S
p
a
c
e
20 -- — Malgana the Twistwood Lich
17--— Vashkar, the False Maharajah
13--— Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
11--— Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage
10--— Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug
08--— Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary
06--— Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler
05--— Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan
02--— Rustin Harp, the Vengeance of Freaks
02--— Ryth'a
01--— Kar-En-Helit, Vessel of Moeris
01--— Aelfric Dream-Slayer
01--— Volner Tain
01--— Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon
01--— Kardam, the Burning Khan
00--— Sharina, Legend Singer
00--— Boemundo, Brenno's Shadow Protector
Malgana
Vashkar
Gulga
Count
S
p
a
c
e
21 -- — Malgana the Twistwood Lich
19--— Vashkar, the False Maharajah
14--— Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
12--— Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage
11--— Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug
09--— Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary
06--— Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler
06--— Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan
02--— Rustin Harp, the Vengeance of Freaks
02--— Ryth'a
01--— Kar-En-Helit, Vessel of Moeris
01--— Aelfric Dream-Slayer
01--— Volner Tain
01--— Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon
01--— Kardam, the Burning Khan
00--— Sharina, Legend Singer
00--— Boemundo, Brenno's Shadow Protector
Are you going to use your fourth vote?
S
p
a
c
e
22 -- — Malgana the Twistwood Lich
20--— Vashkar, the False Maharajah
14--— Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
12--— Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage
12--— Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug
10--— Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary
07--— Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler
06--— Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan
02--— Rustin Harp, the Vengeance of Freaks
02--— Ryth'a
01--— Kar-En-Helit, Vessel of Moeris
01--— Aelfric Dream-Slayer
01--— Volner Tain
01--— Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon
01--— Kardam, the Burning Khan
01--— Sharina, Legend Singer
00--— Boemundo, Brenno's Shadow Protector
Gulga Cench
Hecataeus
Malgana
Count Falconbridge
Of these four, I only voted for two last time around--I used my vote elsewhere than Gulga Cench to promote an underloved entry, and Malgana did not impress me in round 2. Her round 3 mechanics, on the other hand, are elegant and usable, and her concept is rather improved.
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I wasn't seeing much point in this round until I read Hecataeus, what an improvement there. The kind of writing that an editor must love.
You really stepped up and performed well. In fact I went for all four for the same reason, they had shown vast improvement. I hope that Neil Spicer and Trevor use this as a spur to up their game because you can bet these four will.
Well done
Hecataeus
Malgana (what a great rules twist)
Derinogen (kudos for lower level success)
Count Falconbridge
And personally the CR20 stuff leaves me cold. I get little pleasure out of reading reams of abilities.
Cheers
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Most Likely IN
24 -- — Malgana the Twistwood Lich
20--— Vashkar, the False Maharajah
16--— Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
13--— Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage
13--— Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug
WATCH Above top 8 line
11--— Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary
07--— Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler
06--— Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WATCH below top 8 line
02--— Rustin Harp, the Vengeance of Freaks
02--— Ryth'a
Not looking good at all
01--— Kar-En-Helit, Vessel of Moeris
01--— Aelfric Dream-Slayer
01--— Volner Tain
01--— Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon
01--— Kardam, the Burning Khan
01--— Sharina, Legend Singer
00--— Boemundo, Brenno's Shadow Protector
My votes are in!
1) Hecataeus, Master of Constructs (Randy Dorman)-- Almost as awesome as last round, even though he lost a pinch of his "charm" to appeal to the masses (which was a smart move, really).
2) Malgana the Twistwood *WITCH* (Kevin Carter) -- Excellent mechanics.
3) Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon (Mark Thomas) -- I still think the idea is superior.
4) Volner Tain (Jacob Manly) -- Being doubly-damned isn't quite enough. Volner is the only entrant who has that extra amount of damnedness to carry through!
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012
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Star Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 9
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Only one repeat from round 2 for me:
Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary
Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug (dang it, Neil, I liked it when his name was in all caps)
Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
Malgana the Twistwood Lich (biggest surprise for me--one of my least favorite villains in round 2)
.
.
Finally, I have read and commented on all 17. Now I can vote!
And the "Winners" are:
- Eric Bailey - Vashkar, The False Maharajah - This character is just way too awesome.
- Joshua Blasej - Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage - I have a softspot for good low-level villains.
- Randy Dorman - Hecataeus, Master of Constructs - Most awesome turn-around.
- Trevor Gulliver - Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddlar - This character's construction shows a lot of animation. :D
I also have some "Honorable Mentions" (Not that it matters):
- Malgana, the Twistwood Lich
- Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug
- Ryth'a
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Finally I'm ready to cast my votes:
- Eric Bailey—Vashkar, the False Maharajah
- James F.D. Graham—Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary
- Kevin Carter—Malgana the Twistwood Lich
- Neil Spicer—Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug
Honorable mentions:
- Randy Dorman—Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
- Trevor Gulliver—Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler
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27 -- — Malgana the Twistwood Witch
22--— Vashkar, the False Maharajah
20--— Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
16--— Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug
14--— Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage
13--— Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary
08--— Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler
06--— Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan
----------------------------------------------------------------------
03--— Ryth'a
03--— Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon
02--— Rustin Harp, the Vengeance of Freaks
02--— Volner Tain
01--— Kar-En-Helit, Vessel of Moeris
01--— Aelfric Dream-Slayer
01--— Kardam, the Burning Khan
01--— Sharina, Legend Singer
00--— Boemundo, Brenno's Shadow Protector
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7
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— Malgana the Twistwood Lich
— Vashkar, the False Maharajah
— Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
— Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage
I believe all 4 of these made improvements on their initial concept and created some interesting new rule pieces. Those were the core pieces needed for this round, with the stat block being a good test of mechanical awareness.
So far, Joshua is my top pick. The Hurricane Gloves were the only items I really liked. Derinogen was in the top half on my list of villains, but really got pushed up into my voting list by the gloves' merit. The great improvements made by Joshua between last round and this one, combined with that beautiful elixer has me looking forward to his continued efforts in this contest.
U
P
D
A
T
E
D
31 -- — Malgana the Twistwood Witch
25--— Vashkar, the False Maharajah
25--— Hecataeus, Master of Constructs
18--— Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug
16--— Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage
13--— Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary
08--— Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler
06--— Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan
----------------------------------------------------------------------
04--— Ryth'a
03--— Volner Tain
03--— Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon
02--— Sharina, Legend Singer
02--— Rustin Harp, the Vengeance of Freaks
02--— Kardam, the Burning Khan
01--— Kar-En-Helit, Vessel of Moeris
01--— Aelfric Dream-Slayer
00--— Boemundo, Brenno's Shadow Protector
Hecataeus
Derinogen
Count Falconbridge
Gulga Cench
I admit I didn't vote this time. I believe I should have but I found going through many blocks of stats too hard and felt I might have just voted for the easiest to read. So I considered it better for me not to vote- I will vote in the next round. Good luck
I must admit I was slightly surprised to see the way Sharina plummeted down the table as compared to her position in the Round 2 exit poll.
Seeing that Gulga Cench dropped too, I wonder if these entries have dropped because there wasn't so much 'new' about them, or just that the stat blocks didn't meet up to expectations which Round 2 raised?Just a couple of random thoughts whilst we wait for the result.
I mentioned this in the Sharina thread too, but...Sharina was more a concept villain where it was pretty clear that the stat block was not going to be that special, so the part which should have shone was the new rule. It didn't.
Gulga remained a solid entry and had I five votes Gulga would have got the fifth one. But yeah: while last round Gulga was pretty clearly the best entry this round many others had improved significantly and were on more or less same level. And as I tend to prefer low-to-mid-level play, other entries of same quality edge out complicated high-level Gulga. Others may go for different direction and dismiss low-level villains on same ground...
Gulga seems more like the main villain of an entire Pathfinder adventure path then the villain of a single adventure. Although i don't think that should be held against him really.
RPG Superstar 2013
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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Wow. For all the talk about growth and improvement being a crucial part of round two, the most improved villains were tossed out, and the leading entries accused of sitting on their laurels were given a pass.
There was some exciting stuff this round, but I'm a little disappointed that big improvements like Volner or Rysh'a weren't rewarded, while some advanced based on the strength of their round 2 entries. I sure hope no one feels vindicated at this point, and chooses to play it safe again!
I think the lesson here is that, given a good concept, DMs will pass on the hardened mechanics and choose to tinker away with what they don't like!
Regardless - I'm ready for some swingin' lairs! Congratulations, semifinalists, and bring the noise!
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Wow. For all the talk about growth and improvement being a crucial part of round two, the most improved villains were tossed out, and the leading entries accused of sitting on their laurels were given a pass.
The only "greatly improved" villain, IMO, that didn't make it to round 4 was Rustin Harp. Vashkar, Hecataeus, and Malgana all made it. I didn't really notice a huge improvement in the description/goal/plot hooks sections from any other entrants.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Wow. For all the talk about growth and improvement being a crucial part of round two, the most improved villains were tossed out, and the leading entries accused of sitting on their laurels were given a pass.
There was some exciting stuff this round, but I'm a little disappointed that big improvements like Volner or Rysh'a weren't rewarded, while some advanced based on the strength of their round 2 entries. I sure hope no one feels vindicated at this point, and chooses to play it safe again!
I think the lesson here is that, given a good concept, DMs will pass on the hardened mechanics and choose to tinker away with what they don't like!
Regardless - I'm ready for some swingin' lairs! Congratulations, semifinalists, and bring the noise!
I don't know if that's true. I think Vashkar, Hecataeus, and Malgana were all much improved from the previous round - that's 3 out of 8.
Also, of the runaway most popular entries last round, one crashed and burned (Sharina) and two made it, though if the exit poll is to be believed not by much in Bracht's case.
I voted for 2 "improvers" (how good were you THIS round) and 2 "bodies of work" (how much have I liked ALL of your stuff), because improvement alone can't be all it's about. Take Rustin Harp. I thought that entry was not good at all in round 2, but I thought it made great improvements in round 3. It wasn't perfect, but it was vastly better in my book. Still, even if you raised from a D- to B+, even though that's a HUGE jump... it's still not an A, so if I have 4 A's already, then you got close, but not quite.
I would guess that a lot of people had the same idea. It was great that Paizo let you invent a whole new villain or heavily redesign your previous one, but it you have enough of a head start, no finishing kick is going to catch you.
I can certainly see the attraction of doing the contest this way, building towards an adventure design, but it does lack some of the separation of rounds of last year's contest, where a good or bad entry in the previous round, while it might bias some voters towards you or against you, didn't have the potential lingering effect you could get in this year's version.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
aka Tarren Dei
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Wow. For all the talk about growth and improvement being a crucial part of round two, the most improved villains were tossed out, and the leading entries accused of sitting on their laurels were given a pass.
I believe the focus on growth being the goal came after the entries were submitted.
I'd say it was an even split. Eric Bailey, Matt Banach, Phillip Snyder, Eric Morton and Kevin Carter all incorporated judge and voter comments at the core of their submissions. (The others did so to a lesser degree.) You may or may not agree with their other choices in that round, but I'd hardly say that all the people who improved didn't make it.
And as far as the stat blocks (and not new rules or strategic choices of classes or templates), let's turn to our specialist judge:
Vashkar: "As for the stat block, things look pretty tight."
Count Falconbridge: "So, other than some simple accounting errors, I am not seeing anything too egregious in the stat block."
Derinogen: "Well, I am impressed. I cannot really find much of anything wrong with this stat block on a cursory inspection. The skills are right, the hit points include the favored class bonus, the spells are right, and the attack and save bonuses are correct."
Malgana: "If I were developing this monster for an adventure, there would be an average amount of work, but nothing that would require a serious rebuilding."
Sartel Bollen: "Looking at the stat block itself, there are some simple formating errors, but nothing too serious."
Hecataeus: "Moving on to the stat block itself, I am only finding a few errors here and there."
Gulga Cench: "Taking a look through the mechanics on this one, they are pretty sound. All of the class levels, and template, were applied properly using the current rules set. There are a few minor format errors here and there, but nothing that is really all that unusual."
Bracht Darkhouse: "If I had to develop this monster, I would have to do a bit of work, but I think it would be worth the time."
Basically, the only reason a DM would have to change significant things is because they disagreed with a basic strategic choice of the designer's, not because the designer significantly failed to execute the design.
Wow. For all the talk about growth and improvement being a crucial part of round two, the most improved villains were tossed out, and the leading entries accused of sitting on their laurels were given a pass.I believe the focus on growth being the goal came after the entries were submitted.
Yes, indeed, it did. After many voters had spent a week declaring that they were ignoring the magic item round and judging the superstars strictly on the round two submissions to boot.
Through these judges, we see an excellent demonstration the power of an authority to set the agenda for conversation.
Yes, indeed, it did. After many voters had spent a week declaring that they were ignoring the magic item round and judging the superstars strictly on the round two submissions to boot.
Through these judges, we see an excellent demonstration the power of an authority to set the agenda for conversation.
Don't know, the growth as absolute didn't matter to me. Three of my votes changed, not because the entries had developed so much but because the entries had developed into ones I liked best. And next round I will still be voting based on entries themselves and look at second and third round to decide only if I have difficulty choosing between some entries...so no slacking, I am fickle in voting!
I'll save portfolio observations to the last round.
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RPG Superstar 2013
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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I might be going it alone, but I just don't agree. Volner and Rhysh'a were huge improvements over the previous round, and didn't make the cut. Bracht and Gulga made almost no changes to their round 2 text, with Bracht displaying several errors and obscurities in his mechanical section, and submitting a very loose, almost hurried-looking design element that left as many questions as it answered. Vashkar improved in concept in step with Volner and Rysh'a, but was a mess mechanically, many respondents feeling he was either flawed or just too complex to make for a good villain.
That I recall, Malgana didn't change much, had a fair stat block and poor design for her rules element. She also gets in on the strength of her round 2 presentation and creepy uniqueness.
I didn't like Sharina much to begin with, but I think it's curious she burned out. Her design wasn't flawed, just not inspiring. Meanwhile Hecataeus improved quite a bit conceptualy, and provided a tough stat block and (fairly) tight new feat.
Can't remember who else advanced, but I think one was Derinogen. I think he was done well enough, just someone I didn't get excited about like others. I don't recall being more impressed in round three than round two.
Of course, all of these matters, and all responses, are largely based on personal preferences and opinions. But it seems to me that several entrants did little or nothing to improve and advanced anyway, while several vaulted themselves conceptually and/or mechanically and have become honored spectators.
Of course, all of these matters, and all responses, are largely based on personal preferences and opinions. But it seems to me that several entrants did little or nothing to improve and advanced anyway, while several vaulted themselves conceptually and/or mechanically and have become honored spectators.
Some of them are indeed very dividing in personal preferences, Derinogen being one of the more obvious ones in this sense: I am more interested in low-level than high-level play and villains, and thus Derinogen did appeal to me. Some other people would consider him nothing but a speed bump.
I also seemed to be one of the few people who liked Rustin Harp better on round 2 than round 3...I admit that mechanically he did shape up but the new flavor text just put me off.