifically, but from the way Rune wrote up his entry I can get a pretty good feel for the kind of game it is meant to be, and I would hazard that so far as the system is concerned, Wicked is entirely useable. I also suspect that it would play out better in that system then it feels like it would play out in a standard D&D style system, where the obstacles presented, though they seem trite in a typical fantasy realm, would present more scope for the imagination in a system of give and take story-telling. With that in mind, I suspect that Rune has given everything necessary to run the adventure in the system he set it in, and there is a good deal to work with here.</p><p></p><p>On the other hand, Omens, presents a wide range of encounters in three different “realms” (village, fairy and spirits), a plethora of options for dealing with various entities in each realm and even a suggestion of the politics and interactions in each setting. There is scope for role-playing, combat and diplomacy, and though there is some fleshing out to be done, the amount of material presented in the space allowed is pretty impressive.</p><p></p><p>Usability then on both is going to be about even.</p><p></p><p>Which brings me to my personal preference. Wicked has some very good things going for it, though also some weaknesses. On the one hand the threat seems rather significant. A demon slowly corrupting everything and driving the world mad with its dreams. On the other hand, the actual adventure seems a little wanting. You visit a hermit who makes a saw, and then travel to a cave and cut down mushrooms while the demon threatens you, ruining your clothes and food. I don’t know how it would play out exactly, and I suspect the whole is more than the sum of its parts so that it would end up being a fun time. But in the end you are sawing down mushrooms next to a sleeping dragon who may or may not be used to mentally attack you. And the dragon itself feels largely to be window dressing, or the plot hook to a different adventure.</p><p></p><p>Omens on the other hand is a bit cliched in some of its presentations, but cliché is not necessarily bad. The sheer scope of adventure presented from the humble beginnings of a forest village is very impressive. The number of encounters, diplomatic, mundane, fae, and combat wise promises quite a bit of variety in game-play. I also like how the different possible outcomes are presented. All in all, it seems well thought out, and very impressive, even more so when one considers this is a first-timer’s entry.</p><p>[/SPOILER]</p><p></p><p>[SPOILER=”THE VERDICT”]</p><p>Comparing the two entries, I find I like both, but one clearly came out ahead of the other, in no small part because of ingredient use.</p><p></p><p>For this match, it is my verdict that J.Quondam advances to round 2. The collective members of the CND may rejoice,… for the moment.</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Wicked Trinity</u></strong></p><p><strong>Followed the Rules:</strong> 6 points</p><p><strong>Ingredient Use:</strong> 7 points</p><p><em> Wet Dragon: </em>1</p><p><em> Gold Plated Saw: </em>1.5</p><p><em> Forest Mushrooms: </em>.5</p><p><em> Icy Temper: </em>1 </p><p><em> Living Cave: </em>1</p><p><em> Terrible Triad: </em>2</p><p><strong>Usability:</strong> 5 points</p><p><strong>Style:</strong> 4</p><p><strong><u><span style="font-size: 18px">Total</span></u></strong><span style="font-size: 18px">: 22/30</span></p><p></p><p><strong><u>The Three Omens of the Spirit Nobles</u></strong></p><p><strong>Followed the Rules:</strong> 6 points</p><p><strong>Ingredient Use:</strong> 9.5 points</p><p><em> Wet Dragon: </em>1.5</p><p><em> Gold Plated Saw: </em>1</p><p><em> Forest Mushrooms: </em>2</p><p><em> Icy Temper: </em>1</p><p><em> Living Cave: </em>2</p><p><em> Terrible Triad: </em>2</p><p><strong>Usability:</strong> 5 points</p><p><strong>Style:</strong> 5 points</p><p><strong><u>Total</u></strong>: 25.5/30[/spoiler]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wicht, post: 8751773, member: 221"] For any newcomers who don’t know how I judge matches, I use an arbitrary and subjective point system to help me with my thoughts. I award points as follows [B]Followed the Rules:[/B] Wordcount, time limit, etc. (6 points) [B]Ingredient Use:[/B] Were all the ingredients legitimately used as a necessary part of the adventure? (up to 2 points per ingredient) [B]Useability:[/B] How easy could a GM plop the adventure down into their game? (6 points) [B]Style:[/B] Personal preference – how much does the presentation and adventure appeal to the judge (6 points) [SIZE=5][B][U]IRON DM 2022 Round 1, Match 1[/U][/B][/SIZE] [I][B]Rune vs. J.Quondam[/B][/I] Before ever the entries were posted, I was curious as to how this would play out. [USER=67]@Rune[/USER] is a veteran of the contest, both as judge and contestant, and experience counts for something. [USER=7030100]@J.Quondam[/USER] is a first time entrant, and that first go can be a bit rough on some. It is not unusual for a first entry to be a bit on the rough side, so there was the question as to whether or not it would be a lop-sided contest. Thankfully, from my perspective it was not, and as I read through I was pleasantly surprised at the newbie’s entry. But was it good enough…? Let’s see what we have. Rune gives us “[B][I]Wicked Trinity[/I][/B]” (hereafter [B]Wicked[/B]). Bad dreams compel the PCs to seek out a hermit who makes a golden saw so they can go to a cave and cut down every mushroom therein while an evil demon gives them more bad dreams and rots their clothing. There is a dragon sleeping in the cave, bad food and bad neighbors. J.Quondam’s offering, “[B]The Three Omens of the Spirit Nobles[/B]” (hereafter [B]Omens[/B]) presents the age-old dilemma of lumberjacks vs. the woods, with the woods being defended by fae elves who have summoned powerful spirits to destroy the village. The PCs must journey to the fairy land and either placate or overcome the spirits, or else placate the fae. There is intrigue in the village, intrigue in the fairy world, and intrigue with the spirits, and there may also be some combat. Both entries were turned in on time, and under word-count, so let’s get to some critiquing… [spoiler=”THE INGREDIENTS”] Looking over the various ingredients, my first impression is that neither of the entries used the ingredients perfectly, but one was a little better than the other. The first ingredient was [B][I]wet dragon[/I][/B]. The dragon in [B][I]Wicked[/I][/B] is a dragon who is trapped and being tortured with a water torture. While the dragon is mentioned as a possible weapon to be used by the demon, it seems to mostly spend the adventure sitting there being tortured, providing a potential hook for, and this seemed a little odd, after the adventure was over. The use of a wet dragon in [B][I]Omens, [/I][/B]being a sea serpent, is far from inspired, but it does fit and the sea serpent is fleshed out with motivations, personality and is one of the three nobles the PCs must confront. Advantage here to Omens. In the ingredient, [B][I]gold-plated saw, [/I][/B]the advantage swings the other way. The saws of [B][I]Omens[/I][/B] are rather lackluster, being nothing more than badges, and thus window dressing. In [B][I]Wicked[/I][/B], the saw is a necessary weapon for cutting down the malevolent fungi. The necessity of it being gold-plated, or a saw, seems somewhat forced, though it is true that gold does not corrupt as readily as other metals and certainly saws work better to cut down fibrous matter, though axes seem like they ought to also work. Still and all, [B][I]Wicked[/I][/B] gets the nod here. Then with forest mushrooms, we go back the other way. I must say that I was more than a little disappointed with Wicked in this regard. A Forest Mushroom is a mushroom which grows in a forest. Wicked makes it a Forest of Mushrooms, flipping noun and adjective, and moreover makes all the mushrooms to be cave mushrooms, an entirely different beast, so to speak. Omens on the other hand makes the mushrooms into a fairy ring, and the method of travel from one world to the next. While the mushrooms are integral to both adventures, the too-clever-by-half changing of the mushrooms from forest to cave in [B][I]Wicked[/I][/B] makes me give this ingredient entirely to [B][I]Omens[/I][/B]. I also have to somewhat give the nod to Omens for Icy Temper, though point wise its going to be a wash. Though I think the use of temper as an ice bath for a weapon to be clever in [B][I]Wicked[/I][/B], I note with some disappointment that it is a thing done by someone other than the PCs. This is a lost opportunity, having the PCs sitting around watching someone else make a weapon when the PCs should be the ones meeting the demands of weapon creation, even if directed by the wise hermit. I am not overly thrilled by the use in [B][I]Omens[/I][/B], being simply an ice creature with a temper, and think it could have been made a little more important, but still… The advantage is there, even if only slightly. There is a more clear advantage, I think, in [B][I]living cave[/I][/B] to [B][I]Omens[/I][/B], though the use in both might seem somewhat similar. The cave in [B][I]Wicked[/I][/B] seems more possessed than living, though maybe it was living before and will be living after being exorcised. But I don’t get a good feel for how it is living or what the ramifications of that are. In [B][I]Omens[/I][/B], though I get a clear sense of an elemental being in the shape of a cave, which can fight with its own being, and which is also protected by an ecosystem of earth-elementals. Heavy nod to [B][I]Omens[/I][/B] here. I think both adventures make decent use of [B][I]terrible triad[/I][/B], and though point wise I’ll give full points to both, I think if I had to fall down on one or the other [B][I]Omens[/I][/B] would get nod once more, mostly because while the true-names of the demon, also being its nature, is good; having each of the triad being an actual obstacle is a little better. On the other hand, [B][I]Wicked’s[/I][/B] triad is more classically terrible in nature, but the threat of total destruction wrought by the spirits is pretty terrible, so again, point wise a wash, but slight personal nod to [B][I]Omens[/I][/B]. So coming out of Ingredients, Omens has an advantage. [/SPOILER] [SPOILER=”USABILITY AND APPEAL”] Let’s examine the two offerings for both their usability and their appeal. I will state up front that I am not familiar with the Dungeon World system specifically, but from the way Rune wrote up his entry I can get a pretty good feel for the kind of game it is meant to be, and I would hazard that so far as the system is concerned, Wicked is entirely useable. I also suspect that it would play out better in that system then it feels like it would play out in a standard D&D style system, where the obstacles presented, though they seem trite in a typical fantasy realm, would present more scope for the imagination in a system of give and take story-telling. With that in mind, I suspect that Rune has given everything necessary to run the adventure in the system he set it in, and there is a good deal to work with here. On the other hand, Omens, presents a wide range of encounters in three different “realms” (village, fairy and spirits), a plethora of options for dealing with various entities in each realm and even a suggestion of the politics and interactions in each setting. There is scope for role-playing, combat and diplomacy, and though there is some fleshing out to be done, the amount of material presented in the space allowed is pretty impressive. Usability then on both is going to be about even. Which brings me to my personal preference. Wicked has some very good things going for it, though also some weaknesses. On the one hand the threat seems rather significant. A demon slowly corrupting everything and driving the world mad with its dreams. On the other hand, the actual adventure seems a little wanting. You visit a hermit who makes a saw, and then travel to a cave and cut down mushrooms while the demon threatens you, ruining your clothes and food. I don’t know how it would play out exactly, and I suspect the whole is more than the sum of its parts so that it would end up being a fun time. But in the end you are sawing down mushrooms next to a sleeping dragon who may or may not be used to mentally attack you. And the dragon itself feels largely to be window dressing, or the plot hook to a different adventure. Omens on the other hand is a bit cliched in some of its presentations, but cliché is not necessarily bad. The sheer scope of adventure presented from the humble beginnings of a forest village is very impressive. The number of encounters, diplomatic, mundane, fae, and combat wise promises quite a bit of variety in game-play. I also like how the different possible outcomes are presented. All in all, it seems well thought out, and very impressive, even more so when one considers this is a first-timer’s entry. [/SPOILER] [SPOILER=”THE VERDICT”] Comparing the two entries, I find I like both, but one clearly came out ahead of the other, in no small part because of ingredient use. For this match, it is my verdict that J.Quondam advances to round 2. The collective members of the CND may rejoice,… for the moment. [B][U]Wicked Trinity[/U] Followed the Rules:[/B] 6 points [B]Ingredient Use:[/B] 7 points [I] Wet Dragon: [/I]1 [I] Gold Plated Saw: [/I]1.5 [I] Forest Mushrooms: [/I].5 [I] Icy Temper: [/I]1 [I] Living Cave: [/I]1 [I] Terrible Triad: [/I]2 [B]Usability:[/B] 5 points [B]Style:[/B] 4 [B][U][SIZE=5]Total[/SIZE][/U][/B][SIZE=5]: 22/30[/SIZE] [B][U]The Three Omens of the Spirit Nobles[/U] Followed the Rules:[/B] 6 points [B]Ingredient Use:[/B] 9.5 points [I] Wet Dragon: [/I]1.5 [I] Gold Plated Saw: [/I]1 [I] Forest Mushrooms: [/I]2 [I] Icy Temper: [/I]1 [I] Living Cave: [/I]2 [I] Terrible Triad: [/I]2 [B]Usability:[/B] 5 points [B]Style:[/B] 5 points [B][U]Total[/U][/B]: 25.5/30[/spoiler] [/QUOTE]
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