I would say creative thinking and planning can't hurt as it's all good practice.
However, beware the Paizo Curve Ball they like to test winners with, you know, like statting someone else's monster concept.
You simply can't guarantee that you will be given the opportunity to go with your flow.
But planning a few ideas ahead of time might be a way to go to increase your options on some rounds.
And if you complete a whole plan for an adventure, you could possibly offer it up as a potential Pathfinder Society offering and go that route.
... back to archetype massage parlour ... 454 words, damn, 432 words - but I really really need that, gah - 460 words... arghhhh!
About the 460 words... what are the chances they will notice :P
Considering the submission form does a word count and stamps it on, I'd say about 100%. :)
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka JoelF847
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I don't think a theme would hurt, but I'd be wary of doing a theme if it's at the expense of presenting your best, coolest ideas. I highly doubt most voters will say "hmm, this guy's designing on a theme, bonus points for that", but they're very likely to say "this other item is the coolest one in the round, I'm voting for that."
Disclaimer: by trying to predict the ways of the voting public, you may now expect them to do the complete opposite of what I'm speculating.
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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The two thoughts on that are: voters might be impressed that you can complete every part of the design process: villain stat blocks, magic items, location/encounters and adventure design, or they can be impressed that you can do something very different every time.
I myself have no preference. You have to be able to do both, so someone that shows me they can deeply explore a rich plot and all the peripherals gets a nod, and someone who can absolutely design anything asked of them no matter how different is also impressive.
If I had adanced on previous years, I've had years where I would have something unrelated every time, because the ideas I wanted to develop in individual rounds didn't connect, and one year I wanted to carry a theme all the way through to best develop my adventure proposal and give it the best chance to be complete.
Of course, the twists can also play on that. If your archetype is nthing like anyone else's, and then they say you can't use your own. your chance to develop similar themes may encounter a challenge.
IMHO I think the theme thing is maybe not such a good idea.
Lets say I've been planning for this competition since last year, and i polish the hell out of my adventure idea. I know there's going to be an wondrous item round, so I include an item that is of great use in the adventure. It's nice when a new adventure has a new monster so I'm set if there is a monster round. The adventure has to take place somewhere, and must have a compelling antagonist, so I'm set for location and villain too. When the archetype round pops up, I bend an existing class or NPC who features in the adventure to fit the story just a little bit better. Now I've had a full year to work on most of these aspects, and really only show my time-constrained talents once, for the archetype, twice if the twist turns out to be a real monkey wrench in my plans. Really all I have here is one great idea. Does this make me more superstar than someone who grinds out a new cool thing in each round? Or does this make me a one trick pony?
Please don't think I'm calling out any of you who are trying to make a cool themed package, I'm only saying that the judges might see this as a weakness and may say as much. They're looking for someone who can write what they assign to them, not someone who can make a single good adventure, regardless of how amazing and complete it might be. To me it's not worth the risk. If I could come up with a single idea that hits all the bases, I could just as easily come up with a new idea for each round.
This is why there's a lot more to the contest than just designing something cool every round. You have to make certain choices about what you think will best appeal to the judges (for their recommendation) and the public (for their votes). This whole game is a tightrope. You overbalance on one side or another and your attempt to standout may backfire on you. Or, your attempt to standout may succeed beyond your wildest dreams and catapult you to the front of the pack.
That's what makes RPG Superstar so interesting and entertaining. It's pure fun...both to see what kind of cool stuff Superstar designers come up with, and to watch the strategy each one uses to try and survive to the next round. Some might try and develop a theme. Others may choose to demonstrate their flexibility. And, regardless of what they choose, you never know when the game might change with a twist here or there. All of that provides entertainment value even for those who are just observing and voting.
I've worked out a complete adventure around my magic item (of course also including villains and maps and a prestige class but no archetypes) And I'm currently doing so for my archetype idea (also including items, villains and maps). Since my current idea of what I will submit, if I am chosen to advance, is my third one, I already have three adventures in stock plus the one I'm working at. I think I will continue like that (given the case that I proceed to the top) always designing complete adventures around each round's subject (and even my rejects) but still take a different theme every round. Of course this will produce a lot of unused (in this competition!) material but I think it's great practice.
My theme, should I make Round 2, shall be: "Things that are awesome."
That kind of theme (as you well know) can take you very far.
My theme, should I make Round 2, shall be: "Things that are awesome."
My theme, should I make the top 32, shall be "bacon".
I just know Sean submitted the alarm clock of bacon frying.
All I can say is: Why Didn't I Think Of That?
Wereboar with a flaming spear, fumble! Bacon...
I just know Sean submitted the alarm clock of bacon frying.
All I can say is: Why Didn't I Think Of That?
Actually, it was the sword of streaky rashers.
Yeah, that's right. I have enough faith in the power of bacon that I believe even a non-wondrous item could make it around the judges.
My theme, should I make Round 2, shall be: "Things that are awesome."My theme, should I make the top 32, shall be "bacon".I wish to hear more of this "bacon" initiative. Do you perhaps have literature available?
The literature was written on sheets of actual bacon, and is therefore no longer available.
However, I can tell you that there IS no 'bacon initiative'; having bacon in your possession means you automatically have the first turn in a round.
Well, here's my own thoughts: I love themes. Themes are cool. Themes let you build a lot higher than one-offs. It's also nice to see content you really liked previously put into actual use.
The trick is, all that's icing on the cake; the cake itself is bringing something new each round. If you don't fulfill that basic goal, then by definition your entry is less interesting.
So what matters here is how much variety and freshness you provide within the given theme. If your first-round item lets you imitate spiders by spinning webs, and the second-round archetype is a wizard with a permanent spider climb spell active, and your third-round villain were a fearsome were-spider, then that's a theme, sure, but you're not doing much with it. None of the individual entries benefit from the theme, it's just kinda there. And if your adventure proposal just uses all those items as-is, it's also not doing anything beyond sticking to your theme, which is not a value in-and-of-itself.
On the other hand, if your first entry was a spider amulet of Salvatore drow, and your second entry were an archetype for escaped slaves of the drow called "flies," and your third entry was a villain were a scheming drow mastermind called "The Spider" who was secretly directing the flies' escapes and sabotage attempts in such a way that they harm dwarven settlements, who keeps captured enemies trapped in cocoons... You see what I'm doing here. I'm keeping to the theme, but I'm building it up, taking it in new directions. And expanding on what's gone before, not just referencing it; using it in unexpected ways (because the expected ways wouldn't be very interesting).
That's the kind of "theme usage" I think could work very nicely. It would have to demonstrate the writer's creativity and versatility despite sticking to a single theme - but if he manages that, it could definitely be awesome.
My theme, Chuck Norris.
Yup, my item is connected to a theme on Chuck. My Archetype will be based off of Chuck. My villain will be based an a character played by Chuck. and my adventure is one Chuck did and OK'd by him to write. Yup, all my stuff will be that awesome.....:)
disclaimer; No I didnt design my item around Chuck, if I did, no one would stand a chance and that wouldnt be fair now would it....lol...:)
Themes run two major risks. Unoriginality has been mentioned already. The other is burn-out. I have not seen it in a while, but paizo really railed against half-dragons because they saw too many submissions with them. Evil cults or mad wizards might fall into this category as well. Personally a vampire theme (even if they sparkle) is so overdone it will be hard to get me to look twice irregardless of the creativity. I am probably in the minority here, but vampires & zombies are over used, and I do not just in gaming, but in general.
This is more of the rope Neil was talking about, not choosing a theme voters are already burned out on. This goes for any round submission and plays into the marketing aspect of SuperStar, but I think themes will face burn-out quicker. I hope that helps.
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My theme, should I make Round 2, shall be: "Things that are awesome."My theme, should I make the top 32, shall be "bacon".I wish to hear more of this "bacon" initiative. Do you perhaps have literature available?
The literature was written on sheets of actual bacon, and is therefore no longer available.
However, I can tell you that there IS no 'bacon initiative'; having bacon in your possession means you automatically have the first turn in a round.
Lol! Man, if I could get my GM to go for that as a house rule...