The Best of the Rest

[Clark Peterson]

In seeing the Top 4, I reflected back on the contestants who didnt make it to the top and thought I would call out a few that I really thought did a great job though they didnt quite get all the way there for various reasons.

Round 5:

Russ and Joe, I thought both of you were great.

Russ, I loved Darkblight. It was one of the highlights of the contest for me.

Joe, I thought your torch was absolute genius.

Round 4:

Neil, I loved the shroud a ton.

Round 3:

James, I was really sad to see you go here. Stained Peaks was an amazing entry.

Sam "Mr. Migrus," I was sad to see you go here too. The Migrus was one of the defining moments of the competition and it was the first time all of us judges knew we were really going to see something special in this competition.

William McNulty, I liked Akram Zafir alot.

Round 2:

William Cronk, I really thought you handled yourself with professionalism.

I was impressed with all the top 32, that is for sure. Even if I didnt specifically list a thought above about you, I have a ton of respect for how well everyone did and how everyone approached this contest.

So a big tip of the hat to all the contestants!!! You guys have my endless respect.

Clark

[The Earl of Sandwich]

This competition has kept me entertained for weeks. I hope the writer's strike ends the minute the winner is announced. Otherwise I might have too much free time on my hands. But the writers in this contest have kept me interested and entertained for the duration. I would like thank a few of the contestants who, while not making it to the final round, have added to my campaign and my enjoyment of gaming. Eric Anderson, William Cronk, Joel Flank, Hal MacLean, and Joe Outzen, please take a bow. Kudos!

[William Cronk]

Thanks Clarke, I appreciate the compliment, it means a lot. Hopefully next year if you do this again I will be able to rise a little further than I did this year :)

I have to admit, I have walked away from this with a greater love for the hobby and a lot more interest in making my writing that much better than it was before.

WC

[Alex Handley]

Clark Peterson wrote:

I was impressed with all the top 32, that is for sure. Even if I didnt specifically list a thought above about you, I have a ton of respect for how well everyone did and how everyone approached this contest.

So a big tip of the hat to all the contestants!!! You guys have my endless respect.

Clark

Thanks. Hopefully, you'll do it again next year and maybe then I'll be able to do a proper job of it. Still, this contest has been fantastically useful on about fifty-seven different levels, not least in giving me an idea of what RPG publishers actually want. While it depressed my natural Lich sense of superiority to find I am not teh uberest (yet), it was delightful to see all the legions of creativity.

I hope to see a lot of the other top 32 coming back if they do it again, with even more teh uber than this year.

On a personal, and for once entirely serious, note making the top 32 was the highlight of what was otherwise the worst year I have ever experienced, so thanks to everyone for giving a Lich at least a glimmer of dark in the lightness.

[William Cronk]

The Earl of Sandwich wrote:

This competition has kept me entertained for weeks. I hope the writer's strike ends the minute the winner is announced. Otherwise I might have too much free time on my hands. But the writers in this contest have kept me interested and entertained for the duration. I would like thank a few of the contestants who, while not making it to the final round, have added to my campaign and my enjoyment of gaming. Eric Anderson, William Cronk, Joel Flank, Hal MacLean, and Joe Outzen, please take a bow. Kudos!

Thanks Earl. Out of curiosity can I ask what you used?

WC

[The Earl of Sandwich]

I've lifted (or lifted & tweaked) a LOT from the items in round 1; Joel's Bodyguard's Vest, Joe's Torch of Solidity, Hal's Nausea Pill and your very own Chiurgeon's Chest were the items I enjoyed reading for their own sake as well as inserting them in my campaign without changing anything about them. While I haven't actually lifted any countries in such a way, all of the writers mentioned inspired elements big and small in my campaign (including a tribe of harassed & harried blink dogs, some of whom might end up as allies or cohorts of my PCs). Oh, I've also re-examined my prejudice against ghouls as bad guys by aspects of both the Skinsaw Man and Durgal Maldar.
I should probably go back through the contest round by round and pick out all the elements I enjoyed and was inspired by; but that's too big a project for tonight. Once again though, my hat's off to all the writer's who invested their time and enriched my gaming experience because of their effort!

[Joel Flank]

The Earl of Sandwich wrote:

I've lifted (or lifted & tweaked) a LOT from the items in round 1; Joel's Bodyguard's Vest...

I'm glad to hear my contribution to the contest is interesting and useful in play. I've used a few items also, Seer's Tea, and soon the Elemental Quiver. I'm looking for a chance to use the Shroud of Old Souls, even if it's just in the background for now.

[hellacious huni]

I want to take a moment to also thank all the contestants for their hard work.

I have been able to use vast amounts of stuff from this contest and the stuff I couldn't use inspired me to make better stuff!

I love Akram Zafir and have plugged it right into my campaign. Likewise the country with the dying godhead.

I love the shroud, I love the nausea pill (genius!), and I really like the murderous nanny.

I was very vocal about my sadness in seeing Sam Kisko go, I thought he had the most well-written country and of course Migrus stole all our hearts.

The elemental quiver rocked ass and I'm already placing them all over Varisia like candy bowls at gramma's house.

Seriously, good job everyone, even the worst of the superstars still were fun, creative, and playable.

[Hal Maclean]

I'll add my own heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to read through all the entries. That represented a significant time committment and I always appreciate it when people loan their precious free moments to me or any other writer.

We writers spend a lot of time alone in a room somewhere trying to create. The instant feedback of this contest was a welcome change from that :)

[Michael Raper]

Thanks, Clark. Thanks everybody, voters and contestants from the 850+ that started it all out to the one who'll eventually win it all. Thanks to the Paizo people for coming up with this contest and thanks to the three judges who took time to get involved with us all.

Come what may in the game we all love it's a community like this born from a company that is as much players as we are that'll sustain that very game regardless of ruleset.

[Joseph Yerger]

JoelF847 wrote:

I've used a few items also, Seer's Tea, and soon the Elemental Quiver.

hellacious huni wrote:

The elemental quiver rocked ass and I'm already placing them all over Varisia like candy bowls at gramma's house.

Thanks for the love!

[Jason Nelson]

Joseph Yerger wrote:

JoelF847 wrote:

I've used a few items also, Seer's Tea, and soon the Elemental Quiver.

hellacious huni wrote:

The elemental quiver rocked ass and I'm already placing them all over Varisia like candy bowls at gramma's house.

Thanks for the love!

I pointed the quiver out to one of my players (a mid-level archer type) as a possible purchase; he was interested but ended up buying a +1 frost bow instead - if he had already had a magical bow he might've gone quiver instead.

[Joel Flank]

Jason Nelson 20 wrote:

Joseph Yerger wrote:

JoelF847 wrote:

I've used a few items also, Seer's Tea, and soon the Elemental Quiver.

hellacious huni wrote:

The elemental quiver rocked ass and I'm already placing them all over Varisia like candy bowls at gramma's house.

Thanks for the love!

I pointed the quiver out to one of my players (a mid-level archer type) as a possible purchase; he was interested but ended up buying a +1 frost bow instead - if he had already had a magical bow he might've gone quiver instead.

He can still buy the quiver, and add another energy type.

[Jason Nelson]

JoelF847 wrote:

Jason Nelson 20 wrote:

Joseph Yerger wrote:

JoelF847 wrote:

I've used a few items also, Seer's Tea, and soon the Elemental Quiver.

hellacious huni wrote:

The elemental quiver rocked ass and I'm already placing them all over Varisia like candy bowls at gramma's house.

Thanks for the love!

I pointed the quiver out to one of my players (a mid-level archer type) as a possible purchase; he was interested but ended up buying a +1 frost bow instead - if he had already had a magical bow he might've gone quiver instead.

He can still buy the quiver, and add another energy type.

Sure, when he gets some more money! When you're working your way up, only so much cash to go around. Get an earth/acid elemental quiver with a frost bow, cast flame arrow on a batch of arrows, and you've got stuff coming out all over the place.