IRON DM 2025 Tournament Thread

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But, you know. Maybe sleep on it? Inspiration may strike late.

I find that for both Iron DM and itch.io jams, going to bed thinking about the concepts and then waking up and thinking about it again in the shower tends to produce often surprising results.

 

[Gradine]

As an educator I will always err on the side of encouraging one to submit whatever they are able to whenever they are able to, regardless of timeline or perceived quality. As a judge I must of course abide by the stated rules of the contest, but I would also vastly prefer to provide feedback on two contrasting entries than to simply one.

I'll also add that while my feedback here is the sole determining factor in who moves on in this competition, it is unlikely that I will be the sole person providing any feedback at all. And feedback is always a great thing to have for anyone who enjoys creating.

But also, I will state that the number one rule is, as always, to have fun! And only you can decide if this is going to be worthwhile and fun for you to complete.

 

[bedir than]

I know I'm completely unprepared for the Iron DM.
My published credits are related to backgrounds and related matters.
My world is homebrew and my sessions are run off of note cards and inspiration.

I'm doing Iron DM because the urgency will force me to come up with new ways to write.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I know I'm completely unprepared for the Iron DM.
My published credits are related to backgrounds and related matters.
My world is homebrew and my sessions are run off of note cards and inspiration.

I'm doing Iron DM because the urgency will force me to come up with new ways to write.

The primary difference between a home DM and a published DM is a piece of paper. Or nowadays, a PDF. That piece of paper or that PDF is no guarantee that they're any better than a home DM; they just went to Canva and spit something out.

That's how I entered the Cabin Fever jam for Pirate Borg. And that entry, while not in the big Cabin Fever book, has gone on to make me about $50 across itch and DriveThruRPG and was something I do for fun anyway, just with some fun public domain graphics slapped on it.

 

[bedir than]

The primary difference between a home DM and a published DM is a piece of paper. Or nowadays, a PDF. That piece of paper or that PDF is no guarantee that they're any better than a home DM; they just went to Canva and spit something out.

That's how I entered the Cabin Fever jam for Pirate Borg. And that entry, while not in the big Cabin Fever book, has gone on to make me about $50 across itch and DriveThruRPG and was something I do for fun anyway, just with some fun public domain graphics slapped on it.

my last D&D session ran off of the following prompts
1 player said their waterwheel was broken
2 three punch chickens
3 a possible ice mephit

That's it. We had 3 amazing hours with heavy roleplay and several at table clues were discovered.

So Iron DM forces me to have structure, when I thrive off of improv.