Ladies and Gentlemen: Your Top 32!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Today we announce the Top 32 in RPG Superstar Season 9! These contestants have won the approval of their fellow fans by accumulating the votes needed to set themselves apart from all other entrants. Their items will be available for everyone to peruse, and over the next few days our judges will comment on all the items to ensure our contestants get the feedback they need to improve as the contest proceeds.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32
Charlie Brooks Horseshoes of the Storm Rider William Collins Fate-Woven Braid of the Norns Kalyna Conrad Crow Brother's Cloak Bill Davies Storm's Wrath Jason Evans Starsling Buckler Shane Fogerty Choker of the Queen Bee Mark Griffin Ebon Fury BJ Hensley Brooch of the Monarch Vadims Hesins Quill of Leng Mike Hill Purging Lotus Bell Kiel Howell Bottled Cloud Taylor Hubler Spiraled Madu Joseph Kellogg Banshee's Tongue John Leclaire Hide of the Hagfish Elizabeth Leib Glaive of the Lion-Hearted Crystal Malarsky Figurine of Wondrous Power, Ruby Butterfly	Brian Minhinnick Lava Lash Kris Newton Gown of Many Graves Mark Nordheim Swindler's Grasp Donald Robinson Daylight Diadem Chris Shaeffer Caber Twig Walter Sheppard Thornweave Jarrett Sigler Shark Toothed Maw Jeffrey Swank Boots of Ethereal Wake James Thomas Blade of The Ice Stalker Robert Thomson Phantom Corsair Boots Brandon Thorne Cloak of the High Plains Wind Philip Tucker Scattertracks Isaac V Wolflord's Fang Nick Wasko Banshee's Wrath Garrick Williams Shattered Blade Daron Woodson Defender's Door
Alternates
Kim Frandsen Brass Helmsman Frank Gori Iounic Pipes	Robert Guthrie Scallywag's Tooth Stephen Stack Leviathan's Terror

I want to take a moment here to issue a big "Thank You" to all our voters! This year our slate of items was selected entirely by public vote, rather than having the popular vote select a pool from which our judges made the final choice. Nearly a quarter of a million votes went into this selection, and we culled the bottom percentage of items 5 times throughout the contest, leaving us with just the top third of entries for the final push through the weekend. None of this would be possible without our dedicated fans and the community as a whole, and we really appreciate all the time and effort that has been put into making sure we have the best possible set of contestants going into Round 2.

We will also in due course reveal what items failed to make the Top 32 and our 4 alternates, but did make it into the top 100. Those won't be presented in any particular order (so no one will be tortured by knowing they were item #37), but for participants who want to know if they got close, we'll have the information available.

For our Top 32 and 4 alternates, today also represents the moment when they discover they definitely have a map to turn in by 11:59 PM Pacific time on September 3. The official rules of Round 2 have been available for a few days, but I encourage any contestant who hasn’t done so to read them in their entirety. While we are allowing 50 words of description this year, this is still the map round, not another example of the encounter round (which we'll still have later). Use your 24 x 30 grid to present an area that inspires GM with ideas for encounters and adventures. Make sure your visuals are clear, and that a cartographer would have no questions about what is supposed to go where. A cartographer can't read your mind, so if you don’t make it clear what's a road and what's a river, you risk having a boat in the middle of an alley (which is fine if that's part of a fascinating location you've thought up, and not so much if you wanted a mermaid pool).

Good luck to everyone! I look forward to seeing what new adventure locations you'll all create!

Owen K.C. Stephens
Developer, RPG Superstar Host