Gradine
🏳️⚧️ (she/her) 🇵🇸
Like the legend of the Phoenix...
All ends with beginnings...
What keeps the planet spinning...
The force from the beginning...
-Poet laureates Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, presumably regarding Iron DM 2025
Once upon a time, over twenty years ago, one man had a dream,… to find the best, most creative Dungeon Masters the internet had to offer. To this end, he crafted an arena in which DMs could test their creative mettle against one another, in an elimination fight to the finish to determine which deserved the title of IRON DM! This tournament became an annual event, eagerly anticipated. However, that dream would ultimately come to an end... for like a year. Look, it was a tough year for a lot of people!
But that which is dead may never die, and the time has come to resurrect that time-honored ENWorld tradition. The time has come once more to gear up for writerly battle. and stare down, face-to-face, with that most timeless of questions: what in the actual hell is an "Athletic Airship*"? You're giving me "Pink Socks*", really? "Un-Coordinates*??" "Swooping**?!?!" Are the judges high?!
*Actual ingredients I've been dealt as a contestant
**Actually, that one was my fault
Wait... what are you talking about? What is IRON DM?
Eightvictims brave souls are paired off against each other and given a set of ingredients, usually six to eight. These ingredients must all be used to concoct a tasty RPG adventure or scenario, keeping it within a preassigned word-count. A totally fair and impartial judge, or panel of judges, determine which of the two entries is the best and the winner advances to the next round. After three rounds of elimination, only one contestant will remain and they are declared this year’s IRON DM.
That's the basic structure. A more accurate and detailed set of this current tournament's rules will appear later.
So how did this all get started?
Can I read some of the older tournaments?
And then there's also the IRON DM Anthology. This is a collection of entries from the above tournaments that are particularly usable and/or inspiring, not necessarily winning entries. It hasn't been updated in a while however... it might be time a Volume 2...
So what exactly are the rules?
Scheduling, Discussing, and Spectating:
The purpose of this thread is (a) to findwilling victims contestants, and (b) to recruit our doomed test subjects full panel of judges!
Contestants should be willing to commit themselves to 1-3 rounds of intense RPG adventure writing action. Each round gives you 24-48 hours, so anticipate needing to have up to three periods of roughly that length you feel comfortable enough setting aside to write a 750-2000 adventure synopsis. Otherwise, all we ask is that yousubmit yourself and your writing to the merciless critique and ridicule of your peers and fellow competitors have fun!
We will also need two additional judges! Judges are usually (but not always) chosen from a pool of past judges and winners, but in recent years it has been difficult to recruit past judges who would rather judge than get to compete again, and then we end up with no judges (see also: Iron DM 2024). However, unlike past tournament organizers (<cough @Rune cough>) I'm not masochistic enough to try to judge a full tournament myself, so I'm opening this up to you all! Have you competed in the past but always been interested in being a judge? We're looking for you! Yes, specifically you, in the shirt.
Please help me.
Once all contestants and judges have signed up, this thread will be used only for scheduling the matches.
Once we begin, the tournament thread will be used to list the ingredients and the judgements for each match, as well as the entries, themselves. 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 the judges can view the entries with fresh eyes! We always love to have additional commentary!
If spectators would like to play a “home game”, please feel free to do that in this thread.
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 or alter your entries once the tournament has concluded.
So, who can enter?
Anyone! It could even... be YOU!
@Whizbang Dustyboots, as the most recent IRON DM (IRON DM 2023), has automatic entry into this tournament should they choose to participate again!
Wait, but who the heck are you?
Ah yes, I am Gradine, an oft-time competitor, two-time Iron DM Champion (2017, 2021), four-time judge and now three-time Mistress of Ceremonies for these proceedings. I've been involved in these trials and tribulations since 2014, which basically makes me still a newbie.
So, I gotta ask:
Are you creative enough?
Are you disciplined enough?
Are you good enough?
Sign up and prove it!
Our Contestants:
1: @Whizbang Dustyboots (IRON DM 2023)
2: @humble minion (IRON DM 2020)
3: @Fenris-77
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
Alternates:
1: @bedir than
2:
3:
All ends with beginnings...
What keeps the planet spinning...
The force from the beginning...
-Poet laureates Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, presumably regarding Iron DM 2025
Once upon a time, over twenty years ago, one man had a dream,… to find the best, most creative Dungeon Masters the internet had to offer. To this end, he crafted an arena in which DMs could test their creative mettle against one another, in an elimination fight to the finish to determine which deserved the title of IRON DM! This tournament became an annual event, eagerly anticipated. However, that dream would ultimately come to an end... for like a year. Look, it was a tough year for a lot of people!
But that which is dead may never die, and the time has come to resurrect that time-honored ENWorld tradition. The time has come once more to gear up for writerly battle. and stare down, face-to-face, with that most timeless of questions: what in the actual hell is an "Athletic Airship*"? You're giving me "Pink Socks*", really? "Un-Coordinates*??" "Swooping**?!?!" Are the judges high?!
*Actual ingredients I've been dealt as a contestant
**Actually, that one was my fault
Wait... what are you talking about? What is IRON DM?
Eight
That's the basic structure. A more accurate and detailed set of this current tournament's rules will appear later.
So how did this all get started?
Back in 2001, before the current incarnation of these boards, the poster formerly known as Nemmerle threw together the first EN World Iron DM tournament. Contestants each had one hour for each entry. It was grueling, and intense, and a lot of fun. Nemm had a hit on his hands.
Soon after the first EN World tourney, tournaments were being held at other sites. The now defunct Nutkinland held a few. And, as Nemmerle was a founding member of the semi-secretive Rat Bastard DM's Club, it was only natural that tournaments happen there as well. As the tournament went on, changes were slowly made to the rules. The time for entry submissions was lengthened. Word Counts were established (because no one wanted to read a full length novel). Panels of judges, traditionally chosen from the RBDM club, but now of necessity somewhat more inclusive, were established for the second and third rounds. Tournaments went from being held two or more times a year to only once a year. And so forth. But the overall idea remains the same as when it first began.
There were a few years (2006 through 2008) when EN World saw no tournaments, simply because the RBDM Club had a public forum for a while, and nobody ever started them up over here. But the RBDM Club moved and became private again and in 2009, IRON DM once more returned to EN World.
And thus, here we are.
Soon after the first EN World tourney, tournaments were being held at other sites. The now defunct Nutkinland held a few. And, as Nemmerle was a founding member of the semi-secretive Rat Bastard DM's Club, it was only natural that tournaments happen there as well. As the tournament went on, changes were slowly made to the rules. The time for entry submissions was lengthened. Word Counts were established (because no one wanted to read a full length novel). Panels of judges, traditionally chosen from the RBDM club, but now of necessity somewhat more inclusive, were established for the second and third rounds. Tournaments went from being held two or more times a year to only once a year. And so forth. But the overall idea remains the same as when it first began.
There were a few years (2006 through 2008) when EN World saw no tournaments, simply because the RBDM Club had a public forum for a while, and nobody ever started them up over here. But the RBDM Club moved and became private again and in 2009, IRON DM once more returned to EN World.
And thus, here we are.
Can I read some of the older tournaments?
IRON DM 2023
IRON DM 2022
IRON DM 2021
IRON DM 2020
IRON DM 2019
IRON DM 2018
IRON DM 2017
IRON DM 2016
IRON DM 2015
IRON DM 2014
IRON DM 2013
IRON DM 2012
IRON DM 2011
IRON DM 2010
IRON DM 2009
IRON DM 2005
IRON DM SPRING 2004
IRON DM WINTER 2004
IRON DM FALL 2003
IRON DM SUMMER 2003
IRON DM WINTER 2003
IRON DM WINTER (HOLIDAY) 2002
IRON DM FALL 2002
IRON DM SPRING 2002
IRON DM 2022
IRON DM 2021
IRON DM 2020
IRON DM 2019
IRON DM 2018
IRON DM 2017
IRON DM 2016
IRON DM 2015
IRON DM 2014
IRON DM 2013
IRON DM 2012
IRON DM 2011
IRON DM 2010
IRON DM 2009
IRON DM 2005
IRON DM SPRING 2004
IRON DM WINTER 2004
IRON DM FALL 2003
IRON DM SUMMER 2003
IRON DM WINTER 2003
IRON DM WINTER (HOLIDAY) 2002
IRON DM FALL 2002
IRON DM SPRING 2002
And then there's also the IRON DM Anthology. This is a collection of entries from the above tournaments that are particularly usable and/or inspiring, not necessarily winning entries. It hasn't been updated in a while however... it might be time a Volume 2...
So what exactly are the rules?
The tournament is set up in a single-elimination bracket style, with each match pairing determined according to scheduling availability among the eligible contestants within the match’s tier.
Each match consists 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. (A word of advice: 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; judges will ignore everything after.
(Another bit of advice: 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. 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. Ingredient use is the crux of the tournament, and contestants who fail to use the full compliment of ingredients will suffer for it in the judgement of the round.
Each of the first-round matches will use six ingredients. Second round matches will utilize seven ingredients and third round matches will have eight ingredients.
Formatting:
All entries are to be submitted with the list of ingredients at the top and are not to be edited, once submitted. To repeat: DO NOT EDIT YOUR POST, ONCE YOU HAVE SUBMITTED IT! Check your work before you send it in. Then check it again, if necessary. But do not edit it, or you will risk disqualification, according to the edicts of the judges. Part of the challenge of IRON DM is in the development and use of discipline in editing and time-management.
Do not expect judges 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. Judges will be reading each entry multiple times and, are 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.
If the author chooses to include a trigger warning in an entry, that warning will not count against the word limit. Such a warning is being offered as a courtesy to readers (not necessarily the judges) in a context where the author can never know who those readers will be. Further, the kind of information conveyed in a trigger warning may not be in a form that can be used to shortcut exposition in an entry. Any information which conveys exposition will count against the word count.
Entrants may also put a description of the match at the top, for example: Iron DM 2029, Round 3, Rune vs. Wicht. Such a description will also not count against the word limit.
To clarify: Word count will include any and all descriptive text and exposition. It will not include the title, basic ingredient list, any trigger warnings, nor the round information.
Judgement:
Each of the first-round matches will have a single judge. The second- and third-round matches will (hopefully!) have a full panel of three judges. 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.
Judges will endeavor to be critical, but also fair and constructive in that criticism, in their judgements. It is understood up front, however, that all judgments are subjective. Many panel-judged contests have ended with a 2-1 judgment.
Each match consists 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. (A word of advice: 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; judges will ignore everything after.
(Another bit of advice: 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. 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. Ingredient use is the crux of the tournament, and contestants who fail to use the full compliment of ingredients will suffer for it in the judgement of the round.
Each of the first-round matches will use six ingredients. Second round matches will utilize seven ingredients and third round matches will have eight ingredients.
Formatting:
All entries are to be submitted with the list of ingredients at the top and are not to be edited, once submitted. To repeat: DO NOT EDIT YOUR POST, ONCE YOU HAVE SUBMITTED IT! Check your work before you send it in. Then check it again, if necessary. But do not edit it, or you will risk disqualification, according to the edicts of the judges. Part of the challenge of IRON DM is in the development and use of discipline in editing and time-management.
Do not expect judges 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. Judges will be reading each entry multiple times and, are 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.
If the author chooses to include a trigger warning in an entry, that warning will not count against the word limit. Such a warning is being offered as a courtesy to readers (not necessarily the judges) in a context where the author can never know who those readers will be. Further, the kind of information conveyed in a trigger warning may not be in a form that can be used to shortcut exposition in an entry. Any information which conveys exposition will count against the word count.
Entrants may also put a description of the match at the top, for example: Iron DM 2029, Round 3, Rune vs. Wicht. Such a description will also not count against the word limit.
To clarify: Word count will include any and all descriptive text and exposition. It will not include the title, basic ingredient list, any trigger warnings, nor the round information.
Judgement:
Each of the first-round matches will have a single judge. The second- and third-round matches will (hopefully!) have a full panel of three judges. 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.
Judges will endeavor to be critical, but also fair and constructive in that criticism, in their judgements. It is understood up front, however, that all judgments are subjective. Many panel-judged contests have ended with a 2-1 judgment.
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. 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. Contestants who win their Round 2 matches will proceed to Round 3.
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. The contestant who wins this match will become the IRON DM 2025!
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. 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. Contestants who win their Round 2 matches will proceed to Round 3.
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. The contestant who wins this match will become the IRON DM 2025!
Scheduling, Discussing, and Spectating:
The purpose of this thread is (a) to find
Contestants should be willing to commit themselves to 1-3 rounds of intense RPG adventure writing action. Each round gives you 24-48 hours, so anticipate needing to have up to three periods of roughly that length you feel comfortable enough setting aside to write a 750-2000 adventure synopsis. Otherwise, all we ask is that you
We will also need two additional judges! Judges are usually (but not always) chosen from a pool of past judges and winners, but in recent years it has been difficult to recruit past judges who would rather judge than get to compete again, and then we end up with no judges (see also: Iron DM 2024). However, unlike past tournament organizers (<cough @Rune cough>) I'm not masochistic enough to try to judge a full tournament myself, so I'm opening this up to you all! Have you competed in the past but always been interested in being a judge? We're looking for you! Yes, specifically you, in the shirt.
Please help me.
Once all contestants and judges have signed up, this thread will be used only for scheduling the matches.
Once we begin, the tournament thread will be used to list the ingredients and the judgements for each match, as well as the entries, themselves. 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 the judges can view the entries with fresh eyes! We always love to have additional commentary!
If spectators would like to play a “home game”, please feel free to do that in this thread.
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 or alter your entries once the tournament has concluded.
So, who can enter?
Anyone! It could even... be YOU!
@Whizbang Dustyboots, as the most recent IRON DM (IRON DM 2023), has automatic entry into this tournament should they choose to participate again!
Wait, but who the heck are you?
Ah yes, I am Gradine, an oft-time competitor, two-time Iron DM Champion (2017, 2021), four-time judge and now three-time Mistress of Ceremonies for these proceedings. I've been involved in these trials and tribulations since 2014, which basically makes me still a newbie.
So, I gotta ask:
Are you creative enough?
Are you disciplined enough?
Are you good enough?
Sign up and prove it!
Our Contestants:
1: @Whizbang Dustyboots (IRON DM 2023)
2: @humble minion (IRON DM 2020)
3: @Fenris-77
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
Alternates:
1: @bedir than
2:
3:
Last edited:
