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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nifft" data-source="post: 709504" data-attributes="member: 6562">Round 1, Match 3 -- JUDGEMENT!Whippit Gud vs. GreybarI note with interest that both entries use specialist Wizards as NPCs, and both use the Quartet as a foursome of assassins. This makes me wonder about musicians in general. Finally, I guess something about onyx is inherently evil -- the crowns are both dark artifacts.Commentary is in order of posting. (Yes -- quickness should buy you something!)Wippit GuudMr. Nar would make a great villian. He's ready to destroy a whole city because of one person's rivalry -- that's a mega-villain personality trait if ever I saw one!Of course, as the scourge of a Drow city, he's a potential ally of a group of good PCs, though he's "morally ambiguous" at best -- and since at worst he's a "homocidal maniac", it's very possible either he or the PCs would attack first, and wouldn't bother speaking with each other at all.Your penultimate line puzzles me: how can a lich smile? (Or, rather: how can you tell?)What was GOOD:Necromancer's Revenge: "First, I will kill you all!" -- his revenge is that of a consumate Necromancer, replacing a living city with a necropolis of undead slaves.Onyx Crown: Quality artifact.Utility: Evil guy, alone, in exile, fighting other evil guys, seeking an evil artifact. The plot hooks bait themselves.What was OKAY:Personality: He's not the outgoing type, but he's an archtypical Necromancer bad guy.Risen Fiend: It's really got no tie to him save its bond, so it's going to be plotting against poor Mr. Nar for the next 99.9 years.Palace Intrigue: I'm surprised that Nar didn't use a bit more Divination magic once he knew Sarasa was against him.What was BAD:Mistaken Identity: At the character power levels in question, a quick Commune spell could have solved the "mystery", as could any number of mind-reading and truth-verifying spells. Even if a Drow could resist one of these lower-level spells, one who was innocent would likely choose to allow it to affect him. This is a challenging ingredient in a normal-magic D&D setting.Quartet: They feel tacked on -- it could have been anyone who tried to assassinate him. There's nothing special or particularly "four" about them.Greybar and his very complete spellcaster statblocks <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Gelfara is a good Robin Hood-esque heroine. She advances pretty quickly for her age. I'm surprised she has levels of Rogue and not Aristocrat -- the latter seems more suited to her early life (which briefly "had been effortlessly happy"). Do you explicitly state her prohibited school? I can infer that she's a Diviner, and I'm guessing that her prohibited school is Necromancy, which would be a nice touch -- "Mom said to never use Necromancy!"What was GOOD:Utility: She's someone I can use right now. Any place which has Paladins, Nobles and Fiends is suited for her. She's got an amazing number of plot hooks hanging off of her.Personality: She has a mysterious past and a quest to redeem herself. If only she had a higher Charisma, she'd be ideal Love Interest material.Risen Fiend: I kinda like him, even though we never get to meet him.What was OKAY:Most ingredient usage falls here.Necromancer's Revenge: He did a number on her family, and took her land. He doesn't do anything particularly Necromancer-ish, though.Mistaken Identity: It's more of a mistaken function or alliance, since she didn't actually mistake one person for another. Still, this kind of mistake is actually plausible in the D&D magic system.Onyx Crown: Offstage mysterious artifact, bonus points for eventual plot hook.Quartet: As above, there's nothing "four" about them -- though two of them are illustrated, if the other two were integral to the whole I'd like this better.Palace Intrigue: This happens around her, and we don't seem to see much effect on her.What was BAD:Nothing was actually bad.Final Judgement:Wippit Guud- Mistaken Identity: 3- Necromancer's Revenge: 9- Onyx Crown: 7- Palace Intrigue: 6- Quartet: 2- Risen Fiend: 7Personality: 8Utility: 14Total: 56/100Greybar- Mistaken Identity: 4- Necromancer's Revenge: 6- Onyx Crown: 6- Palace Intrigue: 5- Quartet: 4- Risen Fiend: 6Personality: 13Utility: 17Total: 61/100Congradulations Greybar!Very good work on both sides. I hope to see Wippit Guud in more Iron events in the future. -- Nifft</blockquote>

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