Round 1 surprise twist & repurposed items


RPG Superstar™ General Discussion

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

Though I'm not a round 1 judge, as a former contestant I thought I'd share my thoughts on the surprise twist anyway.

When I first learned about the change in item types for round 1, I immediately started thinking "what would I do if I were a contestant this year?" The most obvious idea (at least a viable plan B) would be to repurpose my boots, cloak, belt or .. box as a staff, ring, or something else.

My second thought was (if I were a judge in round 1), it would be quite easy to spot which items had been something else previously. Some wondrous item types wouldn't be quite so difficult to "port over" to another item type, while others may cause thematic disconnections.

Thoughts, comments? How do you think you will/would react as a voter (or judge) if you saw an obviously repurposed item? "Smart move" or "That's lazy"?


My gut instinct would be to avoid the idea. I suppose you could take the functions of certain types of wondrous items and repurpose them into a ring, or perhaps a rod, but that seems limiting. This opens up a whole new field of item types to work with. If a person wants to show their creativity, why limit yourself to an item you've already made?

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Locke1520

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I don't care.

We can't really know if something was re-purposed or not so all I'm worried about is: Is it cool?

If you are inclined to think that repurposing an item is lazy design then I hope you consider that what looks like a repurposed item...might not be.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Hodge Podge

I think that if a person wants to repurpose an item, and can pull it off, then that in itself is actually not a bad skill to have. So much ends up on the cutting room floor as you design and write that you need to be able to recycle.

Of course, the real trick is to make it seem like it was intended to be that final result all along. :p

Scarab Sages Modules Overlord

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I agree that the important thing is the end result. If I look at a suit of armor and think "That's neat, and well done!" then I don't care what it was originally.

If I think "That would make a lot more sense as a set of boots," I'll be less impressed.

I have, in fact, had to change a magic sword into a magic suit of armor as a result of miscommunication earlier in a project. If you can do it well, it's a useful skill. If you can't, and you try, it could sink you.


Keep in mind that there are almost certainly several entries in previous years where the creator was like "This is my best idea, and it would be perfect as a ring... But it has to be a wondrous item. Well, crap. *shoehorn*"

Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9

I struggled with this, after seeing the round one twist. I did not at first know if I wanted to repurpose one of my items or simply start fresh. What exactly I decided to do I will talk about some more after the first round, as I do not want to get too specific yet.

I will say however that I agree with Owen that what really matters is the execution, originality, and integrity of the item, not what it started life as.

Also Whoa, Mikko as a judge! I like your blog so this will be fun.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Excellent responses and very good arguments. :) (I hope people who are planning to enter will also read them!)

Covent, glad to hear that you like my blog. :) I'm very honored that Owen asked me to join the judging panel. This will be a very interesting year of RPGSS for many reasons. :)

Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Clouds Without Water

I'm genuinely surprised by the twist. My ideas were suited for Wondrous Items, but will seem forced for the categories we now have.

Oh well, starting from scratch isn't a bad thing!


I'm thrilled. I've always wondered - "Why stick with the Wondrous Item every year? I have this cool idea for X..."

Well... This year, I'm entering. Design notes are right there -->

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Phloid

It is fine if the conversion is seamless and you are sure that it is not obvious that it should be another item. Certain wondrous items are easier to port than others. Magic vambraces may easily convert to a whole suit of armor, but a magic candle probably doesn't have much chance. I have close to 30 wondrous items I designed after last year's round one closed and I went through them after the twist to this year's round one. I found only four or five that I thought could be repurposed to one of the five item types allowed this year. I'm not sure I'm going to do that, but they are at least worth a little more thought.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka motteditor

1 person marked this as a favorite.

If you don't repurpose your item for the new Round 1, you can always have it be your new item in your module pitch if you get to the Final Four.

(Or save it and pitch it with some other project/to some other publisher down the line. If you thought it was good enough to be Superstar, it's probably good enough to see the light of day at some point. I still have plenty of my old rejected items from previous years that are available to be used somewhere/somehow. )

Star Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9

Repurpose? Of course! But don't forget to rework it. Goblin skull bomb, troll fingers, sticky pugfoot, goblin strand of ears are all re-purposed* from monsters. The important thing is the authors did enough work to avoid monster-in-a-can.

*These are some of my favorite items throughout the contest. My apologies to the authors if calling your item a 're-purposed monster' doesn't sound like I am giving you the praise you deserve.

FWIW I was only in the images stage, so nothing to re-purpose yet. Some of those may turn into monsters or locations instead! :)

Community / Forums / Archive / Paizo / RPG Superstar™ / General Discussion / Round 1 surprise twist & repurposed items All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in General Discussion