Messter's page

Thanks, Vyne!

I don't think I've ever seen as sweet a deal.

Does anybody know the current number of miniatures included in the vampire level and the price per unit?

Messter wrote:

Rescuer's Torch

Spoiler:

Neil Spicer wrote:

Messter wrote:

Rescuer's Torch

*Some weak writing here. Kind of a utilitarian item. The innovation is just the fact that others can't see it unless they can use see invisibility. That means you can move around in the dark without worrying about others seeing your activities unless they have darkvision...in which case they can still see you, but they still can't perceive the light or that you have the ability to see with the torch. I'd imagine rogues without darkvision would find this especially useful, but it would have to occupy one of their hands at all times.

*I don't know. It's kind of okay. Not super-compelling. But better than plenty of other items we've seen.

*Weak Keep?

*Disagree. Not Superstar.

*Reject.

*This is barely more than an alchemical item.

*Reject.

*Agreed. Reject.

*Rejected.

Well, I actually had that coming. The day after I submitted my item, I realized how not superstar it was. What troubles me most is that I had a handful of other items I had created that had a much more superstar feel about them.

Neil, could you tell me who suggested a weak keep for my item, or is that forbidden?

Thank you.

Thank you judges for your time!
Congratulations to everyone who submitted an item. It's not an easy thing to do. And to the top 32, good luck!
Sorry for the late post, I have been busy.

If I recall correctly, I changed the the price/cost of my item when I submitted it, but it wasn't far from the value presented here.
And now, if you please... Critique my item!

EDIT: Oops, made it a quote instead of a spoiler. Fixed.

I think I'm having a heart attack.

Every damn day I wake up and it's not the 24th yet!

Ask your GM to let you roll all dice for the monsters.

Perhaps you should buy those precision dice.

I don't think any of the main judges mind the "x of the y" name so much.

I personally dislike this sort of names. If you don't choose your words extremely well, it makes your item sound like a randomly generated one.

Tangent: One of the best strategies for coming up with an evocative adventure name is to put a reference in the title to either your main villain...or the primary location where it takes place. Those two staples are the things that should stick out the most about your adventure. It helps players remember back to when they faced your primary villain or adventured through your amazing dungeon/location. So names like the "Realm of the Fellnight Queen" or "Mud Sorcerer's Tomb" or "Queen of the Demonweb Pits" or "Temple of Elemental Evil" immediately conjure up concrete images that'll stick with you for a lifetime of gaming. That's what your adventure names should strive to do.

I can't disagree, this is certainly practical. But I would like to see more poetical adventure names or ones that relate to events other than NPCs or locations. The next adventure I'll be GMing for my group, for example, is called "A man's last words" and it starts with the party finding a dead man totally stripped of his clothes and belongings. The only clue the party has is that his fingers are stained with ink and, by the look of the crime scene, this man was writting something when he was stabbed in the back. So the name relates to an important event that kicks the adventure going and also to a possible plot item (a letter or a document or whatever that man wrote) of relevance. And it sounds poetical enough to me.

(Of course, I'm talking about my own opinion here, not about what's more marketable. Perhaps the more practical approach is a lot more compelling for most RPG consumers.)

On the topic of names, one thing that always annoys me is he use of really obscure words in the name. Like Ephemera or Phlebotomist, just to take a few examples from last years top 32.

I hated Candle of Viscous Ephemera or something (though the item was really good!). But the phlebotomist one I liked. I had to google it, but then it made sense to me. A lot better than Gloves of Making You Bleed Faster, anyway. Besides, it was a totally kickass item (possibly my favourite from last year's top 32).

I prepared Explosive Runes this morning.

It could be subliminal pop culture. The Sherlock Holmes movies had quite a bit of pipe smoking. Of course, the Hellboy movies had iconic cigar-smoking and those were a few years back. I guess it's hard to know why certain items align like they do each year.

The first Sherlock Holmes movie inspired a whole bunch of ideas for my campaigns! In opposition, Hellboy didn't.

I actually think pipes and stuff related to smoking are very underused in most RPGs. In things that have inspired RPGs throughout the ages though, like Tolkien, they are very common. I can't think of Gandalf not holding a pipe, for example. Still I don't think I've had more than a handful of characters who were smokers.
Of course it has to do with the anti-smoking propaganda we have today in opposition to all the advertising and cool aura smoking had a few decades ago.

(PS: Don't smoke, kids!)

I find apologizing for this kind of situation actually a very polite act. Especially if the discussion over some rule led to frustration.

Your girlfriend is a nice girl, gbonehead. Listen to her.

I gotta admit though, I hate the feeling you get when, hours later, you realize you made a mistake. Better apologize and correct things. We're all mortals after all.

I believe this trend thing has to do with the unconscious and popular culture. If in a famous movie such as Pan's Labyrinth there is a remarkable scene in which someone is holding a quill, this could lead to a lot of people having that scene in mind and being subconsciously influenced towards submitting a quill. It could be influenced by completely unrelated stuff too, like some famous song saying something that makes people think of a quill, even if it doesn't mention a quill specifically.

I was one of the people who sent their submissions in the last couple of days. It actually wasn't my first idea, but I ended up needing more time to work on my item. Since it's my first submission, I wanted to be as careful as I could.

Sorry, judges! I just hope you guys have a good time reading our items.

Thank you all guys for the support, tips and encouragement!
This is the first year I submit an item (because I found out about RPG Superstar only a month ago) and I'm actually quite new to the Pathfinder RPG. I couldn't be happier about entering this contest, even knowing that my chances of going further in it are incredibly small.

It's worth mentioning that it's not everyday you see a company open its doors for new talents in potential. Both Paizo and we designer wannabes have a lot to gain from this huge gesture.

Thanks A LOT for the opportunity.

Good luck to all!

(And that said, I hope I win)