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I have now stumbled three times over the word "somehow" in a description.
If the author doesn't know how exactly the items works, how should anyone else? All in all I am shocked to see so many items that make no sense at all or are basically unusable.
A real eye opener for sure.
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Ok, everyone follow along...
Simon says... Hold up both hands.
Simon says... Now fold down thumbs and the two smallest fingers on each hand
Simon says... Now twitch the two remaining fingers on both hands.
Simon says... You might recognise the sign you just made...
Don't do it in your entries! Please.
If you cannot describe what you mean clearly, then using "quote" like blerdy bler "unquote", isn't going to help. It is open to interpretation and that is something you don't want or need in any game design space, not just items.
I have seen a number committing this now, and they did confuse exactly where the quoting took place.
It's really not "well gel".
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Like Alaster's alliteration of aerial awesomeness?
Next year, Shadowborn's Shady Slipshod Shawl of the Shagnasty will be a shoe-in for the top 32!
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It's getting to the point where I have to express myself exclusively through meme.
Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7
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It's getting to the point where I have to express myself exclusively through meme.Indeed.
Or wear the skin, skull, or dismembered hands of something disgusting.
I never found the eye of Vecna all that enticing. Although, I am a fan of the head of Vecna.
I was never fan of eye and hand of Vecna. I Always preferred eye of Rhynn and hand of Kwll.
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7
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I was never fan of eye and hand of Vecna. I Always preferred eye of Rhynn and hand of Kwll.
Haven't read the Corum stuff as yet. Been quite a while since I read any Moorcock stuff, honestly.
It is appropriate to note, though... Severed body parts as magic items; way overdone and, most times, poorly done.
Most of them should classify as artifacts, or at least unique plot items.
Until we get Pathfinder's Create Graft and Implant Graft feat chain.
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It's getting to the point where I have to express myself exclusively through meme.Indeed.Or wear the skin, skull, or dismembered hands of something disgusting.
I never found the eye of Vecna all that enticing. Although, I am a fan of the head of Vecna.
The Dread Gazebo is still my favourite gaming legend.
Please don't devolve into just posting macro images.
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Please don't devolve into just posting macro images.
I can't help it. My brain's gone numb.
Hey, what's that grey goo dripping from your ear Shadowborn?
Side effect from the last wondrous item I read that allows instant communication over a distance. I'm considering suing the wizard that made them.
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Once again I've hit a pairing where an item I've consistently passed over time and time again is finally put against an item that somehow manages to be worse when I didn't think it possible.
Once again I've hit a pairing where an item I've consistently passed over time and time again is finally put against an item that somehow manages to be worse when I didn't think it possible.
Been there pal. :)
Lots of time manipulation. The thing is, it's a lot like using time travel in movies. When done right, it's amazing. When it's not, it just becomes a giant headache.
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Ah, another one of those items where I say "That is a really, really cool idea. I wish it had been implemented well. A+ for inspiration, but a D- for execution."
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Ah, another one of those items where I say "That is a really, really cool idea. I wish it had been implemented well. A+ for inspiration, but a D- for execution."
Or to quote one two-headed hoopy frood: "OK, so ten out of ten for style, but minus several million for good thinking, yeah?"
:)
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"Aargh! You misspelled your item's name. The name, like, right in the title of your submission. How could you not see that? And you! Yeah, you! You not only misspelled it in the title, but then you spell it correctly here, and then misspell it again here! Aargh!"
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Extra-dimensional space against extra-dimensional space... I am surprised that Paizo server wasn't ruptured and sucked into the Astral plane yet. Oh, wait, I known why messageboard was acting funny since the Superstar started!
There has been a lot of downtime lately...
Item creating item that I actually kinda like... It needs polishing but I like it.
I've done enough voting now that I'm assembling a list of my own top 32. So far I've got 13 slots filled. When all is said and done I'll compare mine to the judges and see if we're on the same page.
Ah, another one of those items where I say "That is a really, really cool idea. I wish it had been implemented well. A+ for inspiration, but a D- for execution."
Oh - round 3 flashback from last years contest.
Oy, another +5 competence to a skill item that is actually nice.
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Beards! Beards are good.
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Speak for yourself, Shadowborn. I grew one a couple months ago and the damn thing never stopped itching. I was never so glad to shave (especially since I went with a "Franz Joseph" for a week or so that cracked me up and amazed/horrified my co-workers).
Sadly, my girlfriend liked the beard, so I suspect it may come back. *sigh*
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Hence the need for wondrous items. You get a rocking beard, no itching, and your girlfriend is happy, just like magic.
Still not as good as a mustache feeling though.
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My personal Top 32 now has 20 items.
I realize that item pricing is less of a science and more of an art, but some of you have to realize just how off you are, right? If nothing else, a comparison to similarly powered items in the CRB should show you where the ballpark is. Some of these prices aren't even in the same zip code. And this is coming from someone that readily admits that item pricing is one of the hardest parts of item creation for me.
And it goes both ways. I've seen items where I say "That would be awesome, if it were half the price." Then others where I go "You're giving me all this for that price? I'll take a dozen."
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Okay, I think I've reached my limit on "Transformer" items.
This unassuming gazebo allows for quiet picnics, but it can also turn into a fully animated battlewagon!
It's getting to the point where I have to express myself exclusively through meme.Indeed.Or wear the skin, skull, or dismembered hands of something disgusting.
I never found the eye of Vecna all that enticing. Although, I am a fan of the head of Vecna.
Good Memories. First time I saw that I was a Player. Almost a TPK other Players arguing with each other over who would get their heads cut off first, second, third and fourth. Each one insisting you cut off their heads.
Ditto as a GM in two other games as a GM.
Six more slots left in my personal Top 32.
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Okay, I think I've reached my limit on "Transformer" items.
This unassuming gazebo allows for quiet picnics, but it can also turn into a fully animated battlewagon!
Just piling on to thank Paizo and the judges for running this competition. This new voting format has turned out to be pretty cool for everyone, I think. Well, except maybe Shadowborn, but he's doing it to himself :p
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What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment.
Seriously though, it's a fascinating process. Even seeing the same items over and over again is helpful because then I start splitting hairs, really dissecting an items write-up to define the good and bad of the entry. I can take the questions I'm asking and apply them to myself and my own efforts, thereby improving the quality of my own work, as well.
Plus, with my editing experience, I've had to wade through piles of less-than-stellar submissions before. The griping is just a coping mechanism.
When you've created an item that has such a small window of opportunity to be used by the average adventurer as to be practically nil except for unique circumstances, you haven't created a wondrous item; you've created a plot device.
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And once again I'm confronted with an item that, despite a block of text, has neglected to tell me what the item actually does mechanically. Bewildering.
I know it isn't personal, but I can't help resenting some of the pairings that I've seen, like "Is that even a wondrous item?" vs. "I know exactly which comic book superhero you got that from" -- and this after The Culling.
"And so, only after a few month the posters learned that PMG just discovered a flaw in the sorting algorithm that caused the database to ignore a third of all submissions pushing them to the bottoms of the list and during the culling the three quarters of them were deleted never to be seen again! And there were cries and gnashing of teeth heard over all the paizo messageboards for months to come!"
...and this after The Culling.Here's what I want to know: what could possibly have been in the 25% that was culled?
I had a list of over 600 items before the culling. I went through it, identifying items that I was sure I would never see again, thanks to the culling. Yet, as I keep voting, I keep finding more and more of those items. How bad did an item have to be to end up in the bottom 25% if these items I keep seeing are still here?
I was a Marathon voter before the cull (barely) and there were a ton of bad items/implementations. Now there are only about a 100 items I vote against every time. One of them is my nemesis and gives me no peace.
I've gotten to the point where I'll have to make decisions which items make my personal Top 32. There are three or four vying for the final spot.
Funny, I was pondering the skills necessary to create good items, and was reminded of a creative writing class from many years ago. We were critiquing short fiction and one woman was writing a mystery. This would have been a portion of a novella or perhaps a full novel. It was terrible. We tried to tell her why, but she just wouldn't listen. She was using an omniscient narrator. In a mystery. Despite being a self-described Agatha Christie fan she didn't understand that writing from that point of view completely obliterated the mystery.
Whether the actual story itself was good or not would never be known if it wasn't delivered in a manner that would serve to enhance rather than hinder it. I'm wondering if certain items are that way: brilliant ideas hidden by poor delivery.
Remember, if there were 500 entries, culling the bottom 25% still leaves 375 entries... and 125 of those probably are in the 26-50% range for quality.
And remember that even the 51-75% range for quality may be "maybe good enough for a book of magic items."
And we're not guaranteed an even distribution of quality. Maybe 120 are at the 26% quality and 5 are in the 27-50% quality, ya never know.
And there were more than 500 entries, of course. :)
It would be great to have in another year a "this is promising" checkbox. Items that would get such mark from enough different voters would be then brought to judges' attention even if they drop to the middle of the group and would have little chance to get into the final 32.
I've seen only two that I would rate "Superstar".
BUT I must say, some of the ones that I found "good but not really super" seem comparable to the top32 of, for example, the very first contest.
And there were more than 500 entries, of course. :)
One gajillion! Am I right? Was it a gajillion, Sean?