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Really interested to see how this comes out! The game is in very good hands. I trust you guys to do something great. It's been a long time since I've been on these boards. I really miss everyone here.
The Pipe Fox from beastiary 4 is about as cute as they come. He's tough to top. ...wait for it... ...you know it's coming... What does the Pipe Fox Say?
I heartily agree with Erik. Just in the first batch of items I've voted on this year I have seen a couple really, really good items. Yes, there have been some bad ones, but not horrible so far. I have said over and over that as a result of discussion and our item threads the general quality of submissions has gone way up. It seems to be true once again this year. I've read maybe 10 pairs of items tonight and of those 10 (so 20 items) there are at least 3 or 4 I would have put in the keep pile right away in past years. That is quite a percentage. Most of you know, I was one of those judges in that first group (Erik, Wolfgang and I) and it was a grind--and has been a grind ever year until they changed to the public screening of the first round last year. I love it, don't get me wrong. But it is a ton of work. Easily half of the submissions that first year could have been discarded out of hand. Not so this year, at least from what I am seeing. And each year there has been improvement. Keep up the good work everyone!
Now that I'm not a judge, I can perhaps offer a few ideas. Some of you, particularly in this thread, are really good at mechanics. Like, really good. This may sound strange, but I think just about everyone in this thread is good enough at mechanics to make the top 32. That is not your problem. Let me ask you this, when you design an item are you trying to do a mechanic and then picking a cool idea to fit it, or are you looking for a superstar idea and then finding the mechanic? If (1), you are doing it wrong, if (2) you are doing it right. Find the coolness. Find the superstar idea. You all have the mechanics chops to then write the item you come up with. It is two things: (1) the core idea, and (2) the name, that you guys in this thread have to work on. Find the killer idea and item. A beautifully designed ok item doesnt advance. You guys here know your mechanics good enough. Just my $0.02. Clark
Hi everyone. Just wanted to drop in and let you know that for various reasons I won't be able to serve as a main judge this year for RPG Superstar. I am very bummed to miss only my second year of this great contest as a judge of the contest. Of course, as always, I will stay plugged in to this great community and encourage and support the contestants and help in any way I can. There are many reasons why I love Superstar. First, its run by Paizo and the people who own and run Paizo have become my friends over the years. I think they are great people and they deserve my support. Second, I believe Paizo and Pathfinder to be the true successor to AD&D, a game I have played since I was 10 years old, and its creativity and outlet has been a wonderful hobby of mine for those many years. Third, I had so many great people help me when I was a new designer starting out with my d20 company that I think it only fair to return the favor and help new designers trying to break into the field. Fourth, I enjoy working with my fellow Superstar judges--Erik and Wolfgang in year 1, through Sean and Neil and Ryan as the years went by. I I have truly learned more from my time judging this contest then you likely learned from me. And fifth, all the great people I have met from this contest, not the least of whom include Neil and Jason and Boomer and some of the guys who now comprise Legendary Games. It is a great contest filled with great people from top to bottom and it has been my pleasure to be associated with it. I am proud of my work as a judge of the contest and hope to be able to resume that role, time permitting, in the future. So, without further ado...Go Team! If anyone is considering not entering, please reconsider. Though I wont be able to judge your submissions, believe me when I tell you that you will find it to be a useful and improving process. Good luck to all the contestants. And, between me you and the fence post, I am pulling for a few of the forum regulars who havent previously advanced to make it into the top 32 this year! Clark
If I didn't get those perks, I'm not sure I'd be willing to do all that. I mean, can you imagine what an idiot someone would have to be to do that for free? Hah! What a loser! Oh wait, I forgot, they don't actually give me any of those things. I do this for free. :)
Paula's back! ;-) I used to fight that description. Now I just give in to it :) Go team! Rah rah rah! Everyone is wonderful and a special snowflake!
Anthony, I do think people have come to obsess over Sean's list (which stems from my old Bad Item Stereotypes post from the first year). Bottom line: make it cool.
Yeah, Ziv, YEAH! Stand up! Fight the man! Get what I deserve! Oh wait they already gave me a forum title. Hey, uh...solid gold dice! Yeah, that's it. That's what I want! You must think I'm a joke! I ain't gonna be a part of your system! You can't buy me, hotdog man! The moral of this story is: you can't trust the system!
2 million. Wow. That is really starting to sink in. That is a ton of work. Thank goodness for the staggeringly generous stipend they pay us judges, not to mention the life time supply of Paizo products and the 4 round trip tickets to Hawaii (all inclusive) to a resort of my choosing. If I didn't get those perks, I'm not sure I'd be willing to do all that. I mean, can you imagine what an idiot someone would have to be to do that for free? Hah! What a loser!
Holy cow! And to think just today I confirmed to Sean that I am in to be one of the main judges. Maybe I need to rethink that :) Of course, as I told Sean, at this rate the number of times I've volunteered to do this may meet a DSM-IV diagnosis. "Paizo-affective disorder". Maybe I am crazy after all.
Dang I am really getting excited for this year's Superstar. I know, I know, I say that every year. But I also mean it every year. It is always such an interesting journey. And while I sit there as a judge, I learn a lot from the contest, too. I really do. There are so many things to take away from participation in an event like this, all you have to do is turn a critical eye on the process and think about it. "The unexamined life is not worth living." Superstar is a chance for me to examine many things, not just each round's submissions. Maybe that's getting a little metaphysical for a contest on RPG company forums, but it's true. This contest is a truly great experience.
I actually really liked the insidious seed name -- far more than reaching tendril. It might not have been quite as descriptive, but it caught the imagination. Insidious is a great gaming word. I agree with Jacob. I think this is a good lesson. Don't let a technical rewrite (which improved the item) steal the heart of the item's mojo. I really liked that name and I liked what you were trying to do. I thought you didn't quite nail it with the first draft. That wouldnt have been a keeper for me. BUT the revised item, while still not perfect, is better and if you had kept the original name that was of a quality that I could say could easily be a keep pile item for me. But you changed the name and somehow that stole the heart from the thing. Just keep that in mind as you improve from a technical standpoint. Don't neuter your item.
Here are my prior comments on round 2:
Round 2 is the hardest round to judge. You really need a task that keeps the output from the contestants in a very tight range so that it is easier to compare them against each other. I've commented on that before (if I can find it, I'll repost it).
Anthony, I really like how you took the "don'ts" and combined them with the feedback from the winners and made a list of "do's," which I think in the end is eminently more helpful. Well done! Clark
I sure hope we see a massive contingent of female gamers submitting to Superstar 2014. I am getting all geeked for Superstar 2014. I've volunteered to judge again (whether they accept my offer and in what way is up to them, of course). No matter what my role, I can't wait for the contest! Ladies, get your design hats on and start polishing up some ideas. The more women the better!
Not sure what my role is this year. I sure hope I'm one of the primary judges. But that is up to Paizo.
It just so happens I was contacted by Paizo a week or so ago about a certain event... :) and here I am looking in the Superstar forums. Hmm. Seems I might be getting that itch again. It must be getting near Superstar time.
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Gamers, I've seen the source material. The classic old binders with all of Bill's cribbed notes (indecipherable to the mortal eye, his writing is so hard to read). This is truly some amazing stuff. This stuff is it--it is the real deal, the original material. His stuff. His home campaign. Sure, I expanded some of it from my home campaign and that stuff made its way into some of the Necromancer cannon. But at heart it's Bill's home campaign. Particularly these adventures. I know because I've gone through them as a player. I'm just going to call it like I see it: Bill is basically a modern day Bob Bledsaw. And FGG, carrying on the spirit of Necromancer, is essentially like a modern day Judges Guild in my opinion. I can't say enough about how much you guys are going to love this content. But it's more than that. Just like the Wilderlands and the City State has a special place, or Blackmoor or Greyhawk. Bill's home campaign is epic. And I also think, given Bill's amazing role in 3E and post-3E publishing, there is an important history of gaming quality to this stuff. I think 20 years from now they may not remember me but I think Bill will be remembered for his impact on D&D/gaming. Bill I am proud of you and I am so glad this stuff is going to see the light of day. I know all of you are really going to enjoy it!
To paraphrase the classical scholar Erasmus, the prince of humanists himself: "When I get a little money I buy [RPG] books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes." I've always followed that wise advice. :) See, there is no need to consider competing financial concerns. It goes: game books, then food, then clothes. He doesn't even mention shelter, so clearly rent comes last. I'm not sure where cable bill and cell phone plan fit in, but I have to imagine my buddy "Rassy" as I like to call him (we go waaaay back) would agree game books come before those, too. Clark (as an aside, Bill and I went to the same college and our college book store had that quote printed on the bookmarks they gave out with every purchase, I always loved that)
You know, seeing Bill and everyone at FGG do Tome 4 gets me all nostalgic. I could not be more proud of the work the guys at FGG do. You guys know the story. I started Necro and got Bill involved. Quickly we became one of the best third party publishers and put out a ton of old school goodness. It was an amazing run. 4E came along and life changes for me and I wasn't able to stay in the biz on a day to day basis. Bill has taken over the Necro content with my blessing and I am so happy to see it thriving. But back to my original point :) I am so glad to see Tome growing. I remember coming up with the name with Bill back in the day. I hope you all realize how this product started and what an amazing tribute it is to the Open Game movement. I was able to secure from Wizards of the Coast the rights to do ALL the "forgotten" monsters that hadnt been officially updated to 3E and to release them as open content in our original Tome of Horrors. THAT is why Pathfinder is able to have all those monsters in their game--they got them as open content from us. Which is totally awesome. I am so proud of having been able to make the original Tome of Horrors for all the gamers. It is one of the highlights of my time with Necro (along with doing a product with Gygax and going to dinner with him at GenCon, and doing the Wilderlands products with Bob Bledsaw and getting permission from the Frazetta family to use Frazetta art on the cover). I believe in the open gaming movement. Without it, we wouldnt have Pathfinder. I am so proud to see Bill and the guys and girls at FGG carry on the tradition of the Tome of Horrors. If you are sitting on the fence, please check this thing out. Not only is it an amazing book of monsters. It is also a part of the chain of one of the most important products in the Open Game movement. The Tome of Horrors as a series will long be remembered in gaming. Seriously, you are getting more than a book. You are getting a part of gaming history. And I am so happy to see Bill and the FGG crew continuing this awesome tradition. Tome has been and always will be near and dear to my heart. I just wanted to share, for those who might not know, the super cool role Tome as a series has played in the continued game tradition carried on in Pathfinder. Could you imagine Pathfinder without all those cool old school monsters? Sorry if an old guy like me waxes all nostalgic, but we were really able to achieve something great with Tome, something I am proud of and something I am overjoyed to see Bill and co. continue doing. And what comment on Tome would be complete without a big shout out to Scott Greene. If there was ever a monster guru, my friend you are it! Enjoy the monsters. Clark
Bill, I can't believe you are actually going to do this. Amazing! Guys, when I started Necro and got Bill involved, one of the reasons I did that was because of the campaign he ran when we were in college, which included Sword of Air and Hel's Temple and all the other things, some of which we were able to do as Necro and some we weren't. Bill is the best DM I've ever played with (and I've played with some guys people consider great). He is so old school it is scary. This stuff was already mapped out and filled binders and notebooks even back then. I know how Bill does stuff and if he gives his Bill-style treatment to this material, I can tell you right now it will blow you away. Bill and I talked about doing Sword of Air when we were doing Necro but it just couldn't be done. We had too many other things going on and the scope of the project just too huge. I hope you guys understand the insane scope of this project and the earth shattering coolness of the content. I played in it years back so I can tell you from experience (and also beating it, [cough cough], uh yeah that's right). Man, if you can pull this off that would be insane. Total gamer nerdgasm. D&D Nirvana. I'm so glad to see you announce this. I know we talked about it recently. I'm getting excited! You guys have no idea what you are in store for with this.
Jason, great work. You guys are really kicking a$$. Legendary for sure.
Don't worry I am always busy, I enjoy being busy. Perhaps you should be more worried about what I am busy about while you're not looking my sweet Big Daddy Orcus. That's why you are my favorite. Always giving me good reasons to punish you. :)
Who says bad guys get to have all the fun?Um me? Just so you know, I'm with DM on this one :) Or maybe she's with me is the better way to put it.
We need DM here to chime in, since she now not only has artwork but also has her own special mythic ability. Maybe I shouldn't keep her so busy in the palace...
Legendary indeed! Great work on these products guys. Just amazing stuff. Oh, and the Dark Mistress power...perfect. :) Clark
Maybe if anyone is interested they should contact Sean privately.
Given that there are really talented women in the industry, it can't be that hard to find one, can it? There are plenty. I think the main problem is that they are smarter than us guys and wouldn't be crazy enough to dedicate the time required without compensation. :)
As I often do with things, even if I disagree with a position I like to let it marinade in my brain and percolate for a while. So I've been really thinking about your comment Joana. It is thought provoking and I am glad you raised it. Thank you for doing that. It is only by voicing those kinds of comments that we can think about these issues and find improvements. Remember, it is the unpopular opinions that often change history. :) So please keep it up. Free thinking and free exchange of opinions has to be encouraged. I don't want you to feel "shouted down" by any disagreements. I respect your opinion in large part because I am frequently the guy that says something that no one else initially agrees with :)
I hear what is being said and I am sensitive to the idea that the composition of the panel could have some small impact on people wanting to submit. But in the end, it is the public that sorts 99% of the items. All we do is rank the final group the public picks. So who we are (male or female) seems a stretch to think its off-putting to any potential contestants. Plus, I just think it is short sighted to focus on the judging panel and say they, being all male, discourage people. Let's pull back a little--this contest is run by Paizo which is owned in part and very actively managed by Lisa who is one of the most impressive business people I know on all levels (and as an attorney and now a judge let's just say I come into contact with lots and lots of people in leadership positions), regardless of gender. Lisa is amazing and I am honored to call her a friend. She is, simply put, awesome. I've got to think if there is any place a female gamer is going to feel good about participating and being involved it is at Paizo, regardless of the composition of the judging panel. So I guess I understand the core comment, and goodness sakes I wouldn't want to think anyone felt any disincentive to participate and if we can do something to help that I think it is a good idea. I just happen to think the gender of the judges is pretty speculative as to whether it is a disincentive. That said, I think this dialogue is important and if there is anything we can do to help encourage those who feel a disincentive to participate or remove barriers that may be creating disincentives I think we should discuss them. The fact that I disagree with the posited statement doesn't mean I am against changing to improve.
Congrats, Steven. Well done. Now the real work begins. :) And let me just remind you of the wisdom of Neil Spicer: it's not what you do during Superstar, it's what you do after Superstar. You got the shot, now it's up to you. Best of luck!
On Charles' note, I would love it if Lisa (or some other woman in gaming) could be persuaded to be on the R1 judging panel next year. It would be fantastic if the gatekeepers weren't all guys for once. I'd love to see Lisa on the panel, too! She is awesome! However, particularly this year, the gender of the judges isn't really relevant to the initial selection. The public basically picks our "keep pile" and then we sort them anonymously--we have no way to know if the entrant is a male or female. So the suggestion that the gatekeepers being all males has some impact I don't think really holds much water. I don't think the lack of women in the top 32 is solved by simply adding female judges. The implication there is that these female judges would somehow secretly find all the female entrants we biased males excluded as gatekeepers. That isn't the problem. The problem is that there just aren't that many female entrants in the contest, not that the "gatekeepers" are male. There was another thread, started by Sean I think, to discuss ways to get more female entrants. I for one would love to see it. Getting back to your original point, more involvement by women at all levels would be great and specifically it would be great to have Lisa on the panel.
Hi everyone. As I'm sure all of you are, I'm excited for you guys to see the final 4 submissions. They are all very creative and really good. I've really been impressed with the contestants this year. Everyone did a great job. In the end, I recommended two of the four for your final consideration, and I specifically recommended one of them to be the winner. But in the end the voting is up to you. I am certain you will like them and I am just as certain you will particularly enjoy James' brilliant commentary on the four submissions. I wanted to take a second to say something that I think makes Paizo and Pathfinder great. I have long thought that it is the obligation of the publisher of D&D (and who is kidding who, I feel strongly that Pathfinder is both the moral and historical successor to D&D, but I don't want to start that debate) to teach people how to create great adventures. The old Dungeon magazine did that by example and Paizo does that now with the APs and modules. I don't know that adventure design has ever existed at a higher level than it does now under Paizo's watch. So take some time and really dig through James' comments, not only as comments on contestants, but also as thoughts of one of the pre-eminent designers/developers in the history of fantasy roleplaying. It is really a pleasure to see design in action and I hope the fans take the chance to learn about adventure design as a byproduct of this great contest. So my hat (if I wore one) is off to the contestants this year and to Paizo for this amazing contest. And I can't wait to see what all of you think. Clark
Just for the record, remember how we used the top 89 items from the public vote from which to choose the top 32? Well, without naming names (and they don't necessarily relate in public ranking to judge ranking), the top 4 contestants submitted items 7, 11, 37 and 45 from the public vote. Just in case anyone was interested. Based on the judges rankings, though, of the top 32 they were items 2, 4, 22 and 28. So once again I think this shows the judge's input is valuable. Though it is clear the public does a good job of sorting the keep pile, it still really needs judicial ranking by experts of the top 32 from that pile. Lots to learn and think about. I love this contest!
I think it is also interesting to look back to round 1 to see how well the sorting process of the wondrous item does for eventual winners/top 4. This year, both the quicksand cloak and the verdant crown were strong keeps from the judges. No surprise they are in the top 4. Which shows you can have excellent execution and mojo in round 1 items even that early in the contest. Great work Scott and Steven. The reins were more of a dark horse. Both Sean and I called them a weak keep but Wolfgang saw something and he pulled for them. Looks like what he saw proved to be correct--Pedro has really come on. As for the soap, that was really an outsider item. Neither Sean nor Wolfgang felt that strongly but I thought they were clearly a keeper item and I fought for them in the top 32 and I'm glad I did since I think Matt has been fantastic. So, the moral of the story is that each year there is a contestant who comes from the "barely got in the door of the top 32" list and makes it to the top 4. This once again validates my constant comment that the issue for round 1 is NOT to design the perfect item, but it is to show us some spark as a contestant (and thus we as judges should not be overly impressed by the perfect execution in round 1). Maybe I've just been doing this for a while, but I think we judges have a pretty good eye for that contestant with mojo whose round 1 item isn't perfect. Each year one of us finds one of those persons who just squeaks in that one of us championed who winds up going real far.
Solid top 4. Really happy to see them. Clark
Happy Birthday Wolfgang!!!!
Jacob I have a thought. I don't want to tell you what to do, so it is just a suggestion. I appreciate the random way you picked the encounter to run, but I have a different idea. You can use it or not, it's up to you. The voters already have the judges' comments. Playtesting one of the submissions that is very unlikely to advance doesn't seem to be too helpful to the voters. I know you don't want to seem to judge the submissions as unlikely to advance so you did it randomly and I appreciate that. But my thought is this: Sean and I recommended Feer's Crossing (Wolf didn't), but not the Vice. Wolfgang liked the Vice (Sean and I didn't). Those are the two that the judges are split on. Now, you simply aren't going to have many more qualified voices than ours from a development standpoint. BUT what might be good is playtesting those two. To me, it would be really super helpful for the voters if you guys playtested those two. That way the voters would have some really great community voices (you guys are well thought of) helping the voters with actual playtest information. Playtesting may show one better than the other and that could be really valuable. So I'm not asking you to judge other submissions as likely or unlikely to advance. Instead, maybe you could focus on helping the voters choose between the ones the judges split on. Then just randomly pick between those two which to do. That way it isnt your call, you are selecting from the ones that the judges split. Just a thought. I think it might help the community. It's up to you, of course.
Hi everyone. There is extra voting time this round to permit playtesting. Please, please, please do that. When you get right down to it, you aren't going to get better feedback or critique than what you get from Sean, Wolf and me. We do (or in my case, did) this professionally. We can tell great stuff when we see it. One thing we can't do (and didn't do) is playtest this stuff. Sometimes an encounter takes on a new dimension when it hits the table. So please play these and post your playtest reviews. Clark
This is an underground cavern where the bad guys are attempting to create a method of magically growing trees that can be subsequently harvested for their lumber. I don't know about others, but I'd suggest that a cave complex can be a location every bit as much as a keep or manor or temple, etc. The question is not can a cave complex hypothetically be a location. Of course it can. The question is did THIS submission do that.
Careful guys. Wait till the end of the voting period.
That is an awesome cake. Omnomnom!
Neil is, as always, right. But I wanted to add something. Be careful not to overthink it and to outsmart yourself. We had, I think, a couple examples of that this round as you will see. Sometimes a contestant can get so caught up in the "cool idea" of redeeming a prior monster or trying to show something cool that they become slaves to that idea and forget their main task--to make the best possible submission they can. Don't outsmart yourself.
Happy belated birthday, Clark. I'll have to run my regular Pathfinder gang through some Rappan Athuk in your honor! Kill as many as you can :)
Hi everyone. I just finished my final grades for the top 8. I have to say, some real good stuff. I think you guys will be interested. THREE people picked the same monster and I bet you will be surprised. It actually proved to be an interesting lesson: A good designer doesn't outsmart himself or herself. Instead of waving your hands to show me you are doing something interesting and cool, just go ahead and do something interesting and cool and I will see it for what it is. I think a couple people outsmarted themselves this round. It's easy to do. There is a lot to be learned about design from the submissions. I'm sure you all will enjoy reading them and learning from them. This has been a good year of Superstar and this round doesn't disappoint. I found 3 really great submissions. Three that I felt didn't make the grade. Two were on the bubble for me and the one that got the nod I felt clearly was in the top group. I'll be interested to see how the voting shakes out. Good luck to all the contestants. I've said before that I couldn't win this contest so all of you have a lot to be proud of. Great work everyone and to all the voters, get out there and vote for your favorites.
Thanks everyone that was very nice. Even a grumpy demon lord needs birthday wishes :)
Don't mind if I do! Neil is certainly a great author ... Oh man that was great. I set myself up for that one :) OK maybe this thread should now be love for everyone BUT me. That's way funnier anyway.
I know, I know, I'm breaking all possible rules of etiquette. You aren't supposed to start threads about yourself. You aren't supposed to talk about yourself during Superstar because it's supposed to be about the contestants, yada yada yada. But today is my birthday and it's all about me! :) So if you have any love at all (and some of you won't) for a certain someone, bring it on! |
