Exit polls - Round 2

[Maurice de Mare]

I voted for the bard, the count, the dragon and the fleshpeddler.

[Charles Evans 25]

1st Vote - Gulga Cench
for me this villain stood out a clear head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, and was the easiest vote to allot.

2nd vote - Lord Jeroim Borloz, The Diamond Dragon
the entry seemed well written to me; it gave me a clear mental picture of the villain, and I had some idea of this Crimelord's goals and the schemes he might get up to.

3rd vote - Bracht Darkhouse
after a good deal of dithering, I voted for this entry on the strength of Christine Schneider's recommendation. My personal opinion remains that Bracht is a madman, not a villain, but a recommendation from last year's winner on the strength of the writing of the entry convinced me that Tarren should be in the next round, and to put a vote behind Bracht.

4th vote - undecided
none of the other villains particularly distinguish themselves sufficiently for me to have yet allocated my last vote. A number of them are approximately on a par with one another, but I may end up tossing a dice to decide which one to back or simply leaving my 4th vote unused.
I will report this vote in a further post if I reach any decision.

[Fern Herold]

My four votes:

Bracht Darkhouse, the Flesh Peddler
Hecateaus, master of constructs
Lord Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary
Paradigm Theogard, Pacifist Poet-Priest

I also loved Gulga Cench, but didn't vote for him. Why? He doesn't need my votes. He's a clear front-runner in a match that has very few. I figured I'd give my fourth vote towards breaking up the huge snarled tie for Spot #16. Hence, Paradigm, who I think'll shine in the stat-block category.

[Neil Spicer]

Demiurge 1138 wrote:

I also loved Gulga Cench, but didn't vote for him. Why? He doesn't need my votes.

My biggest fear right now is that everyone who initially praised Gulga is going to have that exact same thought and assume he doesn't need any votes, because he'll surely make it through. And then...because of that...he won't... :-(

--Neil

[Carl Flaherty]

NSpicer wrote:

Demiurge 1138 wrote:

I also loved Gulga Cench, but didn't vote for him. Why? He doesn't need my votes.

My biggest fear right now is that everyone who initially praised Gulga is going to have that exact same thought and assume he doesn't need any votes, because he'll surely make it through. And then...because of that...he won't... :-(

--Neil

Worry not. You're safe. ...for this round.

[Jason Nelson]

Charles Evans 25 wrote:

1st Vote - Gulga Cench

2nd vote - Lord Jeroim Borloz, The Diamond Dragon
3rd vote - Bracht Darkhouse
4th vote - undecided
none of the other villains particularly distinguish themselves sufficiently for me to have yet allocated my last vote. A number of them are approximately on a par with one another, but I may end up tossing a dice to decide which one to back or simply leaving my 4th vote unused.
I will report this vote in a further post if I reach any decision.

I went back to look at the items of the 7 or so villains I was considering after the extreme top 2+1 of Gulga, Bracht, and Sharina.

There does come a point in the contest where you reach the tipping point of "am I voting for the entry?" or "am I voting for the author?" In the end, the contest is really about "do I want to see and spend money on more things that this author's imagination and skills can bring to life" - the only actual CONTENT from this contest that will make it into that form is the winning adventure submission from the final round. Everything else essentially goes into the Paizo slush pile and may never see the light of day again.

So, if you're choosing between a couple of options in any given round that seem pretty equivalent, I think it is not just fair but probably desirable to use "past body of work" as your deciding factor, especially as you get later in the contest and there is a larger body of work to judge.

[Steven Helt]

I, too, am surprised there weren't more votes for Sartellisted, but that changes here.

I'm a sports guy, so I have to rank my votes. Of course, I felt most entries had serious flaws, and only one rocked me.

1 - Gulga Cench
2 - Sartel
3 - Varrush
4 - Hecataeus

Honorable mentions go to VOlner and Jeroim. Hope you all six make the cut.

[Steven Helt]

Clearly Advancing
1 Neil Spicer—GULGA CENCH, Scion of Cyth-V’sug 33
2 Trevor Gulliver—Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler 27
3 Carl Klutzke—Sharina Legendsinger 21
4 Vladislav Rashkovski - Kardam, the Burning Khan 15
5 Mark Thomas—Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon 10
6 Randy Dorman - Hecataeus, Master of Constructs 9

Place your bets!
7 James FD Graham - Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary 6
8 Jacob Manley—Volner Tain, the Thrice-Damned Disciple 5
8 Joshua Blazej—Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage 5
8 Philip Snyder - Ssyth'ek, He Who Devours Demons 5
8 Eric Bailey - Varrush, Master of the Palace of Abundance 5

On the bubble! (Good Luck)
12 Eric Morton - Aelfric, Dream-Slayer 4
13 Doyle Tavener—Kar-en-haris, Grand Master of Spies 3
13 Matthew Stinson - Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan 3
15 Kevin Carter - Malgana the Twistwood Witch 2
15 Matt Banach - Rustin Harp, Ringleader of the Lost Carnival 2
15 Casey Smith - Paradigm Theoguard, Pacifist Poet-Priest of Shelyn 2

Gettin some love! (Good Luck)
18 Carl Flaherty - Bricius, The Wrath of the Forest 1
18 Elizabeth Leib - Haldon Valmaur, the Jade Shadow 1
18 Jeffrey Scott Nuttall - Zavanix 1
18 Paul Worthen - Cermyk the Widower 1
18 Victor Spieles—Veddic, Master of the Codex 1

[Jorrik the Fat]

I voted for:

Phenyekashi, the chanting boned devil

Zavanix, the demented pixie

Hecetaeus, master of constructs

Kardam, the burning khan

Which (aside from the last one) puts me in something of a minority, it seems. Which will be a pain if most of them don't make it through to round #3...

But there were many others that came quite close - choosing just four out of 32 entries is anything but easy!

[Medievaltom]

Here are my 4 votes, in no particular order:

Sharina, Gulga, Hecataeus, and the Flesh Peddler (awesome name by the way!)

Good luck to all who entered.

[Casey Smith]

Jason Nelson wrote:

So, if you're choosing between a couple of options in any given round that seem pretty equivalent, I think it is not just fair but probably desirable to use "past body of work" as your deciding factor, especially as you get later in the contest and there is a larger body of work to judge.

It looks like I'm counting on it since I'm right on the bubble this round and seemed to be in a number of top 5 lists the previous round.

[Keith Duperreault]

My Picks:

Carl Klutzke—Sharina Legendsinger
Doyle Tavener—Kar-en-haris, Grand Master of Spies
Eric Morton—Aelfric Dream-Slayer
Randy Dorman—Hecataeus, Master of Constructs

After reading the Top 32, these would be the easiest fit for me as villains I could run in my campaign.

[Charles Evans 25]

4th Vote Update:
My fourth vote is no longer 'undecided'. I narrowed the list down as much as possible, then rolled a dice, and fate decreed that Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage got my 4th and final vote.

I repeat:

4th Vote: Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage. (roll-off)

[Joel Flank]

My votes:

Count Falconbridge
Gulga Cench
Aelfric Dreamslayer
Bracht Darkhouse

Honorable Mention:
Varrush
Sartel Bollen
Kardam, Burning Khan

[Mike Welham]

My votes (in alphabetical order):

Aelfric
Bracht Darkhouse
Bricius
GULGA CENCH(!!!)

(I guess I'll only vote for a villain in the first 30% of the alphabet)

[Burrito Al Pastor]

I gave my fourth vote to Veddic, Master of the Codex just because I want to see how the hell the mechanics work for a character of unknown level.

[Patrick Curtin]

My votes, in no particular order:

1. Montellan Corey
2. Lord Jeroim Borloz
3. Zelica, First Servant of the Sacred Scorpion.
4. Bracht Darkhouse

[Carl Flaherty]

Hands Taig a Beer!

[Mike Welham]

Lord Fyre wrote:

Hands Taig a Beer!

Which I will gladly accept.

[Timitius]

My 4 votes went to:

Neil Spicer — GULGA CENCH, Scion of Cyth-V’sug
Trevor Gulliver — Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler
Randy Dorman - Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
James FD Graham - Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary

And YEAH ME! I actually voted this year! ;-)

[Trevor Gulliver]

Lord Fyre wrote:

Hands Taig a Beer!

Beer? Oh! Suddenly I voted for your villain too.

[Carl Flaherty]

Tarren Dei wrote:

Lord Fyre wrote:

Hands Taig a Beer!

Beer? Oh! Suddenly I voted for your villain too.

Hands Trevor a Beer!

[Starglim]

A final tally:

Exit Polls wrote:

Advancing
1 Neil Spicer — GULGA CENCH, Scion of Cyth-V’sug 37
2 Trevor Gulliver — Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler 32
3 Carl Klutzke — Sharina Legendsinger 23
4 Vladislav Rashkovski - Kardam, the Burning Khan 16
5 Randy Dorman - Hecataeus, Master of Constructs 13
6 Mark Thomas—Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon 11
7 James FD Graham - Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary 8
8 Eric Morton - Aelfric, Dream-Slayer 7
9 Joshua Blazej — Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage 6
10= Jacob Manley — Volner Tain, the Thrice-Damned Disciple 5
10= Philip Snyder - Ssyth'ek, He Who Devours Demons 5
10= Eric Bailey - Varrush, Master of the Palace of Abundance 5
13 Doyle Tavener — Kar-en-haris, Grand Master of Spies 4
14 Matthew Stinson - Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan 3

Tied
15= Kevin Carter - Malgana the Twistwood Witch 2
15= Matt Banach - Rustin Harp, Ringleader of the Lost Carnival 2
15= Casey Smith - Paradigm Theoguard, Pacifist Poet-Priest of Shelyn 2
15= Jeffrey Scott Nuttall - Zavanix 2
15= Carl Flaherty - Bricius, The Wrath of the Forest 2
15= Victor Spieles — Veddic, Master of the Codex 2

Not advancing
21= Elizabeth Leib - Haldon Valmaur, the Jade Shadow 1
21= Paul Worthen - Cermyk the Widower 1
21= Andrew Judd - Phenyekashi 1
21= Craig Johnston - Montellan Corey 1
21= Gerald Andrews - Zelicia, First Servant of the Sacred Scorpion 1
26= Joao Beraldo - Boemundo, Unliving Oblivion 0
26= Lucas Jung - Gibnem, aka Elric the Miller 0
26= Matthew Morris - Father Avon, immortal aspirant of peace 0
26= Mike Speck - Dalatai Shontrick, the Coinshark 0
26= Pieter Simoons - Fashym Goldmane, gnoll orator 0
26= Stefan Schulz - Gale 0
26= Wesley Lee - Archibald Graveleaf 0

But, really, though I'd like to think Kar-en-haris is safe, anyone below the 10th equal spot could be in or out. I'll put in a prediction that two of the entries listed here with 1 or 0 votes will advance.

[Trevor Gulliver]

Lord Fyre wrote:

Tarren Dei wrote:

Lord Fyre wrote:

Hands Taig a Beer!

Beer? Oh! Suddenly I voted for your villain too.

Hands Trevor a Beer!

Okay, well, my son voted for Bricius and he's too young to drink so ...

*sips beer guiltily*

I voted for Bracht, Gulga, Kardam, and Sartel.

My son voted for Bracht, Gulga, Kardam, and Bricius.

I guess Kardam, Sartel, and Gulga will make appearances in our home campaign because Bracht is certainly not age appropriate. ;-)

[Craig Johnston]

Tarren Dei wrote:

I voted for Bracht, Gulga, Kardam, and Sartel.

My son voted for Bracht, Gulga, Kardam, and Bricius.

Yeah I had to vote for myself too, I couldn't help it, someone had to... although I now know that mine brings my total to 3 so Yay! for me, no sitting on zero votes. ;)

So my votes went to:
Montellan
Haldon (I liked him a lot and after Elizabeth's opening effort I couldn't not vote to see what she comes up with)
Ssyth'ek
and I think (but I'm not sure now, damn getting older memory going) my final vote went to
Hecataeus.

I loved Bracht and Gulga, but they already had 50 bajillion people voting for them so I decided to give my votes to others who might benefit from the boost in votes.

[Neil Spicer]

flash_cxxi wrote:

I loved Bracht and Gulga, but they already had 50 bajillion people voting for them so I decided to give my votes to others who might benefit from the boost in votes.

I seriously hope you're right. There towards the end, at least 4 people openly stated they followed that same voting strategy. So, if many more silently followed suit, those 50 bajillion people may not actually materialize to put Gulga (or maybe even Bracht) into the next round. And who knows how many friends or supporters an individual competitor may have voting for him (or her) anyway? So, I'm not going to breathe easy until I can see my name in the Top 16. And best of luck to everyone else, too.

Sincerely,
--Neil

[Craig Johnston]

NSpicer wrote:

flash_cxxi wrote:

I loved Bracht and Gulga, but they already had 50 bajillion people voting for them so I decided to give my votes to others who might benefit from the boost in votes.

I seriously hope you're right. There towards the end, at least 4 people openly stated they followed that same voting strategy. So, if many more silently followed suit, those 50 bajillion people may not actually materialize to put Gulga (or maybe even Bracht) into the next round. And who knows how many friends or supporters an individual competitor may have voting for him (or her) anyway? So, I'm not going to breathe easy until I can see my name in the Top 16. And best of luck to everyone else, too.

Sincerely,
--Neil

Ah, you'll see. In just over 8 hours you're name's gonna be up there in lights (along with Trevor's - the rest of the field is fairly open). I don't think the way I voted is gonna be a prominent strategy and there's gonna be a whole lot more people voting than just those who've posted in this Thread.

Have fun in the next round. ;)

[magdalena thiriet]

NSpicer wrote:

flash_cxxi wrote:

I loved Bracht and Gulga, but they already had 50 bajillion people voting for them so I decided to give my votes to others who might benefit from the boost in votes.

I seriously hope you're right. There towards the end, at least 4 people openly stated they followed that same voting strategy. So, if many more silently followed suit, those 50 bajillion people may not actually materialize to put Gulga (or maybe even Bracht) into the next round. And who knows how many friends or supporters an individual competitor may have voting for him (or her) anyway? So, I'm not going to breathe easy until I can see my name in the Top 16. And best of luck to everyone else, too.

Well, my four votes went, boringly enough, to the entries which form top 4 of the exit poll. I was tempted to go change and give a push for some of the fence entries but no, I voted for the entries I considered best. I might consider tactical voting at some later point though...

[cappadocius]

A little late, but more polling data:

(In order of preference in seeing them move on:)

1) GULGA CENCH
2) Hecateus
3) Fashym Goldmane
4) Bracht Darkhouse

I was looking for staying power, and room to grow with the PCs. Hecateus, admittedly, doesn't have much room for growth, but gosh darn, Flash Gordon villains were designed for staying power.

[Matthew Stinson]

I went with
Gulga Cench

Count Falonbridge

The Peddler

and Sartel Bollen

[roguerouge]

Super duper final tally:

Advancing if everyone's not voting for other people because they're advancing:
1 Neil Spicer — GULGA CENCH, Scion of Cyth-V’sug 41
2 Trevor Gulliver — Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler 36

Likely Advancing:
3 Carl Klutzke — Sharina Legendsinger 23
4 Vladislav Rashkovski - Kardam, the Burning Khan 18
5 Randy Dorman - Hecataeus, Master of Constructs 15

Possibly advancing:
6 Mark Thomas—Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon 11
7 James FD Graham - Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary 9

Crap shoot:
8 Eric Morton - Aelfric, Dream-Slayer 7
9 Joshua Blazej — Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage 6
9 Philip Snyder - Ssyth'ek, He Who Devours Demons 6
11= Jacob Manley — Volner Tain, the Thrice-Damned Disciple 5
11= Eric Bailey - Varrush, Master of the Palace of Abundance 5
11= Matthew Stinson - Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan 5
14= Doyle Tavener — Kar-en-haris, Grand Master of Spies 4
15= Carl Flaherty - Bricius, The Wrath of the Forest 3
16= Kevin Carter - Malgana the Twistwood Witch 2
16= Matt Banach - Rustin Harp, Ringleader of the Lost Carnival 2
16= Casey Smith - Paradigm Theoguard, Pacifist Poet-Priest of Shelyn 2
16= Jeffrey Scott Nuttall - Zavanix 2
16= Victor Spieles — Veddic, Master of the Codex 2
16= Elizabeth Leib - Haldon Valmaur, the Jade Shadow 2
16= Craig Johnston - Montellan Corey 2
23= Paul Worthen - Cermyk the Widower 1
23= Andrew Judd - Phenyekashi 1
23= Gerald Andrews - Zelicia, First Servant of the Sacred Scorpion 1
23= Pieter Simoons - Fashym Goldmane, gnoll orator 1
27= Joao Beraldo - Boemundo, Unliving Oblivion 0
27= Lucas Jung - Gibnem, aka Elric the Miller 0
27= Matthew Morris - Father Avon, immortal aspirant of peace 0
27= Mike Speck - Dalatai Shontrick, the Coinshark 0
27= Stefan Schulz - Gale 0
27= Wesley Lee - Archibald Graveleaf 0

[Charles Evans 25]

Hmm. Now that the result of the vote is known I can see that this Exit Poll, with the exception of Boemundo, was pretty much on the money for predicting who would advance to the third round.

[Sue Flaherty]

Charles Evans 25 wrote:

Hmm. Now that the result of the vote is known I can see that this Exit Poll, with the exception of Boemundo, was pretty much on the money for predicting who would advance to the third round.

I'd say except for Boemundo and Bricius ::pout:: Oh, well, all my other votes advanced, as well as all the ones I had marked as good (3) and the nearly good (5). My six no's that advanced are going to have to rock my socks off in their next submission to get moved up in my estimation.

Can't wait for the next voting to open :)

[Keith Duperreault]

All my picks made top sixteen. Can't wait to see what they do with their stat blocks.

Gratz all who advanced!

[magdalena thiriet]

Ok, looks like the judges couldn't figure out a tie-breaker :)

And not only all of my voted ones made it (big suprise there, as I voted Top 4 of the exit polls), all but one of my Top 10 entries made it too (the one which didn't was the gnoll orator...Pieter Simoons, good luck next year).

[Ragwaine]

I'm really glad all 4 of mine made it in too. I was really suprised to see the Saytr carnival guy make it since no one on the boards seemed too impressed. He was my favorite.

This stat block round doesn't really excite me. Last year I pretty much skipped over the stat blocks. They don't make the most exciting reading. Especially if they're for the same villain (haven't read the round 3 rules yet - are they?)

[Mike Welham]

Ragwaine wrote:

I'm really glad all 4 of mine made it in too. I was really suprised to see the Saytr carnival guy make it since no one on the boards seemed too impressed. He was my favorite.

This stat block round doesn't really excite me. Last year I pretty much skipped over the stat blocks. They don't make the most exciting reading. Especially if they're for the same villain (haven't read the round 3 rules yet - are they?)

Three of my four made it in (poor lamentable Bricius). I agree about the stat blocks, but I can see the need for them as part of the competition. The round 3 rules allow for a new villain. I'd wager about 25% of the villains will be new, given the short amount of time.

[Charles Evans 25]

taig wrote:

Ragwaine wrote:

I'm really glad all 4 of mine made it in too. I was really suprised to see the Saytr carnival guy make it since no one on the boards seemed too impressed. He was my favorite.

This stat block round doesn't really excite me. Last year I pretty much skipped over the stat blocks. They don't make the most exciting reading. Especially if they're for the same villain (haven't read the round 3 rules yet - are they?)

Three of my four made it in (poor lamentable Bricius). I agree about the stat blocks, but I can see the need for them as part of the competition. The round 3 rules allow for a new villain. I'd wager about 25% of the villains will be new, given the short amount of time.

I think no more than three will be completely new. Some may be substantially rewritten Round 2 entries, but with the restricted time before Round 3 entries are in, unless there were a lot of fully-developed reserve villains around, I think contestants may be reluctant to put a different villain on the table. (There may also be a certain amount of 'Well it was good enough to get me in the top sixteen, so why shouldn't it be good enough to get me in the top eight?' thinking, except maybe from the contestants who saw that their entry was on the very edge of the final exit polls bubble (equal sixteenth or lower.)

But then again if I am wrong and we see a lot of 'throw caution to the winds and hit for the boundary', Round 3 might be very unpredictable and exciting...

[Clark Peterson]

magdalena thiriet wrote:

Ok, looks like the judges couldn't figure out a tie-breaker :)

We could. In fact, we picked which of the two we would have advanced. We had a long discussion about this in the judges chambers, in private emails and a few phone calls.

But the consensus was that this is a community contest and the community votes and this round the community gave us a tie and that we should just advance both and let the chips fall where they may. I have a TON of respect for Paizo that that is the way they handled this. This is an amazing community and the fact that they honored the voice of the community in this contest really speaks volumes to the ethics and credibility of Paizo!

[Mike Welham]

Charles Evans 25 wrote:

I think no more than three will be completely new. Some may be substantially rewritten Round 2 entries, but with the restricted time before Round 3 entries are in, unless there were a lot of fully-developed reserve villains around, I think contestants may be reluctant to put a different villain on the table. (There may also be a certain amount of 'Well it was good enough to get me in the top sixteen, so why shouldn't it be good enough to get me in the top eight?' thinking, except maybe from the contestants who saw that their entry was on the very edge of the final exit polls bubble (equal sixteenth or lower.)

But then again if I am wrong and we see a lot of 'throw caution to the winds and hit for the boundary', Round 3 might be very unpredictable and exciting...

Even out of the top 17, some were "put on notice" about their villains being cliche, boring, what have you. I'm not sure a stat block is going to erase those concerns. On the other hand, some of the well regarded villains (GULGA CENCH!!!, for example) really shouldn't be scrapped.

[Charles Evans 25]

taig wrote:

Even out of the top 17, some were "put on notice" about their villains being cliche, boring, what have you. I'm not sure a stat block is going to erase those concerns. On the other hand, some of the well regarded villains (GULGA CENCH!!!, for example) really shouldn't be scrapped.

Hmmm. Well it can be hard to see serious fault in something which you've created; even more so when it's just got you into the third round of RPGSuperstar 2009, I suspect.

What we see next will one way or another speak volumes about the character and skill of the Top 16 - and their ability to first identify particularly useful criticism for a mass of comment, and second to take appropriate action based upon that feedback.

[Fern Herold]

Congratulations to all of the winners! The chips fell about where I thought they would, except for Boemundo, who really came out of left field for me. I look forward to the stat-blocks--I think that there's some good concepts that could get crippled by stat-block errors (or worse--mundanity), and some middling concepts that'll have a chance to redeem themselves next round.

[Joao Beraldo]

I love you guys too ;)