Round 3--How I Intend to Judge


RPG Superstar™ 2008 General Discussion

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Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

Much like Round 2, I will use a more formal criteria based around our three goals for the round. I intend to post this criteria later so you all can see.

But I thought my more formal process last time in round 2 kept me from just experiencing the submission viscerally. So this round I am doing a "first impression" review before I go back and do a more formal review.

Dark Archive Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4

Clark Peterson wrote:

Much like Round 2, I will use a more formal criteria based around our three goals for the round. I intend to post this criteria later so you all can see.

But I thought my more formal process last time in round 2 kept me from just experiencing the submission viscerally. So this round I am doing a "first impression" review before I go back and do a more formal review.

Very cool - I look forward to your insights and your commentary.

Scarab Sages

As do those of us in the peanut gallery.

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 8

Clark Peterson wrote:

Much like Round 2, I will use a more formal criteria based around our three goals for the round. I intend to post this criteria later so you all can see.

But I thought my more formal process last time in round 2 kept me from just experiencing the submission viscerally. So this round I am doing a "first impression" review before I go back and do a more formal review.

Thank you sir, may I have another?

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6 , Dedicated Voter Season 6

Ugh. I suspect I will not get to the judging of this round. I just realized I wasn't careful enough with my SRD source, and I used an element that wasn't true SRD, but was in the SRD files I had. My bad.

Apologies to the audience!

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC , Marathon Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7

Russ Taylor wrote:
Ugh. I suspect I will not get to the judging of this round. I just realized I wasn't careful enough with my SRD source, and I used an element that wasn't true SRD, but was in the SRD files I had.

Yeah, I'm going to have to be careful with that in the future. I started with the basic SRD files and have been building my own personal class, feat, monster, prestige class and spell compendiums from that foundation.

Very handy for running my game, but I'm going to have to be careful to stick with the strict SRD version next time I give this a shot.

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6 aka Core

gbonehead wrote:
Very handy for running my game, but I'm going to have to be careful to stick with the strict SRD version next time I give this a shot.

It mainly applies to round 3, where we have to stay entirely within the bounds of the SRD. The other rounds were open to whatever creative liberties the author could come up with.

I found it remarkably strict since the games I run are more like Arduin than stock D&D, so I really ended up omitted anything that would be questionable. Even so I already know of one mistake I made in the stat-block, of course right after I submitted it...

Liberty's Edge

Russ Taylor wrote:

Ugh. I suspect I will not get to the judging of this round. I just realized I wasn't careful enough with my SRD source, and I used an element that wasn't true SRD, but was in the SRD files I had. My bad.

Apologies to the audience!

Ouch!

Russ, I hope it's not an auto-reject. If it is, well ... I guess there's not much anyone can do. If it's not, but it's pointed out or I spot it, then it will be factored into my vote, but it would really depend on how major or minor an element it is as far as how I vote - a fantastic idea would outweigh a minor rules blunder as far as I'm concerned.

Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Clouds Without Water

Hopefully everyone makes it though the technical aspects safely.

For my personal part, I don't intend to vote based on mechanics and rules at all. I'm sure others will, and I can understand why someone would, but I won't.

My (lone) vote is all about the idea.

My ideal vote would be for a villain of a type we've seen countless times before, but never like...THIS.

Hopefully someone did that. :-)

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

I can already see one of the biggest hang ups I'm going to have in Round 3.

We asked for villains. What we got, in some cases, werent so much villains as detailed NPC monsters. That--in my view--is not enough.

Here were the instructions:

What is a "villain"?

You know what a villain is. A villain is more than just a "monster" or an "encounter," though your villain may be a monster (as in not humanoid) and you may in fact encounter him/her/it. A villain is more than just an NPC. We want to encourage a broad reading of what a villain is, but here are some guidelines. A villain:

*Is a unique NPC;
*Is an individual creature or entity;
*Is as much a plot device as an encounter;
*Is an antagonist for the PCs;
*Does not have to be a final boss, but he/she/it must be more than just a simple henchman;
*Must be capable of being a proactive opponent, not simply reactive;
*Must be capable of independent thought and be able to both come up with plans and take actions to thwart the PCs.

Can you give us some examples of what a "villain" is, or isn't?

Darth Vader is an excellent example of a villain.

Its clear to me that some people didnt follow this instruction and instead only created neat monster NPCs with little to no conflict with charcters other than as an encounter. We didnt just want a bad guy monster, we wanted a villain--a plot device.

We didnt say create a cool NPC, we said a "villain."


Clouds Without Water wrote:


Hopefully everyone makes it though the technical aspects safely.

For my personal part, I don't intend to vote based on mechanics and rules at all. I'm sure others will, and I can understand why someone would, but I won't.

Not to pick on you Clouds, but I don't understand this reasoning. The point of this contest is to find a "game designer," not an "idea designer" or a "concept designer." To me, being a game designer is not just about creativity; it's also about having an expertise with the technical (mechanical) aspects of the game you design for. I'll be looking for a contestant that can marry those two things together, and that's where my vote will go. Personally, I don't think that's too much to ask of an "RPG Superstar".

BD

Liberty's Edge

Yeah ... a monster with class levels and a bad temper does not necessarily = villain.

Personally I'm hoping for a few good old fashioned (and interesting) "PHB only" villains.

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2013 , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Steven T. Helt

Well, I WILL vote on accurate mechanics. The stat block is part of the round's instructions, so I can't imagine letting someone with a bad stat block into the next round.

Moreover, you surely want a designer who is dead-on accurate with these stats. Nothing is more frustrating to me as a DnD Open judge than a mistake on the stat block, and then because some might figure it out, and others might not, we have to run with it. Like a guy with improved crit and a +6 BAB.

I am not criticizing the RPGA - they have a huge operation to run, and they fill tables for a lot of gamers. Gen Con or even local gaming wouldn't be the same without them. But I do feel that an acurate block is important. A typo can stall your game or preparation. A more egregious error is that much more irritating.

The final thought on the stat block is that I will vote for design choices that GMs want to see. You can't please all the people all the time, but as a DM looking through the MM or other adventures, I hate seeing less-than-premium choices for monsters and NPCs. Do all night hags really have mounted combat? That's pretty stupid. Now you either waste part of the creature's CR makeup, or you have to shoehorn in a way to use it. I want new designers who challenge parties. The PCs are darn well making the tough, synergistic choices for their feats, skills, classes and such. Why should an NPC have a dead level of Blackguard?

I don't want to disappoint any entrants before I see their entries, but I immediately understood villain to mean 'bad guy'. The contest wasn't to create an antagonist, but a villain. A scheming, re-occurring figure who plagues the PCs in combat, politically and socially. And maybe has their conscience by the huevos as well. Other people might not agree with my definition, but my top choice is certainly going to be a bad guy worth more than one look in a campaign.

Congratulations to the top 16, and looking forward to drooling over some badass, true-to-form villains.


Clark Peterson wrote:


We didnt say create a cool NPC, we said a "villain."

I'm 100% with Clark on this one. Will wait to see these entries, but I want to be sold on what havoc this figure can create, not how he handles an upfront battle with the PCs (though he hopefully can do both).

I want Michael Corleone with a side of Alan Rickman. ;)

Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Clouds Without Water

Blackdirge wrote:
Clouds Without Water wrote:


Hopefully everyone makes it though the technical aspects safely.

For my personal part, I don't intend to vote based on mechanics and rules at all. I'm sure others will, and I can understand why someone would, but I won't.

Not to pick on you Clouds, but I don't understand this reasoning. The point of this contest is to find a "game designer," not an "idea designer" or a "concept designer." To me, being a game designer is not just about creativity; it's also about having an expertise with the technical (mechanical) aspects of the game you design for. I'll be looking for a contestant that can marry those two things together, and that's where my vote will go. Personally, I don't think that's too much to ask of an "RPG Superstar".

BD

Because honestly, mechanics can be sorted out. True creativity can't.


I admit that I'm a little worried from the posts of the contestants that they got too sucked up in the SRD and stat blocks. However, I retain faith that all is well in the design. They haven't had a letdown yet.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

Here is the formal guide I am applying:

Villain Concept (name, title, is it actually a villain?, design choices, playability?): XX
The Good: XXX.
The Bad: XXX.

Stat Block Execution (proper content, proper format, good math, generally mistake free?, not abusing word count?): XX
The Good: XXX.
The Bad: XXX.

Description (quality of writing, hook?, theme?, organization, contains all mandatory content—physical description, motivation/goal, scheme/plot?): XX
The Good: XXX.
The Bad: XXX.

Tilt (did it grab me?, is it unique and cool?, do I like it?, flavor and setting?): XX
The Good: XXX.
The Bad: XXX.

Overall: XX
XXXXX.

RECOMMEND / NOT RECOMMEND FOR TOP 8

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6 aka Core

propeliea wrote:
I admit that I'm a little worried from the posts of the contestants that they got too sucked up in the SRD and stat blocks. However, I retain faith that all is well in the design. They haven't had a letdown yet.

The end result should be pretty transparent of any SRD limitations and stat-block non-sense. I imagine it will be readily apparent if the entry is any good and the stats make sense. Once the entries are open to the public I think the majority of the rules will quickly fade into the background, and you will be left with some villains that you really would not like to meet in your attic.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

I appreciate that my "Tilt" is totally subjective and based on what I wanted and liked.

I am generally valuing the three first areas equally, with a slight weight given to the first one--the villain concept. My Tilt is valued the least in reaching my overall grade for a villain.

I'd probably grade about as follows:

Villain Concept 35%
Stat Block Execution 25%
Description 25%
Tilt 15%

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

Please, again, remember that I am judging RPG Superstar. I'm sure each and every one of the villans submitted would be villains/NPCs we would love to publish in an adventure. In fact, I am confident that any of them would be total stars and the focus of a published adventure. But that isnt the point. I am trying to determine a way to grade out the superstar from the simply exceptional. That is a difficult task. A "C" here is pretty damn good.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

I will also be doing an "Initial Impression" review before my formal review. I will also word count.

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 16 aka Cruiser1

Clark Peterson wrote:

We asked for villains. What we got, in some cases, werent so much villains as detailed NPC monsters.

*Must be capable of being a proactive opponent, not simply reactive;
*Must be capable of independent thought and be able to both come up with plans and take actions to thwart the PCs.

It sounds like the last two points on what makes a villain are what some didn't cover well enough.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

Yeah. Erik Mona put it well in one critique: "good bad guy, bad villain." That about sums up where some are falling short, in my opinion. Of course, I readily concede that the vote is up to the public. Some may not judge this "failing" as harshly as I do. Though, the point of the round was a "villain" not just a cool bad NPC.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

Alright. I've done all my "Initial Impression" reviews. Now I am starting my more detailed reviews using the format above.

Scarab Sages Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games

Clark Peterson wrote:
Alright. I've done all my "Initial Impression" reviews. Now I am starting my more detailed reviews using the format above.

I am sure Wolf and Erik are going gangbusters on plowing through their pile of entries, but for us submitters agonizing through the 48-hour window between final submission and posting, I will say your updates (however necessarily cryptic and vague) are strangely reassuring... yes, things are moving... be patient... it'll all come out.

That, or it's the voices in my head as I'm feeling punchy trying to work right now to make up hours I missed this morning cuz I was working on my entry!

Dark Archive Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4

Clark Peterson wrote:
Yeah. Erik Mona put it well in one critique: "good bad guy, bad villain." That about sums up where some are falling short, in my opinion. Of course, I readily concede that the vote is up to the public. Some may not judge this "failing" as harshly as I do. Though, the point of the round was a "villain" not just a cool bad NPC.

I think that this next round will be really, really interesting to watch - I know that some voters didn't get a chance to read all of the countries, but with a smaller number of contestants, I'm hoping that every single voter will have the opportunity to REALLY read each of the sixteen villains.

On the topic of villainy: I'll admit that I have some trouble understanding the fine distinction between "bad guy" and "villain" as they are used here, but I'm hoping that further commentary will help to make the two categories a bit more clear.

As always, I look forward to insight & critiques from the judges!

EDIT: just re-read my submission, and am now more confident that I presented a "Villain". We'll see what the judges have to say, of course.

*grin*

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

I'm about a third of the way through and so far I've been absolutely wowed by an "underdog" contestant and absolutely disappointed by someone who easily sailed through the first two rounds. But all of the entries I've read so far have been at least decent. I think all of the remaining contestants have a shot at this thing if they keep their cool and keep trying to kick ass.

So far I am focusing more on conceptual design and writing than I am on stat block math. If the concepts and writing warrant going through the stat blocks with a fine-toothed comb I'll do it, but that's the sort of attention the submission has got to earn, honestly.

One thing I will say is that a lot of people are using variant classes/dark corners of the SRD and psionics, so no one can accuse this contest of being boring!

The Exchange

I think there is going to be a big discussion about the maths vs coolness on some of the villains.

Not necessarily a bad thing if people's knowledge of the SRD is improved.

But how many players sit in front of you and worry about this and that maths issue? Whether or not a template was applied correctly.

They want to be wow'ed and so will I.

However I've seen plenty of minor "bad guys" turn into a long running nemesis or villain through actual gameplay, especially if they get away from a fight. The line between an NPC bad guy and a villain seems pretty thin from where I am sat.

Cheers

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC , Marathon Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7

French Wolf wrote:
However I've seen plenty of minor "bad guys" turn into a long running nemesis or villain through actual gameplay, especially if they get away from a fight. The line between an NPC bad guy and a villain seems pretty thin from where I am sat.

Yeah .. one of the major antagonists in my campaign was no more than a throwaway encounter in my original plans - catch the bandit, turn him in to the authorities, typical side plot.

However, due to the PC's handling of his capture, instead of quietly doing his time, he developed a burning hatred and vowed revenge. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he ended up with only only 9 fingers.

But it's become pretty amusing ... whenever anything goes against them in the campaign, they're convinced he's the evil mastermind behind it. Not that he has ever did anything to them personally ... well, except for that one trap he arranged in the sinking city, of course. But hey, they got out, what are they complaining about ....

Scarab Sages Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games

gbonehead wrote:
French Wolf wrote:
However I've seen plenty of minor "bad guys" turn into a long running nemesis or villain through actual gameplay, especially if they get away from a fight. The line between an NPC bad guy and a villain seems pretty thin from where I am sat.

Yeah .. one of the major antagonists in my campaign was no more than a throwaway encounter in my original plans - catch the bandit, turn him in to the authorities, typical side plot.

However, due to the PC's handling of his capture, instead of quietly doing his time, he developed a burning hatred and vowed revenge. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he ended up with only only 9 fingers.

But it's become pretty amusing ... whenever anything goes against them in the campaign, they're convinced he's the evil mastermind behind it. Not that he has ever did anything to them personally ... well, except for that one trap he arranged in the sinking city, of course. But hey, they got out, what are they complaining about ....

Nine fingers?

Well, see, that's what happens when you piss off Frodo Baggins...


I know that the folks at Paizo rarely leave their desks and are frequently seen posting on the messageboards on Saturdays and Sundays. And I knew that this must be an incredible amount of work for all three judges. And I know that many of the contestants have pulled all-nighters, agonizing over their entries. Even so, it's impressive to me that Erik Mona is here posting at a little after 2 a.m. local time.

I'd like to tip my hat to the three judges for their hard work to make this contest such a barrel of fun for the rest of us. Thanks guys, you're doing great.

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6 , Dedicated Voter Season 6

Jason Nelson 20 wrote:


Nine fingers?

Well, see, that's what happens when you piss off Frodo Baggins...

Or James Doohan. :)

May he rest in peace.

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 16 aka Sir_Wulf

Looking at the preliminary feedback, I'm relieved that I wasn't the only one who agonized over the stat block and whether I was putting my villain together properly.

Scarab Sages Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games

Sir_Wulf wrote:
Looking at the preliminary feedback, I'm relieved that I wasn't the only one who agonized over the stat block and whether I was putting my villain together properly.

I think polishing the flavor text was harder than the stat block, just because the word count was so tight and there was theoretically so much you could want to put in there.

I did, though, debate with myself in the final minutes about whether to leave in an extra section in the 'tactics' of the stat block, one not in the original format, about 'after combat' or 'after battle' or something like that. Yeah, there was some leeway given for slight alterations to the requested stat block, but I decided to err on the safe side and take it out. It was a fun little nugget, but not worth risking a DQ-able stat block violation.

I certainly did double-check my bolds and italics, though, since as Wolf pointed out I muffed that on my previous entry, and it was VERY important for this round just to make the stat block readable.

Only 27-1/2 hours to go...

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6 aka adanedhel9

Errg, my last two nights have been rather restless with "did I remember this" and "did I do that right" and "should I have changed this". I seriously dreamed stat blocks last night. I don't know if this thread eases my nerves or not. It's good to know that the judges are working and seem to think the entries are mostly decent, but also, they could be judging my entry right now. And that makes me somewhat nervous.

I'm with Boomer on this: I'm waiting for more input from the judges on the definition of "villian" versus "bad guy". I think my entry could really go either way.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Darkjoy

Villain:
1)a character in a novel, play, etc. whose evil motives or actions help drive the plot;
2)a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.

Bad Guy: Somebody I killed to get his loot......

I think that in judging the various entries I will check if the entry satisfies the first definition: can the NPC drive a plot?

Question: How many votes will we receive this time? 3?

Sovereign Court

This round is really going to be an easy going one for me. Magic Items, Countries - these are tools that I can use to build something that's MINE. Villains? Villains can be cool, but they require a lot more shoehorning to work outside their specific milieu. Darth Vader would be a terrible Fantastic Four villain, and Galactus wouldn't be caught dead in a setting where he couldn't make Kirby hands.

So, I'm going to laze through this round, voting entirely on the sheer charisma of the contestant. Or someone who makes a Gelatinous Cube villain. Whichever.

Oh, but you suckers better watch out when it gets to monsters. I WILL BREAK YOU.

Dark Archive

Darkjoy, I think I read in another thread, that we'll get 4 votes...
But I might be wrong and maybe this is just wishful thinking...:)

Dark Archive Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4

cappadocius wrote:

This round is really going to be an easy going one for me. Magic Items, Countries - these are tools that I can use to build something that's MINE. Villains? Villains can be cool, but they require a lot more shoehorning to work outside their specific milieu. Darth Vader would be a terrible Fantastic Four villain, and Galactus wouldn't be caught dead in a setting where he couldn't make Kirby hands.

So, I'm going to laze through this round, voting entirely on the sheer charisma of the contestant. Or someone who makes a Gelatinous Cube villain. Whichever.

Oh, but you suckers better watch out when it gets to monsters. I WILL BREAK YOU.

I had a dream last night that one of the voters, unable to decide where to drop his final, coveted vote, set up a Dance-Off/Rap-Battle between all of the remaining villains.

Effectively, bonuses were given to each of the villains according to:

Ranks in Performance: Dance
Ranks in Performance: Singing
Dexterity,
Charisma,
Intelligence,
and Chaotic Alignment (because villains with a Lawful Alignment are too stuffy to shake their booties on the dance floor)

and then the highest-scoring two villains were diced out against each other.

Surreal.

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32 , Star Voter Season 7

I will be asking the following questions:

Would I use it in my game?
Is it cool and new?
Is the stat-block accurate?

Werewolf Monks get bonus points, because I announced that my Villian would have been a werewolf monk over in the Terram thread.

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32 , Star Voter Season 7

Russ Taylor wrote:


Or James Doohan. :)

May he rest in peace.

I have a 'Everything I needed to know in Life I learned from Star Trek' poster signed by James Doohan. It may be the nerdiest thing I own. I also have a Conversational Klingon audiobook signed by John de Lancie.


I'm pretty mellow as far as this stuff goes. I don't know if I could correctly identify an SRD canon statblock from a totally bogus one where people just guessed. I for one don't have any great plans to go surfing around or pulling out books to double check all the entries. In this case, I'm like an old blind shark. Don't do anything to draw my attention to flagrant violations of the SRD and I probably won't come after you. I'm pretty solidly in the "all concept" category. I don't feel bad about this 1) because I'm one of hundreds of voters and my say is not necessarily the end-all-be-all and 2) that's how I judge professional work. I get the new Pathfinder, I promise you I won't be looking at any statblocks. Just flavor. If that's cool then whatever.

As far as villains/bad guys, then my offhand reaction is I can't see a clear line there. If I get to vote on it, then I'll assume it's enough of a badguy to be a villain. If I get to vote on it myself and decide, then I can't imagine it will even fall in as a criteria. Some of you who have committed the "bad guy sin" might profit from this. Remains to be seen how much of this is up to the voters though. If it's up to me then you lucked out, because it's totally not an issue for me. I see the terms as more or less interchangable.

I'll be voting for characters who are most like Nualia or this new paladin signature character if she was a badguy. Move me and I'll vote for you. Show me a bad character I love and want my PCs to get to interact with and I'll vote for you. If your entry is mostly about tough stats and surly insane badguys who are bad "just cuz" or who have dumb names and whose backgrounds don't make any sense. Or--and this one's pure me--if they have been statted to level X but their backstory doesn't at all fit with the level of the villain (like the pretty famous example of the dwarf signature character with ten levels of fighting prowess and 1st level stats) then those sorts of things may cost you my vote.

There's the criteria. Pretty cut and dried. Probably helpful to some of you, and maybe pretty bad for others. Remains to be seen. Good luck to everyone. Everyone I voted for made it through, and a couple of you I would have voted for if I had more votes--so I'm really looking forward to this.


Clouds Without Water wrote:
Blackdirge wrote:
Clouds Without Water wrote:


Hopefully everyone makes it though the technical aspects safely.

For my personal part, I don't intend to vote based on mechanics and rules at all. I'm sure others will, and I can understand why someone would, but I won't.

Not to pick on you Clouds, but I don't understand this reasoning. The point of this contest is to find a "game designer," not an "idea designer" or a "concept designer." To me, being a game designer is not just about creativity; it's also about having an expertise with the technical (mechanical) aspects of the game you design for. I'll be looking for a contestant that can marry those two things together, and that's where my vote will go. Personally, I don't think that's too much to ask of an "RPG Superstar".

BD

Because honestly, mechanics can be sorted out. True creativity can't.

I agree with this to a point. However, being a game designer means implementing your ideas via the mechanics of the d20 system (in this case). A game designer that does not have a deep understanding of the rules can probably churn our a decent NPC without too much difficulty; however, when it comes to designing new feats, monsters, prestige classes, etc. from whole cloth, then you run into problems. Without that expertise with the rules, it is very difficult to create new game material that is balanced and mechanically sound. Typically, an editor has to do an extensive rewrite for designers like this, which costs the publisher more money, time, and effort. I speak from personal experience on this issue.

So, in other words, all the creativity in the world can’t fix bad presentation. In my opinion, a good game designer (and especially an RPG Superstar) should be able to implement his ideas within the system he designs for without relying on the editorial staff to make his ideas work.

BD

Star Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9

Erik Mona wrote:

I'm about a third of the way through and so far I've been absolutely wowed by an "underdog" contestant and absolutely disappointed by someone who easily sailed through the first two rounds. But all of the entries I've read so far have been at least decent. I think all of the remaining contestants have a shot at this thing if they keep their cool and keep trying to kick ass.

So far I am focusing more on conceptual design and writing than I am on stat block math. If the concepts and writing warrant going through the stat blocks with a fine-toothed comb I'll do it, but that's the sort of attention the submission has got to earn, honestly.

One thing I will say is that a lot of people are using variant classes/dark corners of the SRD and psionics, so no one can accuse this contest of being boring!

That is a good sign. I think you get a lot for the effort with the variants, especially for someone who has been playing for a long time. Hopefully someone with more SRD savvy than me can link to those obscure points though. If it looks broken/munchkin to me I am not interested.

thatboomerkid wrote:
cappadocius wrote:

This round is really going to be an easy going one for me. Magic Items, Countries - these are tools that I can use to build something that's MINE. Villains? Villains can be cool, but they require a lot more shoehorning to work outside their specific milieu. Darth Vader would be a terrible Fantastic Four villain, and Galactus wouldn't be caught dead in a setting where he couldn't make Kirby hands.

...

...

Ranks in Performance: Singing
Dexterity,
Charisma,
Intelligence,
and Chaotic Alignment (because villains with a Lawful Alignment are too stuffy to shake their booties on the dance floor)

Surreal.

heh heh Galactus I like the tu tu, but your plies are horrid! I disagree to the lawful dancing though, it takes a lot of discipline to be a pro dancer. O:)

Dark Archive Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4

Curaigh wrote:
heh heh Galactus I like the tu tu, but your plies are horrid! I disagree to the lawful dancing though, it takes a lot of discipline to be a pro dancer. O:)

You make a fine point, honestly - in my dream, the whole thing was pretty nuts.

It was probably inspired by the ending of the Haloid video.

. . . I've been thinking about that video ALOT.

Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Clouds Without Water

thatboomerkid wrote:
Curaigh wrote:
heh heh Galactus I like the tu tu, but your plies are horrid! I disagree to the lawful dancing though, it takes a lot of discipline to be a pro dancer. O:)

You make a fine point, honestly - in my dream, the whole thing was pretty nuts.

It was probably inspired by the ending of the Haloid video.

. . . I've been thinking about that video ALOT.

I intend to base my vote solely on people who post a lot of videos to youtube in an attempt to disguise their nervousness in each round.

Dark Archive Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4

Clouds Without Water wrote:
I intend to base my vote solely on people who post a lot of videos to youtube in an attempt to disguise their nervousness in each round.

Oh, man, I've got your vote CLINCHED!

SWEEEEEEEEEEEET.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

All done. :)

3:47 am.

What a great set of villains we got in this round. Some real interesting entries. A few missteps. A few of those might get by based on strength of prior work. Hard to say.

The discussion on these should be very interesting.

Clark

Dark Archive Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4

Clark Peterson wrote:


The discussion on these should be very interesting.

Clark

I'm very lucky, because I have a roommate (who plays Ialdabode in the PSAs, actually) who has repeatedly told me that he couldn't handle being in my position - that is, reading what people have to say about my entry but not being able to comment.

Such a thing, apparently, would cause his brain to detonate.

I, for one, am QUITE excited about it. Enough, obviously, that I can't sleep. Here's hoping for some rollicking good discussion about meta-villainy.

CHEERS!


thatboomerkid wrote:

I had a dream last night that one of the voters, unable to decide where to drop his final, coveted vote, set up a Dance-Off/Rap-Battle between all of the remaining villains.

This sounds eerily like me.

But as Cappadocius said, villains are definitely harder to manage in terms of "does this fit into my campaign/world/style?" Because huge majority of them just won't.

"wow!" factor and good flavor will definitely be important, but I will be paying attention also to psychological realism, if the person in question is well-motivated and full-rounded personality. Accuracy of stat blocks is less important for me.

But that NG half-dragon hivemind bard has a vote earmarked.

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