IRON DM 2025 Tournament Thread
- Thread starter Gradine
- Start date
I have company coming so I had to get this in early. Look upon my works ye mighty and despair!
Lavender Vortex of the Barista God
Lavender Vortex of the Barista God
A Troika Adventure.
Ingredients: McGuffin of Certain Doom; Seaside Showdown; Ornate Ornithopter; Sack of Coffee Beans; Mediocre Poet; Eye of the Bee Holder; Wind Tunnel
Tahl’keen, golden habitat ark, sails serenely through the heavens. It is the property of Benedictum, retired god of good coffee and beat poetry, who won it in a card game from a trickster good of the Lesser Pamploose. He has peopled it with poets and professors of rhetoric from a thousand worlds so that he might find a bit of decent conversation once in awhile. It has one city, Doggerel, which rests on the shore of the lavender Lake Iambic, at the foot of the Ark’s single mountain, Whispers of Vast Solitude. The city is a pleasant maze of cobbled streets lined with book stores, tobacconists, refined coffee shops, and libraries, all staffed by eager servitor-cyborgs and the odd summer student.
Tahl’keen has an occasional problem. Once every 100 years the vast ship’s security failsafe kicks in. On that day, called Emergency Day, a new secure cipher must be entered into the Rainbow Interface or the Ark will explode with the force of 73.5 suns, which everyone agrees would be quite inconvenient. The Rainbow Interface is located on the top of the Ark’s other main feature, the huge floating Ceramite Hive of the Opalescent Dream Bees (know both for prophecy and delectable honey). On the summit of that huge floating hive, opposite the Rainbow Interface, stands a tall pillar of dream wax, which pulses and shimmers constantly, its patterns occasionally revealing a great truth or foretelling. On the Day of Emergency, the pillar shimmers with the colour cipher that must be entered into the interface.
Both the bees and the hive itself are parts of the security system, and activate to prevent casual cipher inputting by unauthorized users. The Hive begins to spin at ridiculous speeds, pulling up a cyclone of air and lavender lake water, and the warrior drones are placed on high alert. (This all makes Benedictum very grumpy, he’s less than technical and can’t disable the security system, but it all seems so bloody baroque. He’d prefer a nice quite chat with a friendly customer service representative).
Someone must brave the cyclone and bees to enter the cipher. The inhabitants of Tahl’keen, academics all, are far too busy for this kind of nonsense and so suitable outsiders are lured/bribed/kidnapped to do the deed. The scholars are quite keen on the associated festivities though, which involve rather a lot of increasingly heated wagers, coffee carts, and sitting in comfortable chairs while watching from a safe distance.
A single group might lack motivation, so Emergency Day by long tradition is a contest between two sets of reluctant inductees. Each group will pilot one of the pair of ornithopters (named Espresso and Macchiato) up to the Ceramite Hive and the winner is whomever manages to enter the failsafe cipher while keeping their insides on the inside. The winners receive their choice of either a chest full of gold and jewels, or a 2% stake in Benedictum’s Brews, a multiverse-spanning line of franchised specialty coffee shops.
The Opposition. Four pint-sized Althesian Compu-Monks, identically dressed in black robes with glowing orange eyes. When they speak they all speak in a falsetto chorus, and they seem strangely comfortable with larceny and casual thumpings. Insert the monks into the festivities whenever it seems most inconvenient for the players.
Skill 12, Stamina 10, Initiative 2, Armour 2, Damage 1d6 Shock batons. Experts in non-consensual salvage and general sneakiness.
Doggerel. The contestants get free coffee for the duration of the contest. They may plumb the city's libraries for information about their opponents, ornithopter design and maintenance, or even late medieval cheese mongering. Roll skill vs 12 and get a extra scoop of one ability on your ‘thopter, or +2 on one roll vs one of the mountain groups.
Every time you roll skill in a library, roll a d6 for hazards and fees
1-3: Nothing but dust mites
4: pay 20 gold entrance fee;
5: take 1d3 damage from aggressive bookworms;
6: A nice sandwich and large latte bribe will get you in.
The Ornithopters. Fussy brass and leather flying contraptions. Each has a brew unit behind a crew compartment and four dragonfly wings made of translucent ceramite. Drop scoopfuls of your collected beans in the hopper and grind them. The resulting brew creates a hypo-magical field and grants you ‘copter skills. For each scoop (max 9 scoops):
A scoop of Espresso adds + 1 to attack rolls (1d6 Zzap damage)
A scoop of Light Roast adds +1 to speed rolls
A scoop of Dark Roast adds +1 to handling rolls
Powered by poetry. The ornithopters are semi-sentient and respond to verbal commands. Commands given in rhyming couplets grant an additional +1 to the roll. The player must rhyme out loud.
When a ‘thopter takes damage, first remove the hypo-magical field, one bonus at a time per point of damage. The chassis itself has three stamina.
Up the Mountain
The Fuel. You need specific enchanted coffee beans to power the ornithopters, so each group is given a fancy sack and a day to collect their fuel. The magical bean types are grown by three groups of the Ark’s stranger inhabitants, all of whom live on or around Whispers of Vast Solitude. In the lush dales at its feet flit the Green Blossom Faries, who grow Double-Rosted Apple Dark (handling). Nesting on its rugged shoulders, the Microsphinxes, who grow Thelomon Sunrise Morning Blend (speed). Dolorously chanting on its dizzy heights, the Sentient Fulgurites, who grow Galvanic Special Espresso (Zzap). Each group has three beans, how many the group finds/steals/trades for is up to the GM.
Mountain Hazards – roll once between each destination.
Green Blossom Faries. Wee pale flyers. Very cute. Mouths full of needle fangs.
Skill 12, Stamina 8, Initiative 3, Armour 1, Damage 1d4
Love a good practical joke and hiding things in the foliage of their lush valley home. Perhaps a scavenger hunt? Then something to eat…
Microsphinxes. Flying, dog-sized with the heads of human infants. Way smart. Sharp claws and a penchant for rhyme.
Skill 10, Stamina 15, Initiative 3, Armour 1, Damage 1d6
Poetry slam! Match their rhyming skills or you’ll get slammed right off the cliff side.
Sentient Fulgurite. Waddling living rock formations. Huge cowards, very secretive. Speak in song form.
Skill 10, Stamina 15, Initiative 1, Armour 3, Damage 1d10 lightning bolt
Build mazes of beehive shaped stone huts on their mountain top. Secret love of lemon drops.
Brave the Vortex
The group can brew their beans and make any adjustments to their ornithopter, then it is time to fly. This all happens on a lakeside observation deck with the whole populace of Doggerel watching and shouting encouragement. There will be a coutdown and a cannon shot to announces liftoff for the two ornithopters.
The Vortex. A whirling mix of air and lavender water 500’ high that surrounds the hive. You need 5 progress to make it to the eye of the vortex and the Rainbow Interface. Roll on the table below until 5 total progress have been accumulated. Hazards can be avoided using whatever ornithopter skills the players can make a case for.
Ingredients: McGuffin of Certain Doom; Seaside Showdown; Ornate Ornithopter; Sack of Coffee Beans; Mediocre Poet; Eye of the Bee Holder; Wind Tunnel
Tahl’keen, golden habitat ark, sails serenely through the heavens. It is the property of Benedictum, retired god of good coffee and beat poetry, who won it in a card game from a trickster good of the Lesser Pamploose. He has peopled it with poets and professors of rhetoric from a thousand worlds so that he might find a bit of decent conversation once in awhile. It has one city, Doggerel, which rests on the shore of the lavender Lake Iambic, at the foot of the Ark’s single mountain, Whispers of Vast Solitude. The city is a pleasant maze of cobbled streets lined with book stores, tobacconists, refined coffee shops, and libraries, all staffed by eager servitor-cyborgs and the odd summer student.
Tahl’keen has an occasional problem. Once every 100 years the vast ship’s security failsafe kicks in. On that day, called Emergency Day, a new secure cipher must be entered into the Rainbow Interface or the Ark will explode with the force of 73.5 suns, which everyone agrees would be quite inconvenient. The Rainbow Interface is located on the top of the Ark’s other main feature, the huge floating Ceramite Hive of the Opalescent Dream Bees (know both for prophecy and delectable honey). On the summit of that huge floating hive, opposite the Rainbow Interface, stands a tall pillar of dream wax, which pulses and shimmers constantly, its patterns occasionally revealing a great truth or foretelling. On the Day of Emergency, the pillar shimmers with the colour cipher that must be entered into the interface.
Both the bees and the hive itself are parts of the security system, and activate to prevent casual cipher inputting by unauthorized users. The Hive begins to spin at ridiculous speeds, pulling up a cyclone of air and lavender lake water, and the warrior drones are placed on high alert. (This all makes Benedictum very grumpy, he’s less than technical and can’t disable the security system, but it all seems so bloody baroque. He’d prefer a nice quite chat with a friendly customer service representative).
Someone must brave the cyclone and bees to enter the cipher. The inhabitants of Tahl’keen, academics all, are far too busy for this kind of nonsense and so suitable outsiders are lured/bribed/kidnapped to do the deed. The scholars are quite keen on the associated festivities though, which involve rather a lot of increasingly heated wagers, coffee carts, and sitting in comfortable chairs while watching from a safe distance.
A single group might lack motivation, so Emergency Day by long tradition is a contest between two sets of reluctant inductees. Each group will pilot one of the pair of ornithopters (named Espresso and Macchiato) up to the Ceramite Hive and the winner is whomever manages to enter the failsafe cipher while keeping their insides on the inside. The winners receive their choice of either a chest full of gold and jewels, or a 2% stake in Benedictum’s Brews, a multiverse-spanning line of franchised specialty coffee shops.
The Opposition. Four pint-sized Althesian Compu-Monks, identically dressed in black robes with glowing orange eyes. When they speak they all speak in a falsetto chorus, and they seem strangely comfortable with larceny and casual thumpings. Insert the monks into the festivities whenever it seems most inconvenient for the players.
Skill 12, Stamina 10, Initiative 2, Armour 2, Damage 1d6 Shock batons. Experts in non-consensual salvage and general sneakiness.
Doggerel. The contestants get free coffee for the duration of the contest. They may plumb the city's libraries for information about their opponents, ornithopter design and maintenance, or even late medieval cheese mongering. Roll skill vs 12 and get a extra scoop of one ability on your ‘thopter, or +2 on one roll vs one of the mountain groups.
Every time you roll skill in a library, roll a d6 for hazards and fees
1-3: Nothing but dust mites
4: pay 20 gold entrance fee;
5: take 1d3 damage from aggressive bookworms;
6: A nice sandwich and large latte bribe will get you in.
The Ornithopters. Fussy brass and leather flying contraptions. Each has a brew unit behind a crew compartment and four dragonfly wings made of translucent ceramite. Drop scoopfuls of your collected beans in the hopper and grind them. The resulting brew creates a hypo-magical field and grants you ‘copter skills. For each scoop (max 9 scoops):
A scoop of Espresso adds + 1 to attack rolls (1d6 Zzap damage)
A scoop of Light Roast adds +1 to speed rolls
A scoop of Dark Roast adds +1 to handling rolls
Powered by poetry. The ornithopters are semi-sentient and respond to verbal commands. Commands given in rhyming couplets grant an additional +1 to the roll. The player must rhyme out loud.
When a ‘thopter takes damage, first remove the hypo-magical field, one bonus at a time per point of damage. The chassis itself has three stamina.
Up the Mountain
The Fuel. You need specific enchanted coffee beans to power the ornithopters, so each group is given a fancy sack and a day to collect their fuel. The magical bean types are grown by three groups of the Ark’s stranger inhabitants, all of whom live on or around Whispers of Vast Solitude. In the lush dales at its feet flit the Green Blossom Faries, who grow Double-Rosted Apple Dark (handling). Nesting on its rugged shoulders, the Microsphinxes, who grow Thelomon Sunrise Morning Blend (speed). Dolorously chanting on its dizzy heights, the Sentient Fulgurites, who grow Galvanic Special Espresso (Zzap). Each group has three beans, how many the group finds/steals/trades for is up to the GM.
Mountain Hazards – roll once between each destination.
- Bean Rustlers are after your beans. Skill 8, Stamina 10, Initiative 1, Armour 1, Damage 1d6, Rusty Long Guns and wide brimmed hats
- A hard rain of deep funk. Spend one luck or lose one skill rank for a day.
- Rockslide. Big bouncing boulders. Roll skill vs 10 or take 1d6 damage.
- Confusing! Roll skill vs 10 or roll again on this table.
- Hipster trolls snap menacingly. Skill 10, Stamina 20, Initiative 2, Armour 2, Damage as large beast, regenerate 1 stamina/turn
- A helpful old gent gives you a cuppa and some directions. You arrive.
Green Blossom Faries. Wee pale flyers. Very cute. Mouths full of needle fangs.
Skill 12, Stamina 8, Initiative 3, Armour 1, Damage 1d4
Love a good practical joke and hiding things in the foliage of their lush valley home. Perhaps a scavenger hunt? Then something to eat…
Microsphinxes. Flying, dog-sized with the heads of human infants. Way smart. Sharp claws and a penchant for rhyme.
Skill 10, Stamina 15, Initiative 3, Armour 1, Damage 1d6
Poetry slam! Match their rhyming skills or you’ll get slammed right off the cliff side.
Sentient Fulgurite. Waddling living rock formations. Huge cowards, very secretive. Speak in song form.
Skill 10, Stamina 15, Initiative 1, Armour 3, Damage 1d10 lightning bolt
Build mazes of beehive shaped stone huts on their mountain top. Secret love of lemon drops.
Brave the Vortex
The group can brew their beans and make any adjustments to their ornithopter, then it is time to fly. This all happens on a lakeside observation deck with the whole populace of Doggerel watching and shouting encouragement. There will be a coutdown and a cannon shot to announces liftoff for the two ornithopters.
The Vortex. A whirling mix of air and lavender water 500’ high that surrounds the hive. You need 5 progress to make it to the eye of the vortex and the Rainbow Interface. Roll on the table below until 5 total progress have been accumulated. Hazards can be avoided using whatever ornithopter skills the players can make a case for.
- Crosswinds force you off course. Lose 1 progress.
- Chunks of flying coral. 1d3 horse-size chunks that do 1d3 damage each. (+1 progress)
- Warrior Drones. Very stingy. Skill 6, Stamina 4, Initiative 1, Armour 1, Damage 1d3 (+1 progress)
- The Kraken. Tentacles snake out of the foam to crush your ship. 1d6 damage (+1 progress)
- Swarm of worker bees. Take 1d4 damage from impacts. (+1 progress)
- Dogfight! The other ornithopter swoops out of the spray. Fight two rounds of ship to ship combat before the winds drag you apart. Skill 6, Hypomagic Shields 4,1d6 damage (+2 progress)
GMMichael
Guide of Modos
A Convenient Prophecy
Your ingredients are:
McGuffin of Certain Doom
Seaside Showdown
Ornate Ornithopter
Sack of Coffee Beans
Mediocre Poet
Eye of the Bee Holder
Wind Tunnel
Synopsis
The heroes encounter a middle-aged engineer whose sole occupation is preventing a trapped demon from destroying the countryside. They can earn some favor and coin by completing errands for the engineer (who is actually a competent sorceror), and/or they can investigate his story and find out that he's also a charlatan. The engineer's posh lifestyle is forfeit if the PCs leave with what they discover, so their departure might come to a climactic end.
Background
Pichoven is a medieval castle situated on a plateau near large pastures and a rocky ridge, the Palisade Peaks, that overlooks the tranquil Azulia sea. Its lord, Lady Bea, recently learned of a lost prophecy that explains many strange events that plagued her realm this year. One of her freemen, Denris of Enwall, is the accomplished engineer who presented the prophecy to her. He had been constructing a flying machine for one of the lady's bannermen, when he learned of the prophecy: a wasp-like demon is set to poison the realm and claim the realm for itself. The demon lives in a cave near the sea, cursed to end the lives of those who obstruct the cave. So Denris has modified his "ornithopter" to blow wind into the cave, trapping the demon without "obstructing" the cave. Lady Bea pays Denris in coin and property to maintain the machine, and thus prevent further malediction on the realm.
Hooks
-PCs have a friend (or meet one named Guffy) who has unsuccessfully been writing verse. He's enchanted by the idea of finding a real-life prophecy to inspire his writing (and Denris is now an expert on the new prophecy).
-Word reaches the PCs that the demon's captor, Denris, has errands that demand completion and payment.
-Holy or belligerent PCs hear about a demon that needs banishment (slaying) in the Palisade Peaks.
Characters
-Lady Bea Peakfall
A robust, aging lady with a lot on her plate, which usually includes crumpets coated in honey from the realm's distant hive-keepers. She's too busy to worry about yet another trouble, so she lets Denris handle the prophecy.
-Guffy of Lakeside
A young, optimistic bard who can't seem to find a patron. He has loads of unfinished scripts, none of which seem too impressive to the PCs. If this character is instead a friend of a PC, he/she has been writing verse secretly and doesn't consider his/her work ready for public scrutiny.
-Commander Reis
The stoic leader of a small bodyguard (a number of soldiers just larger than the PCs can effectively fight) charged with ensuring Denris and the ornithopter go unmolested. Reis is a reasonable woman, and sees Denris more as a duty than a savior.
-Denris of Enwall
The slightly mousy, eye patch-wearing (see the Dormitory) engineer who wears a sagely robe and flip-flops. He thinks that his ideas are always superbly clever, and gives off a sense of entitlement. He's actually an apprentice sorceror who can create light loads of electricity at will, as well as conjure an invisible, magical hand to manipulate things for him.
Encounters
-Guffy/writer-friend: has heard the Prophecy verbally from someone gossiping or a wandering bard. He's fascinated by its infamy, and wants to write something equally impactful. He hopes that studying the prophecy and quizzing Denris on it will lead to insights that allow him to find fame. So he'd like to meet Denris, regardless of the PC's motivation. When Guffy meets Denris later, Denris apprehensively says that he would show Guffy the prophecy if he weren't so busy. He then asks the PCs to complete one of his errands (see Denris encounter).
-Commander Reis: her primary motivation is to safeguard the ornithopter, the dormitory, and Denris when he's in the area. Denris leaves on occasion to perform "important tasks," or "ornithopter maintenance." Reis's bodyguard won't let the PCs into the dormitory without Denris's permission, but sneaking in is an option. Commander Reis doesn't pay close attention to what Denris does, just that he's safe from harm.
-Denris: spends some of his time "maintaining" the ornithopter, but spends equal amounts of time relaxing in his dormitory and taking trips to the castle. He's happy to explain how the ornithopter works, and how his vast knowledge allows him to keep it up. He uses his magic to make the machine's runes shine; his magical hand easily turns the stubborn crank, and his low-voltage magic causes a hum in the pipes that echoes throughout the cave, sounding like a giant bee buzzing within. To keep the PCs from being too nosy, Denris asks the PCs to perform errands for pay. These include picking up his weekly "supply box" from the castle (it's a sealed crate containing honey jars and a sack of coffee beans), carefully polishing the ornithopter (which gives the PCs a good look at the meaningless runes and the honey deposits in the cave), and filling his outdoor bathtub with fresh seawater (he claims he's so busy that he "never gets down to the water").
-Ornithopter: PCs can inspect a winged, helicopter-like contraption covered in "magical runes." It has a crankhouse situated outside the "cursed" cave near the dormitory, and two metal pipes/axles run to the propeller mechanisms just within the cave. The crank is almost impossible to turn, which dissuades anyone other than Denris (or his magic hand) from regularly operating it. The propellers block most of the cave, but one could crawl through when they're not in operation. Beyond lies small honey deposits (placed by Denris) and "wasp droppings" (coffee beans) that Denris says are proof of the demonic wasp within.
-Seaside showdown: when Denris is "maintaining" the ornithopter, he's actually just living the good life down on the beach, which is to where the cave leads. He tries to keep PCs at bay by asking them to turn the crank while he's clearing honey deposits that might hamper propeller movement. The PCs can wander through the cave to find Denris relaxing on a beach chair at the beach with a hot cup of honey-sweetened coffee. With only one eye left to lose, Denris tries to flee to his bodyguard and claim that the PCs are an immediate threat to his well-being.
Detail
-The Prophecy
"From lands beneath our own, it is born; when winds from afar blow, doom follows; the scourge rides the wind, feel its sting; arrest not the beholder, only his eye." Denris, like Guffy, has only heard the prophecy verbally - he doesn't like reading after losing an eye. He interprets the "beholder" line as "bee-holder," which is why he describes the demon as wasp-like.
-The Dormitory
A luxurious hut with a kitchenette and incriminating correspondence. Denris stores his snacks here, including the coffee and honey. A thorough investigation reveals a scroll with the Prophecy, and a letter from another lord explaining why he had to take Denris's eye: peeping on the lady of the house. Denris left that lord's lands in disgrace, and seeks the comfort that he deserves here, making due without an eye.
Resolution
Possible outcomes include the following. The PCs:
-decide that nothing requires investigating and leave. Denris becomes paranoid, thinking the PCs know something about his ruse, and decides to attack them once they're away from his bodyguard/witnesses.
-can present evidence to Commander Reis about the ruse, who will leave the bodyguard behind and confer with Lady Bea before arresting Denris.
-confront Denris where he cannot deny his ruse: on the beach. A battle of wills or weapons ensues. Denris has lost one life already, and he won't give up his new one without a fight.
-receive a reward from Lady Bea if/when the truth comes out: ownership of the dormitory.
Your ingredients are:
McGuffin of Certain Doom
Seaside Showdown
Ornate Ornithopter
Sack of Coffee Beans
Mediocre Poet
Eye of the Bee Holder
Wind Tunnel
Synopsis
The heroes encounter a middle-aged engineer whose sole occupation is preventing a trapped demon from destroying the countryside. They can earn some favor and coin by completing errands for the engineer (who is actually a competent sorceror), and/or they can investigate his story and find out that he's also a charlatan. The engineer's posh lifestyle is forfeit if the PCs leave with what they discover, so their departure might come to a climactic end.
Background
Pichoven is a medieval castle situated on a plateau near large pastures and a rocky ridge, the Palisade Peaks, that overlooks the tranquil Azulia sea. Its lord, Lady Bea, recently learned of a lost prophecy that explains many strange events that plagued her realm this year. One of her freemen, Denris of Enwall, is the accomplished engineer who presented the prophecy to her. He had been constructing a flying machine for one of the lady's bannermen, when he learned of the prophecy: a wasp-like demon is set to poison the realm and claim the realm for itself. The demon lives in a cave near the sea, cursed to end the lives of those who obstruct the cave. So Denris has modified his "ornithopter" to blow wind into the cave, trapping the demon without "obstructing" the cave. Lady Bea pays Denris in coin and property to maintain the machine, and thus prevent further malediction on the realm.
Hooks
-PCs have a friend (or meet one named Guffy) who has unsuccessfully been writing verse. He's enchanted by the idea of finding a real-life prophecy to inspire his writing (and Denris is now an expert on the new prophecy).
-Word reaches the PCs that the demon's captor, Denris, has errands that demand completion and payment.
-Holy or belligerent PCs hear about a demon that needs banishment (slaying) in the Palisade Peaks.
Characters
-Lady Bea Peakfall
A robust, aging lady with a lot on her plate, which usually includes crumpets coated in honey from the realm's distant hive-keepers. She's too busy to worry about yet another trouble, so she lets Denris handle the prophecy.
-Guffy of Lakeside
A young, optimistic bard who can't seem to find a patron. He has loads of unfinished scripts, none of which seem too impressive to the PCs. If this character is instead a friend of a PC, he/she has been writing verse secretly and doesn't consider his/her work ready for public scrutiny.
-Commander Reis
The stoic leader of a small bodyguard (a number of soldiers just larger than the PCs can effectively fight) charged with ensuring Denris and the ornithopter go unmolested. Reis is a reasonable woman, and sees Denris more as a duty than a savior.
-Denris of Enwall
The slightly mousy, eye patch-wearing (see the Dormitory) engineer who wears a sagely robe and flip-flops. He thinks that his ideas are always superbly clever, and gives off a sense of entitlement. He's actually an apprentice sorceror who can create light loads of electricity at will, as well as conjure an invisible, magical hand to manipulate things for him.
Encounters
-Guffy/writer-friend: has heard the Prophecy verbally from someone gossiping or a wandering bard. He's fascinated by its infamy, and wants to write something equally impactful. He hopes that studying the prophecy and quizzing Denris on it will lead to insights that allow him to find fame. So he'd like to meet Denris, regardless of the PC's motivation. When Guffy meets Denris later, Denris apprehensively says that he would show Guffy the prophecy if he weren't so busy. He then asks the PCs to complete one of his errands (see Denris encounter).
-Commander Reis: her primary motivation is to safeguard the ornithopter, the dormitory, and Denris when he's in the area. Denris leaves on occasion to perform "important tasks," or "ornithopter maintenance." Reis's bodyguard won't let the PCs into the dormitory without Denris's permission, but sneaking in is an option. Commander Reis doesn't pay close attention to what Denris does, just that he's safe from harm.
-Denris: spends some of his time "maintaining" the ornithopter, but spends equal amounts of time relaxing in his dormitory and taking trips to the castle. He's happy to explain how the ornithopter works, and how his vast knowledge allows him to keep it up. He uses his magic to make the machine's runes shine; his magical hand easily turns the stubborn crank, and his low-voltage magic causes a hum in the pipes that echoes throughout the cave, sounding like a giant bee buzzing within. To keep the PCs from being too nosy, Denris asks the PCs to perform errands for pay. These include picking up his weekly "supply box" from the castle (it's a sealed crate containing honey jars and a sack of coffee beans), carefully polishing the ornithopter (which gives the PCs a good look at the meaningless runes and the honey deposits in the cave), and filling his outdoor bathtub with fresh seawater (he claims he's so busy that he "never gets down to the water").
-Ornithopter: PCs can inspect a winged, helicopter-like contraption covered in "magical runes." It has a crankhouse situated outside the "cursed" cave near the dormitory, and two metal pipes/axles run to the propeller mechanisms just within the cave. The crank is almost impossible to turn, which dissuades anyone other than Denris (or his magic hand) from regularly operating it. The propellers block most of the cave, but one could crawl through when they're not in operation. Beyond lies small honey deposits (placed by Denris) and "wasp droppings" (coffee beans) that Denris says are proof of the demonic wasp within.
-Seaside showdown: when Denris is "maintaining" the ornithopter, he's actually just living the good life down on the beach, which is to where the cave leads. He tries to keep PCs at bay by asking them to turn the crank while he's clearing honey deposits that might hamper propeller movement. The PCs can wander through the cave to find Denris relaxing on a beach chair at the beach with a hot cup of honey-sweetened coffee. With only one eye left to lose, Denris tries to flee to his bodyguard and claim that the PCs are an immediate threat to his well-being.
Detail
-The Prophecy
"From lands beneath our own, it is born; when winds from afar blow, doom follows; the scourge rides the wind, feel its sting; arrest not the beholder, only his eye." Denris, like Guffy, has only heard the prophecy verbally - he doesn't like reading after losing an eye. He interprets the "beholder" line as "bee-holder," which is why he describes the demon as wasp-like.
-The Dormitory
A luxurious hut with a kitchenette and incriminating correspondence. Denris stores his snacks here, including the coffee and honey. A thorough investigation reveals a scroll with the Prophecy, and a letter from another lord explaining why he had to take Denris's eye: peeping on the lady of the house. Denris left that lord's lands in disgrace, and seeks the comfort that he deserves here, making due without an eye.
Resolution
Possible outcomes include the following. The PCs:
-decide that nothing requires investigating and leave. Denris becomes paranoid, thinking the PCs know something about his ruse, and decides to attack them once they're away from his bodyguard/witnesses.
-can present evidence to Commander Reis about the ruse, who will leave the bodyguard behind and confer with Lady Bea before arresting Denris.
-confront Denris where he cannot deny his ruse: on the beach. A battle of wills or weapons ensues. Denris has lost one life already, and he won't give up his new one without a fight.
-receive a reward from Lady Bea if/when the truth comes out: ownership of the dormitory.
Rune
Once A Fool
If my math is correct, @GMMichael only has a few minutes to hit the first deadline. If you’re going to miss it, keep in mind the word-count limit reductions for late entries!
Edit= Just beat me! Good on you!
Edit= Just beat me! Good on you!
FitzTheRuke
Legend
Iron DM 2025
FitzTheRuke’s Judgement for Round 2, Match 2:
Fenris-77 vs GMMichael
Following the Rules
Both @Fenris-77’s “Lavender Vortex of the Barista God” (Hereafter: “Vortex”) and @GMMichael’s “A Convenient Prophecy” (“Prophecy”) came in on time, though Prophecy was close enough to the wire to make the Judges sweat. Prophecy was well-under 1500 words (by my count 1284), while Vortex was… well, it depends on if we count the quick commentary above the Title. I feel that we should, but at the same time, it seems a bit harsh. The good news is that if we do, it “only” puts the word count at 1502, and if we cut off the last two words, we simply have the last sentence change from “You have a minute or two to correct your error” to “You have a minute or two to correct”, which (thankfully) amounts to essentially the same thing.
I’ll say that Vortex is off the hook for this minor and admittedly nit-picky infraction, but all entries should keep it in mind. By all means, make comments, but try to keep them out of your proper entry.
Still, if it comes to needing some sort of tie-breaker, I guess this one will go to Prophesy.
Presentation and Readability
I’m going to say it: I think I may have audibly gasped when I saw the list of ingredients, so I want to be perfectly clear before I try to pick these entries apart: CONGRATULATIONS. Both of you, for pulling this off. I find this round inspiring in a way that makes me wish that I was competing, rather than judging, to see if I could pull off anything as good. Well done.
They’re not perfect: For example, Vortex says, “trickster good” and “nice quite chat” when it is probably meant to read “trickster god” and “nice quiet chat”. Similarly, Prophesy has “making due without” when I suspect that “making do without” is what’s needed, but c’mon. I’d have to be being pretty darn strict to fault them for it.
It’s close enough to be a tie.
Playing Them as Adventures
I’ve played Troika! only once, but by my recollection, Vortex nails it. The game is a good fit for Iron DM, and so is this entry. It’s zany – something that is pretty much necessary, given the ingredients, but it takes its zaniness ‘seriously’ in that, it still needs to have structure and coherence. It needs to be playable. Vortex pulls all of this off. It looks like it would be a hell of a lot of fun!
Prophesy has a significantly more ‘subdued’ pace. This isn’t a bad thing, by itself. The mystery, however, seems a bit too straightforward. So easy to stumble upon Denris shirking his duty that there isn’t really much investigating to do. Ultimately, I’m not sure how I would keep it moving forward. Would the PCs fight the bodyguard (an encounter that’s said to be ‘just larger than the PCs can effectively fight’) or can they convince Commander Reis that it’s all Denris fault and he’s a liar. Would she care, if her job is simply to guard him? She hasn’t shown much interest in what he’s doing, so she might just be duty-bound, in particular if the PCs have been sneaking around without permission.
This one goes to Vortex.
Ingredient Use
As usual, the most important thing is how they used their ingredients, so let’s get down to it:
McGuffin of Certain Doom
In Vortex, we have the Security System, or more precisely, the Rainbow Interface; it drives the plot and would cause Certain Doom if left unattended. If anything, the only weakness I see here is that a McGuffin should ‘drive the plot and motivation, but otherwise in itself be irrelevant’. This is, of course, utterly at odds with what an Iron DM Ingredient should be – utterly important and irreplaceable! Tough nut to crack! I can hardly fault you for having your McGuffin be too relevant, can I?
In Prophesy, the McGuffin seems to be the Wasp-Demon, as it is the primary motivator for everything, but as it doesn’t truly exist, it would be hard for it to lead to Certain Doom. Though I suppose everyone believes that it will (at least at the start). Without the Ornithopter keeping it in its cave, it will wreak havoc on the land.
There’s also the NPC named “Guffy”. Who feels like he should have something to do with this ingredient, based on the name. But he doesn’t seem to.
I’ll give a slight bump to Vortex.
Seaside Showdown
Vortex has its climactic battle by the Lake Iambic. It’s an aerial battle, so I’d complain about it not really being “by the sea” if it weren’t for the lake water being funneled up and causing hazards for both sides during the battle. I could argue that “Lake” and “Sea” are different things (they really, really are – see my tirade regarding wasps and bees below) but, as it is the Ark’s only large body of water, it would be functionally equivalent to the citizens in the setting.
Prophesy calls out the showdown that will, most likely, occur on the beach when the PCs confront Denris after discovering his ruse. There’s a confrontation to be had, but it might not be much of a showdown, depending on if the PCs have gathered enough evidence to convince Commander Reis.
I’m going to give this one to Vortex, if only because I feel that in Prophesy, the right combination of PC actions might cause the event not to happen.
Ornate Ornithopter
Vortex does a great job of having this ingredient be absolutely essential for the whole adventure. The PCs pilot one, they side-quest to fuel it, they compete with another, the whole shebang. It’s described as made of fussy brass and leather, so it’s certainly ornate, but it’s not enough just to say so. It has a bean-hopper and grinder. One can only imagine it as a strange combination of a modern espresso machine and a DaVincian flying machine. That’s gotta be ornate, and it’s certainly an ornithopter.
In Prophesy, it’s a contraption that blows wind into a cave to keep the demon at bay. It’s important to the plot, or at least the ruse, but in a lot of ways it’s more evocative of a big fan than an ornithopter, despite being described as such, and it’s ornate in that it is covered in magic runes and pipes, presumably to make it appear appropriately powerful. But none of its ornateness is particularly important, other than maybe the crank (which is somehow very difficult to use, but can also be done by a Mage Hand, which is usually considered to be a very weak hand).
I’m going to give it to Vortex here.
Sack of Coffee Beans
This is another ingredient that Vortex lays scattered throughout. It powers the Ornithopters, the PCs go on a fetch quest for it, everyone is drinking it, and one of the rewards is a stake in a multiversal coffeehouse. Coffee is everywhere. Sure, it’s not always in sacks, or in bean form, but it’s gathered and used that way often enough to be a most solid use of the ingredient.
Prophesy has a sack of coffee beans, possibly encountered by the PCs if they take a task to fetch it for Denris, or loot it from his possessions. He uses the beans as part of his ruse as “wasp droppings”. It’s fine, but it’s not as strong as its competitor’s use.
So, this one goes to Vortex.
Mediocre Poet
The ornithopters in Vortex may be powered by coffee (I think my wife has a mug that says “Powered by Coffee”) but they’re piloted by poetry. The players will have to rhyme. This seems like fun, and while there is a big chance that any given game will wind up with terrible poetry, rather than Mediocre (and there’s a chance of actually pretty great stuff, too!) I think we can expect that the average will hit the mediocre mark.
In Prophesy, Guffy of Lakeside is an NPC who will likely be useful in providing information on the titular Prophesy, presumably helping to reveal the truth. He’s useful, and is described as being a writer of middling talent, but he doesn’t quite ever get much of a chance to have his actual poetry feature in the adventure one way or the other. His interest in lore is more important than his poetry.
One more for Vortex.
Eye of the Bee Holder
The Eye in Vortex is more the eye of the storm, which happens to be at the Bee Holder (the Ceramite Hive) rather than the eye of the bee-holder itself. The scenario seems like awesome fun, but it’s a bit of a cheat to make the ingredient work.
I’m afraid that Prophesy hits on a bit of a pet-peeve of mine: A Wasp is not a Bee, in the same way that an Eagle is not a Duck. If the ingredient was “Shrieking Eagle” and you gave us a “Quacking Duck” you know that you’d lose points, right? So many people conflate the two as if they are interchangeable. They are not. Otherwise, Prophesy has Denris missing his Eye and Holding his “Bee” (Wasp) – Demon, but none of it really pans out as all that important. The eye is relegated to backstory, and the demon is a charade. There’s honey here-and-there, but aside from being part of the ruse (and part of the drinks, and a fetch-quest) it doesn’t add much in the way of bees (or holders, for that matter). The story is good, but the ingredient isn’t strong.
This one is a bit of a wash. To be fair, it’s a ridiculous ingredient. That’s part of the fun, of course, but it was never going to be easy.
Wind Tunnel
Vortex has it in the name, but that certainly isn’t an automatic win. It’s got to matter. Here we have the climactic battle in storm of both wind and water; busting rhymes to pilot a winged coffee grinder in an aerial dogfight (See also: Seaside Showdown).
Prophesy has a Wind Tunnel created by Denris’ Ornithopter to keep the phoney Wasp Demon in check (and others out). It’s wind. It’s in a tunnel. It does the job.
I guess that it’s fair to say that I like Vortex’s use more, but I can’t really say that it’s objectively a better use than Prophesy’s. I’ll call this one is a tie.
Conclusion
FitzTheRuke’s Judgement for Round 2, Match 2:
Fenris-77 vs GMMichael
Following the Rules
Both @Fenris-77’s “Lavender Vortex of the Barista God” (Hereafter: “Vortex”) and @GMMichael’s “A Convenient Prophecy” (“Prophecy”) came in on time, though Prophecy was close enough to the wire to make the Judges sweat. Prophecy was well-under 1500 words (by my count 1284), while Vortex was… well, it depends on if we count the quick commentary above the Title. I feel that we should, but at the same time, it seems a bit harsh. The good news is that if we do, it “only” puts the word count at 1502, and if we cut off the last two words, we simply have the last sentence change from “You have a minute or two to correct your error” to “You have a minute or two to correct”, which (thankfully) amounts to essentially the same thing.
I’ll say that Vortex is off the hook for this minor and admittedly nit-picky infraction, but all entries should keep it in mind. By all means, make comments, but try to keep them out of your proper entry.
Still, if it comes to needing some sort of tie-breaker, I guess this one will go to Prophesy.
Presentation and Readability
I’m going to say it: I think I may have audibly gasped when I saw the list of ingredients, so I want to be perfectly clear before I try to pick these entries apart: CONGRATULATIONS. Both of you, for pulling this off. I find this round inspiring in a way that makes me wish that I was competing, rather than judging, to see if I could pull off anything as good. Well done.
They’re not perfect: For example, Vortex says, “trickster good” and “nice quite chat” when it is probably meant to read “trickster god” and “nice quiet chat”. Similarly, Prophesy has “making due without” when I suspect that “making do without” is what’s needed, but c’mon. I’d have to be being pretty darn strict to fault them for it.
It’s close enough to be a tie.
Playing Them as Adventures
I’ve played Troika! only once, but by my recollection, Vortex nails it. The game is a good fit for Iron DM, and so is this entry. It’s zany – something that is pretty much necessary, given the ingredients, but it takes its zaniness ‘seriously’ in that, it still needs to have structure and coherence. It needs to be playable. Vortex pulls all of this off. It looks like it would be a hell of a lot of fun!
Prophesy has a significantly more ‘subdued’ pace. This isn’t a bad thing, by itself. The mystery, however, seems a bit too straightforward. So easy to stumble upon Denris shirking his duty that there isn’t really much investigating to do. Ultimately, I’m not sure how I would keep it moving forward. Would the PCs fight the bodyguard (an encounter that’s said to be ‘just larger than the PCs can effectively fight’) or can they convince Commander Reis that it’s all Denris fault and he’s a liar. Would she care, if her job is simply to guard him? She hasn’t shown much interest in what he’s doing, so she might just be duty-bound, in particular if the PCs have been sneaking around without permission.
This one goes to Vortex.
Ingredient Use
As usual, the most important thing is how they used their ingredients, so let’s get down to it:
McGuffin of Certain Doom
In Vortex, we have the Security System, or more precisely, the Rainbow Interface; it drives the plot and would cause Certain Doom if left unattended. If anything, the only weakness I see here is that a McGuffin should ‘drive the plot and motivation, but otherwise in itself be irrelevant’. This is, of course, utterly at odds with what an Iron DM Ingredient should be – utterly important and irreplaceable! Tough nut to crack! I can hardly fault you for having your McGuffin be too relevant, can I?
In Prophesy, the McGuffin seems to be the Wasp-Demon, as it is the primary motivator for everything, but as it doesn’t truly exist, it would be hard for it to lead to Certain Doom. Though I suppose everyone believes that it will (at least at the start). Without the Ornithopter keeping it in its cave, it will wreak havoc on the land.
There’s also the NPC named “Guffy”. Who feels like he should have something to do with this ingredient, based on the name. But he doesn’t seem to.
I’ll give a slight bump to Vortex.
Seaside Showdown
Vortex has its climactic battle by the Lake Iambic. It’s an aerial battle, so I’d complain about it not really being “by the sea” if it weren’t for the lake water being funneled up and causing hazards for both sides during the battle. I could argue that “Lake” and “Sea” are different things (they really, really are – see my tirade regarding wasps and bees below) but, as it is the Ark’s only large body of water, it would be functionally equivalent to the citizens in the setting.
Prophesy calls out the showdown that will, most likely, occur on the beach when the PCs confront Denris after discovering his ruse. There’s a confrontation to be had, but it might not be much of a showdown, depending on if the PCs have gathered enough evidence to convince Commander Reis.
I’m going to give this one to Vortex, if only because I feel that in Prophesy, the right combination of PC actions might cause the event not to happen.
Ornate Ornithopter
Vortex does a great job of having this ingredient be absolutely essential for the whole adventure. The PCs pilot one, they side-quest to fuel it, they compete with another, the whole shebang. It’s described as made of fussy brass and leather, so it’s certainly ornate, but it’s not enough just to say so. It has a bean-hopper and grinder. One can only imagine it as a strange combination of a modern espresso machine and a DaVincian flying machine. That’s gotta be ornate, and it’s certainly an ornithopter.
In Prophesy, it’s a contraption that blows wind into a cave to keep the demon at bay. It’s important to the plot, or at least the ruse, but in a lot of ways it’s more evocative of a big fan than an ornithopter, despite being described as such, and it’s ornate in that it is covered in magic runes and pipes, presumably to make it appear appropriately powerful. But none of its ornateness is particularly important, other than maybe the crank (which is somehow very difficult to use, but can also be done by a Mage Hand, which is usually considered to be a very weak hand).
I’m going to give it to Vortex here.
Sack of Coffee Beans
This is another ingredient that Vortex lays scattered throughout. It powers the Ornithopters, the PCs go on a fetch quest for it, everyone is drinking it, and one of the rewards is a stake in a multiversal coffeehouse. Coffee is everywhere. Sure, it’s not always in sacks, or in bean form, but it’s gathered and used that way often enough to be a most solid use of the ingredient.
Prophesy has a sack of coffee beans, possibly encountered by the PCs if they take a task to fetch it for Denris, or loot it from his possessions. He uses the beans as part of his ruse as “wasp droppings”. It’s fine, but it’s not as strong as its competitor’s use.
So, this one goes to Vortex.
Mediocre Poet
The ornithopters in Vortex may be powered by coffee (I think my wife has a mug that says “Powered by Coffee”) but they’re piloted by poetry. The players will have to rhyme. This seems like fun, and while there is a big chance that any given game will wind up with terrible poetry, rather than Mediocre (and there’s a chance of actually pretty great stuff, too!) I think we can expect that the average will hit the mediocre mark.
In Prophesy, Guffy of Lakeside is an NPC who will likely be useful in providing information on the titular Prophesy, presumably helping to reveal the truth. He’s useful, and is described as being a writer of middling talent, but he doesn’t quite ever get much of a chance to have his actual poetry feature in the adventure one way or the other. His interest in lore is more important than his poetry.
One more for Vortex.
Eye of the Bee Holder
The Eye in Vortex is more the eye of the storm, which happens to be at the Bee Holder (the Ceramite Hive) rather than the eye of the bee-holder itself. The scenario seems like awesome fun, but it’s a bit of a cheat to make the ingredient work.
I’m afraid that Prophesy hits on a bit of a pet-peeve of mine: A Wasp is not a Bee, in the same way that an Eagle is not a Duck. If the ingredient was “Shrieking Eagle” and you gave us a “Quacking Duck” you know that you’d lose points, right? So many people conflate the two as if they are interchangeable. They are not. Otherwise, Prophesy has Denris missing his Eye and Holding his “Bee” (Wasp) – Demon, but none of it really pans out as all that important. The eye is relegated to backstory, and the demon is a charade. There’s honey here-and-there, but aside from being part of the ruse (and part of the drinks, and a fetch-quest) it doesn’t add much in the way of bees (or holders, for that matter). The story is good, but the ingredient isn’t strong.
This one is a bit of a wash. To be fair, it’s a ridiculous ingredient. That’s part of the fun, of course, but it was never going to be easy.
Wind Tunnel
Vortex has it in the name, but that certainly isn’t an automatic win. It’s got to matter. Here we have the climactic battle in storm of both wind and water; busting rhymes to pilot a winged coffee grinder in an aerial dogfight (See also: Seaside Showdown).
Prophesy has a Wind Tunnel created by Denris’ Ornithopter to keep the phoney Wasp Demon in check (and others out). It’s wind. It’s in a tunnel. It does the job.
I guess that it’s fair to say that I like Vortex’s use more, but I can’t really say that it’s objectively a better use than Prophesy’s. I’ll call this one is a tie.
Conclusion
It looks like my vote is for @Fenris-77 to move on!
In my opinion, “Lavender Vortex of the Barista God” is a singularly top-tier entry for Iron DM. It’s very difficult to get so many disparate ingredients to jive into a cohesive narrative. And not just that, it must be playable as well. This entry looks like it would be a lot of fun. The ingredients are generally layered throughout, unmistakable and unmissable. Observers and other competitors should take note: This is how it’s done.
Let’s be clear: @GMMichael’s “A Convenient Prophecy” is very good. I liked it a lot. It just got beat by a better entry.
Hats off to both of you. Iron DM’s Ingredients are never easy, but you got a hard lot, and you delivered.
In my opinion, “Lavender Vortex of the Barista God” is a singularly top-tier entry for Iron DM. It’s very difficult to get so many disparate ingredients to jive into a cohesive narrative. And not just that, it must be playable as well. This entry looks like it would be a lot of fun. The ingredients are generally layered throughout, unmistakable and unmissable. Observers and other competitors should take note: This is how it’s done.
Let’s be clear: @GMMichael’s “A Convenient Prophecy” is very good. I liked it a lot. It just got beat by a better entry.
Hats off to both of you. Iron DM’s Ingredients are never easy, but you got a hard lot, and you delivered.
