Official Round 3 Rules Preview

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

We may or may not get the full rules for Round 3 out early, but here's a preview.

The monster round will be for a fantasy-themed monster tied to Golarion, CR 6-9, referencing no rules elements* not in the PRD (but allowed to access any Golarion lore), with a CR from 6 to 9.

There's no specific theme requirement this year.

*You can make up your own new abilities if appropriate and within CR and word count, but don't reference any existing rule or ability if it's not in the PRD.

[Mark Griffin]

Wow, it's wide open. Sometimes being limited helps with creativity, but this also means I have all of the monsters from my stable to choose from. Thanks for the update Owen!

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

It's true, I think, that creativity often flourishes under adverse conditions and restrictions. But I think it's also true that different creators do their best work under different conditions. I can't test everyone under all conditions, but I can change up exactly what we require to give people different opportunities on different occasions.

And a CR 6-9 spread is some restriction. :)

[CripDyke]

@OwenKCStephens:

True enough.

I like the sonnet
and I'm okay with haiku
but blank verse tests, too

[Jacob W. Michaels]

I like the CR spread a *lot*.

But, boy, I know as a designer I really appreciated more restrictions. Being wide open is a TOUGH challenge in its own right. This has become one of my favorite rounds, so looking forward to seeing what everyone can do.

[Mikko Kallio]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

*You can make up your own new abilities if appropriate and within CR and word count, but don't reference any existing rule or ability if it's not in the PRD.

I'm not a judge this year, but here's a pro tip to the finalists: You should make up a new ability or three. Only using abilities borrowed from existing monsters is just as bad as a SiaC in round 1.

Be creative! Be awesome!

[Kiel Howell]

AiaC?

[Taylor Hubler]

Spell in a Can (SiaC)

[CripDyke]

Ability-in-a-Creature?

It's a thought.

[Adam Daigle]

Yay! One of the rounds I'm judging!

[137ben]

Mikko Kallio wrote:

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

*You can make up your own new abilities if appropriate and within CR and word count, but don't reference any existing rule or ability if it's not in the PRD.

I'm not a judge this year, but here's a pro tip to the finalists: You should make up a new ability or three. Only using abilities borrowed from existing monsters is just as bad as a SiaC in round 1.

Be creative! Be awesome!

I'm just going to chime in as a customer:

I can throw existing abilities onto a stat block pretty easily. I could even roll on a chart of abilities to create a random monster. If I purchase a supplement with your monster in it, I'm not looking for something I could get for free by rolling on a chart.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

I'm not a judge for this round, but what I want to see in a monster is something interesting that makes sense and gives me a sense of wonder. If you can do that with only existing rules and abilities? I'll be very impressed.

[Clay Clouser]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

I'm not a judge for this round, but what {I}I{/I} want to see in a monster is something interesting that makes sense and gives me a sense of wonder. If you can do that with only existing rules and abilities? I'll be very impressed.

This was a hint to preview your monster before submitting.

[James Thomas]

Okay. I'm on it.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Clay Clouser wrote:

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

I'm not a judge for this round, but what {I}I{/I} want to see in a monster is something interesting that makes sense and gives me a sense of wonder. If you can do that with only existing rules and abilities? I'll be very impressed.

This was a hint to preview your monster before submitting.

And to remember that you can edit before you submit... but not after!

[Mikko Kallio]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

I'm not a judge for this round, but what {I}I{/I} want to see in a monster is something interesting that makes sense and gives me a sense of wonder. If you can do that with only existing rules and abilities? I'll be very impressed.

I very much agree that a monster should be interesting and make sense. And I would also be impressed if a contestant can do that without using any new abilities.

However, as a voter, I'm interested in knowing if a contestant is capable of creating interesting monster abilities that make sense. It's a much easier way to impress me than skilfully avoiding that very central part of monster design fu.

(Just my 2 cp.)

[Kalyna Conrad]

This is all very useful advice that I intend to apply to my work wether or not I move on to the monster round this year... Thank you all! (=

[Taylor Hubler]

So will we see Round 3 rules before Round 3?

[Chris Lambertz]

Taylor Hubler wrote:

So will we see Round 3 rules before Round 3?

Yes. :)

[Walter Sheppard]

Do we know what the word count was for monster entries in seasons past?

[Jacob W. Michaels]

600.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

600.

Correct, and also the limit this year.

[Walter Sheppard]

Thanks!

[Adam Daigle]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

600.

Correct, and also the limit this year.

Which is about what fits in a single page monster entry in a hardcover bestiary... depending on how the art is shaped.

[Monica Marlowe]

Adam Daigle wrote:

Yay! One of the rounds I'm judging!

"Making Monsters for Daigle" - totally going to be a band name.

[Eric Hindley]

Monica Marlowe wrote:

Adam Daigle wrote:

Yay! One of the rounds I'm judging!

"Making Monsters for Daigle" - totally going to be a band name.

Bah, too many words. Pretty sure it's just Monsters for Daigle... ;)

[Walter Sheppard]

Eric Hindley wrote:

Monica Marlowe wrote:

Adam Daigle wrote:

Yay! One of the rounds I'm judging!

"Making Monsters for Daigle" - totally going to be a band name.

Bah, too many words. Pretty sure it's just Monsters for Daigle... ;)

Monsters for Daigle sounds like a charity. All we need now is Sarah McLachlan for our commercial and watch the money pour in.

[Eric Hindley]

Walter Sheppard wrote:

Eric Hindley wrote:

Monica Marlowe wrote:

Adam Daigle wrote:

Yay! One of the rounds I'm judging!

"Making Monsters for Daigle" - totally going to be a band name.

Bah, too many words. Pretty sure it's just Monsters for Daigle... ;)

Monsters for Daigle sounds like a charity. All we need now is Sarah McLachlan for our commercial and watch the money pour in.

I believe it was the Joker who said "if you're good at what you do, don't do it for free."

[Monica Marlowe]

Eric Hindley wrote:

Monica Marlowe wrote:

Adam Daigle wrote:

Yay! One of the rounds I'm judging!

"Making Monsters for Daigle" - totally going to be a band name.

Bah, too many words. Pretty sure it's just Monsters for Daigle... ;)

Oh, you're right. Me and my penchant to make complete sentences.

[James Thomas]

I've "Made Monsters for Daigle" before and I can tell you... it's fun.

Hope they let me stick around for Round 3. I've got a great monster idea to share!

[Kim Frandsen]

James Thomas wrote:

I've "Made Monsters for Daigle" before and I can tell you... it's fun.

Hope they let me stick around for Round 3. I've got a great monster idea to share!

Hopefully we all do. :-)

[Adam Daigle]

Yessssss. Spawn these foul beasts for me!

[Ambrosia Slaad]

Eric Hindley wrote:

I believe it was the Joker who said "if you're good at what you do, don't do it for free."

If you're very good (or a SupahStah!) at making monsters for Daigle, you will get paid. :)

[Walter Sheppard]

Now that the official rules for round 3 are posted I noticed something.

Line four reads

Quote:

zzAlignment zzSize zzType

Is this correct? The monsters I reference in the PRD do not have type capitalized.

Also, under Offense it reads

CMB +## (+## zzConditionalmaneuverbonus)

Aren't conditional maneuvers never capitzalized? Tiger, for example.

Quote:

CMB +11 (+15 grapple)

[Jacob W. Michaels]

Walter, you're correct. Follow the example of published monsters, and don't capitalize type or conditional maneuvers.

[Walter Sheppard]

Rock solid, Jacob. Thanks!

[Garrett Guillotte]

Monica Marlowe wrote:

"Making Monsters for Daigle" - totally going to be a band name.

Adam Daigle wrote:

Yessssss. Spawn these foul beats for me!

fixed

[Isaac Volynskiy]

Garrett Guillotte wrote:

Monica Marlowe wrote:

"Making Monsters for Daigle" - totally going to be a band name.

Adam Daigle wrote:

Yessssss. Spawn these foul beats for me!

fixed

Show me what you got!

[R D Ramsey]

This should be an interesting round, what with no theme provided. We'll see a very wide variety across the 16 entries, I suspect!

[Jason Evans]

Isaac Volynskiy wrote:

Show me what you got!

Get Shwifty!

[Mikko Kallio]

Eric Hindley wrote:

Monica Marlowe wrote:

Adam Daigle wrote:

Yay! One of the rounds I'm judging!

"Making Monsters for Daigle" - totally going to be a band name.

Bah, too many words. Pretty sure it's just Monsters for Daigle... ;)

Sounds like a band that plays in Highline while everyone in the audience is drinking Rainier. :-P

(Only a handful of people will understand that reference I'm sure...)

[Oceanshieldwolf]

Delightful to see this so open!!! I do think creativity can be heightened when given strict parameters, but the ever-narrowing scope of last year's final rounds made for extremely boring entries that got harder and harder to view. Hopefully we will see some great variation in this Round 3.

[The Raven Black]

Just read the full Round 3 Rules. I think they are exceedingly clear and courteous, giving our Top16 this season all the necessary tools, infos and advice to give their best for this monster round :-)

Well done, team RPGSS.

And now I need to find some time to create my own monster with these rules. Practice is always good and teaches a lot more things than armchair voting.

BTW, I know the Blazing 9 thread is readily used for practicing RPGSS' style item creation, but does it also support practicing for the other rounds, such as maps and monsters ?

[Jacob W. Michaels]

It's definitely been open to practice for other rounds.

[Template Fu]

Nothing wrong with submitting to Wayfinder too - River Kingdoms I believe for #15 - and they love a good supply of items, creatures and general design writing goodness.

[Robert Thomson]

Had a couple river kingdoom ideas for wayfinder, but none of them fit the formats, so I'll have to rework the concepts when things get less crazy.