Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 113812" data-attributes="member: 2525">Standard Rant: Here are my comments on this heat.  I'm not doing this to be critical of people, or judge them or their entry, or influence votes in any way. I'm only doing this because I know that I like honest feedback on my work, and I assume others want that as well. That said, I'm not looking for a debate on my opinions (they are just my opinions, which means they are only worth whatever value you put on them, which is probably none .) I also won't mention who I voted for in each batch. To make sure I don't influence people's votes in any way in favor of my entry (I just entered the contest for fun, to get my feet wet on writing adventures in preparation for other contests that have more serious prizes at stake), I've asked a friend of mine to write their own opinion of my entry, and I have/will insert that opinion in the appropriate place instead of my own. That friend is fairly critical of stuff, so it probably won't help my chances (as if anyone really cares). Maybe my entry is in this batch, and maybe not . A brief word on this discussion about the rules. Pretend for a moment you are writing an adventure for Dragon Magazine and/or Dungeon. They have editorial (and time constraint) rules that you MUST MUST MUST obey. There is no spirit of the rules, there is no sorta-follows-the-rules. You follow them, or you get rejected. Period. This contest is, in a way, a test for people who want to write adventures for various d20 publishers in the future. In that sense, following the rules may be more important than the content of your entry. So, I am personally placing a lot of emphasis on your ability to follow the rules when voting. But then, I am a lawyer by trade, so I am probably way more anal about that sort of stuff than others. For reference, here are the Rules: 1) Entry should consist of three pages. The first page should contain the encounter, the second page should describe (and, if necessary, map) the location and the third page should include your NPC, complete with background, roleplaying notes and combat tactics (if relevant). Your entry may optionally contain one fourth page for illustrations or maps; this is not compulsory. 2) You may not exceed one page for each of these elements, and your text should be in Times New Roman font (or similar) at a font size of 12 points. 3) The full 3-page document should bear a title and an indication of its Encounter Level, and sent as an email attachment to me at <a href="mailto:morrus@d20reviews.com">morrus@d20reviews.com</a>. 4) The location and the NPC should be useful independently of each other and of the encounter itself.5) The encounter should be one that can be easily inserted into most campaigns. 6) The encounter should be clear and easy to run? Enough ranting, on to the entries: Fooled and Fooled Again (EL Any)I thought the hint that the scroll is written in elvish, but only rhymes in common, was very clever.  On the down side, there is no real location, and the NPC’s have little use outside the encounter itself.Blood of Angels (EL 2?)I liked the variant class of divine sorceror, and thought the rules for this new class were fair and reasonable. I may end up using it in my campaign.  The encounter itself, however, was pretty boring.  Nothing really happens in it.  The location has some interestig bits, with the gods merging, but there is no adventure hook given to get the party involved with this interesting event.Imp in Sets Clothing (EL 6)My first impression of this encounter is that the author ran out of room, and so felt the need to seriously reduce the borders of the document to make things fit within the rules.  I consider this a breach of the spirit of the rules.  Second, this encounter is a lot of fun. I like the river fight with the boats, I like the rules laid out for movement, and overall it’s well thought out. Unfortunately, the location has NO meaning apart from the encounter.  It’s written right on the map the location of the PC’s and this particular NPC and other items in the location and encounter.  Shrine to the Flying God (EL 5 or 7)First the bad: This encounter exceeds page limitations, going onto a fourth page, and additionally reduces the font for the NPC stat block to size 7, not the 12 required by the rules.  That’s an unfair advantage over other entries. In addition, none of the elements is useful wtihout the other elements (encouncter, location, and NPC.) Now, the good: This is a very interesting encounter. I personally like anything that explores the air, as too many D&D campaigns take place only underground or on the earth, and this adventure can lead one to the air (and even mentions gliders and parachutes, both interesting possibilities).  The NPC is well thought out and outlined, and I can see him and his background becoming an element in my game.Quiet, Please! (EL 6)The Bad: This whole thing violates the page limiation rules, going not only to a fourth page, but all the way into a fifth. I can’t vote for something that so blatantly violates the rules.  The Good: Madame Yuek is a very cool, very intersting, well thought-out NPC, and I seriously want to use her in my game. She will plague the party with doubts, confound them with her helpfulness in spite of her evil nature, and dog their footsteps with her minions and otherwise-manipulated followers eventually.  Really too bad this encounter broke the page rules.The Last Kiss (EL 10)Once again, my first impression of this encounter is that the author ran out of room, and so felt the need to seriously reduce the borders of the document to make things fit within the rules.  I consider this a breach of the spirit of the rules.  What is it with this heat of entries having trouble with brevity?  Anyway, I did like Alicia, and her evil ploy to lure adventurers to her is interesting.  How the town doesn’t notice adventurerers entering, but never exiting, I don’t know. But still, it’s not a bad plan.  However, the NPC and Location are directly linked to each other, and not particularly interesting without the other.Five Keys (EL 7-8)Sigh. This time, instead of just fudging the borders or going over the page limitations, the author just reduced the font size to 10 (instead of the required 12), once again blatantly violating the rules.  That said, there is a lot to like about this encounter.  The cabin is really an ingenious idea for a high-level party of adventurers, and would make an excellent base of operations for any level of adventurers.  The tale of Lemlannion is intriguing as well.  Unfortunately, the location and NPC are linked to each other, and depend a bit on the encounter as well.Persephone’s Glade (EL 8)Oh good. Look at that. No margin fudges, no page limit violations, and no font violations.  In addition, the location and NPC can be used freely independant of one another.  One of the few entries that actually fully obeys all of the rules.  Additionally, there is an interesting moral conflict and/or riddle element (two NPCs are good, but under the blackmailing influence of one that is evil.  Do the PC’s figure it out, and what can they do to save the good NPC’s without getting themselves killed in the process.) Overall I really liked this entry.Forest Dragoness (EL 13)Again no margin, page, or font fudges, good to see. Emvashti makes for an interesting NPC, and I am always fond of cannibals.  I would have liked to have seen more combat tactics. She doesn’t have much use outside the location and encounter, which is too bad.  I can see using this encounter, however, in my game (and, as the author suggests, in the Standing Stones module).</blockquote>

Verification