Congrats, y'all! Enjoy your run, and turn it into whatever you wish it to be. :D
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I also want to say thank you for your time and input, Endzeitgeist. I am very glad you enjoyed it. :)
The disparities are what make it "fantasy", ie fantastic, not real, over the top, etc. GIJoe isn't physiologically functional anymore than Barbie is. And that's the visible root of the problem. As a mother of two girls and two boys, I'm faced with the wonderful challenge of raising confident women and empathetic men. It's not easy when even the teachers' first comments at conference are how pretty, vivacious, helpful and obedient my girls are vs. how competent, smart, capable and challenging my boys are. I actually had to take a teacher to task about that because she didn't seem to realize I was as interested in my daughter's academic performance and my son's social competence as I was with everything else - and more so than in what she thought my children's social graces were. The issue is really about expectations and socialization. If society didn't judge women by their appearance in lieu of their ability, this art style would not be insulting to women. And if society did not judge men by their physical prowess in lieu of their other qualities (like empathy, emotional intelligence, social intelligence, etc), this art style would not be capable of objectifying women for men to begin with. We teach our children what to value in others via our choices, our words, the people we invite into our lives, etc. This is a generational fight, and so long as progress is being made, I think that's all we can really ask.
Ointment of Last Sight
As a standard action, the user rubs the ointment into both hands and on both eyelids. The user then touches or grasps any non-magical object or a corpse and concentrates for one minute. If an object is handled in this manner, the user “sees” the last person to handle it and knows how it was used. In the case of a corpse, the user “sees” the means of death, whether disease, old age, accident, etc. In addition, the user “sees” the immediate environment as it was at the time of death. These visions are detailed enough the ointment’s user may cast other divination spells, such as legend lore, scrying, etc. as if the caster had access to secondhand information. Once the knowledge is acquired, the ointment becomes useless and must be washed off before the user can apply another dose. No more information can be gleaned from the target object or corpse with additional uses of the ointment.
To be accurate, I left “Item Name” in the bolded area, then typed “Ointment of Last Sight” (silly me). One of those bonehead maneuvers you shake your head at when you realize you did it. This item, like last year’s Feather of Phoenix Ash was the best I had at the time I submitted. I was concerned this would be viewed as a means to sneak psionics into PF since the effect is similar to the ESP “ability” psychometry, although that wasn’t my intent and the effect is limited. While reviewing the items and voting, I realized it was mid-pack as far as inspiration and pizazz go. What does everyone else think? What did I miss? Thank you in advance. :)
“Women’s Writing Group”:
Chibiamy and mamaursula, I'd like to help with the support group if you want it. I'm thinking of doing the same thing on Facebook and would love the help if you're on there. Or anyone else interested. :) Addressing women in game design: Solutions?:
I don't have specific problems at the community level, let alone any that can be addressed by Paizo. Then again, I tend to lurk and not get too directly involved outside the Superstar forums. I tried once or twice, but I wound up feeling like I made a fool of myself instead of contributing constructively to what was going on.
Lurking is a "me" thing. I do it even on messageboards run by longtime friends. Paizo can't help with that. Something Paizo can do is get the word out sooner, maybe a month or two prior to opening the submission window. Also, really stress the anonymity of the first round. Two of the largest reasons I didn't send anything into the 2010 competition is because I didn't know it was anonymous and I didn't have time to acclimate myself to the idea of public criticism. That is extraordinarily intimidating. Again, being intimidated was my problem. Not knowing the initial round was anonymous could have been addressed more directly by Paizo. Like in the announcement itself “It’s that time of year again. RPG Superstar 20XX begins <this date>. Remember, the first round submissions are anonymous. <Rah-Rah text>.” The cons Paizo participates in can certainly address the problems, also. Paizocon would be a fantastic venue for this. How many women make it onto any convention’s game design panels? I don’t know; I’ve never been to one. Seeing is believing, as they say, and seeing women on these panels discussing game design or RPGSS as authorities and being treated respectfully by their male peers in front of all and sundry can definitely make a difference. Also, setting aside time for networking, mentoring, etc will really help those who want to put themselves forward and aren’t quite certain how to go about it. I’m not certain how helpful “Women Focused” panels will be. If they’re nothing more than “It sucks to be a woman so a) the industry needs to focus solely on women or b) women need to suck it up.” - Both positions are incredibly not helpful. Unfortunately, most of the discussion I’ve seen on other forums fall into these two categories. Slight tangent for an illustrative point - I’ve said this before; I wanted to be an astronaut before I ever knew there was such a job. Neil Armstrong and the moon landing was a big part of the desire; Sally Ride was a big part of the goal. Ms. Ride and her female colleagues opened up tech to girls my age. Unfortunately, few if any women advanced in tech fields regardless of their competence (or their accomplishments aren’t trumpeted to the rest of us), and we’re seeing a drop off in girls interested in tech as a career. I think that lack of continued or growing competent female presence, particularly in leadership and research roles, is hurting that industry. My advice for RPG companies…Put the Lisa Stevens’ in game design out there on panels discussing how they got in the industry, why they stayed, and where they’re going. Have them stress the importance of continued growth in the female design pool and address the challenges, including cultural ones, they met along the way. How did they address the problems? What has worked for them? What hasn’t worked to make the culture more welcoming? What’s changing that maybe we don’t see on the outside? If you’d rather, generalize it to include all “minority” viewpoints. If we acknowledge the factors that lead to intimidation and withdrawal on the part of those in the minority, then we can more believably recruit people to directly address those factors and encourage those in the minority to step up, make changes, and recruit others. As for those of us in the minority, we need to take responsibility for our responses. We choose to withdraw or not. We choose to directly challenge these stereotypes or not. Sometimes it’s worth it. Sometimes it’s not. It’s an individual choice, and that has to be ok. Example from today, I walked into my FLGS to browse gaming books and buy a couple of Magic boosters with my husband. I am not a stranger here, and neither is my hubby. The gent behind the counter was a nice enough guy; he certainly wasn’t the stereotype that still sticks around. Lo and behold, the conversation shifted to language, specifically English – more specifically American English. And he pontificated on how American English isn’t really English. Looking at me, he did this. My husband was there and participating in the conversation. Another gent setting his stuff up on a table behind us was there. I was the only woman in the establishment. And he focused his attention on the anomaly – me. I write for a living. English is my first language. I can still communicate basic ideas in German and French. (We shan’t go into the Spanish I learned in high school in California). And he essentially told me my…interpretation of American English was wrong because words like Colorado and Rio Grande aren’t English. I never said they were, but that’s the assumption he made. I tried to address it via deflection (“American English isn’t really English” – “According to the British”), which didn’t work. I’m happy to say I smiled politely and wished him a good day as we left. After the door closed behind us, I told my husband “This is why I won’t walk into that store without you if he’s at the counter. I don’t need to be lectured. At least he didn’t look at my chest while he pontificated.” His need to pontificate and prove his intelligence is his problem, not mine. I refuse to own it. I refuse to allow his behavior to influence how I view men in gaming or in game stores. I refuse to allow his behavior to influence my belief in my competence. If I did, I wouldn't be able to work because my command of the language isn't competent. And I think the ability to act accordingly with confidence, while receiving the support from the community (especially those within it most like us) in doing so is integral to getting more women into gaming, specifically game design. To borrow a phrase from Neil, that’s just my 2 cents. ;)
On the subject of encouraging more women to submit to RPGSS - Outside of advertising on other forums or venues, I’m not certain Paizo can actually do anything. We all come with our own personal baggage. We all have the Little Voice telling us all the reasons we shouldn’t do it, can’t do it, whatever. Often those voices aren’t ours, they are someone else’s. Another personal story that will (hopefully) illustrate my point. I would never have thrown my hat in the ring, or continue to do so in the face of repeated failures in 2012 and 2013, without two things. First, my military service taught me I am as good as any man or woman at what I choose to do with my brain. I didn’t really learn that prior to my time in the Air Force, and for years after I didn’t apply that lesson to “creative” endeavors because I was always the “academic” not the “creative” person in my family and with close friends. Second, my husband procured a promise from me that I would submit an entry for 2011’s competition because I felt I wasn’t ready for 2010’s. Then I made it and had to learn a lot of the rules on the fly (archetypes, I’m looking at you). That experience is why I decided game design was something I wanted to do. Notice neither of those circumstances have anything at all to do with Paizo, besides my wondrous item being picked for the Top 32 in 2011. Both circumstances represent a fundamental shift that occurred within me. The only thing we can do is scream it from the rafters and rooftops that RPGSS is a fantastic opportunity with a fantastic community. We can mentor. We can encourage. We can finagle a promise from those we know to not let us do it alone (like my husband did with me). In the end, we can only do so much. Paizo can probably market the competition better. Beyond these things, I don't know that there is anything to do.
Congratulations, gents! Please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times. I hope you packed the caffeine in a no-spill container. You'll need it on this rollercoaster. ;) I'm looking forward to seeing the archetypes.
If you consider that Rite Publishing offers 5 samurai archetypes: Kuge, Nitojutsu Sensei, Shogun, Tajiya, and Yabusame - it begs the question, who is going to make (not me) a complete list of 3PP Pathfinder archetypes? Since the rules state you cannot submit an archetype that has be previously published, this means including 3PP archetypes. I'll bet the list is at least half as long (if not longer) as you've already created. I search d20pfsrd before googling. Sometimes I miss a keyword, and d20pfsrd seems pretty up to date. Click on the class you wish to do an archetype for, then click archetypes. The archetypes they have on file from Paizo and 3PPs show up on the right side. For completeness' sake, I'd also search related classes for your archetype concept, too. I did a tactician archetype for the fighter class in RPGSS 2011, and everyone was shocked I didn't make it for the cavalier.
I've seen a great deal of discussion about when and why to flag items for rules violations on several threads, so I thought I'd centralize this issue in its own thread. My understanding is that we should only flag entries that do not conform to the following list: DISQUALIFICATION: Submissions may be disqualified for the following reasons:
If I'm missing something, please add it below. If I got something wrong, let me know. Thanks. :)
No, they have entries where the name of the item isn't in the body of the post. You can't submit a post without anything in the title field.Except the judges have entries like that every year.So there's lots of talk about leaving the item name out of the body of the submission, and that's got me wondering: Has anybody made the opposite mistake? Could you forget to put the name of the item in the title field, or would the forum software stop you if you tried to submit it like that?Impossible. The title is a required field, so if it's blank the post won't submit. There has to be at least one character in the title field. Sorry. Had to turn my glasses right side up; everything was upside down. ;) Translated -- I got confused. :)
So there's lots of talk about leaving the item name out of the body of the submission, and that's got me wondering: Has anybody made the opposite mistake? Could you forget to put the name of the item in the title field, or would the forum software stop you if you tried to submit it like that?Impossible. The title is a required field, so if it's blank the post won't submit. There has to be at least one character in the title field. Except the judges have entries like that every year.
So, going with the original intent of the thread... Would a half-red dragon/elf ranger being thrown by a half-blue dragon/human fighter in the general direction of the BBEG slaver and his goons count? ;) She missed, landing right in front of him, and bit off his somewhat important bits. It was a heck of a distraction, although we still lost the fight. Dragons are magical creatures, so half-dragon teeth are magic items, right? ;) We had more fun in that campaign...
I don't know if anyone else has done this... I went through all the years so far to see if there were any patterns to the rounds and word counts year after year. It helped with the anxiety. :P Prior to announcement of this year’s rounds, my findings: Round 1 - Wondrous Item Round 2 – Design XX Round 3 - Alternating Monster/Villain w/Stat Block Round 4 - Encounter w/Map Round 5 - Adventure Proposal The only anomaly was in the first year when there were 6 rounds that had two "Design a XX" rounds and a "design w/stat block" round. My personal expectation was a villain for Round 3. This prognostication was incorrect, so take this pattern with however much salt you need. ;) The average word counts for all competitions since 2009 are within 100 words of the most recent two years of competitions. I couldn’t find the word count limits for anything in 2008... Round 1 - 300 words (increased from 200 words for the RPGSS 2010 competition) Round 2 – Average 413. I expect the limit to be 400-450 words Round 3 – Average 675. I expect the limit to be 600 words because the last two years had that limit. Round 4 – Average 1550. I expect the limit to be 1500 words based on the last two years. Round 5 – Average (suggested) ~3000 words. IF the winner will write according to the new, larger format, expect the number to double since the format has doubled. I could be horribly, terribly, awfully wrong on the word counts like I was about the substance of Round 3. It gives me something to practice with before the winners and next round rules are released, though. Take it for the educated guess it is. ;)
My understanding from past discussions is "public" is defined as any place a judge could conceivably find it by a simple Google search. So, yes, Facebook and Twitter, as well as public messageboards and such, are considered public. The judges have also stated they're not going to look up entries as a matter of course. But,why risk it? Especially since I know of one person, iirc, who was DQ'd because of public exposure on a non-Paizo site.
We don't know, Correlon. That's the twist. ;) Regardless, after going through the archetype wringer in 2011, Sean's advice still applies.
Ravening... Congratulations on submitting. Unfortunately, you get one shot per year at this. You can't go back and correct it by any means. Follow along and vote this year, and try again next.
Thank you for posting this, Sean. I twitched more than a little seeing archetypes again this year. :P Also, thank you Paizo for posting the twist before the Top 32 are announced. The extra time isn't good for the hairpulling; I may very well be bald by the time the Top 32 are announced. It is excellent for averting the panic attack I expected to occur on a three-day deadline if I make it to Round 2 this year. :)
...Half of my gamer friends are female, but none of them feel like they can take on the rules aspect of things, and none of them DM... This was me in Dec 2010 when I submitted my Verdant Vine to RPGSS 2011. It made Top 32, and I went on to Top 16. I submitted something last year, and my entry for this year is already in. If they don't want to work in game design as freelance or in-house professionals, that's one thing. If they're afraid to take the chance this opportunity (and others) represents, that's something else entirely. They truly have nothing to lose by entering if game design is something they want to do. I'm pretty sure that's one reason the first round is anonymous - to take the "OMG! Everyone will know I failed before I'm even in the contest for really!!!" excuse away from people like me (I didn't submit for RPGSS 2010 for just this reason). Edit: I realize when I'm posting about hows and whys of entering I use a lot of "me/myself/I" and it can come off as grating and obnoxious. I apologize if it does. I simply have no other frame of reference since I'm the only person I know of (face to face) who competes.
I'm trying to convince my 16-year-old daughter to submit an item. Is she interested in a "dry run" this year, Mike? We've suggested this to our 16 year old son because he wants to submit an item and doesn't have the grades to convince us he's ready to compete. The design bug might bite her that way. ;)
I second Sean. Speaking from personal experience, the community here is extremely supportive, and you'll learn a ton. :) If you've been thinking about it, do it. Don't second guess. Do it. No excuses. :) I didn't know much beyond character creation rules in RPGSS 2011, but my item made the cut anyway. Now, not having the time (as opposed to telling yourself that out of fear) is a totally different issue. :D One last note --: Do. It. You know you want to. ;)
Help yourself Marie - and anyone else, it was just a bit of fun so feel free to share - it can only spread the word of this competition after all ;) Thank you. And done. :)
Oh Wow!!! This is fantastic. Thank you for posting it! :D I sang the twelfth day out to the entire household, and it got a good laugh from hubby and kids. Can I steal this for my Facebook? I have several gaming friends who will get a serious kick out of this.
Read through all the archetypes in the APG, the Ultimate books, and the Advanced Races Guide (all available here on the PRD) to get a feel for what has already been done. Next, read through all 32 2011 entries to understand where mistakes where made.This scares me about doing too much too early, as some of the archetypes in Ultimate Magic appear to be at odds with some of the 2011 rules and judges' advice, and the 2011 word limit looked like it made some classes particularly tough. Really want to see what changes or is clarified in the 2013 rules, if anything. Having done this once, I strongly suggest a list of possible archetypes for the classes with some notes on how you'd "make it happen." That way you at least have an idea and can get enough info down to see if it will work. For that matter, I strongly suggest jotting down your ideas for all the rounds - just in case. ;) I waited until the Top 32 were announced, spent two of the three days allotted trying to make an archetype work, then had to switch to the one I submitted. It was (understandably) panned. Getting your thoughts and running through a few ideas will help in the long run. You can then tweak to the requirements for the round, and you'll have more than one or two ideas to run with when you're thrown a curveball. At least, that's what I learned after the judges dedicated a "please be kind" thread to kick off the 2011 archetype round. :P I think that hurt more than the actual critiques. Then again, I could have blocked it from my memory. ;)
Holy Smokes! I didn't even think of that. And...and...Yeah. :o
Ok, my story needs a bit of background because my first submission boils down to a difference of opinion between my hubby and myself. Growing up, my folks were really big on "roles." I was the smart, analytical, dependable one, and my sister was the goofy, flighty, creative one. I'd been married for almost 14 years when my hubby discovered RPG Superstar 2010. We'd gone back and forth over whether I was creative enough to design adventures and run campaigns for...oh...almost 14 years. ;) He had been the world creator, gm, adventure designer, etc, etc for all of our groups. I was the person he bounced ideas off of. I had done some dabbling, but not a whole lot of indepth design - mostly of the world creation variety. I'd never designed a magic item of any type before. He told me about the contest, but there was only one or two weeks to go. I bowed out by telling him "I'll do it next year." 2011 came around, and don't you know he remembered that statement. :P He was hounding me around Halloween, and I mean nagging me, to put something in. I told him "I'm not creative enough to compete in something like that." The back and forth continued for a couple of weeks. "Fine! I'll do it. And if I make it, I'll never say I'm not creative again, ok?!" The last time I made the statement "I'm not creative" was 11/12/10. ;) Now, I do it to push myself. It also serves as a reminder that no boundary is more difficult to get around than the boundaries we surround ourselves with. Imagine...a life lesson from a game design contest. :D
Brilliant... and good luck next year! I think we'll have to watch out for your name there... You just got a personal "I'd like to see you in" from at least one of the judges. That's got to count for something.Except that the qualifying round is anonymous. There were winners from previous years the judges said they "expected" to see in the results and their items got just as savaged as anyone else's. :) As it should be. :D As Clark says, even Kobe Bryant misses free throws. Doesn't mean he's a bad player. It does mean he could cost his team the game. Anonymity keeps RPGSS fair. :D Speaking from experience, yes, being called out by a judge does count for something...a bit of soothing for a battered ego. ;)
Not superstar for me - Elixir of Love - way too low a price makes it so easy to abuse, just ask my players :P No love for the necklace of fireballs?! I love that item. My love for all things in the evocation school probably explains why. I also created a red half dragon PC who used these things as a "secret" weapon when she was surrounded and outnumbered in 3.x. That experience doesn't hurt either. ;) Let the destruction begin! :D Ahem, back to the subject at hand. My vote for Superstar-worthy Corebook item is the hat of disguise. It's a SIAC, but I think it comes under Rule 27 for the sheer opportunity it grants characters in the game. :D
For another perspective...It doesn't get much more humbling than to have made Top 32, progressed to Top 16 (while being justifiably raked over the coals by at least three judges not recommending my progression each of the following rounds), completed and refined the best wondrous item idea I had this year out of about half a dozen while working 3 different freelance assignments of various kinds, and get the "Reject, Reject, Rejected" for S/MIAC and SAK that I should've been able to make better given my past experience. My choice was to chuckle at myself sardonically and decide that I would take what I learned from last year's success and this year's epic fail to make something fantastic for next year. I don't view the Top 32 as the "best of sub-par entries." I understand different strokes for different folks, and sometimes perception is everything. For me, Sean, Neil, Clark, et al.... Please, do not change your critiques. Yeah, sometimes I had to take a step away from the computer, rant and rave, whine and snivel. I'm where I'm at because of everyone's input last year, community and judges. I wouldn't change that for the world. I got to where I was last year because I read all the other critiques and the auto-reject threads and learned from them. That's the lesson all of us can take from this. We should be able to see what worked. Sometimes, it's more difficult to see where a design went wrong. The critiques offered shed light on that, and I'd rather that didn't change. My opinion, take it for what it's worth.
No worries. I knew there were issues with it when I submitted it. Very insightful and entertaining, in a uniquely (advanced) succubus way, of course. Thank you, and please pass along the appreciation of a (not Superstar this year) mortal to your "employer." :D
I'm heading towards nerdland right now in order to guarantee uniqueness and I don't know where the cliff edge is... :-) Speaking from experience, and please note it hasn't always worked out for me, sometimes the best you can do is take a calculated risk. :) I look forward to seeing your organization for Round 2. :D
That said, language's primary purpose is to convey ideas.That's certainly true, but there are words which can't be summarised easily or simply with more common words, karma for instance, or certain medical terms. True. These are often jargon, words borrowed from other languages, or older/antiquated/unused words from a previous form of the current language. To use your examples, karma has made it into the "common" lexicon after spending millenia in another language, Sanskrit, I believe. Word borrowing is a common way of integrating foreign ideas into any given language. Also, medical terms are medical jargon first and foremost - the shorthand that medical professionals use to convey ideas. Also, they are based on a now-dead language (Latin) and ancient Greek. The words we love from fantasy and older editions of the game, such as castellan, ballista, etc are antiquated and no longer in use because the modern world has no need for them any more. I'm not bashing using these terms. I'm simply saying care must be taken that you don't "out-nerd the nerds." (To paraphrase SKR above.)
For myself, I love languages. English, German, Russian, dead, ancient, medieval, modern - it doesn't matter. I look stuff up like the Akkadian alphabet just for fun. (Yes, I'm strange. ;)) That said, language's primary purpose is to convey ideas. If your word choice gets in the way of your idea, language has lost its purpose and you have lost an opportunity to communicate. Something else to consider. Languages are not static; they are living entities in their own right. Spelling, words, grammar, etc change based on the movement and changing priorities of the language's speakers. Encountering a new language or idea changes a language. From a business perspective, using more 'common' or less 'obscure' words in their products is a win for Paizo, or any company for that matter. They have ideas to communicate, and the language forms they choose impacts how many people actually understand what's being communicated. At the same time, I doubt Paizo or anyone else is going to move to text messaging "speech" patterns any time soon. ;)
Here's mine, as I said I'd do. First, thank you Neil, Sean, and Clark for the feedback. Thank you to all the judges for going through the mayhem of judging. Understood. I knew there were issues with this, and these were the issues I saw. It was the best idea I had, and submitting my flawed best is better than not submitting at all. Maybe I'm strange, but your critiques made me chuckle. Last year, I had the mojo and theme and needed to work on the template and polish. This year, I had the theme, template, and polish, but I needed the mojo. Note to self...Get all four of these down next year. :D
Wow, I hadn't noticed that. Crazy. I have to admit, I kinda figured I'd see Marie Small this year :) I liked her stuff last year. Why, thank you, sir. I greatly enjoyed the...unique perspective you and "she" gave to all the entries. :)
Here's mine, as I said I'd do. I'm betting it walks too close to SIAC/SAK territory without enough "cool." I also noticed, after submitting of course, that I did not state what kind of transformation. I cut a lot of words to "streamline" the submission after first writing it up. Now I'm thinking that was a bad idea. ;) Pendant of Phoenix Ashes
Description
Should the wearer die while wearing this crystalline pendant, it shatters. The warm, fine ash housed within it covers his body. On his turn the next round, the wearer is resurrected per the resurrection spell. The ash and pendant are rendered useless. Construction
If you made alternate, you were notified by email at the same time as the Top 32. As for whether your item was auto/clear rejected, post it in the critique thread when it opens up. The judges may or may not tell you specifically if it was a "clear" reject. You'll be told what you did well, and you'll get tons of advice on what to do better next time. :)
Dragon78, if you say so, the judges will likely point out the changes you made when you submitted it and then give you feedback. If you don't, then, yeah, they'll call you on it.
Wow, I hadn't noticed that. Crazy. I have to admit, I kinda figured I'd see Marie Small this year :) I liked her stuff last year. Thank you, Clark. :) That means a lot. I'll post my item in the critique thread as soon as it's open. I think I know where I went wrong; I'm curious to know what others think, though. Again, to everyone who made the cut - Congratulations. It is one wild ride that is well worth it. I learned a TON last year, and I'm sure y'all will, too. :)
My understanding is it's primarily to preserve the integrity of the judging process. The judges tend to use a short hand version of "Keep/Reject" with (maybe) a quick blurb as to why (SIAC, SAK, bad design, not Superstar, etc). They take the weekend prior to the Big Reveal to sanitize all that into the pertinent and targeted critiques we see. Imagine you had to do that for the entire 1000 or more entries. It's not feasible.
All we have is the critique thread. It's a really good forum for getting feedback from many perspectives. I suggest you post your item there. I'm going to, as are many others, if past years are anything to go by.
Congratulations everyone. Looks like a good group. :) Time to razzle-dazzle the organizations.
I think that's an important take away. "This is what I did for RPG Superstar" is cool, groovy, and an experience not to be missed (in my not-so-humble opinion). More importantly is "What are you going to do after it?" Make the "after RPG Superstar" what you want it to be, "win or lose."
By the way, I thought we would see an absolute TON of items taking advantage of Ultimate Combat and Ultimate Magic, since finding open design space is a sign of a good design. I laughed at this, Set. I was thinking about Ultimate Magic, myself - something to do with the words of power chapter or the magus. Unfortunately, my eyes began to cross and my brain to spin, and I opted to do something else. Maybe next year. ;)
Congratulations and good luck! It's not easy to hit that submit button - period. Several of us were first timers last year so it is possible. What do you do if you make it? Well, I had a panic attack at work and had to take a break so I could squeal, jump up and down, breathe deeply and...panic some more. That kind of excitement looks funny in a social services office. :P Then I had to hurry up and read the parts of the core rulebook not directly related to character creation and crack the brand-spanky new APG that had arrived two days before. I didn't think I'd make it, so reading slowed. Like Scott, my lack of rules-fu showed up and I was out in round 3. Would I change it? Not on your life. I started doing a little bit of layout with Rite Publishing the same month I submitted my wondrous item, and I've turned my RPGSS appearance into two freelance contracts so far. I've just finished my first one and am waiting on feedback from the publisher. The contest is a good gauge of "Can I handle the...deadlines, feedback, stress, fear of rejection, etc." So, good luck again. Whether you make it or don't, what you choose to do with it is entirely up to you. :D
Thank you, Sean, and everyone else. :D This will keep us all busy, I'm sure. Everyone associated with RPGSuperstar and Paizo totally rock!
Typically, the twist is announced as the names of those advancing are. That's not always true; we got some extra time with archetypes last year, IIRC.
I feel your frustration, Master Crafter; however, even this much could be potentially identifying. :( The best advice for pricing, as has been stated, is compare your item to similar ones, get feedback and ball park it. My Verdant Vine last year was WAAAYYY underpriced at 2,000 gp, and it still got in. You want to be as close as you can get to a good price, Jiggy. If you're using design/revision time agonizing over price, my advice is to refocus on the design/revision so you know what you're really trying to price. If you are at the pricing stage, do your best. That's all you can do. ;)
...Resounding Voice is still a "feat" ala acrobatics or deceitful (+2 to two skills) and would still cost 4 points under VoodooMike's guide.... Yes it does, thank you Tim. :) I saw that this morning as I was entering all the info from the original post into a spreadsheet for my own use. *go figure* Aside from the confusion about cost, I standby my statement that the charisma penalty isn't really a drawback due to the resounding voice ability.
...Resounding Voice is still a "feat" ala acrobatics or deceitful (+2 to two skills) and would still cost 4 points under VoodooMike's guide.... And, apparently, I can't read (or maybe it's do math). I wear glasses and am blind as a bat in mid-daylight IRL, so it shouldn't be too surprising. Sorry. :( A feat is worth 8 points, although +2 racial bonus to two skills is worth 4. I presume that's because feat bonuses are generally untyped and racial bonuses are typed. Is this presumption correct?
VoodooMike, I am so yoinking this. I have found it extraordinarily useful in a couple of projects of mine since I found this thread last week. Thank you. :) And, yes everyone, I'll have a race up for y'all to pick apart at your leisure by the end of the week. ;)
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