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John, are those clouds? I forget where exactly it was said, but in one of the previous years, there was a comment that you should only include at least semi-permanent things on your map. Powerful magic aside, clouds are not permanent.

I mean, there might be constantly leaking methane or steam, but... that's not said here. All you say is that there is a cloud of methane there.

Venting methane or leaking methane means the same thing.

I like the location and the flavor of the map a lot. There isn't much exploration to be done here, but it's perfect for a quick encounter.

What I like about this map:

• There's an entrance to the chapel via the fallen statue.
  
• There are living trees in this cemetery.
  
• The cemetery follows a circular plan, which is novel, more so when the graves actually respect this circle and are aligned accordingly. It would suggest that the chapel was the very first building in this compound, historically. Well, never mind that, imagine how bizarre it would be in real life to look at that row of gravestones.
  

TotalAnarchy wrote:

Well I did my part and voted for 7 of the maps. I'm not sure I will give my 8th to any of the remaining ones. Most maps are very good, but only 7 stood out for me from the rest.

Then spend your vote on another designer rather than a map. Consider their work in all rounds so far and the potential you think they may have to excel in future tasks. Or upvote someone from whom you'd like to see additional work over the remainder of the contest before you fully decide if they should be eliminated yet.

That's a valid point. *starts looking at items from round 1*

Well I did my part and voted for 7 of the maps. I'm not sure I will give my 8th to any of the remaining ones. Most maps are very good, but only 7 stood out for me from the rest.

This is my second time participating in RPG Superstar. My item in the previous season was the Jackdaw Katabira (remember that? no? good, good, very good), which I didn't submit to the Bash My Item thread, since I was disappointed in my performance. But I am making amends this year, so here it is. Don't mind the aura too much, I originally planned different spell requirements, and somehow forgot to revise the aura; most likely this is because I have the bad habit of submitting the items right off the bat.

There's much I would say about my item, including bad things, but I don't want to influence your critique. So for now thanks.

Wily Mace
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 10th
Slot none; Price 72,312 gp; Weight 8 lbs.
Description
This +3 heavy mace has five flanges on the iron head and a wooden shaft with elaborately floriated carvings that emit a faint green glow. When held by its leathery hilt, the weapon feels cold.

As a swift action, the wielder can cause the flanged head to become gradually hotter and then cool off in a cycle lasting for 7 rounds, as if affected by the heat metal spell. The cycle will repeat itself perpetually until deactivated using another swift action. However, it must cool off completely before being heated again.

When used like this in combat, the mace deals 1 additional point of damage if it's hot, or 2 additional points if it's searing. If the weapon is searing on a successful critical hit, the target suffers an extra 3d6 points of fire damage, while everyone adjacent to it must make a DC 16 reflex save or take half, as the burst sends small pieces of molten metal in every direction. Following this powerful blast there is a 50% chance of the heat metal spell being cast on one metallic piece of the target's equipment (Will DC 18 negates).

The heat or fire coming from the mace does not harm the wielder.
Construction
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, heat metal, resist energy, flaming sphere; Cost 36,312 gp

Where I have trouble is this item reminds me very strongly of a few I've seen before, but I can't quite place it. (I recall 2014 had a strong "swarm" theme, which might be where I'm getting it.) This is not something that's against you, as nothing like yours has made Top 32 before, but it does make me hopeful to see something fresh in the next round.

Almost every conceivable crow-related power has been done in The Crow comic book franchise. Maybe it reminds you of that?

5000 votes yields an overall 2% of all votes (250k). This 2% was spread over many items...so affecting 1 item significantly more than others is not possible.

Statistically speaking 2% for one person is a lot. A theoretical cabal of a couple of champions and several marathoners would be able to set the trend and decide a big chunk of the Top 32 if most of the data from the other voters is fuzzy.

I don't think this is the case if honest, and I personally enjoyed this year's first round, but the algorithm can be manipulated if you have the resources and will to do it.

I am very glad this item made it; I was worried it might be too niche to gather sufficient votes. In my opinion, its simplicity, useful mechanics/purpose and evocative imagery form a harmonious combination, if you don't mind such a fancy word.

Out of the 36 items in the Top 32 + Alternates this item is my personal favorite. :)

I am glad that a couple of items that I like have made it in the Top 32. Still, congratulations to everyone and I hope you practiced your mapping skills.

I sure didn't--had a peculiar feeling that I wouldn't get chosen.

Something about rejection from judges feels more personal and it just feels more arbitrary.

Yep, well I assume it's because judge and arbiter are synonyms. :P

YES, I reached Dedicated three minutes ago. What a close call!

Since it was announced beforehand, I'd assume there's a bigger chance for the cull to have happened, rather than not.

https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2494827?hl=en

So I have 300 more opponents to beat. I can trust no one. Every rhyme in every single poem might be an enemy.

Finally saw my item today, man, I am super pumped!!! Sad thing is, the excel sheet seems to be locked, and I can't update dates like I could this morning on items I am seeing today?

Is the sheet down or something?

Maybe it's locked for everyone else after a specific amount of people log in?

Hmmm, I think there comes a time, when after having read so much sci-fi and fantasy, after so many superhero movies and comics, animes, video games etc., you start believing that every second item is a copycat.

So, it has come to the point when I have to look at pricing to determine who to vote for!

As usual, the 3 most overlooked considerations that affect cost:

1) Use-activated or Continuous: If a continuous item has an effect based on a spell with a duration measured in rounds, multiply the cost by 4. If the duration of the spell is 1 minute/level, multiply the cost by 2, and if the duration is 10 minutes/level, multiply the cost by 1.5. If the spell has a 24-hour duration or greater, divide the cost in half.

2) Multiple Similar Abilities: For items with multiple similar abilities that don't take up space on a character's body, use the following formula: Calculate the price of the single most costly ability, then add 75% of the value of the next most costly ability, plus 1/2 the value of any other abilities.

3) Multiple Different Abilities: Abilities such as an attack roll bonus or saving throw bonus and a spell-like function are not similar, and their values are simply added together to determine the cost. For items that take up a space on a character's body, each additional power not only has no discount but instead has a 50% increase in price.

If you're going to abide by these guidelines, know that you can reach to quite some astronomical values.

I think there's still an artifact hanging around.

Surprisingly, it seems I survived the second cull. Now I'm thinking if I should spend my time training my mapping skills... but then it will be even more disappointing if I don't make it. I guess I'll pass this time, maybe after the next cull.

For some reason it's harder for me this year to vote often, but I have finally reached Star Voter.

Regarding the voting algorithm I wouldn't bet on any conclusion, especially based on a single person's voting experience. I have seen my item last season only two times, and both were long after I reached Dedicated, maybe I was Marathon already. My item didn't survive the cull afterwards.

In season 8 weapons were the most popular since wondrous items were off the plate. Now they're back with a vengeance.

Right. I completely forgot wondrous items were not allowed in the previous season.

I don't think I've reached Star Voter status yet, however I've noticed that there are more books, gloves, bracers, thieving, gore, blood, and joke items compared to Season 8. Personally, I expected more weapons and armor.

TL;DR -- backstory OK in drafting process, no good in final product. With a lot of...

Both items with and without a backstory can be superstar. If a DM doesn't like foreign ideas, the Core Rulebook is enough, really. The rules say make a magic item, not make a magic item appropriate for the Core Rulebook; just use the template from the CR. At this point, I would be shocked to find out that Paizo is looking for designers to create more items for the CR, rather it would make more sense to make items with backstories for themed publications, since that would cater to people who like to read more than just the CR.

It's fine to say that "here's a +1 dirk that does an additional 1d6 damage to undead...", but an aspiring designer needs to know how to say that Solomon Kane used that dirk to cut open the bellies of 100 undead and since the weapon was magically enhanced to be so precise, he managed to decorate the Christmas trees in every London house with their insides.

I don't know the exact criteria the judges will use in determining the winners, the mechanics are of course very important, but, personally, I wouldn't dismiss the backstory that easily.

Damn, I knew I should've submitted my Trantorian Armor instead, which is a nifty pink t-shirt created at the other end of the Worldwound that acts as a +1 cotton armor with a nanotiny nuclear power plant embedded into it. It is technically impenetrable unless hit head-on by a Far Star class battledragon. As with all such items, the +1 means that once per day the wearer can prepare breakfast in the left pocket microwave, as long as the wearer is not in a desert or a void.

Besides the usual requirements, the caster also needs to have the Improved Copyright Evasion ability, and the spells greater merchant brain and shield.

PS: This isn't hidden critique, just something that popped into my mind while voting. :)

Better to enhance an item's strenghts, rather than trying to replace its inherent weaknesses.

Antropomorphic items, beastly users, sentimental items, dead users...

Pricey staves...

Having seen my item... Seems I was drunk when I sent it. What is THAT sentence doing there? Oh well that's what you get for submitting it right off the bat.

You need another row to count the entries not given an item type ?

Added, seems to work.

I've added a statistics sheet to the document. It counts everything on its own, so manual changes are not required.

I've managed to find my item in the list! Many thanks for your work, scribe. Now I feel relieved knowing that my item was properly dissed in the other thread. :D

The number of snake-themed items I've encountered is approaching 15.

Been binge voting, seen a bunch of items like 8 times each - and still haven't stumbled upon mine.

Can't imagine why it could be DQd...

I'm also losing hope that I'd ever see my item. I have an idea what might lead it to be disqualified, but that would be a misunderstanding. In any case, I hope there's a way to recover it after the voting process, as I haven't saved the text...

So many rings... There's even a special ring for a special kind of place...

Ok, thanks for the answers.

I didn't select the Elven Curve Blade primarily for this feature, but I am wondering if I can increase my damage with one point. So the Elven Curve Blade is a two-handed weapon, and you add a number of points equal to Strength mod. x 1.5 to your damage roll. What if I have only a +1 modifier to Strength, do I add 1.5? That would be the first time I'd add half of a point of damage...