Not yet, but starting up a Serpent's Skull here pretty soon with Neil's adventure at the end. Haven't read through it yet...
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We do NOT talk about Project Mayhem (or Superstar)...
Well, Boys and Girls, Ladies and Gents, Other... I just read something (can't be too specific) which tells me I won't make the cut... Darn... I still love my item and think it's 10X better than anything else ever created. Best of wishes to y'all! I'll still be watching the competition and reading (and voting for!) your submissions. "Another time, another place, Highlander!"
Somebody somewhere mentioned the fact there are no "true" archetypes for the Cleric and Wizard classes. There's a 27.6% chance that will be the twist on Round 2 -- to come up with an archetype for one of those two classes. Ponder... ponder...
In line with Andrew... let's remember most people have to work their tail's off for years to even get this kind of opportunity. Paizo is expending the man(and woman)power to hold this contest and judge it. Remember what your goal is (I'm assuming): to write for Paizo. With that in mind, do the best you can within the boundaries they have set, not forgetting the one who writes the paycheck makes the rules.
Oh? That's cool. Then fans vote for the winners all the way to the grand finale? Wow. Thanks. Man, what to do until the 18th!
Thank you for the info and the tip. Yes, bringing others down to raise oneself up is bad character.
I, too, hope to continue competing with you, Azmahel. You're advice is always solid and well thought out. You strike me as the type of individual who I would NOT enjoy playing Axis & Allies against (I need to win ONCE in a while). Good luck to you. Last year's near miss bodes well for your chances in 2011!
So I've never actually seen this play out... The judges pick the top 32, then we vote on, ask questions about, praise, curse, or otherwise critique the 32? Or do the judges just give their opinion and the public decides what stays? Either way, I could see it being torture, especially if folks are misinterpreting your item's description and all you want in the universe is to set it straight. It truly must be an exercise in discipline that would annihilate a 20th level Monk...
There are no more original ideas. Just original re-imaginings. Yes! Spot on agree. All I'm suggesting is that if there already exists (that you know about -- can't sweat what ya don't know) an awesome "x" that has this totally cool effect of "y", keep one and toss the other, or combine two different items to make something unique, etc. Make an "xz" or a "zy," but making an "xy" and changing the font is too close for comfort. Like your suggestion of changing what the bag does, or, to keep the plain old "holding" intact, make it, I dunno... an orthopedic shoe of holding? (for character's who have one leg much shorter than the other). ********************************************************************* GUARD: "Take all their equipment!" HALFLING ROGUE (using the voice of an 18th century Irish urchin): "Oh, no! Please good Sirs, not me shoe! I neeeeds me shoe to walk, see!" (hobbles around the room, bumping into stuff, picking a few pockets in the process) GUARD (raises an eyebrow) DM (rolls bluff vs. sense motive) GUARD: "Yeah, I guess ye can keep it." Wait, I think this now violates the home-brewed campaign item rule...
It's hard to say. In a contest for ideas, it goes farther than IP. I wrote an analytical essay on Porphyria's Lover and used J.T. Best's interpretation that Porphyria was sick and it was a mercy killing. I copied nothing word for word. My English professor called it plagiarism because the idea was not my own. True. Would I have come up with that if I didn't read Best's article? Probably not. Once I did, it was hard to get out of my head, though. I should have given him credit. In this contest, I think it's good advice for anybody who is inspired by something they've seen elsewhere, to change it enough to be difficult to pinpoint, which takes a lot of creativity too. Mine was definitely inspired, but then morphed into something quite different. As with any contest, it's emotional. We all want to win. I'll shut up now.
BTW, if you 'recognize' an item's origins, be polite in commenting. Course -- I would never call anybody out. There's a good chance they may have come up with it independently, and highly possible the published author borrowed it from somebody else anyway. As the competition goes on, similarity will matter less and less because the projects require more and more of a broader range of creativity.
On the original topic: it would be nice to rule out anything that another artist has done already too, such as items from fantasy novels or fantasy movies. I'll grant you, that's neigh to impossible, but at least try (if you borrow the effect, change the vehicle, or vice versa). I don't want to lose to an item R. A. Salvatore invented.
Hey, my theory is: why have the entry period so long? Because there are a lot of entries and it helps the judges to spread them out -- so we're helping out the judges. Who wants to have a stack of 12,000 magic items to read on New Year's Eve? Also, if you get "kept" early, it will take a better item to knock you out, whereas if you submit later, you can't afford to be equal with an item the judges have already fallen in love with. My two coppers...
Done. Submitted. Feel pretty good about it. Luck to y'all! On to my neglected chores...
Right? I'm thinkin if I'm a rich merchant, I'm definately paying some wily wizard to craft my daughter a little dollie that turns into some kinda butt-stompin golem when she feels threatened. Course, this could lead to problems with playground bullying and such... problems for the other parents kids, that is (and the school building and the town, but whatever).
Please forgive if I missed this elsewhere, but I haven't noticed any mention of item creation component cost. Example: Troll Fingers obviously require Troll fingers to create. Would that be factored in to the cost and if so, is there any formula for that (based on monster level, perhaps)?
Yes!! And everybody was going to join Lem Li in the hell of being cut to peices!
Argh! I thought I had THE ONE, but got another sweet idea last night while in half-sleep. Dec 31 feels like a million years away! Good luck, y'all!
Imho, those don't set the bar, they are way below it. Most of the items in the core book wouldn't stand a chance in this contest. This isn't about making an item that is crucial to the game or would "just" make it to print. If you want to have a bar take the Top 32 from the last 3 Years. 96 items should be a big enough pool. In the context of what I was saying, the Core Rulebook items don't set the bar for creativity, but for the other categories -- yes, the items submitted for the contest will be judged against them. For example, in the judges own words (I'm paraphrasing), if an existing items has "x" powers, and your item has "x+1" powers, but your item has a CL lower than the existing item = fail. 'sall i meant.
Got mine too! The main fear is that coincidentally someone out there will submit the exact same thing and, you know, first come first served. We'll have to trust the judges will ignore the order and choose based on the other aspects of the item -- and from what I've seen, their suggestions are very honest and in line with previous year's winners -- they really do give a lot of weight to things other than the concept itself. My advice is, if you've tweaked your item to death, go back and re-read all the existing wondrous items from the Core Rulebook for clues on how to make it better. Maybe something will jump out at you. Let's remember, those are the ones that set the bar -- they actually made it to print. The anticipation is killer, I'll admit.
Ha! Thanks for the email! This totally rocks -- I can't wait to play. The fast deadlines after Round 2 will put the pressure on for folks who don't have pre-made material, but I think that's the point. Anyway, really glad you are doing this! Think I have a never-seen-before, awesome magic item, but then again, doesn't everyone! :) |