Blazing 9 Items (post-RPG Superstar 2013)

[Jacob Trier]

That piece of text refers to the voting that takes place in later rounds, where the contestants who advance submit new entries.

The important bit is found in the Round 1 rules:

Round 1 FAQ wrote:

Can I talk about my item on the Paizo forums?

The selection process for Round 1 is supposed to be anonymous—they should not be able to identify who submitted what wondrous item in any way. If talking about your item in a public forum (whether on Paizo.com or elsewhere) before the Top 32 finalists are announced allows the judges to figure out which anonymous item is yours, you will be disqualified. It's best to not give any details about your item until the Top 32 are revealed on January 1, 2014.

Basically, it's based out like this:

* You are free to talk about an item you don't intend to submit, such as a practice item, anywhere.

* You are free to talk about the item you intend to submit PRIVATELY, such as in an e-mail to close friends or members of a critique circle. This is actually encouraged. Just don't post it anywhere publicly.

* You are encouraged to use the submission tool to PREVIEW your item, for example to ensure that you don't exceed the word count. But once you press submit, that's the ballgame. You items is in, and there are no do-overs or second chances. Cross your fingers and prepare to learn from your mistakes.

* Once the Top 32 are announced, everyone is free to talk about their actual submission, including the Top 32.

* Once the contest moves on to a new round, contestants are not allowed to discuss their new entries publicly until voting is over. Doing so is grounds for disqualification, and people have been disqualified over this in the past.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

Ole -- the relevant sections for the open call is here: The selection process for Round 1 is supposed to be anonymous—they should not be able to identify who submitted what wondrous item in any way. If talking about your item in a public forum (whether on Paizo.com or elsewhere) before the Top 32 finalists are announced allows the judges to figure out which anonymous item is yours, you will be disqualified. It's best to not give any details about your item until the Top 32 are revealed on January 1, 2014.

Once the Top 32 are picked, they can not talk about their submissions (monsters/encounters/module pitches) while public voting is going on.

If you wanted to take Anthony up on his offer of a personal critique, you would have had to PM him. If you used the form, you've officially submitted your item for entry into the contest.

[Orcus Of Undeath]

People, please read both the Blazing 9 OP and the RPG Superstar rules before posting anything related to your item.

[Jacob Trier]

olePigeon wrote:

Never mind. It's in the Round 1 rules section, but not in the contest rules section.

This is indeed extremely frustrating.

The thing to remember is, that this is not so much a contest as it is a long-running job interview. Every aspect of the contest, including the way the rules are presented and the way the submission tool works, are designed to test your ability to follow instructions, work under a Non-Disclosure Agreement and absorb large amounts of information.

Don't get frustrated - instead, start reading through the forums, ask around, follow the voting and the discussions as the rounds progress - and get ready for next year.

[Pedro Coelho]

What the Jacobs said. Being able to follow instructions is key to the contest.

[olePigeon]

I guess I misunderstood what this was about. Just thought it'd be neat to have an idea published somewhere in a Paizo book. Would've been fun. Clearly this isn't the contest for something like that, but for people with more ambitious endeavors.

Since I'm not looking for a job or a switch in careers, I don't think I'll be participating in of the contests in the future. Best of luck to everyone else, though.

In any event, here was the archetype I was working on. Funny since there's no archetype entry for this year anyway.

Angelic Vessel (Archetype)
An angelic vessel's devotion to her deity and cause has begun a divine transformation of her soul. An angelic vessel has the following class features.

Angelic Bond: At 5th level, an angelic vessel gains a cassisian angel familiar, with its natural form as that of a winged helmet, crown, mask, or other similar object best representing her deity. This ability is identical to the wizard's arcane bond with a familiar and the Improved Familiar feat, using the angelic vessel's character level in place of the wizard level.

This small celestial being is an extension of the angelic vessel's soul, made manifest by her devotion to her deity and moral code. As long as the familiar is within 30 feet and line of sight, this familiar can act as a living divine focus and holy symbol for her spellcasting if the angelic vessel so desires; i.e., channel positive energy may be centered on the familiar instead of the angelic vessel. Should her familiar die, a part of the angelic vessel dies with it, and the effects are devastating, immediately gaining 2 temporary negative levels as a result. These levels cannot be overcome in any way except upon completion of an atonement spell requiring no less than 30 days, thereby healing her soul and creating an identical familiar. If the angelic vessel grossly violates her code of conduct resulting in the loss of her class abilities, the familiar is forcefully ripped from her by her deity, with the same conditions listed above. There are no other costs or rituals required to regain the familiar other than completion of the atonement spell. Furthermore, the familiar gains the following special abilities beyond those granted by the standard familiar.

Shared defenses (Su): The familiar may be worn as a part of the angelic vessel's armor, assuming magic armor bonuses (but not shields) as a deflection bonus to its armor class, and allowing it to occupy the same space as the angelic vessel without penalty or hinderance. This ability only works while the familiar is in its natural form and within arm's reach.
Divine call (Sp): Once per day, an angelic vessel may magically don her familiar and armor as a full-round action. This ability is the equivalent of a spell of a level equal to one-third the angelic vessel's level. An angelic vessel can use this ability once per day at 5th level, and one additional time per day for every 4 levels thereafter, for a total of four times per day at 17th level.
Deliver lay on hands (Su): The angelic vessel may deliver a lay on hands through her familiar instead, as long as the familiar is within 30 feet and line of sight.
This ability replaces Deliver touch spells.
Shared vision (Su): At 7th level, while the familiar is worn as a part of the angelic vessel's armor, the angelic vessel gains the benefits of her familiar's senses. She gains darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, and a +4 competence bonus to perception checks. If she already has darkvision, the distance is extended an additional 30 ft.
This ability replaces Speak with animals of its kind.
Shared flight (Su): At 13th level, while the familiar is worn as a part of the angelic vessel's armor, she sprouts a pair of angelic wings from her back and gains a fly speed of 30 feet (20 feet in heavy armor) with average maneuverability.
This ability replaces Scry on familiar.
True flight (Su): At 17th level, while the familiar is worn as a part of the angelic vessel's armor, her fly speed increases to 60 feet (40 feet in heavy armor) with perfect maneuverability.

This ability replaces divine bond.

[Pedro Coelho]

Bear in mind that the grand prize is a job offer to write an adventure. Nothing prevents you from entering the contest for fun, but remember that you'll be competing against people that may be taking a more professional approach, many of whom have been seriously studying and practicing for the contest. Plus, if you do win, it's a ton of work later - and even during the competition it is possible to feel how much work it is to write this stuff on a professional level. So, if you are not really interested in actually working on a weeks-long project to get an adventure published, this might not be the contest for you, and I do mean this respectfully.

This said, I personally encourage anyone to take a shot at this, even if it is only for fun, as long as they know what they are getting into, and as long as they are willing to step forward when things get serious.

[Curaigh]

Keep in mind the job is one of freelancing, not a full-time position and certainly not one needing a career track or location change.

What class is this archetype for?

[olePigeon]

Paladin.

[Christian Bovier]

olePigeon wrote:

Never mind. It's in the Round 1 rules section, but not in the contest rules section.

This is indeed extremely frustrating.

I agree, I saw people posting their ideas and I thought it was a good place for me to put up my idea. I have no one to be angry at but myself but that doesn't do it for me. The real shame is that my good idea can now never get published. They should really have this contest twice a year at least than we'd have to wait less time.

[Sean K Reynolds]

Christian, to be honest, I don't think this item would have made it into the top 32.

* You made several significant formatting errors—beginner mistake like capitalizing "faint," "abjuration," "chest," "iron," and spell names; you didn't put a space between "Price" and the item's price; you didn't capitalize "Craft Wondrous Item" (and you called it "Craft wondrous items" even though the feat doesn't end with an "s"), and you put a space between "mage hand" and the semicolon.

* You say the item is crafted from wool of earth-plane sheep, but that isn't listed in the Requirements section; furthermore, we don't usually list crafting requirements like that.

* The attraction and repulsion seem to be tied to metal or magnetism, but if that's the case it doesn't make sense that it should affect a pickpocketing DC (the thief isn't necessarily made of metal or trying to steal metal from you).

* I assume the "attract" mode is supposed to be making it harder to pickpocket you, but "–2 to the DC" is actually making it easier to pickpocket you (reducing the DC of something makes it easier, not harder)

* The AC bonus from repelling doesn't affect arrows but does affect crossbow bolts (which you called "cross bolts"), even though arrows and crossbow bolts generally have metal heads.

* "anyone wearing metal armor trying to grapple you suffers at a -2" is unclear; presumably this is to the attacker's combat maneuver check, but could be interpreted by some players to also affect the attacker's damage roll, the attacker's AC against you, and so on.

These flaws are not critical and can be fixed, but are the sort of thing that tend to make the public voters downvote the item. And even if it was upvoted enough for the judges to look at it, the judges would probably not include it in the top 32 because of these errors and ambiguities—you're competing with people who carefully review their items to avoid these kinds of errors, and by comparison their items tend to look better.

Please practice for next year, and I'm looking forward to see what you can do! :)

[Curaigh]

Christian You Win!

At first I felt pretty bad about this mistake. But you entered and that is the first win.
The prize most of us need (nay crave) has just been given to you: critique from one of the biggest names in the industry. Personal critique. The rest of us will have to wait months for that kind of critique and most likely (unless you are one of the Top 32) it will be from our awesome peers.
Congratulations. Please stick with us, it is a learning experience (6 years in the making for most of us :) & a lot of fun.

[Curaigh]

I would like to declare this thread closed for critiques now. The contest is up & running & I dinnae want any other mistakes.
We will have time for critique-my-item threads later.
The Blazing 9 will be back in April(ish).

[Sean K Reynolds]

Fair enough, I'll close it and rename it so it's clear it was for a previous year. :)