There are only five rounds this time, as with last year. We know the first and last, which leaves three mystery rounds. I'll take vague guesses at two of them.
BADGUY ROUND: Both of the last two contests basically devoted two rounds to this (in '08 a single villain round followed by a monster round; in '09 a 'villain concept' round followed by a 'villain stats' round). This may compel them to try to mix it up this year, in order to avoid growing predictable, but designing a good antagonist is a staple of good adventure writing and I'm confident we'll see at least one 'badguy round'.
LITTLE-PIECE-OF-AN-ADVENTURE ROUND: In 2008 the second-to-last round was an encounter; in 2009, it was a villain's lair complete with map. This year, the second-to-last-round will again force the contestants to prove that they can skillfully craft hostile environments or situations; this is a vital skill that you don't necessarily see in an adventure summary, so they have to test it in an earlier round.
edit: and apparently, two of our guest judges are cartographers? I had no idea
Occorse, this still leaves the 2nd round- which is the one we're all dying to find out about right now- totally up in the air. I don't think they'll start out with a villain challenge, since all of the secret challenges last year were about villains. So what WILL they do?
The one hint we have is that it may involve our wondrous items- it's been said that the reason why the wordcount was increased from 200 to 300 "would become apparent in later rounds". I think this is because contestants will have to use items designed by other contestants, which would require that item effects be very clearly worded, hence the extra breathing room this year.
Rampant speculation, certainly, but that's what these threads are for. :)
Given that two of the guest judges are cartographers, I might suggest that one of the rounds would be "create a location" such as an Inn, Temple, Workshop, Theatre, or Villa.
Crossing my fingers for a Spout Interesting Trivia About Badgers round.
In Paizo seminars back when they gave advice on "How to Write for Dungeon Magazine" Erik Mona, James Jacobs, and others detailed 5 key components that make a great adventure. And, given that the final prize of RPG Superstar is the chance to write a 32-page adventure module, it's pretty clear that round-by-round they're testing everyone on how well they can craft each of those vital components.
So what are they?
1) A Great Villain - This is the main bad guy. The one who's pulling the strings and put into motion some series of events that the PCs get to oppose. This is one of the most important aspects of an adventure. Hence, we've seen each year of RPG Superstar include a round devoted to villains.
2) A Great Location - This includes all of the cool locations...maybe a single dungeon complex...maybe a series of awesome locales spread out over some harsh wilderness terrain...etc. This component gets tested primarily in the "encounter" or "lair" rounds of previous years of RPG Superstar. It includes elements of mapmaking, but also encounter description. Anything basically to help set the scene as vividly as possible, thereby allowing a really cool location to add to an adventure's awesomeness.
3) A Compelling Plot - This the story that weaves throughout an adventure. Whether it's a railroad or a sandbox doesn't matter. The end result is what story or stories are most likely to get told as a result of the PCs navigating their way through the underlying plot. This section also includes elements of the Villain's master plan and all the cool encounters along the way (but more in terms of interaction than location specifics). This component always gets tested in the final round of RPG Superstar. Your adventure proposal has to outline the plot, explain what's going on (both on the surface and behind-the-scenes or in your adventure's background), and demonstrate that you can craft an interesting premise and end-game for an adventure that will appeal to gamers.
4) Cool Minions - This component includes the sidekicks of the Villain and any other cool or new creatures you might introduce in an adventure...whether they're potential allies, social skill challenges, or outright adversaries to the PCs. Testing for this can pop up in different ways during RPG Superstar. If they include a "Design a Monster" round, that would certainly do it. But defining who and what appears in a "Design an Encounter" round does, too. And even the final round where you're required to convey the plot of your adventure proposal can include a snippet of some new monster you intend to include.
5) An Awesome Reward - This can cover a lot of potential rewards the PCs get for successfully completing the adventure or that they might pick up along the way. Most commonly, it's a new magic item. And, clearly, the very first round in RPG Superstar helps determine how good a contestant is at wondrous item design...which is one of the harder magic item rewards to properly craft.
So, regardless of what the various rounds of RPG Superstar include this year, I'd expect them to continue testing your ability to deliver on all those types of things. You need to demonstrate you're good enough at all of them...round-by-round...to win over the voting public. And your adventure proposal in the final round needs to include all of them while throwing out a compelling idea that resonates with everyone so they'll want to buy your adventure.
But that's just my nickel's worth,
--Neil
So, regardless of what the various rounds of RPG Superstar include this year, I'd expect them to continue testing your ability to deliver on all those types of things. You need to demonstrate you're good enough at all of them...round-by-round...to win over the voting public. And your adventure proposal in the final round needs to include all of them while throwing out a compelling idea that resonates with everyone so they'll want to buy your adventure.
But that's just my nickel's worth,
Well, given that you are one of the few that have successfully pulled all this off, I tend to give you comments a lot of weight. :)
So your #1 (A Great Villain) will undoubtedly appear as one of the rounds.
But, given the "secrecy" of the round order this year, I suspect that we will be seeing either your #2 (A Great Location) or your #4 (Cool Minions) for round 2.
...given the "secrecy" of the round order this year, I suspect that we will be seeing either your #2 (A Great Location) or your #4 (Cool Minions) for round 2.
Typically, I think they prefer to save the "mapping" challenges until later rounds when the number of remaining contestants has grown smaller. Last year, the "lair" round with its map took place with just the Top 8 left in the competition. And, in the first year, they did the "encounter" round with less detailed map requirements for the Top 6.
I also think testing the contestants on their ability to craft a great encounter and put together good map designs is a very good lead-in to the final pitch, because it gives the voters a very good feel for who can be trusted to deliver on the promise that their adventure proposal holds forth.
But that's just my (additional) two-cents,
--Neil
It's been suggested, but I agree with those saying that making some contestants "fix" the entries of others is an awful idea. More importantly, this has always been RPG Design Superstar, and editing someone else's ideas is a totally different skillset.
Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8
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My guess is that the increased word count might have some hint of things to come.
I wondered if this was intended to give first-round items more abilities and more description on which to expand in a later challenge, such as developing the item into an artifact or basing a sub-plot on its use.
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The second round in '08 was country design, right? And the second round contestants are all getting free copies of the setting, presumably because setting knowledge is required for some round. So, I'd bet fleshing out or making a new Golarion embedded locale is one of them, if not the second round itself.
But that's a serious guess. It doesn't seem to contradict Mr. Spicer, either - not a sufficient condition, but a necessary one.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
aka Tarren Dei
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It's been suggested, but I agree with those saying that making some contestants "fix" the entries of others is an awful idea. More importantly, this has always been RPG Design Superstar, and editing someone else's ideas is a totally different skillset.
But designing a lair for someone else's villain really separated the wheat from the chaff.
;-)
I really can't see an editing challenge (they're looking for designers, not editors), so the word count thing is a conundrum, and no mistake. Perhaps a future round must incorporate one of the 32 items in some way, although I can't see what this has to do with word count...
Next round, I'm guessing will be some form of Golarion specific fluff (as Round 1 is traditionally crunchy). We've had countries and villain concepts at this stage in the past. Perhaps the Dirty Thirty-Two will have to design a town / locale (like Drillboss D says) or an organisation.
Of course, pure speculation, but I'm just as hooked as the rest of you now!
It would be cool, yea. I would be surprised if they rehashed their previous year too much, though.
I COULD see them revisiting the whole 'macro fluff' territory (i.e, designing a city or organization), since they mostly left that out of year 2. Maybe.
...so the word count thing is a conundrum, and no mistake. Perhaps a future round must incorporate one of the 32 items in some way, although I can't see what this has to do with word count...
Published material must fit within a page limit, hence we have word count. :)
Director of Brand Strategy
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...so the word count thing is a conundrum, and no mistake. Perhaps a future round must incorporate one of the 32 items in some way, although I can't see what this has to do with word count...Published material must fit within a page limit, hence we have word count. :)
It could also be that existing items need to be edited down to the shorter word limits of previous years, adapted to the setting, or other tests to show that the contestants can make things work under the restrictions of working in a shared world, using elements which might not be their own.
I think maps are my weak area. I hate making them. I beleive if I can get to the later rounds I can handle just about anything else. Well, I can probably do maps to, but I won't enjoy it.
Published material must fit within a page limit, hence we have word count. :)
Can't they just make the font smaller? ;P
Published material must fit within a page limit, hence we have word count. :)Can't they just make the font smaller? ;P
There is a minimum font size for readabilty. And, art is definitely very important (as CHAMPIONS found out in its earliest incarnation), so has be have space alotted for it.
So, yes, word count limits are part of game writing.
Guys, I do understand word counts! (The font size line was a joke... ;P) I meant the increased word count is a conundrum.
Guys, I do understand word counts! (The font size line was a joke... ;P) I meant the increased word count is a conundrum.
They were probibly seeing that too many entrants were starting to look/read the same.
It'd be cool if every subsequent round built off the wondrous item, like designing its very first maker, an organization based around it, a monster that might logically guard or carry it, an adventure site where it might be kept, and then combining all of those things into an adventure.
I definitely think that the last round should have no strings attached, no conditions, no secret ingredients, etc.
Up until that point, you are merely testing your potential superstar's abilities. In the last round, though, they are pitching adventures that Paizo might actually publish- these need to be the best and coolest adventures that the contestant could POSSIBLY have to offer.
It'd be cool if every subsequent round built off the wondrous item, like designing its very first maker, an organization based around it, a monster that might logically guard or carry it, an adventure site where it might be kept, and then combining all of those things into an adventure.
Personally, I like it better that the final round (i.e., the adventure proposal) doesn't have to include anything from the previous rounds. After all, that's what all the prior rounds are for...to establish that you can properly construct all the components that a good adventure needs. Then, in the last round, you get to pitch an idea for an adventure that, while it may include completely new ideas that aren't fully formed in stat-blocks, etc., still proves compelling enough that people will trust you to deliver on it given the strength of what you've done in earlier rounds.
I'm guessing we're still going to see 'design a villain' as the second round this year. Last year it was the key round that separated the good entries from the bad. I think villain design is a complex concept that many people fail to grasp. I know my entry last year was deservedly smashed in the second round for being more 'monster' than 'villain'
I'm guessing we're still going to see 'design a villain' as the second round this year. Last year it was the key round that separated the good entries from the bad. I think villain design is a complex concept that many people fail to grasp. I know my entry last year was deservedly smashed in the second round for being more 'monster' than 'villain'
I know what you mean. I appearently wasn't "original" enough last year. :(
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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 think it seems clear that grasping the concept of a great villain is still a weakness of us would-be designers at large. Two years, and the most basic ideas of making a cool villain have been a struggle for some of us. It definitely gives you a chance to shine or marks you for quick elimination, which is why I'd bet money that they'll keep it.
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1) A Great Villain
2) A Great Location
3) A Compelling Plot
4) Cool Minions
5) An Awesome Reward
Oooh, that's easy!
1) A Great Villain Duh, a Dragon
2) A Great Location Town protected with Castle (and a moat)
3) A Compelling Plot Slay the Dragon, you know it baby!
4) Cool Minions Ho-Hum, some Green Party Druid that want's dragons to spread their wings. Jerk!
5) An Awesome Reward The Kingdom of course.
Nothing to it but to do it! And there is your "fist of dripping" awesomesauce!
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During the voting periods, log in to your paizo.com account and visit paizo.com/rpgsuperstar. You may only vote once per round, so make sure to look through all the entries before casting your vote! If we find that someone has cheated by placing more than one vote, those votes will be nullified.
You may only vote once per round..... hmmm....
In the previous years I believe you could vote for 2 or 4 contestants? Does this mean we will be only voting once per round? I guess this means that the tasks will be quite different.BTW, when does Neil's adventure come out? (No rush, Neil)
In the previous years I believe you could vote for 2 or 4 contestants? Does this mean we will be only voting once per round?
I believe that's just saying you can't establish an extra alias on the messageboards so you can cast votes more than once collectively.
BTW, when does Neil's adventure come out? (No rush, Neil)
It's already gone to the printers from what I understand. And the product page indicates you can pre-order it starting in March 2010...right about the time RPG Superstar 2010 will be wrapping up. I've already seen a bit of the art for it...including the cover art...which someone should have updated on the product page by now. ;-D
--Neil
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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 am by no means an established writer, but I want to say this out of a bit of envy for Neil's situation. There is no feeling like getting something - ANYTHING - published and getting to see art for something you concocted. That was a great memory.For me it was only just one small thing, but it was a great feeling, and the art was fantastic.
So, I imagine Neil is going through the same thing, only on a larger and satisfying scale.
So - Superstars, keep up the good work and extra hours designing. The judges want us to take it seriously, the fans deserve a great shwing, and you want to smell that 'new art' smell!
{I believe that's just saying you can't establish an extra alias on the messageboards so you can cast votes more than once collectively.}
And it also means that you can't use two of your votes, think about it for a day, then go back and use your other two votes--you gotta do it all in one voting session. Just like in real life, actually.
Okay, that's cool. I liked the 'multiple votes' system from previous years; I think it gives you a much higher-res picture of what the community likes and what it doesn't than a single-vote system.
And it also means that you can't use two of your votes, think about it for a day, then go back and use your other two votes--you gotta do it all in one voting session. Just like in real life, actually.
Oooooh. That's interesting. In previous years, the system let you come back and alter your votes as long as the voting deadline hadn't yet passed...which I suspect at least some number of people would do based on the incoming exit poll data. Good move, Paizo! :-)
Well, I'm just guessing. I've drank a lot and had heart surgery* since the contest last year, my memory could be fuzzy....
*Sorry, hadn't played this card in a while, had to dust it off. ;)
::rolls eyes::
C'mon...it was just a little outpatient surgery. ;-P
I'm guessing we're still going to see 'design a villain' as the second round this year. Last year it was the key round that separated the good entries from the bad. I think villain design is a complex concept that many people fail to grasp. I know my entry last year was deservedly smashed in the second round for being more 'monster' than 'villain'I know what you mean. I appearently wasn't "original" enough last year. :(
*sniffle* as an alternate I DID submit a villain and it WAS recommended to pass, but y'all hung on too long! :)
I like monsters, I hope there is a monster round. But as conjecture is only going to get me so far, I am working on the round I DO know about.
Well, I'm just guessing. I've drank a lot and had heart surgery* since the contest last year, my memory could be fuzzy....
*Sorry, hadn't played this card in a while, had to dust it off. ;)
Man, I'm curious what the frequency of heart surgeries amongst former TSR staffers/authors is...
I just read that Aaron Allston had a quadruple-bypass earlier this year.
::rolls eyes::C'mon...it was just a little outpatient surgery. ;-P
Yeah, when I'm trying to drum up sympathy, I omit the "outpatient" part and focus on the METAL WIRES THEY RAN THROUGH MY BLOOD VESSELS TO BURN OUT A SECTION OF MY HEART RAWR AND I WAS AWAKE FOR IT AND WENT HOME THE SAME DAY BECAUSE I AM SO BADASS RAWR BRAWNDO MAKES YOU WIN AT HEART SURGERY!!!
I have it on good authority that round three involves creating a new STD.
"No problem. Sign me up."
I have it on good authority that round three involves creating a new STD.
I can see the debates now.
"That fungus isn't a villain."
"Oh hell yes it is!"
I have it on good authority that round three involves creating a new STD.
Whenever I hear anything like this I picture a laughing Nurgle from Warhammer.
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Chief Technical Officer
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And it also means that you can't use two of your votes, think about it for a day, then go back and use your other two votes--you gotta do it all in one voting session. Just like in real life, actually.Oooooh. That's interesting. In previous years, the system let you come back and alter your votes as long as the voting deadline hadn't yet passed...which I suspect at least some number of people would do based on the incoming exit poll data. Good move, Paizo! :-)
We haven't changed it. Sean just went off his meds.
