frank gori RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Champion Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka GM_Solspiral |
Emmanuel Greene RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7 aka Tamago |
I won't post a whole Top 32 list; there are enough of those :-) But there are four items that caught my fancy, for one reason or another:
1) Charger Boots: A nice attempt to solve the problem of mounted-focused characters losing a lot of their abilities in a dungeon or other non-horse-friendly environment. I would love these for my Cavalier (and my GM would hate them)! I can see how some might feel that they were solving a problem that didn't need solving, though.
2) Gloves of the Frugal Healer. We all know how that went ;-)
3) Musketeer's Hat: I like the interaction with feather tokens, which always seemed kind of boring to me. Being able to stick them in a cap and have them do something cool seems like a really creative idea!
4) Lantern of Souls: This is straying into plot-device territory, but its a super-flavorful item that really grabbed me. It made me think of Bob from the Dresden files :-)
Also, there was some item whose name I can't remember that looked really interesting. It was an astrolabe that let you pilot a ship across the planes, to make shorter journeys. That one is definitely plot-device territory, but I thought it was a cool concept, and well-written.
Joshua Stevens RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 6 aka Eyebite |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
OK, it being Friday I won't hold out any further on a complete list of my favorite items. Just a list, no specific praise for any specific item because I could go on endlessly.
My own private 32:
The Moonchild Flask was mine.
I take it as a huge compliment that I made your top 32. Thank you.
Jeff Lee |
The Moonchild Flask was mine.I take it as a huge compliment that I made your top 32. Thank you.
It made mine as well. One of the few items that was creepy-but-cool without overdoing the gross-out factor. It initially struck me as more of something to give a villain, but I have an alchemist that would love something like that in his collection.
RonarsCorruption Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 9 |
Orthos Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7 |
Joshua Stevens wrote:It made mine as well. One of the few items that was creepy-but-cool without overdoing the gross-out factor. It initially struck me as more of something to give a villain, but I have an alchemist that would love something like that in his collection.
The Moonchild Flask was mine.I take it as a huge compliment that I made your top 32. Thank you.
Same. Great item, but seems more like a plot device for an antagonist than a wondrous item. I still voted for it a few times, despite giving auto-downvotes to most of the creepy/gory items, since it danced close to the WTF line but didn't quite cross it =)
goldomark Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 8 |
Since it's becoming fashionable to do so, here's my top 32. (Well, 31, since I'm excluding mine, for bias.) Order is alphabetical only.
Spoiler:
1. Amulet of Amended Strategy
2. Ancestral Spirit Shroud
3. Blightseed Oil
4. Bracers of Tempered Wrath
5. Cloudwrangler's Gloves
6. Cubes of Crossbreeding
7. Dimensional Door Knob
8. Doppelganger's Locket
9. Elixir of Last Will
10. Flask of Sudden Sanctuary
11. Flute of the Macaw
12. Gloves of Flame Command
13. Gloves of Silent Echoes
14. Goblet of the Elements
15. Gorget of Living Whispers
16. Hand Wraps of Unerring Flows
17. Linarian's Bane
18. Mantle of the Defending Hive
19. Porcine Pendant
20. Quicksand Cloak
21. Rat-Tread Boots
22. Seppuku Blossom
23. Shattered Mirror of the Insect Queen
24. Spectral Lampblack
25. Swarm Slurper
26. Synergistic Extract of Haunts
27. Tephraic Stone
28. Volcanic Helm
29. Whispering Gloves
30. Witchfrost Heart
31. Witchwood Comb
My item's shown up in this thread a couple times now, so thanks to everyone who mentioned it!
Elixir of Last Will! Woot! They love me! They really love me!
shammond42 Dedicated Voter Season 6 |
A couple of people mentioned my Castling Gloves. I'm glad you enjoyed them.
I really liked the discordant cur, condensing alblemec and quickdraw tape (though I might make it a wrap or a cord to avoid the modern tape reference).
I didn't think it was superstar, but I am already using the dancing quills in my campaign.
Thanks,
Steve
ciretose Star Voter Season 6 |
Jacob Kellogg RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8 aka Jiggy |
I think my goal for next year will to be to make someones list...other than Meepo's...
I wasn't culled...I thought it would be a cool way to make sure that losing the party cleric wasn't something you couldn't overcome...I used the word obsidian...:)
Waitwaitwait, this sounds familiar... Was this the item that was essentially raise dead at a discount, but someone has to willingly die to activate it? Something like that?
Severed Ronin Star Voter Season 6 |
I haven't seen my item posted nor did I see it post-cull. I saw it a total of three times throughout all of voting. However, this does not make me feel bad because while I didn't see many of the items that made the Top 32 during my voting process, one of them did make it and it just so happened to be the one that I upvoted over my own item. My item came up three times as I said and the first couple of times I felt that my item beat out the other two. Ego kicking in? Probably.
But the third time, my item came up against Scott Fernandez's Verdant Crown of Oak and Iron and his item blew me away. It was the first time I'd seen it come up and I liked it. Did I think it was better than mine? Not necessarily (once again, foolish pride kicking in), but I hadn't seen it and it was the only one I'd seen come against mine that made me consider voting for it.
So I did. I figured he at least deserved that chance. His item was great and I was pleasantly surprised to see him make Top 32.
As for all of the other items I've seen posted thus far as well as those posted in everyone's top item lists, many of them were items to beat out mine.
For that, congratulations to everyone who made the Top 32 and Top 89. Moreso than that, keep up the good work to everyone who submitted. This is my second year entering and each year I feel more confident in my abilities.
I hope to see you all next year. My suggestion to everyone who wants to participate in RPG Superstar is to do what I'm doing. Go through Superstar with everyone. I created my River Kingdoms archetype while waiting for the voting to finish and results to be announced. Once Round 3 is announced, I plan to parallel participate along with the Top 16. It's good practice.
Once again - congratulations to everyone and thank you for giving me a slew of great items to use in my campaign. I'd also like to thank the judges for the amount of time and effort they put into this contest. It's a taxing job, no doubt, but all of you handle it amazingly well and outstandingly professional.
ciretose Star Voter Season 6 |
ciretose wrote:Waitwaitwait, this sounds familiar... Was this the item that was essentially raise dead at a discount, but someone has to willingly die to activate it? Something like that?I think my goal for next year will to be to make someones list...other than Meepo's...
I wasn't culled...I thought it would be a cool way to make sure that losing the party cleric wasn't something you couldn't overcome...I used the word obsidian...:)
Yeah, it was lame. I thought about it during the raise dead wars and I thought "Hey, what if a player or PC was willing to give their life to bring someone back. That would be thematically cool."
But, you know, it wasn't :)
Edit: And it had a gentle repose aspect included with the thought you could use it to save someone valuable to be able to get back to town to raise the one who made the sacrifice.
But yeah, spell-in-a-can :)
Jacob Kellogg RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8 aka Jiggy |
Jacob Kellogg wrote:ciretose wrote:Waitwaitwait, this sounds familiar... Was this the item that was essentially raise dead at a discount, but someone has to willingly die to activate it? Something like that?I think my goal for next year will to be to make someones list...other than Meepo's...
I wasn't culled...I thought it would be a cool way to make sure that losing the party cleric wasn't something you couldn't overcome...I used the word obsidian...:)
Yeah, it was lame. I thought about it during the raise dead wars and I thought "Hey, what if a player or PC was willing to give their life to bring someone back. That would be thematically cool."
But, you know, it wasn't :)
On the contrary, it was very thematically cool. :)
It just fell down in practice. Either a PC uses it, and you're still down one party member (you're just paying gold to decide which person is dead), or an NPC uses it for you, and you wonder why they didn't just call in a favor from a cleric if the GM wanted to give you a cheaper raise due to good NPC relations.
Sort of the opposite of mine: I made a really solid item that I think should exist in the game, but it's not the least bit interesting. Sort of like a Cloak of Resistance. :/
ciretose Star Voter Season 6 |
ciretose wrote:Jacob Kellogg wrote:ciretose wrote:Waitwaitwait, this sounds familiar... Was this the item that was essentially raise dead at a discount, but someone has to willingly die to activate it? Something like that?I think my goal for next year will to be to make someones list...other than Meepo's...
I wasn't culled...I thought it would be a cool way to make sure that losing the party cleric wasn't something you couldn't overcome...I used the word obsidian...:)
Yeah, it was lame. I thought about it during the raise dead wars and I thought "Hey, what if a player or PC was willing to give their life to bring someone back. That would be thematically cool."
But, you know, it wasn't :)
On the contrary, it was very thematically cool. :)
It just fell down in practice. Either a PC uses it, and you're still down one party member (you're just paying gold to decide which person is dead), or an NPC uses it for you, and you wonder why they didn't just call in a favor from a cleric if the GM wanted to give you a cheaper raise due to good NPC relations.
Sort of the opposite of mine: I made a really solid item that I think should exist in the game, but it's not the least bit interesting. Sort of like a Cloak of Resistance. :/
I was thinking of the times when the only person with raise dead dies, or when a party doesn't have raise dead and there is someone mission critical and someone who can be temporarily dead while you finish (swapping out your cohort for example). Hence the gentle repose feature.
But I can see why it didn't advance.
Which one was yours?
Kiel Howell RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka theheadkase |
Sort of the opposite of mine: I made a really solid item that I think should exist in the game, but it's not the least bit interesting. Sort of like a Cloak of Resistance. :/
I'm right there with you Jiggy...I realized my item was very bland, and I actually used the Cloak of Resistance as a baseline for what bonus and pricing should be for mine.
I have an idea for next year that I am super excited about though.
Jacob Kellogg RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8 aka Jiggy |
I was thinking of the times when the only person with raise dead dies, or when a party doesn't have raise dead and there is someone mission critical and someone who can be temporarily dead while you finish (swapping out your cohort for example). Hence the gentle repose feature.
Ah, MVP protection. That makes sense.
Which one was yours?
Ghoulslayer Gloves. It was supposed to reconcile the disparity between the facts that (A) clerics and other lifebringers are (at least nominally) the scourge of undead abominations and (B) the mechanics of that trope (cure spells harming undead) make it such a laughably weak option that no one who's serious about undead-killing ever does the thing that allegedly represents the notion of being serious about undead-killing.
But the contest isn't "Reconcile the Disparity 2013". So yeah.
ciretose Star Voter Season 6 |
ciretose wrote:I was thinking of the times when the only person with raise dead dies, or when a party doesn't have raise dead and there is someone mission critical and someone who can be temporarily dead while you finish (swapping out your cohort for example). Hence the gentle repose feature.Ah, MVP protection. That makes sense.
Quote:Which one was yours?Ghoulslayer Gloves. It was supposed to reconcile the disparity between the facts that (A) clerics and other lifebringers are (at least nominally) the scourge of undead abominations and (B) the mechanics of that trope (cure spells harming undead) make it such a laughably weak option that no one who's serious about undead-killing ever does the thing that allegedly represents the notion of being serious about undead-killing.
But the contest isn't "Reconcile the Disparity 2013". So yeah.
I think I remember those. It is hard to remember when making an item that it is "Superstar" not "Pragamatic" they are looking for.
Mark Aaron |
OK, it being Friday I won't hold out any further on a complete list of my favorite items. Just a list, no specific praise for any specific item because I could go on endlessly.
My own private 32:
(Listed solely in the order that they crossed my voting path, not in any kind of actual preferential sequence. That would be too hard!)
** spoiler omitted **And for completeness' sake: my alternates:
(Which means I did have to do a little preferential sorting, but only in a 'what four items do I really, really regret not including in the top' sense.)
** spoiler omitted **
And since someone did request upthread that I post my full top 64 (because I kept mentioning it), here's the rest of the best, as I saw it. Again, no special organization to these:
** spoiler omitted **...
I am delighted to see that my Bowstring found some love somewhere!
Here's my list of "I loved these items". Note, not all of them are superstar quality, but these were certainly the items I liked enough to save a copy of the item and say, "I'll be using this later."
** spoiler omitted **
I'm a little disappointed--though I can't say I'm surprised--that no one's mentioned my first light.
The fact that someone like yourself saved my item for their own personal use has made entering this year a vindicated decision.
Thomas LeBlanc RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 , Champion Voter Season 6, Champion Voter Season 7, Champion Voter Season 8, Champion Voter Season 9 |
Victoria Jaczko RPG Superstar 2014 , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7 aka Belladonna Blue |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I loved the Beardforge and the Tapestry of Tomes. I was rooting for those two the whole way and was quite disappointed they didn't make it.
Maybe I play too many dwarves and librarians. And dwarven librarians.
Oh, and the Paper Messenger. Already mentioned a lot, but quite sincerely the only message-type item that made me sit up and do that slow "oh yeah" nod before upvoting.
Garrett Guillotte Star Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8 |
Bombadil Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8 |
Taylor Hubler RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka CalebTGordan |
Jeff Lee |
Haven't seen it mentioned yet, Doomstring was one of my favorite items this year, well done!
Reading the description of this item gave me a good laugh. However, it also inspired this.
Though I have to say I laughed even harder at the mask of machismo. Really fun, but joke items aren't superstar.
zylphryx Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7 |
Eric Hindley RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32, 2011 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Boxhead |
FireHawk Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 8 |
agirlnamedbob Dedicated Voter Season 6 |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh, and the Paper Messenger. Already mentioned a lot, but quite sincerely the only message-type item that made me sit up and do that slow "oh yeah" nod before upvoting.
I'm very glad you liked it. I hope you'll consider telling me what you liked and what you think I could have done better in the critique thread (or privately, if you're more comfortable). :)
Riftwalker Star Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8 |
bstern Star Voter Season 6 |
Bombadil wrote:Haven't seen it mentioned yet, Doomstring was one of my favorite items this year, well done!Reading the description of this item gave me a good laugh. However, it also inspired this.
Though I have to say I laughed even harder at the mask of machismo. Really fun, but joke items aren't superstar.
Really, it was my item that inspired that? I am somewhat chagrined. All I can say in my defense is that it was an "amazing display of whimsy," not a joke item.
Message taken, I'll tone down the whimsy next time.
Rykka Star Voter Season 6 |
4) Lantern of Souls: This is straying into plot-device territory, but its a super-flavorful item that really grabbed me. It made me think of Bob from the Dresden files :-)
Thank you! This one was mine. It was an item I made for a game I ran and the players had so much fun with it that it sort of spawned off it's own campaign. So I figured I would make it my entry for the contest.
Jeff Lee |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Jeff Lee wrote:Bombadil wrote:Haven't seen it mentioned yet, Doomstring was one of my favorite items this year, well done!Reading the description of this item gave me a good laugh. However, it also inspired this.
Though I have to say I laughed even harder at the mask of machismo. Really fun, but joke items aren't superstar.
Really, it was my item that inspired that? I am somewhat chagrined. All I can say in my defense is that it was an "amazing display of whimsy," not a joke item.
Message taken, I'll tone down the whimsy next time.
Please don't take what I said to mean that the item was not well-written and clever. However, at its basest level, it was a magical ball of yarn that foils enemies by making them act like cats. Like I said, it didn't strike me as a blatant joke item, but it was hard to be sure.
Jacob W. Michaels RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka motteditor |
Tripp Elliott RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16 , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan |
Throwing in another item I don't think I've seen mentioned anywhere that I liked (even though part of it played in design space I'm not crazy about): The sunderbuss attachment
I loved the name of the Sunderbuss, it spoke to me, but the item didn't quite deliver. I liked it, but didn't love it.
Cheapy Marathon Voter Season 6 |
My list of items I saved off. It includes my favorites, but not all in the list were my favorites (or even ones I thought were high quality).
Anthony Adam Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 |
Cheapy, you just made my day - thanks!
My circlet was finally in someones list - Yippee!
Now I just have to work out how to change one person into a voting majority >.<
Raisse Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7 |
Since it's becoming fashionable to do so, here's my top 32. (Well, 31, since I'm excluding mine, for bias.) Order is alphabetical only.
...
18. Mantle of the Defending Hive
...My item's shown up in this thread a couple times now, so thanks to everyone who mentioned it!
Someone liked my item :D
I'm happy now. Thanks
Celeador Marathon Voter Season 6 |
My list of items I saved off. It includes my favorites, but not all in the list were my favorites (or even ones I thought were high quality).
Cuff of the Feral Lord
Thanks Cheapy! I'm really glad you liked it. I agree with alot of the items on the list and i'm proud to be up there with them.
Sitri Star Voter Season 6 |
Debihuman Star Voter Season 6 |
Items I liked but knew were too far out of mainstream gaming style to make the top 32-
Escapee's Spoon
Toastmaster's Glass
Lute Of Enveloping (playing the tune to retrieve the item won me over)
Garter Of Hidden Fortune
Candle Of Distant Assurance
Orator's TorcI also really liked Paper Messenger, the sole walkie talkie that I really enjoyed. I thought it might squeak in.
I am just tickled that someone liked my toastmaster's glass.
Debby
Duskrunner1 Star Voter Season 6 |
Duskrunner1 wrote:If possible, and when time permits, could you post how you got into the gaming industry? I personally am looking for a career change, and am hoping to do something that I have a passion for.Duskrunner, I just started a game company when Wizards announced it was going to open the content of D&D. I was one of the first to jump on and I started Necromancer Games. I subsequently got my old friend Bill Webb involved and he and I ran Necro for years. I got hooked up early on with White Wolf who were my print partner and distributor. That was a great relationship. Basically, I just did it.
As for being "in the industry," I was for a while. I have since gotten out of Necro and my buddy Bill has continued with Frog God games. But even when I was in, I was only partly in. I am and have been an attorney and I am actually a sitting judge (like, guy in robe in court). So gaming was always a passion but never a full time career for me. It remains a passion and I have many good friends in gaming, the vast majority of which all are either at Paizo or have some connection to Paizo. Another good friend of mine, who I met through gaming, is Steve Wieck (former head of White Wolf) and he had a theory that life is too short to work with people you don't like. What great advice that is. That's why I love dealing with Paizo because in addition to being a great company, they are great people.
So my advice to you is just start a game company. Write. Create. Publish. These days with pdf publishing it is even easier than when I started.
If I can do it, you can do it.
Thank you much Clark for this insight. It is most appreciated.
Dragon78 Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8 |
There were a lot of items I liked that didn't make it such as faerie boots of the fancy free, beard forge, door chalk, black web corset, pheonix feather, a helmit with bees(can't remember the name), flute of the silver wind, and more that I wish I wrote down.
Darn I wish my item got mentioned on this thread but after thinking about it, it was close to being a minor artifact.
james knowles Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 9 |
Ben Smyth Star Voter Season 6 |
I also reserve a special place in my heart for the triple jump sandals I believe it was. Hop, skip, JUMP! So simple and elegant.
I was bummed the slippers didn't make it. Sure, they had an anachronistic name, and you'd probably spend half of every session re-reading the jump rules, but they sounded like so much fun.
Jeff Lee |
Coridan wrote:Hey I dug your Skein Helm, Coridan. You gave it such a strong memorable flavour using very few words.Yes I am sad no one has mentioned my Skein Helm but I am not above slyly inserting it into my post ;-)
I agree. It had an understated coolness about it that made it an instant keep the first time I saw it.