agirlnamedbob's page

What they don't tell you is that she's a Frenzied Berserker, the chain is actually her weapon, and he has the Fling Ally feat.

;)

Well, since we're having an image party...

A friend of mine sent this to me earlier when we were discussing this topic.

If Men In Comics Were Drawn Like Women In Comics

Just wanted to pop in and say I'm still planning on getting through all of these. I've just been swamped and haven't been able to get into the right mindset to provide good feedback. Hoping to get more up tonight, though.

Sorry to everyone still waiting!

Also thanks for all the feedback I've gotten so far and sorry I haven't responded previously.

I always liked Imrijika because I thought she looked like Carmen Sandiego. ...But deadlier. ...And greener. <<;

I just want to to take a moment and say that with my earlier posts I wasn't trying to make it sound like I'm encouraging sexism, over sexualization, or unhealthy escapist behavior. I think we can all agree that if someone is displaying unhealthy coping methods or is being a jerk at the table, they need to knock it off.

The point I was trying to make is that what one person might find exploitative, another person might find inspiring. Regardless of gender. Seoni got brought up, for example. One girl might find her over-sexualized while another might think she's beautiful and want to play a character like that. I have had a couple of female friends page through my gaming books, thinking it's all about pwning doodz with big weapons only to be like "...Wait, I can be the Femme Fatale business woman in the pencil skirt and the Louie Vuitton heels?"

Every Pathfinder iconic strikes me as strong and capable. Yeah, maybe Seelah's armor conforms to her boobs, but she's standing strong and confident and she looks like a warrior with a purpose.

I think there is something to be said for playing the non-traditional or the somehow distasteful character, but I don't know many people who picked that archetype for their first character. That's more why I was making my point, because I think we're talking about how to get more women involved. Every gaming book has to assume that it is simultaneously someone's first exposure to the material and their four-hundredth exposure to the material. As the unofficial newbie-helper in our group, most of the first characters I've helped build fall into the following categories:

1.) A fantasy themed or "idealized" version of themselves (i.e. a guy in the army builds a super soldier or a girl who's into chemistry builds a mad scientist)

2.) A concept lifted from a TV show/book/movie (i.e. Can I make a character kinda like Rogue from X-Men?)

3.) Whatever looked the coolest after paging through the books and looking at the pictures (i.e. Oh, I want to be kinda like this one, but like... with a horse for an animal... not a wolf. ...Can I do that?)

Basically, they tend to not be the really off the beaten path, non traditional character that was being discussed. There are always exceptions. I ran a V:TM play by post game a while ago and one of my friends, after looking through the book, came up to me and said (and this is a quote) "I've decided my first character is going to be a Nosferatu. I want to be insanely intelligent, hideously ugly, and naked."

All I was really trying to say, to put it in the context of Firefly, was that characters like Zoe and Kaylee should be a clear and prominant option, and so should Inara. It takes all types. But I really can't think of a single gaming book that I've looked through recently where I didn't feel like I had all those options. Feel free to point me towards any recent works that might fall into that category.

I want to make a "Give The World a Coke" style add with all the different characters that have come out of my group... So Wise Old Woman and Beefcake and Bishonen and Cat Girl and Courtesan and Awkward Computer Hacker and Disfigured Avenger and Girl-Who-Wears-Accurate-Armor-And-Covers-Her-Lady-Bits can all hold hands...and so long as everyone involved feels respected and feels included and is having a good time, who cares?

From what I've always gathered, it's not that the sexualization of the female form is inherently offensive, but rather the ubiquity of the archetype and the lack of any clearly displayed alternatives.

Agreed, but the point I'm trying to make is that some people take it upon themselves to "solve" this problem by immediately jumping on it and ripping it to shreds, or saying the solution is to just get rid of it. I don't believe that's happening here, but I've seen militant reactions that are hurtful (to both men and women) elsewhere before.

It's like with sexy halloween costumes. Everything gets sex-ified and then the people who take offense and see it as anti-woman or something similar respond with slurs and hate... some of it directed at men, some of it directed at the women who participate in the whole thing.

It's similar to the reason why a woman I know who chose to be a fulltime wife and mother sometimes feels looked down upon in a society that fought hard to make sure that women could choose to be whatever they wanted.

I felt like it was worth presenting the other side of the argument because I feel like it doesn't get brought up as much.

Were I playing many an older roleplaying game than Pathfinder, the artwork and tone of the rulebook would have established that my male player's lithe, handsome half-orc maestro sorcerer could have just as easily been a bookish wizard or a brutal barbarian, whereas my female player's sexy priestess of Calistria could have been a sexy wizard, or a sexy barbarian, or a sexy priestess of a deity of piety and chastity.

Kinda like what I was saying with the halloween costumes. You can be a sexy nurse, or a sexy cop, or a sexy vampire, or a sexy nun...

I think my point here is I don't see this particular issue still being as prevalent. Yeah, sure, maybe there are a lot of sexy and scantily clad girls around, but many of them are CAPABLE. They're shown as being active forces, not simply forces who are acted upon (like was brought up before with the art). Illustrations, like TV and movies, tend to suffer from the "everyone is prettier than in real life" thing. But I'm not seeing every pretty chick in a slave Leia costume chained to some dude's throne.

I think part of this comes from the fact that I'm younger and wasn't as exposed to some of the older roleplaying games that keep getting brought up, as well as the fact that my gaming group is awesome, but I've never felt like since I'm a girl, I'm somehow limited to playing the "sexy ______." In fact, I usually play dudes. But even books that do lack in strong female characters have never made me feel alienated. Other things have, but not that. Again, my experiences. YMMV.

One point that hasn't been brought up here, that I'll just go ahead and throw out there is that despite the general feelings of us girls not wanting to be taken down to the level of "just meaningless visual sexy objects" ...women still buy products that focus on sexy ladies.

I get that revealing armor is dangerous and stupid...and all the other points along those lines that have been mentioned. I was just recently giggling at a picture for an upcoming game that involved a female wearing what I can only describe as a battle thong and chest sling/strap. She was also wearing fur lined boots and a big furry cape-ish thing, which makes a certain amount of sense, because she was very obviously cold.

Here's the thing, though. Most of my straight female friends would totally fight over who gets that mini at the table. Why? Because it's funny and whether we admit it or not, that imaginary lady made that battle thong look good. Strong and sexy doesn't have to be half-naked, but that doesn't mean it can't be either. If women weren't interested in buying that sort of thing, they wouldn't buy Cosmo and Vogue and watch Top Model and all of that. Even if you look at health and fitness magazines, a lot of them have cover images that are a mix of strong and sexy.

Maybe those images aren't as patently ridiculous as a female fighter in sexy armor and butt-kicking heels, but from my experience there are quite a few women who like the idea of being the girl in the butt-kicking heels. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that. As long as you have a healthy sense of self and self-worth, you can pretend to be whatever you want. (Or even if that's a little lacking, because the escapism, and there is an element of escapism and wish-fulfillment with role-playing, of gaming has sure helped me through some rough spots where I just needed to take a break and not be me for a couple hours.) I don't see it as any different than a guy playing a character with six-pack abs and a through-the-roof charisma. With women, though I think there's such a mix of strong opinions here that this subject gets really difficult.

Full disclosure: I'm bi and I have a few female friends who are either bi, lesbian, or have a fluid sexual orientation. So that might skew my perspective and some of the perspectives I've seen, but even among my straight female gamer friends there's kind of a divide between the part, whether it's culturally indoctrinated or not, that wants to be seen as sexy and desirable and the part that's indignant over being seen as something that is only sexy and desirable and serves no other purpose.

Admitting that maybe you want to be the girl who wears sexy armor causes shame, too, because suddenly you're just as bad as everyone else and a part of the problem. That's why female cosplayers get so much grief from both sexes.

These are complex issues that speak to deep-seated cultural and gender identity issues. I don't think there are any easy answers, but I think the first step is being completely honest and understanding lots of different perspectives. So just wanted to throw in my two cp. because it seems like this aspect of things hasn't been discussed.

Oh, and the Paper Messenger. Already mentioned a lot, but quite sincerely the only message-type item that made me sit up and do that slow "oh yeah" nod before upvoting.

I'm very glad you liked it. I hope you'll consider telling me what you liked and what you think I could have done better in the critique thread (or privately, if you're more comfortable). :)

Okay... I'm going to go ahead and post up my own item, just to get it out there, then I'm going back to the top to offer critiques on as many items as I can get through tonight.

Paper Messenger
Aura faint conjuration and transmutation; CL 5th
Slot none; Price 400 gp; Weight --
Description
Most commonly taking the shape of a crane or a glider, a paper messenger appears as nothing more than an origami figure. Once activated, it can carry a short message to a single target at a known location and return with a response. The figure can be fooled by disguises and spells such as alter self or polymorph. The message must be able to be written or drawn on a single piece of paper. Alternately, the messenger can travel to a specified location as a scout. Upon return, it can respond to a single yes or no question about the location. The figure cannot travel more than 5 miles away from the user.

A paper messenger is a single use item. It can be recalled from a task at any time. Once the task is completed, the figure is recalled, or it travels out of range, the magic dissipates leaving an ordinary paper figure behind. Paper messengers are fine objects and have the ability to bend or lie flat to squeeze under doors or through narrow cracks. They have a fly speed of 60 ft. with good maneuverability. They should be treated as being made of ordinary paper, unless fortified by other means. It is possible, albeit difficult, to spot and intercept a paper messenger mid-flight. If the figure becomes wet, it is unusable until dry. Crumpling the figure has no ill effects, but if it becomes ripped or torn it loses all magical properties.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, fly, unseen servant; Cost 200 gp

Echoing what's been said, I think the most important thing to take away here is two-fold. First of all, what did these items do well? Second, what did the items that made the Top 32 do to stand apart?

If you didn't make it to the unofficial "top 89" I still really hope you post your item in the critique thread. There are several items I quite liked, but maybe they needed a tweak or two, and I really would love to give feedback.

And, if you did make the list, I hope you'll do the same so we can continue to parse out what set the items apart in the eyes of the judges.

As always, Clark, thanks for posting this and just generally being awesome.

There is a LOT I would love to say on this subject. ...I just helped a friend of mine with a project about this very issue for a Women's Studies class.

...However...I don't know if this is really the time or the place. I love that we can talk about this and that people want to start a dialogue, but I feel like we're getting rather off topic. I also don't want to steal any thunder from the Top 32.

These conversations need to happen, but we're touching on issues that reach far beyond the scope of RPGSS.

Though, as far as RPGSS is concerned, there is one thing I'm trying to figure out. Almost all of my friends are gamers, and close to half (or possibly even over half, I'd have to count) of those friends are female. Now, level of interest runs the gamut, but everyone is at least a part of the hobby. As far as I know, I'm the only girl who's seriously taken up any game design projects. Even a girlfriend of mine who's been gaming as long as, if not longer, than most of the guys I know never discusses game design. She's more into other systems than Pathfinder/DnD, but I don't remember her ever mentioning any homebrew stuff. I actually don't think she's ever run a game. Another friend of mine who's newer to the hobby is about to run her first game, so maybe she'll get more into design because of that.

...In contrast, most of my guy friends have tinkered with design somewhat. Whether it's building a custom setting, or even just tweaking and reskinning items and NPCs to fit a different theme, they pretty much all do it.

Why is that? Because I think that's part of why we don't have more females submitting to RPGSS.

I definitely don't think there's any sort of bias at work and thanks for doing the breakdown, Mark! It was really cool to see.

Compartmentalizing this for easier reading:

Pretty sure I saw the vest of mongrelkind on my last day voting, so I'm about 95% sure you made it through the cull.

Congrats on making it to the Top 32! I'm really stunned because I don't remember seeing this item during voting...but reading it, it does sort of ring a bell like maybe I saw it really early on and then not again? ...Regardless, I'm quite fond of it. I agree that it really ramps up the coolness factor.

To me, it really feels like an item that's as useful as the player using it is creative. If I find this item or buy it for a character, I'm going to come up with as many ways I can take advantage of it as possible. But I'm something of an item hoarder, and I love finding as many uses as possible for things, so I that's where I'm coming from.

Good luck next round! I hope you bring the same coolness factor to the table with your archetype. :)

Sean, I agree with you on the discordant cur. That sentance was one of my favorites out of all of the items this year. And I saw the flask of the moonchild post-cull, so it made it that far. I liked it, but I will say it distrubed me a bit pondering all of the implications of it.

Yeah, the Paper Messenger was a cool little thing. As far as message-sending items went, I liked the way it functioned a lot better than the others I saw. The bit about it squeezing under doors was cool.

*blush* Oh my gods, someone liked my item, I can go to bed happy now. :P

*Toddles off to comment on a few more Top 32 items before passing out*

Precisely. That's why I'm taking the time to read over all of the comments in the Top 32 and try to comment on them myself. I know it will improve my chops, I want to understand what people saw in them (especially the ones that maybe didn't "wow" me as much), and frankly, the people who hit Top 32 earned their time in the spotlight. I hope to get a lot of feedback on my own item later, so the least I can do is take a few moments to give credit where credit is due.

And I'll need to bone up on what the judges liked and didn't like about this years crop so I can represent the female gaming community next year. :P

Man...I wasn't really following RPGSS that closely last year, so I totally missed that vid.

Thanks for the repost. Wow, I needed that laugh. XD

That aside, I was pulling for Anthony, too. :( I hope to see his item in the critique thread.

Even though the Top 32 got a few raised eyebrows out of me, I'm learning a lot going through the comments and seeing what the judges and everyone else has had to say. I'm hoping to comment on all of them before I call it a night.

I knew Patchwork Cat would get a lot of votes even though I didn't like it. It's the internet, after all! The internet runs on cats!

Conveniantly, the Patchwork Cat also runs on cats. ...That was actually the part that kinda squicked me out...

I was also a fan of the Seanettle Submersible. Not perfect, but I liked it and I could see using it in game.

I also liked the Magpie Totem. I can see why it didn't make the Top 32, but I still really liked it.

Haven't seen anyone mention my item, yet. *cough* So you know...you should get on that. :P

Congrats on making it to the Top 32!

I'll be honest, though I did vote for this item more times than not, it wasn't my favorite. It's a neat item and it has a lot of the polish that so many items were lacking, but I just don't typically play the type of character who would use this sort of thing, so I think that's why I was less "Wow'd" by it. Something about it felt a little disjointed, but again, I'm going to chalk that up to the fact that I'm not the target audience.

Regardless, it definitely was a good item and I look forward to seeing what you submit next round.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who was a little surprised.

Again, not to say that I feel like the Top 32 are bad. I'm digging the picks this year and I'm very happy to see the names attached to several of these items.

I'd be interested in this one, too, though I understand that it would be very difficult.

I, too, was surprised at the lack of female presence this year. I mean...I'd have thought at least ONE of us would crack the Top 32. Nothing against the boys who got in.

There were multiple maps as I recall. So someone could still be up for crushing despair with the rest of us.

Indeed. Only one is coming to mind for me, but I'm still waiting to see if we're all like "Oh, that wasn't the map I was thinking of." "...What map were you thinking of?!"

As much as I'd love to be Map-Guy (or Map-Gal), it'd almost be worst because there's a chance you could be Map-Person-Who-Thought-They-Were-In-Only-To-Be-Devistated-At-The-Last-Minut e.

Personally, my money is on there being several repeaters as well as a couple of "familiar faces" that are familiar from being also-rans that have been active in the community. Sounds like the crop this year was fantastic, so it's extra exciting.

Yeah, I'm of two minds on this one.

On the one hand, I can see why it's beneficial to get feedback on the original item, as submitted. I can see how it might be bad to "bias" critiques with commentary. A lot of people still have notes they took on various items and they probably want to share their thoughts on the original item, not on an updated version.

...At the same time, let's say you're one of the people who made a small and stupid mistake that you didn't notice right away. Typo, left out a word, formatting error, etc. It's an honest mistake and it happens and having fifteen people pop on to comment and more or less just say "Well, first off, learn to edit" isn't really that helpful.

I'm not even sure how I feel about allowing minor revisions, but not major ones. I think learning to spot your own mistakes and being able to fix them is a necessity as a designer, so being able to say "Well, after looking at it again, I changed this and this. What do you think?" could be useful for a lot of people.

I think, to an extent, people need to be able to ask for what they think is going to help them the most. I wouldn't want to turn people off of getting feedback because they feel like they can't ask for help with what's giving them trouble. Some people may want the complete, unfiltered deal, but others may not and I think that should be respected.

*watches while every person who submitted a map item has a collective heart attack and everyone else gives a collective "drat" and resumes waiting with baited breath for more hints*

You know...I was total Zen-contestant up until about this morning. Like...I've wanted to enter every year since I found out about the contest (which was, I want to say, the second year it ran), but I always forgot and missed the deadline or got cold feet. I'm super excited to see the Top 32, whether I'm in it or not. It's my first year as a contestant, so I've been fine looking at it as a learning experience and I've met a lot of really cool people on here that I'm pulling for.

Now, suddenly this morning I'm checking the forum and I feel nervous and oddly ill. It's like my mindset went from the Zen "What will be will be." thing to "...But what if I make it? ...Gah! Am I prepared?!" Somehow the thought of making it is more heart-attack inducing than the disappointment of not making it.

I think Thomas should get a little crown or something to go next to his voter tag. "Yeah, that's right. I'm the KING of voting. You all can feel free to worship at your leisure."

I'll take being in the slightly less elite, but still formidable "Dedicated Voters Division." DVD for short. I'm making t-shirts. :P

I've recorded the names of all 810 items I've seen, and I plan on posting an alphabetical checklist once the Top 32 are announced. No commentary. No descriptions (since Paizo owns all rights to the items). Just item names.

Good call. I think that will help assuage a lot of fears people have. Not to mention, it'll be handy for those of us who weren't keeping a list and are trying to remember the names of some of our favorites. ...Or, you know, send people into a panick if their item isn't on the list. ;)

That said, I think I'm all panicked out. I'm like zen-competitor now. Bring it on.

I think it'd be more accurate to say many of the serious RPGSS competitors can take their licks as gracefully as one might hope, but a few people in the past have proved that isn't always the case. Again, you get all types when you have an open call for enteries, including actual kids.

It's supposed to be fun and educational, so no one wants to go out of their way to invite extra butthurt.

Ironically, I did actually sort my sock drawer yesterday (OK, not sort, but cleaned it out)... It's not really a good substitute for RPGSS.

Clearly your socks are not sufficiently wondrous. You should work on that.

I wonder how much time it's going to actually take them to finalize the list this year with it being sorted. Or, phrased another way, I wonder how well the voting process functioned overall. Not that they'll be able to tell us if they skipped over any of the "voted Top 32," but it'd be interesting to hear their perspective on all this once it's done. I'd also love some final voting stats from Paizo.

And I didn't see my item either. It's really hard not to run through the forums with a "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS ITEM?" posterboard. On the upside, even if you don't make the Top 32, once they're announced you'll be able to ask for the first time "Hey, who saw my item? Did anyone see it after the Cull? Did anyone have it in their personal "keep" pile? Why or why not?"

I think the Critique My Item thread this year will be really spectacular.

I haven't seen mine yet...I had been hoping to hit Marathon before the end of it, but I've been near comatos with the flu since Friday night, so I'm thinking seeing my item just isn't going to happen. Glad to know I'm not alone, though.

I went with Troy McClure myself...but the sentiment is basically the same.

Hi, I'm Troy McClure and you might remember this item from Sean's Consolidated Advice Thread, RPG Superstar 2013 Edition...

Incidentally, I'm going to have a hard time not hearing that voice in my head when I read your posts for a while.

I also tend to read certain items (ones with a lot of backstory and one just because of the name) in the voice of Olmec from Legends of the Hidden Temple. <<; Really hoping someone here gets that.

That island can link up with the Nightmare Before Christmas universe, ja? ;) Seems appropriate.

Also, I wondered about that dolly for YEARS and actually looked it up over Christmas during a discussion with some friends.

Dolly is voiced by Corinne Conley and is a seemingly normal girl rag doll with red hair and a red gingham dress. Her misfit problem is never explained on the special, but was possibly revealed on NPR's Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! news quiz show (broadcast December 8, 2007). The show revealed that Rudolph's producer, Arthur Rankin Jr., says Dolly's problem was psychological, caused from being abandoned by her mistress and suffering depression from feeling unloved.

...So...I'm just going to leave it at that. <<;

And yeah, we have gone off on a tangent. I'm running out of new items that are driving me nuts, though. Other than every item that I see that isn't mine, as I still have yet to see my own.

Oh, wait, I did see one last night! Items with saves/checks that make no sense. Either they don't conform to Pathfinder rules or they do but they're so far off the mark they may as well be ignoring the rules.

Shadowborn - Exactly. And that's why I'm always floored by people who purposely ignore the advice of the judges and other industry insiders. If you snag a spot as a freelancer, you have to be able to understand what the publisher wants and then give them that.

As for the Island of Misfit Items, I don't think we should put every reject item there. Just special ones. Or "special," at your preference.

Drawing some inspiration from the cartoon...

• Items that are named inappropriately.
  
• Items that do the opposite of what is expected based on their name/description.
  
• Items with a ridiculous visual.
  
• Items with a drawback that is comical, unnecessary, or not worth it.
  
• Items that are kinda neat, but still fall into the category of "things no adventurer would want."

Thankfully no dwarves will ever have to live without beards if certain items make it to the Top 32. Then Yukon Cornelius can be fully realized in Golarion!

I demand Paizo make an Island of Misfit Toys for Golarion. Stat.

Thanks for the post, Sean. :)

It does get hard to separate stereotypes from core fluff with games like Pathfinder. There are several house rules that I "grew up with," so to speak, that it took me forever to realize weren't actually in the rulebook. It gets to be the same way with fluff.

My real issue is I have yet to be wow'd by item that draws on a stereotype that isn't explicity brought up in the game. I've seen some that get mechanics wrong because of faulty assumptions and some that really just would have been better as a generic tinkerer/trickster/food enthusiast item rather than a gnome/halfling item. It leaves things more general to invite players to come up with their own ideas.

That aside, I think these threads do come off as unduly harsh sometimes. I'll admit, sometimes I read them and I have an American Idol "Paula" moment where I just want to tell everyone to stop being so mean and try to encourage everyone. ...Then I'll spend like four hours straight voting over the weekend and I feel a little more like Simon.

It doesn't help matters that we can't say "The ______ of ______ing, while well indended, draws heavily on assumptions from outside of the Pathfinder core."

So instead we say "Items that are specific to (race) are driving me nuts!" ...Not every item in that category is bad, but I can't explain myself completely.

Maybe I'm just heartless because I do freelance work outside of the gaming industry and I am a writer by profession. You get thick skin quickly or you rage-quit.

The problem is that some items like this can READ like the author isn't familiar with X, Y, & Z rather than that the author simply enjoyed the idea of, say, tinker gnomes.

And it's not just short races, or even races. ...I really can't describe the best example I've seen of this without breaking the rules. It had nothing to do with Vampires, but it would be akin to if someone made an item that stopped Vampires from sparkling in the sunlight, a la Twilight, or an item that helped channel the "ardeur," a la Anita Blake. ...You can prefer that sort of vampire all you want, but that's not the way vampires in Pathfinder are. If you want to house rule them that way, knock yourself out, but don't do it in this contest. ...And be sure to take a look at how that creature actually works in Pathfinder before you design anything based around it or drawing on lore related to it because you might be wrong.

Admittedly, halflings and gnomes are a bit more of a grey area. But I think this is exactly why the judges warned about getting too specific with this sort of thing in item submissions. You limit the appeal of the item because a number of people will look at it and think it's incorrect, regardless of whether or not it actually is or isn't. It just doesn't mesh with their view of things, and one that may be so firmly held they believe it's core.

Pretty sure we just get the judge-selected top 32, since the judges are under no obligation to actually select the top ranked 32 items. I mean, they might, but that's just what order they look at the items in while judging. So, I doubt Paizo will release the final rankings because... let's be honest... we'd all be pretty bitter if our item was voted to the top of the list and the judges vetoed it.

I'm kind of mixed on this one. From a publishing standpoint, there is something to be said for keeping the overall reading level of a work at a certain level. Hobby industries do get to play by different rules, BUT they do still need to be mindful of how broadly they can appeal to people. At the end of the day, Paizo is still a business and they want to sell their product to as many people as possible.

Not to riff on Gygax (I love the man and am proud to live but a stone's throw from his home town), but he didn't approach all of this with the mind of a publisher...it started as something he did with his friends and it grew in the same way Tolkien's work grew and wound up shaping an entire genre. Gygax also used vocabulary to really drive points home.

That said, I don't flat-out think that complex words are a bad thing. It's a personal judgement call. For me, it boils down to this. Did they use the RIGHT word? Words have subtleties to them and they can invoke various imagry and connotations when used properly. Sometimes an obscure word is perfect...sometimes a simpler one carries more weight. If I have to look a word up, but I come away feeling like "Wow...perfect word choice," then good on you. ...If it feels like you were trying to score brownie points by using the "Thesaurus" feature in Word and just ended up with word salad? Now I'm annoyed. Somewhere in the middle? Well, we're back to personal judgement call.

I'm getting frustrated by items that are too useful for PC. They seem to be created by thanatophobic player characters. I call this group of items: "The Ring of I Don't Die"

You know, in one game I was in, we actually made an item like this for a specific player... Or, more accurately, cobbled together items, feats, and prestiege classes in an attempt to give the party and GM a bonus to saves against "SERIOUSLY, MARK?! AGAIN?!?!"

For many of us, this is as much a learning and growing experience as it is a contest. Being able to grow and find things that maybe we could have done better, see things that someone did better than we did, or recognize a great idea that we never would have thought of is part of that process.

It doesn't mean you don't believe in your own item. It just means you're approaching things hoping to learn and grow as a designer, not just win a contest. Giving credit where credit is due and tucking away that knowledge for future use is part of good game design. That's why you see past competitors who maybe entered twice before making the top 32, or made the top 32 one year only to come back the next year and make the top 16, 8, 4, or even win the whole thing.

Thanks for the luck, Greg! G'luck to you, as well.

Response to an opportunity to see my item after weeks of expecting to: "The horror. The horror."

But yeah, I saw it.

We're always our own worst critics. At least now you can panic about how it's doing rather than whether it's even in there, right? (Kidding.)

I think, at this point, as long as my item is causing more people think "Okay, this is kind of neat," rather than "Uggg, not this one again," or worse "DIE IN A FIRE!"...I'll call it a win.

Achievement Unlocked: Dedicated Voter

About freaking time.

I haven't seen a pattern of Wisdom drain stuff (though now that I said that, I'm sure I will), but I have seen my share of extradimensional space items. The ones I've seen have run the gamut, too... I have actually seen a few that were designed well. Maybe not a top 32 choice, but something I at least found interesting.

After another long voting stint, I really find myself hoping that most of these people submit their items to the critique thread after. I've seen a few that I really liked, sans one huge design hole... or a concept that really wow'd me, but the execution needs tweaking. The "so close" ones are just so heart breaking because they have potential. Most of those errors are things that could be spotted with a rest and then looking over with fresh eyes or just a bit more practice, so fingers crossed the submitters don't get discouraged.

Also, I suspect that the top items are seen less frequently than the middle-tier items. If so, your item *might* be ranked high and thus be rarely seen (comparatively). But take that with a big pinch of salt, obviously, since I am purely guessing.

I have similar suspicions...Just because there are less of them and people are less likely to hit "neither" when they appear. I'm trying to keep telling myself that, but we'll see. ;)

In other news, I did finally see an item that is similar to my own. Not exactly the same thing, but there are some unnerving parallels. ...I still like mine better, but I'm feeling less reassured each day. I guess I should be thankful this is the first one I've seen. I feel bad for everyone who found themselves in one of the insanely popular item categories this year.

Though high-five to whoever had a similar idea. Great minds think alike.

Not at all. While I am only a Star Voter, I am on the cusp of Dedicated (or at least I believe I am, I'm well over 100) and I have yet to see the one item that I know is in the contest. Which is both kind of disappointing and a relief, because I have not been faced with whether or not I vote for the item I want to go on even if it might not be the stronger of the two items presented. Although given what I've seen so far, I'm pretty sure my decision will be easy should I eventually come to it.

I feel like you and I are in the same boat. I'm finding myself checking my tag every five or ten votes to see if my tag has rolled over yet. ...I feel like I've voted at least 500 times by now, but apparently not. My perception may be horribly skewed, though. ...But yeah, I haven't seen my item, either.

Probability is cruel. The chances of seeing any given item multiple times is pretty good, but the chances of seeing any specific item are comparatively low.

From what I'm seeing and reading, though, I really do think things will balance out overall. There are plenty of studies about how the hive mind is more accurate than any individual (see here) Meaning, that if you ask a group of 100 people to estimate how many jelly beans are in a jar, the average of all of the answers is likely to be as accurate as the most accurate indivudal answer (if not more so).

Not exactly the same thing, but I think the same general idea applies.

Best way to ID the passive voice? (and I'm stealing this from a twitter post that got passed around a while ago)

If you can insert the words "by zombies" after the verb and have the sentance still make sense, you probably have passive voice. If not, you probably have active voice.

Ex.

The bank was robbed (by zombies). <----Passive

He robbed (by zombies) the bank. <----Active

Though, like was previously pointed out, the passive voice has a time and a place. The trick is learning when that is.

/Aside

For me, I really think (like several people have said) mojo trumps all. Several of my favorite items are very simple, but they're useful and the description actually makes me want to buy the item. I also love it when people make utilitarian items interesting.

Magic item descriptions are kind of like sales pitches...When done well, you read it and even if it's not something you'd normally buy, you're at least kind of intrigued by it. When done poorly, even if the item is something every adventurer would want, it feels boring and lifeless.

Maybe I've just spent too much time in marketing...

I look at it this way. Archetypes are variant classes, and they're great for taking the various classes to places they might not normally go. I always go back to the first variants I remember from D&D 3.5, and the Urban Ranger usually springs immediately to mind. Rangers aren't designed to be all that useful within a sprawling cityscape, but with a few tweaks, suddenly they're great in a campaign with an urban focus.

In that regard the River Kingdoms is as about Chaotic Neutral as you can get. Half of it in anarchy. The other half is a constantly shifting power base. Personal freedom is in the culture. Heredity, social class, and feudalism is a minority. Lots of interesting border realms to work with. Lots of smaller sects, cults, guilds getting a piece of the pie. Also it is a good place for exiles, wanderers, and those wanting to not be found to go. Really there is quite a bit to work with.

I think the same applies here. Not every class is equally designed for this sort of environment. So, look at the base classes and mull over what abilities they have that would be useful and/or useless in this environment. Then think about what you might replace the useless (or at least less useful) abilities with to make them more viable within the setting. Keep it all thematically tied, polish it up, and ta-da! You have an archetype.

Oh my, time to get cracking again! :) I'm totally seeing a difference in the items I'm voting on now. Way more new items...it's really heartening.

I'm also hoping this means a better chance to see my (still MIA on my end) item. You know. Unless it got culled... but fingers crossed that's not the case! ;)

Thanks for the stats, guys! And the new tags are nifty, too.

I think it's mostly us being supersititious, with the whole "where things are paired" and "pairing frequency" thing, but I don't understand the math behind the voting system well enough to say that with much certainty.

I do know that there still seem to be a lot of people using the "neither" button when presented with two equally bad items (I've yet to hear of someone using it for equally good items), which means that pairing gets thrown back into the queue for someone else to vote on it. This is why if you hit "neither" you may have that pairing bubble up again almost immediately, especially if you've already voted on most of the other pairings still in the queue. So if you're not seeing your item dozens and dozens of times it MAY mean that everyone who sees it is immediately voting either for or against it.

That said, sometimes probability is cruel and you might just randomly be delt your item several times at random, regardless of whether it's being shuffled back into the pile with any frequency.

Now, after multiple days of voting, I'm starting to see items that are much more evenly matched, for better or for worse (at least IMHO). I'm not sure if that's actually a thing or if it's just a stroke of luck. If it is a thing, then the item you see your item up against may be an indication. It may also mean that the "neither" button starts getting used more frequently.

Regardless, I still haven't seen my item, so I'm hoping it means that everyone who sees it is voting it up, so it's not staying in the queue for very long. But I can't say with any certainty that's true.