Russell Taylor

[Charles Evans 25]

Russ:
Just to confirm that I like this guy enough to give him one of my votes. Besides his having the leadership feat, I like that this guy actually has AMBITIONS, and long-term goals which he is going about tackling in an intelligent, methodical, manner. A lot of these villains don't seem too strong on the 'thinking beyond the next step' phase, but Seskadrin not only has plans for coercing otherwise unwilling allies (E.G. kidnap the sea-elf's wife) but has gone beyond that with steps taken to make sure that he can test that ally's 'loyalty' (in a thoroughly LE way, of course).

Great work.

[Nem-Z]

Mactaka wrote:

maybe its an SRD thing? but then again you used Asmodeus.

Asmodeus is from real world mythology and thus open to anybody to use.

[Starglim]

Good to see the use of a variant class and a feather token. He gets some use out of the Paladin of Tyranny. I don't know if it's optimal.

A satrap is a subordinate ruler, a governor. Is that what he is? He seems more like an equal member of the Convocation of Suzerains (hey, a 2300 reference!)

There are a couple of word choice errors but nothing major.

I don't see much that separates him from the typical sahuagin lord, but he's a well-designed example and a direct threat to surface-dwellers. Not a great standout but a possible vote.

[Joel Flank]

Great job, now I have an even harder one narrowing my votes to the 4 allotted. :) Nothing much to add here, solid stat block, good sense of goals and ambition - just not sure if he's got the WOW factor to compete for votes as much as some of my other favorites, but definately a contender.

[Douglas Smith 33]

THis may be the first one where I say that it outright gets my vote. Evil baddie, place to hide, tactics, motivation, goals. And I think, hostage gets killed right off is indeed villainous. Right on.

[Joe Outzen]

Hmm, an underwater baddy with a penchant for manipulation. Definitely intriguing. Your quote had me at the get-go (I just ran a villain with a similar mindset), and you held me throughout. I really like this guy.

I especially like that, unlike many of the other entries, the PC's would likely see him early and often. The general leading the troops might not make the most sense tactically, but it makes for great drama.

Between the long-range plans and the plot hooks, you've got plenty of conflict here, plenty of ways to bring the PC's in. I wasn't hugely impressed with Eluraelon, but Seskadrin makes me want to run a game there.

I keep going back to find something to critique... and I'm not finding much at all. I'll agree with the judges that this is a bit more straight-forward than I would expect of a superstar, but your execution is absolutely excellent.

[Ross Byers]

I'm not a big fan of the alternate Paladins: We have Blackguard for that. But I like this. Especially the hands imbedded in his chest.

Let me sleep on it. You may be my third vote.

[Russ Taylor]

As I wind down from our Christmas Eve get together and tuck myself into bed to rest up for tomorrow's festivities, I can't help but hope I'll wake up with a surprise in my stocking - some votes for our fishy master of tyranny. I hope my creation tickled your fancy and earns the right to advance into the next round.

Here's wishing you a joyous Needfest, gamers! And as always, thanks for your comments, advice and critiques. And special thanks for your support.

[Clark Peterson]

Russ,

Congrats! And you owe me big time! :)

I came up with the alternate rule. The original rules for DQs for round 1 were that the judges / voters would simply have one less to choose from. I petitioned to create an alternate list. And lo and behold our alternate makes good! All the way through to round 4!

Best of luck in the next round. I thought your gloves were pretty cool actually. You are definately picking it up and delivering which is important. Keep it up!

Clark

[French Wolf]

Well done.

I want to vote purely on each round, but all your stuff so far has hit the spot.

Good luck and Cheers

[Russ Taylor]

Clark Peterson wrote:

Russ,

Congrats! And you owe me big time! :)

I came up with the alternate rule. The original rules for DQs for round 1 were that the judges / voters would simply have one less to choose from. I petitioned to create an alternate list. And lo and behold our alternate makes good! All the way through to round 4!

Best of luck in the next round. I thought your gloves were pretty cool actually. You are definately picking it up and delivering which is important. Keep it up!

Clark

Well thank you very much for pushing for the alternates! I feel very fortunate to have squeaked into the contest (the last entry to make it in, in fact), and am quite thrilled to have made it this far in the voting. Now that my monster entry is in, we'll see if I can carry on to the encounter round.

And regardless, it's been a pleasure to compete, and a great learning experience as well.