Wow... This may be the best opportunity for Round 1 since voting began...
Some observations/topics I'm looking forward to seeing...
1) Rings that do something different. I've seen passive bonuses and SIACs what else do you have? I suspect it is one of the easier spaces for certain wondrous items to move to.
2) Guns. What a risky space as some hate mixing tech and fantasy but it if gets by the voters I could see a gun making top 32 as Paizo likes mixing tech with fantasy so if it gets by the voters it could be a standout to the judges.
3) Shields. Sword and board is a maligned combat style but an influx of awesome shields can change that! I know I'm looking forward to keeping a shield file.
4) Ammunition. This years best bet at a consumable, but tough to get right.
5) Staves. Mark my words a staff will make top 32 and it will change how we look at staves.
6) Mythic is likely too risky a space right now (just look at the Wrath of the Righteous boards for why) because of the voters. It is also tough to not turn a mythic item into an artifact.
7) Rods are in my opinion the hardest item to get right. Staves are the biggest trap, rods are the hardest challenge.
I'm betting the field will be flooded with weapons first, armor second, and rings third. I'm also thinking we will see a rash of duplicate or near identical items this year (orc torcs) simply because the category is more narrow and there's only so many themes that feel fantasy.
Exciting, but I'm also going to bet that the map round goes to round 3 and the monster round goes to round 2, and we go back to Wondrous Items next year (or any magic item!) My reasoning is that the design space for the categories we have is interesting but we will see near themed items and it will be a problem. I also think that Maps is a great primer round for round 4 but the map isn't as big a deal as the monster and I'd rather have awesome monsters from a designer than awesome maps.
I'm no expert but it's fun to discuss.
I think the problem with doing monsters as Round 2 is people got overwhelmed with 32 monsters. That's a LOT to read, especially if people wanted to post feedback on every item before voting got too far underway/finished.
I'd balance that against the question of what is more important in a module designer map drawing or monster design? But yeah I see your point it would be better if there was something smaller than a monster entry but more involved than a monster for round 2... but round 2 has always been a tough one.
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Maybe round 2 is going to have the twist "describe your map with words only, 400 of them, without providing any illustrations so a cartographer can still draw it without need to ask questions".
Oh, and the map you have to describe is the connections between all levels of hell :P
Good luck.
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And I suspect round 4 will be "using a map from round 2 that is not yours..."
Map drawing is indeed more important to adventure design than is monster design.I'll go into this a bit when we reach that round, but yes there is a VERY good reason why we feel an RPG Superstar should have to pass a map round.
Oh my goodness yes.
In England, we remember the compass points with the phrase...
"Never Eat Shredded Wheat" (its pretty yukky cereal, so is good advice :P)
As we say it, we follow the clock clockwise, starting at 12 reading around the clock face as we place each capital letter at 12, 3, 6 then 9.
Just wondering if there are similar sayings around the world?
Map drawing is indeed more important to adventure design than is monster design.
I should darn well hope so, it's a big opportunity to illustrate the environmental impacts on the adventure,
- cliff edges,
- lava flows,
- whirling vortex currents / places to drown,
- explosive barrels of monkeys and the short fuse burning away
- whether those 12 orcs, desk, chair, wardrobe, bed and great big treasure chest do actually fit in that 10 x 10 ooopsie room,
- the best foodie tavern location and how to get there
Speaking of towns, your map should also have some sense to it, like they often grow on crossroads of main trade routes, at navigable areas of rivers and on the coasts near sheltered natural coves and bays as ports. Farming villages often centrally placed in relation to all the farms. Nomadic villages being mainly tents, usually with the life blood of the tribe at the centre for protection, and so on.
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And I suspect round 4 will be "using a map from round 2 that is not yours..."
That was the bet at our house, RPGSS never throws away anything that might be useful later. Having a lot of location options is probably a bit more helpful than 32 monsters, which is a bit more overwhelming, as Jacob pointed out earlier.
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That's my bet too. If it is indeed use a Round 2 map and Round 3 monster, I think that's a great challenge.
What is a rod, anyway? Staves have the unique prospect of being a rechargeable spell trigger item that scales with the wielder's caster level. Nearly all rods, however, strike me as bland wondrous items with X per day abilities.
I really wanted to make a magic gun. I love magic guns. While I can think of half a dozen cool and flavorable magic guns, I suspect the prejustice and high expectations will require something truly clever and innovative to pull off.
Make a magic gun... if it is cool enough it will still garner votes.
What is a rod, anyway? Staves have the unique prospect of being a rechargeable spell trigger item that scales with the wielder's caster level. Nearly all rods, however, strike me as bland wondrous items with X per day abilities.
I really wanted to make a magic gun. I love magic guns. While I can think of half a dozen cool and flavorable magic guns, I suspect the prejustice and high expectations will require something truly clever and innovative to pull off.
You could try this - design your gun. Replace the word gun with crossbow. See what you think and decide from there ;)
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In England, we remember the compass points with the phrase...
"Never Eat Shredded Wheat" (its pretty yukky cereal, so is good advice :P)
As we say it, we follow the clock clockwise, starting at 12 reading around the clock face as we place each capital letter at 12, 3, 6 then 9.
Just wondering if there are similar sayings around the world?
Not sure what part of America I was living in when I learned similar mnemonics, but in addition to Never Eating Shredded Wheat, one should similarly avoid consuming Sour Watermelon and Soggy Waffles. ;)
But of course! The watermelon is what made the waffle soggy? :D
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dang
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Soggy Waffle - what a wonderful wondrous item name that is! >.<
I suspect we'll see a lot of apg or intended to go with apg items.
I'm glad for the shakeup as I'm still new to Pathfinder despite gaming back in the 1st edition days. I've only been reading Pathfinder rules for five months, so there's a lot to catch up on.
I am very happy and exited for the change in round 1. I think that opening the space to other kind of item make things a lot more interesting.
I've had the creative urge to design games for years, but I've always had a lot of time to sit on my ideas—time usually spent thinking and overthinking them. I'm glad that this shake-up has removed the ability for any of us to overthink our submissions.
I ended up happier with my item submission than I would have been with the wondrous item I was going to submit.
I ended up happier with my item submission than I would have been with the wondrous item I was going to submit.
Likewise!
Plus, I like to work fast and under changing circumstances anyway. Far more productive.
I am not particularly pleased about the switch as I had about 30 wondrous items I had designed for consideration to submit this year before the change. I've been working on them on and off for the whole year. But alas, short turnarounds are often part of the freelancer's required skills so I'll roll with it. Three of the wondrous items I had written actually converted to items allowed for this year's competition and make better items because of it. Unfortunately they were not among the six wondrous items I was still considering for my entry before the new requirements were posted. I won't even try to convert one of those as it would never work. I've also designed two wholly new items for this year, but I'm not sure yet which I will post by the deadline on Tuesday. I'm not sure any of them are as strong as my favorite two or three wondrous items I created. I'm sure I'll find something to do with all those items. On the off chance I make it that far, I'll likely put one or two in my adventure proposal.
...I'm glad that this shake-up has removed the ability for any of us to overthink our submissions.
My ability to overthink has actually been enhanced by the short timetable. 8/
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@ Nickolas- 30 items huh. If they can reasonably be tied together even in a loose theme you could shop them to 3PPs or self publish
I am not particularly pleased about the switch as I had about 30 wondrous items I had designed for consideration to submit this year before the change.
Ouch! I didn't have 30, but I had several myself. Luckily I also had an item I had designed for a campaign I am running...and was able to quickly re-write it so it was more appropriate for the contest. Good luck on picking your best choice!
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A map round excites me. I kept getting burned out reading 32 magic items and 32 Monsters to get a feel for the contestants. I would vote and then have a hard time coming back for even more reading a voting.
With maps, it breaks it up for me and allows me to see something different. Maps are also a great way to see how people visualize their campaigns and adventrues. A few of the maps from past contestants were horrible and not very helpful in understanding what they were writing about. Some were just amazing.
My advice: Hand your maps to friends and family without telling them what it is a map of. If they can give you some of the basic details and concepts you need to communicate you are on the right track. If you hand them a map of a fortress and they tell you it is a cool looking village, try again.
I am not particularly pleased about the switch as I had about 30 wondrous items I had designed for consideration to submit this year before the change.Ouch! I didn't have 30, but I had several myself. Luckily I also had an item I had designed for a campaign I am running...and was able to quickly re-write it so it was more appropriate for the contest. Good luck on picking your best choice!
I was on the opposite end of the scale myself - competition looming and ideas nada.
Fortunately, the core theme of my idea - which came as the competition was announced - actually worked better as one of the announced item types, so my muse was thrown a life line and cpr was administered. >.<