IRON DM 2025 Tournament Thread

[Gradine]

Welcome, one and all, to the 2025 IRON DM Tournament. Eight contestants enter the arena. One emerges as the IRON DM 2025.

To keep down the clutter, all scheduling will take place in the scheduling thread. Ingredients, entries, and judgements will all be posted in this thread. As usual, commentary and trash-talk good-natured raillery also should be posted in this thread (for posterity).

This post will be maintained with a link to every entry and every judgement, with latter ones hidden behind spoiler tags. Be warned, however, that tags are not universal between the different viewing mediums available nowadays, so use this resource with caution if you don’t want to know who won a match before reading its judgement(s).

Spoiler: The Rules

The Basics:

The tournament is set up in a single-elimination bracket style, with each match determined based on scheduling availability among the eligible contestants.

Each match will consist of two contestants given a single set of ingredients with which to construct a brief adventure or adventure synopsis in any game system or genre. You should waste neither time, nor words, on overly detailed stats, but you should also not assume familiarity with any given system or genre. Explain what you need to explain, and stop there!

These entries will be evaluated on their own merits and those evaluations will then be compared to determine the winner of a match, who will then proceed to the next round.

All matches will be given a time-frame to submit the entries within. An entry that is late will still be accepted, but with a penalty applied to its word-limit. Late entries that are less than 1 hour late will have their word-limits reduced by 10% (meaning, for example, a first-round entry would have its word-limit reduced from 750 to 675, which is harsher than it looks). Entries that are at least 1 hour late, but less than 1 day late will have their word-limits reduced by 30%. Entries that are at least 1 day late will have their word-limits reduced by 50%. Entries that are at least 2 days late may be disqualified at the discretion of the other competitor and judges. Entries that exceed their word-limits will be considered to end once they reach that limit; we will ignore everything after.
Additionally, each judge may decide whether to take a late entry's tardiness into further consideration when making a decision.

This year we will be exclusively using: WordCounter - Count Words & Correct Writing for all of our word counting needs. You'd think something like "word count" would be pretty objective and universal, but I've had "1500 word" entries clock anywhere from 1496 to 1504 depending on whether I was using a Google Doc plugin or one of a hundred similar websites and to this day I've yet to fully grasp the source of the discrepancies.

Obviously, you really want to avoid being late, especially in the first round, but life happens, and sometimes you just can't make it. In such cases, you should take the extra time (before your next threshold) to polish your entry with your new word-limit in mind. It won't be easy, but you might still win. I’ve seen it happen at least once before (by a newcomer, against a seasoned veteran and two-time Iron DM champion. Never say never!) Even if you don't win, you may at least find the judgement enlightening for future IRON DM tournaments!

Entries are expected to make good use of all of the ingredients submitted. The ingredients should be creatively applied, well-integrated, and fundamentally necessary to the adventure that they are used in. The keyword is crucial. If we can replace your ingredient with anything else and not ruin the adventure, that means the ingredient is not crucial. Keep in mind that this is the crux of the tournament, so don't think that maybe (for example) doing a good job with three ingredients will be enough, as long as you can craft a better adventure! I wouldn't count on it, if I were you.

Formatting:

All entries are to be submitted with the list of ingredients at the top and are not to be edited, once submitted. Let me repeat that last part: DO NOT EDIT YOUR POST, ONCE YOU HAVE SUBMITTED IT! Check your work before you send it in. Then check it again. We will not look favorably upon any entry that has been edited and may penalize the entry as we see fit, including, possibly, outright disqualification. Part of the challenge of IRON DM is in the development and use of discipline in editing and time-management.

Please do not expect us to follow links within your entry. You may include links for others to follow if you choose to do so, but understand that any information that is necessary to the entry must be in the actual entry. We will be reading each entry multiple times and, thus, unlikely to also be willing to go outside the entry to find context for it. More importantly, expecting outside sources to carry the load of exposition very much defeats the purpose of the word-limit.

Along those lines – I reiterate: we will be reading each entry multiple times. Please don't make that difficult for us. Don't bore us and don't make our eyes bleed. Please.

Judgement:

Each of the first-round matches will have a single judge. The second- and third-round matches will have the full panel of three. As I said before, each entry will be judged on its own merits and then the two competing entries' critiques will be compared for the final judgement. In the latter rounds, the majority opinion will determine the victor. Different judges have traditionally had different processes to arrive at such outcomes – for instance, some may use a point-based grading chart, while others may prefer a more abstract analysis.

We will endeavor to be Nemmerelesque in our judgements – critical, but also fair and constructive in that criticism. It's tradition. Even so, please understand that not everybody will agree with every decision that we make – that's the nature of the game. Traditionally, trying to figure out what the judge will want to see is all part of the game (though not necessarily a recommended strategy) – and that can lead to some undesired outcomes. It can sting sometimes (believe me, I know!), but it is a game. Let's have some fun with it!

That said, those wishing to gain a little insight into the judges’ thinking will need to do a little research to do so, but the information is out there. Be warned, though! We may have changed our thinking on some of these things within the last couple of decades!

Tournament Structure:

Round 1: The Crucible

All matches in the first round will have a 24 hour time-limit! All matches in the first round will have six ingredients, all of which are to be used in each entry. Entries in these matches will have a 750 word limit, not including the title and ingredients list. Any descriptions or definitions of ingredients included with the list will count against the limit! That may not seem like a lot, but I assure you, it's even less than you think! Contestants who win their Round 1 matches will proceed to Round 2.

Round 2: The Refinement

All matches in the second round will have a 48 hour time-limit. These matches will each have seven ingredients, all of which are to be used in each entry. Entries in these matches will have a 1500 word limit, not including the title and ingredients list. Any descriptions or definitions of ingredients included with the list will count against the limit! Contestants who win their Round 1 matches will proceed to Round 2.

Round 3: The Tempering

The third round match will also have a 48 hour time-limit. This match will use eight ingredients, all of which are to be used in each entry. Entries in this match will have a 2000 word limit, not including the title and ingredients list. Any descriptions or definitions of ingredients included with the list will count against the limit! The contestant who wins this match will become the IRON DM 2025!

Scheduling, Discussing, and Spectating:

As previously mentioned, the scheduling thread will be used for scheduling the matches.

This tournament thread will be used to post the ingredients, the entries, and the judgements for each match. Commentary will also be welcome in that thread, but, please, if you are commenting on an entry that has not yet been judged, hide that commentary with spoiler tags, so that us judges can view the entries with fresh eyes!

One final note:

Once these tournaments have been completed, we try to archive them on these boards for posterity, and so that the adventures can be run or plundered by future Internet generations. We make no claim of ownership over the entries, but we do request that you do not remove your entries once the tournament has concluded.

Our Contestants:
1: @Whizbang Dustyboots (IRON DM 2023)
2: @humble minion (IRON DM 2020)
3: @Fenris-77
4: @J.Quondam
5: @bedir than
6: @Onelung
7: @AustinHolm
8: @GMMichael

Good luck, y'all.

Round 1: The Crucible

Match 1: TBD
Match 2: TBD
Match 3: TBD
Match 4: TBD

 

[Gradine]

Some Tips From a Two-Time IRON DM:
Generally speaking, judging in Iron DM is a deeply personal and subjective experience. No two judges are going to have the exact same reaction to a particular entry (which is why most of our panel contests end up being judged 2-1). That said, there are some lessons learned over the past decade or so of participating in this event one way or another.

Showcase Every Ingredient in the Main Course
The more central and essential your ingredients are to the main thrust of your adventure, the better. An ingredient that is relevant through the entire adventure is inherently stronger than an ingredient that only crops up for a single, one-off scene.

Nothing Eats Words Like Exposition
Your word counts, especially in the early rounds, are extremely limited, and you want to spend as many of those on things that are directly relevant to the players as possible. Some background is likely going to need to be necessary, but keep it as a tight and relevant as possible. An ingredient relegated to backstory is almost always going to be seen as weaker than a more present ingredient.

Relevance vs. Cleverness
Clever interpretations of ingredients are always appreciated, and we will often design ingredients with alternative interpretations in mind. That said, relevance is often more important. I can only speak for myself, but I'd rather see a straightforward ingredient used centrally in an adventure than a clever ingredient relegated to backstory.

Irreplaceability
Most ingredients are made up of more than one word; often, but not always, an adjective and a noun. The best ingredient uses can't be replaced with similar ideas. As an example we'll go to "Pink Socks". What makes your pink socks so important that if the ingredient had actually been "Pink Gloves" or "Green Socks" it simply wouldn't work? That's what we're looking for.

Don't Let Perfect Be The Enemy of Good
This is just good advice for writing in general, but it's particularly relevant here. I cannot count the number of times I've thought "Well, I'm probably just going to lose on this ingredient" and moved on. In all my time I've never seen a judgment say one adventure used every ingredient better than the other; it's always a give and take. There's never been a perfect Iron DM entry; but there has been a lot of very great ones!

Have Fun!

 

[Gradine]

IRON DM 2025: Round 1, Match 1, Fenris-77 vs J.Quandom
@Fenris-77 and @J.Quondam, you have 24 hours to post your entries to this thread. Please limit your entry to a title, a list of the ingredients used and 750 additional words. Please include your list of ingredients at the beginning of the entry and please do not edit your post once it is submitted. Please refrain from reading your opponent's entry until after you have posted your own. You are on your honor to do so.

Entries that are between 1 and 59 minutes late will have their word-limits reduced to 675. Later entries that are at less than 1 day late will have their word-limits reduced to 525. Entries that are at least 1 day late will have their word-limits reduced to 375. In addition, entries that are at least 2 days late may be disqualified at the discretion of the judge with consent from the match's opposing competitor. Entries that exceed their word-limits will be considered to end once they reach that limit; I will ignore everything after.

Your ingredients are:

• Loosed Change
• Half a Hand
• Cattle Wrangler
• Fire Brigade
• Positive Impact
• Image of Success

Happy writing!

 

[Gradine]

A note of clarification: we are extremely deliberate in how we choose to word our ingredients. If an ingredient makes you think... what could that possibly mean? Well, that's your job to show us.

Have fun!

 

[Fenris-77]

I don't recall, are there restrictions on formatting for this (not that the forum provides a host of options there).

 

[Gradine]

I don't recall, are there restrictions on formatting for this (not the the forum provides a host of options there).

Readability is something that some, but not all, judges take into account in their final judgments. Otherwise we expect:
(a) A Title
(b) A short descriptive tagline (usually something like "A [x] adventure for [y] characters")
(c) The List of Ingredients
(d) No more than 750 additional words

 

[Gradine]

One final note about the word count thing; we will paste your entries into wordcounter.net to make sure the body of the adventure does not surpass the listed word count. If it does we will start blind deleting words from the end of your entry until they reach the specified count, and then begin reading your adventure for judgment. Anything we delete to fit inside the word count will not be read or considered by a judge until at least their judgment is posted.

In my time as a judge this has made a difference!

 

[Fenris-77]

And He Commenced a Great Burning
A System-Agnostic Victorian Cthulhu Adventure

Ingredients: Loosed Change – Half a Hand – Cattle Wrangler – Fire Brigade – Positive Impact – Image of Success

Set-up
Your group have been fruitlessly pursuing cultist Edmund O’Malley for weeks. Your Inquiry Office is plastered with maps of London, possible sightings, and notes about the Cauldron of Change. You know he has the relic, you know he plans a terrible ritual of transformation, but when and where?

Friday morning you catch a break. O’Malley was involved in a robbery at a cattle yard in London’s East End. Five white bulls have been stolen, possibly for the ritual. To the hackney!

Adventure Elements
The Cattle Wrangler. James Burke: tall, active Scots cattle trader, owns a small stockyard. The bulls were stolen in the early hours and two of his workers killed. One, before he died, described a strange tattoo that covered half of one of the perpetrators’ left hands. (O’Malley has such a tattoo). Witnesses say the bulls were driven into a warren of buildings by the Thames.

The Burning. While the investigators are at the stockyard, O’Malley has loosed fire on Whitechapel. Bells begin to ring, faint shouts are heard, and plumes of smoke rise up from several places in the warren. While stroking the Cauldron of Change a vision came to Edmund, of him richly dressed and ruling a rebuilt London. This image has fired his murderous zeal and his dreams have shown him the way. Fire is just the beginning.

The Warren. 10 blocks of narrow alleys, tenements, and rotting warehouses next to the Thames. The streets are choked with people fleeing the fires. The investigators may need help to search it quickly.

The Ritual. The Black Book of Czernobog describes a ritual wherein the Cauldron of Change is negatively charged by the blood of certain animals and a great burnt offering of some kind. Then, a long chant in the foul elder tongue primes a wicked spell that will mutate human forms into hybrid elder things under the caster’s control.

The Fire Brigade. London firefighters have moved into the warren to combat the flames and are unknowingly working their way toward the site of the ritual. When they are close enough O’Malley will unleash the spell and transform them into elder hybrids that will form the core of an army with which he hopes to conquer London.

Adventure Procedure

The Hunt. The investigators will have to brave the flames and delve into the warren to find O’Malley. From their notes they know that they have about an hour until the ritual is complete. Time is of the essence.

Set a number of successes needed to locate the ritual. Help will speed the hunt, but also put the helpers at risk. Complicate these Hunt scenes as follows:

Terror-stricken residents. Will clutch at the investigators, demand things of them, shout incoherently, and generally be in the worst place at the worst time. On a d6 roll of 4+ complicate a scene with bystanders.

O’Malley’s minions. He has gang of East-End toughs in his employ, with orders to kill or slow the investigators if at all possible. Not terribly bright, but vicious. Armed with clubs and knives. On a d6 roll of 4+ complicate a scene with minions.

Spreading flames. Wooden building burst into flames, debris rain down into alleyways. The fire is dangerous and will get in the way. On a d6 roll of 5+ complicate a scene with fire.


The Ritual. In a musty river-front basement O’Malley, protected by a handful of his minions, is sacrificing white bulls and draining their blood into the Cauldron of Change. This blood builds up the negative charge necessary to power the spell of transformation. He will likely only have a single bull left to sacrifice when the investigators arrive. Outside, the crackle of fire is not quite loud enough to drown out the approaching shouts of the fire brigade, who seem closer every minute.

O’Malley and the minions are all wearing identical purple robes, but O’Malley can be identified by his tattooed half hand.

Investigators can slow the ritual by taking positive actions to impact the negative ritual charge. Holy blessings or spells of countering and the like. A success buys another round before the ritual is complete.

The GM should use a clock or similar timing mechanic to set a number of rounds until the ritual is complete. The investigators have to bypass the minions and kill or incapacitate O’Malley before the timer runs out.

 

[J.Quondam]

I wasn't up to this, I guess, and have nothing to submit. Sorry for wasting a slot in the contest.
Good luck to everyone else!

 

[Rune]

I wasn't up to this, I guess, and have nothing to submit. Sorry for wasting a slot in the contest.
Good luck to everyone else!

You still have nearly 23 hours to produce a 525 word entry. I encourage you to do so. Even an outline would be worth submitting, if for no other reason than to have something for the judge to provide feedback on.

One of the reasons this tournament is so enduring is because the surprising ways that the ingredients combine in the contestants’ minds often provide unexpected inspiration for the readers.

We want to see what you’re thinking, even if it isn’t as polished as, or never quite comes together as you hoped.

Your time is your own, of course. As is your energy. It is difficult for the uninitiated to know just how much of both are asked of a contestant. Thus, despite what we may wish to see, we can but respect your decision not to continue if that is where you land.

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