Mr. Baur, you've been quiet on the RPG Supe boards. Before the serious judging gets underway, what can you tell us to amaze, tantalize, horrify? How are you feeling about the contest this year? Reflections, observations, predictions, comparisons....
Give us some fodder for discussion! Give us some RPG SUPERSTAR cud to munch on!
Mr. Baur, you've been quiet on the RPG Supe boards. Before the serious judging gets underway, what can you tell us to amaze, tantalize, horrify? How are you feeling about the contest this year? Reflections, observations, predictions, comparisons....
Give us some fodder for discussion! Give us some RPG SUPERSTAR cud to munch on!
He's kind of deep in the text mines, very busy cranking on Wrath of the River King (which is in layout) and Kobold Quarterly #8 (which is due out soon, I believe)... I'm not sure he'll surface, but I'm just a minion.
-Ben.
--
Small but Fierce...
Kobold Quarterly News Minion.
Kobold Press
|
I just wrapped up a thing called KOBOLD Guide to Game Design, Vol. 2: How to Pitch, Playtest, and Publish, so I'm a bit behind the curve on judging.
However.... The magic item entries are looking pretty good so far, with some of the same mistakes as last year and some brand new ones. Sean, Clark and I have been reviewing and rejecting items at a pretty good clip.
You'll get a lot more chatter from me soon, I promise. Any particular questions on your mind?
I just wrapped up a thing called KOBOLD Guide to Game Design, Vol. 2: How to Pitch, Playtest, and Publish,
When is this going to be available from Paizo, btw?
|
Kobold Press
|
I just wrapped up a thing called KOBOLD Guide to Game Design, Vol. 2: How to Pitch, Playtest, and Publish,When is this going to be available from Paizo, btw?
It's in typesetting now. With any luck at all, it should be available here Monday in PDF edition.
It's in typesetting now. With any luck at all, it should be available here Monday in PDF edition.
Awesome.
|
Yes! Wolf, what are the new mistakes?I think it's probably unfair to rattle them off until the first round of submissions is turned in. I'll blab about the new mistakes later.
Part of this is just having Sean as a judge instead of Mona, of course.
LOL. I knew that's the response I'd get, but I had to ask. I HAD to!
|
Kobold Press
|
We're rejecting the vast majority, including many items that are probably ok in a general sense (I wouldn't mind seeing them in a game I was running or playing in).
In RPG Superstar, of course, "decent item" is not nearly good enough. Ya gotta have something stellar. Or at least, the promise of stellar stuff very soon...
It's in typesetting now. With any luck at all, it should be available here Monday in PDF edition.I just wrapped up a thing called KOBOLD Guide to Game Design, Vol. 2: How to Pitch, Playtest, and Publish,When is this going to be available from Paizo, btw?
Even mor eimportant, when is the PRINT version of this coming out?
|
Kobold Press
|
How's these years' items compared to those from 2008? Are they generally better? Are there more or less of them thus far? Was there a specific item that really caught your attention? (A yes or no answer is all I hope for, of course).
They are arriving in a steady stream rather than all at once, which I appreciate. That's surely a function of the changed submission period.
They are generally a notch better than last year. But it's still a bell curve overall.
Yes, there were several items that caught my eye.
They are arriving in a steady stream rather than all at once, which I appreciate.
Or so you think. Just wait until the last day.
Are you three planning on doing a list of common mistakes of this year like you guys did last year?
Also, who wrote the artile "How NOT to design a magic item"?
I just wrapped up a thing called KOBOLD Guide to Game Design, Vol. 2: How to Pitch, Playtest, and Publish, so I'm a bit behind the curve on judging.
Any leads in there to get you Art submissions looked at? Specially by Kobolds? ;)
Any leads in there to get you Art submissions looked at? Specially by Kobolds? ;)
From the submission page ...
If you’d like to be considered, please send a sample file, a list of previous credits, and/or link to an online portfolio to Wolfgang, or query for details.
-Ben.
We're rejecting the vast majority, including many items that are probably ok in a general sense (I wouldn't mind seeing them in a game I was running or playing in).
In RPG Superstar, of course, "decent item" is not nearly good enough. Ya gotta have something stellar. Or at least, the promise of stellar stuff very soon...
Uh oh, the dreaded B+ item has returned, perfectly OK design but just not special enough ;<
How can an item promise stellar stuff to come? Or does it mean that portable interstellar gates are this year's goblin items?
No, I didn't enter a portable interstellar gate, you may use this idea however ;>
You'll get a lot more chatter from me soon, I promise. Any particular questions on your mind?
Thanks for sharing thoughts with us, WB. One thing I am wondering about is one you mentioned on your bad item stereotype list from last year-The Yet More Crafting Item. I don't know what that means, but I think I just made one. Care to elaborate?
|
Kobold Press
|
Hm, I seem to recall we got a bunch of Craft skill check enhancers last year. They're utilitarian and fun for crafting wizards and the like, but... Just don't really seem to ring the bell for me.
I mean, the judges all understand the utility of those items. It's just that they are often pretty dull from a design perspective.
|
Hm, I seem to recall we got a bunch of Craft skill check enhancers last year. They're utilitarian and fun for crafting wizards and the like, but... Just don't really seem to ring the bell for me.
I mean, the judges all understand the utility of those items. It's just that they are often pretty dull from a design perspective.
That sort of thing is, IMO, more interesting if it's worked into an item with other uses. A +1 Dwarven Forgehammer that adds to craft (armorsmith, blacksmith, weaponsmith) skills and also can Sunder items with great skill would be a neat concept, but serve more as a weapon than a Wondrous Item.
That sort of thing is, IMO, more interesting if it's worked into an item with other uses. A +1 Dwarven Forgehammer that adds to craft (armorsmith, blacksmith, weaponsmith) skills and also can Sunder items with great skill would be a neat concept, but serve more as a weapon than a Wondrous Item.
There's no reason you can't have a wondrous item that also works as a weapon though, right? There's the Maul and Mattock of the Titans in the rulebooks, and the Malleus Maleficarum that got into the contest last year that all work in battle as enchanted weapons.
|
Kobold Press
|
There's no reason you can't have a wondrous item that also works as a weapon though, right? There's the Maul and Mattock of the Titans in the rulebooks, and the Malleus Maleficarum that got into the contest last year that all work in battle as enchanted weapons.
True, true. But there's a fine line between "useful in combat, but not mainly a weapon" and "I really wish RPG Superstar had asked for a Magic Weapon".
You don't want to step over that line.
|
|
True, true. But there's a fine line between "useful in combat, but not mainly a weapon" and "I really wish RPG Superstar had asked for a Magic Weapon".
You don't want to step over that line.
Yeah, my 'Hell's Brand' (branding iron that gives the holder big pluses to command / intimidate those branded by it, and also functions as a light mace) got internally disqualified for that reason. :)
I didn't want to try and figure out where the line was between 'magic item that can be used as a mace' and 'mace with a cool secondary power.'
One decent metric is 'Would this be worth wielding as a weapon at the levels I can reasonably afford it?'
That is, something that acts as a +1 Light Mace, but costs 100,000 gp is probably defined more by whatever is other 97,700 gp of its cost.
|
|
One decent metric is 'Would this be worth wielding as a weapon at the levels I can reasonably afford it?'
That is, something that acts as a +1 Light Mace, but costs 100,000 gp is probably defined more by whatever is other 97,700 gp of its cost.
True, a Staff of Power can be used to smack people, but I'd hardly consider it a 'weapon.' :)