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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gradine" data-source="post: 9760385" data-attributes="member: 57112">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 CourseThe 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 ExpositionYour 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. ClevernessClever 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.IrreplaceabilityMost 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 GoodThis 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!<img src="https://media0.giphy.com/media/l3mZo5YSJXPi9rtV6/200.gif" alt="nobodys perfect nbc GIF by The Good Place" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Have Fun!</blockquote>

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