IRON DM General Discussion

[el-remmen]

Not so much “almighty” as “available to judge in a year that couldn’t produce three available judges.” It wouldn’t be the last such year.

Replace "god" with "almighty" and this is my reply:

 

[Rune]

Taking @el-remmen's suggestion into account, I've moved our more general discussion to a new thread.

My own purpose: building an interesting and exciting IRON DM spinoff for the summer. On the table right now are two main ideas. Perhaps I'll start a poll thread at some point to gauge general interest, but for now it seems like we can one of two directions:
*Game Design - Likely limited to D&D5e. Requires game mastery, balance. Potential to tie-in with ENWorld's Level Up? Creativity tested, but design skill is at the forefront.
*World Building - Ecology and storytelling over mechanics. System and genre neutral. Creativity spotlighted. Seems the more popular idea so far.

I'm of two minds myself; as IRON DM is typically not about game mechanics much at all, a world building competition would remain in line with that spirit, while a game design competition would set it apart from its older cousin.

Beyond that, we need to determine a structure (weekly challenges with a single elimination is the most common I've seen suggested so far), and, perhaps most importantly, a pithy name for our new spinoff

So…is this going to be a thing? We’re getting pretty close to the point when we want to start the actual tournament in motion.

Maybe we (that is, IRON DM enthusiasts) could develop the format of this spin-off further with the intent of doing a Spring 2022 debut?

 

[Gradine]

Yeah, I don't think anything much generated out of this discussion, and I simply did not have the time to organize something over the Summer. I would be interested in continuing a conversation of a possible spinoff for Spring 2022.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Yeah, my summer has been a bit crazy too, although it's winding down a little bit finally. I'm lurking, though.... always lurking.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I'm finally able to lurk a bit on these boards in a way I have not been able to for quite some time -- I'm trying to get myself acclimated again. And, @el-remmen, I'm sorry for the pain of editing my judgements....

 

[Radiating Gnome]

But I'm likely going to be available for Spring of 2022.

 

[Rune]

So here is my working draft if we're going with four weeks-two categories each:

Danger Week
Design:
1) A monster or creature. We are looking for: origin or ecology, behavior, signature abilities, weakness(es)
AND
2) A hazard or trap. Man-made or environmental. What is the risk? How can it be dealt with?

NPC Week
Design:
1) A villain. We are looking for: origin, motivation, beliefs and behaviors, weakness(es), resources
AND
2) A patron or ally. A friendly NPC. What are their motivations and resources? How far are they willing to go to help the PCs?

Location Week
Design:
1) A dungeon. We are looking for: a hostile environment, home to hostile creatures. Who live there, and what are they defending?
AND
2) A settlement. A (relatively) peaceful location, populated by non-hostile creatures. Who lives there, what are they like, what are their attitudes and beliefs?

And finally...

Epic Week
Design:
1) A deity or religion. What is their purview/portfolio? What are their practices and beliefs? What are their clergy like? How about their everyday practitioners?
AND
2) A powerful artifact. What is its origin and purpose? What is its attitude or influence on those who wield it? What happens if it falls in the wrong hands? How can it be destroyed?

Just rereading this thread. I like these categories, but it occurs to me that I would also really like a “Plot Hook” category. A good plot hook can make an adventure. And bad ones can break it.

 

[CleverNickName]

(in case I posted this in the wrong thread earlier...)

I'd like to invite all the lurkers, contributors, Iron DMs, and judges to participate in a fun little writing contest that I created. The day before yesterday. In like, ten minutes. On a whim.

It's the Pumpkin Pie Spice Writing Contest! This contest is open to any ENWorld member, and there's a real prize: a £25 gift certificate to the EN Publishing online store. All contributions of all kinds are welcome, from monsters and magic items, to battle maps and VTT monster tokens, to entire adventures...but they all must involve Pumpkin, Pie, and/or Spice in some way. Come witness the folly, join the fun, and maybe win some cool RPG stuff!

https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-pumpkin-pie-spice-thread-and-writing-contest.699770/

 

[Fenris-77]

Rargh!! More disappointment!!

 

[Enkhidu]

Mmmmmmm. Thanks for bringing this back into view, CleverNickName - this thread (and more importantly the asspociated links) was a trip down memory lane.