Twitch. Squirm. Groan. Hold breath. Gasp. Spin in chair. Roll on floor. Eat cookies. Close door and yell. Open door. Sit down. Stand up. Sit down. Inspect tongue in window reflection. Put head on table. Sing 'Needing, Getting' under breath. Twitch. Squirm.
Mildly nervous, but not as close to this extreme as I expected to be. Part of me is actually like, "bring it on".
Good luck everyone!
Good luck everyone!
So close...
Breathe deep and.... okay. Ready now. :)
Bring it around for a big group hug everybody. Good luck, and have fun reading monsters!
Developer
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Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
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Daigle, any chance we'll see some of this year's monsters in Green Blood on a Black Rock 4715? They're in the right CR range....
Hmmm... I hadn't thought of it, but that is a really good point. They're right in the range. I'll certainly consider it!
Modules Overlord
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I wanted to pop in here and let y'all know that I really really liked this year's batch of monsters. There were plenty of fun ideas and neat special abilities. Great work, everyone!
Indeed! After we'd both entered our comments, Adam and I mentioned to each other we'd be happy to use some of these if they were presented for a project we were on. :)
Good news - my dad is out of his procedure, he is fine and will be coming home later this afternoon.
Thank you everyone, you've been awesome. It's nice to have support when you need it for any reason.
Hurrah!
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Just wanted to say, I'm really digging on people's monsters. Whatever the outcome of the round, from my point of view, we collectively rock!
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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This is the latest knitting project. I plan to finish the baby bulette(BB) during the voting.
This is the latest knitting project. I plan to finish the baby bulette(BB) done during the voting.
oh my god that's adorable
Grrr... wish we could at least answer direct questions about our entries.
Which triggers an idle thought or maybe suggestion for future years. I feel like it could be really interesting if there were a "discuss and defend your choices" component. (No tearing down of other people's entries or anything, just a brief defence and/or answers to specific questions about your own entry. "Here's why this number is the way it is, here's what I see happening with this ability in actual play" sort of stuff.)
To avoid being overwhelming for the voters, it would need to kick in for the top 16 at the earliest or maybe even the top 8, just so people don't feel like they have to read a novel in order to vote. (Fatigue was definitely a factor among the friends I discussed the top 32 with. My own mother didn't get around to voting for me because I encouraged people to do it with integrity and she didn't feel she had time or energy to give the other 31 entries a fair shake.)
Getting back to my suggestion, that's how a lot of the reality shows this contest is modelled on do things and it also gives a really good chance to show how people respond to feedback and can use it to help develop an idea. That seems like an important skill for a freelancer somehow.
Maybe even make a later round use a version of something from an earlier round, but revised to take this "feedback round" into account.
Anyway, just some thoughts about possible futures from someone who's a bit discouraged about this year and trying to look ahead.
Jeff: believe me, I'm right there with you on wishing I could answer/address specific things right now.
That said, I'm not sure I'm on board with the idea of there being a defense/discuss component as a formal part of the competition. I think to an extent, the fact that you CAN discuss them after voting concludes gives that option to those people who want it and who actively want to learn from the criticism they have received-- there's nothing stopping you from asking critiquers to elaborate in the interests of you better learning a system mechanic or some other element of their criticism.... so the ability to do that is already there, I think, but I don't think it being a formal part of the competition is really necessary, per se.
Also, as I am mentally composing my own eventual reply to the issues raised about my monster, I find myself constantly having to avoid the trap of, essentially, whining. :P (I am in no way saying this would be YOU-- you are probably much classier than me! Just saying that I can definitely see the tendency in myself to start going there.)
It's so easy to get passionate about the defense of your design choices, and tone doesn't convey on the Internet. What may seem like a level-headed explanation to me well come off as an excuse, rationalization, or sour grapes grumping to judges and voters.
Of course, that risk of that is still there with the system as it is right now-- nothing stops you from mouthing off a little too passionately when the gag order stops being in effect-- but I think that giving creators the option to remain silent as the better part of valor is a good one.
Also, I think it bears remembering this is still a job interview, essentially. If you were in the office of a prospective employer and your resume/portfolio included a piece that wasn't up to par by their metric, it would be extremely generous of the interviewer to give you a formal chance to... defend your dissertation, not to mix my metaphors too badly. But there's a reason why 'defending your dissertation' is part of the academic sphere (where the goal is to learn), and not part of the business sphere (where the goal is to hire the candidate that is BEST for the job, not educate them all to the same level), I guess is what I'm saying.
I'm all for learning how to do better! I just think that the contest already has a lot of feedback built in in that regard, and doesn't need a formal stage to help accommodate it, really.
That said, I understand completely how it can be discouraging right now. Chin up: it's not over til it's over, and we did great to just get this far. *fistbump*
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Modules Overlord
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Publishing realities means we almost never have time to ask freelancers to explain their turnovers.
As a result, we want to encourage Superstar contestants to write material that is self-contained. If we had a discussion phase, we might end up with people who are great at defending and justifying their work when asked getting fan votes over people who are bad at after-the-fact explanation, but better at self-contained material, and that would be counter-productive for us.
Also, human nature makes it very easy for a thread of a contestant (with something to gain if they win more votes) explaining their decisions to turn into something unpleasant.
Also-also, a professional product is often critically analyzed by reviewers, and long, long experience shows that a designer responding to a reviewers criticisms often goes badly. So learning how to see people misunderstand you, miss the point, or even fail to see something you did include, without responding, is actually an important freelancer skill.
And finally, we sometimes need our freelancers to keep a secret they'd love to be able to talk about.
Grrr... wish we could at least answer direct questions about our entries.
I can sympathize, but don't despair. Our monsters are tough little beasties, they can take it!
Owen (Dana and Gabriel too, but especially Owen), thank you very much for your response.
I understand where you're coming from now. That does not, of course, mean I 100% agree, but I certainly see how yours is a reasonable position.
I do like it when the creative people behind the products I enjoy get opportunities to discuss their thinking and interact with fans. And I've occasionally been persuaded to give a product I'd dismissed a chance on the basis of such interactions, too.
(I have also seen those interactions go badly - indeed, one freelancer, not someone who ever worked for Paizo to my knowledge, once told me to choke on something unprintable over a comment I'd made on Usenet! But on the whole I think the positives I've seen come out of these things outweigh the negatives. But for a publisher, I can see how the risk of the negatives would loom large.)
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So here's a question I imagine should be fine to ask: Where did the rule that monsters need 3 odd stats and 3 even stats come from? Is there some rationale behind it, or is it just "the way things are done"?
So here's a question I imagine should be fine to ask: Where did the rule that monsters need 3 odd stats and 3 even stats come from? Is there some rationale behind it, or is it just "the way things are done"?
All NPCs and Monsters are built on ability arrays. In the case of monsters, they are ALL built off three 10s and three 11s. You'll find that the ability adjustments under those monsters that can have class levels work off this array. Since all adjustments to ability scores should be even (again, check the monsters out) there will almost always be three even stats and three odd stats.
I'm not sure if it is actually written down anywhere, but I'm sure someone can illuminate this.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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So here's a question I imagine should be fine to ask: Where did the rule that monsters need 3 odd stats and 3 even stats come from? Is there some rationale behind it, or is it just "the way things are done"?
I know there is probably a real answer that is part "keeping things interesting" and "it's good game design", but my accumulated personal experience from this contest -* is the real answer is always "because some Gigax guy did it that way 40 years ago and we're still doing it that way since it works, so do it that way."
*See, I even know now that this should be an em-dash, but I have no idea how to make one here on the forums. ;-)
I think on the forums you can only do it by copying and pasting. It's one area I think the double hyphen is acceptable -- but YMMV. :)
Going back through the past rounds' comment sequences, I now realize that my entries are almost always read last. Curse having an alphabetically-low last name!
Sad face =(
I feel for you, dude. Hard enough being a "P." A lot of folks seem to peter out about halfway through.
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Modules Overlord
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I happen to have ben around at Wotc when the Monster Manual for 3e was being written, and this idea discussed, so I can speak to the original thinking.
Monsters (as opposed to specific NPCs) are built on the assumption they are all "average" for their race, the equivalent of typical humans. Since typical humans have ability scores rolled on 3d6, their "average" is 10.5, which can't be properly represented without having three 10s, and 3 11s.
Also, an odd-numbered stats is slightly more powerful than an even-numbered stats with the same modifier. You can lose 1 ability score point without your modifier going down, and need gain only 1 for it to go up.
However, "elite" NPCs are generally build on the 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 array, and thus don't have 3 odd and 3 even, and if a creature has class levels it may have boosted one ability score every 4 levels so as to not have 3 odd and 3 even. For example, check out the werewolf in the bestiary. It has 2 fighter levels, and thus is built on 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8; but has +2 to its Str (for being a lycanthrope), + to its Wisdom (assigned as the human bonus), and -2 to its Cha (for being a lycanthrope).
Whew. All monsters have now been commented on.
Nice job, everyone. Some very good critters, I think, and narrowing my choices down to four is going to be really tough. There will definitely be monsters I like that I'm not going to get to vote for. :(
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So here's a question I imagine should be fine to ask: Where did the rule that monsters need 3 odd stats and 3 even stats come from? Is there some rationale behind it, or is it just "the way things are done"?I know there is probably a real answer that is part "keeping things interesting" and "it's good game design", but my accumulated personal experience from this contest -* is the real answer is always "because some Gigax guy did it that way 40 years ago and we're still doing it that way since it works, so do it that way."
In his day, most monsters didn't have all six stats. All had an Intelligence score and a few (giants mostly) had a Strength score specified in their descriptions, and that was about it as far as I can recall. Some very early adventures (maybe just KotB?) listed Dexterity scores for monsters because of how initiative worked at the time but that was soon dropped. Monsters having a full set of stats wasn't done until 2000 with Gygax long out of the picture.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
In his day, most monsters didn't have all six stats. All had an Intelligence score and a few (giants mostly) had a Strength score specified in their descriptions, and that was about it as far as I can recall. Some very early adventures (maybe just KotB?) listed Dexterity scores for monsters because of how initiative worked at the time but that was soon dropped. Monsters having a full set of stats wasn't done until 2000 with Gygax long out of the picture.So here's a question I imagine should be fine to ask: Where did the rule that monsters need 3 odd stats and 3 even stats come from? Is there some rationale behind it, or is it just "the way things are done"?I know there is probably a real answer that is part "keeping things interesting" and "it's good game design", but my accumulated personal experience from this contest -* is the real answer is always "because some Gigax guy did it that way 40 years ago and we're still doing it that way since it works, so do it that way."
You forgot to mention all his monsters had to walk uphill both ways to encounters, in the snow.
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Actually, I kind of feel like the worst-case scenario is making the top 8 but not the top 4, because then you don't win but you can't enter again either.I really don't know how well this round is going to go for me. I'm worried! :|
But hey, let's remember: the worst case scenario for this round is that we lose now and enter again next year older and wiser. Right? :)
I thought I would just speak about this as in a few weeks there will be four permanent 2015 Top 8s (as four of the Top 8 will move on).
Obviously, from my tag, I am a top 8- neither getting the module or scenario job or eligibility to repeat.
I've given advice elsewhere about how to break into freelancing but I'll quickly sum up my experience as a Top 8.
Placing in the Top 8 definitely gave me a sense of accomplishment and confidence to pursue freelance design work. Having never done any design work, being in the Top 8 served as my initial selling point to third party publishers (3PPs). In fact, when I pledged to a Kickstarter for Zombie Sky Press's It Came from the Stars, I was approached to contribute which shows that 3PPs do watch this contest. It also helped that I had recently done some design work.
If you want to work for Paizo, though, do not rest on your laurels. I didn't get my first Paizo job until I reached out to them, via attending PaizoCon, meeting the Paizo employees, and stating my interest in doing design work for them. I recommend that if you can attend PaizoCon, do so and bring a stack of business cards. Afterwards, follow up with an e-mail.
You might get lucky and Paizo and other 3PPs contact you out of the blue, but if you are seriously interested in doing design work, it is best to be proactive and approach the companies you wish to work for and establish a working relationship with them.
Summary- reaching out and networking after the contest will yield more design jobs than hoping companies contact you out of the blue regardless of how far you advance in RPG Superstar.
Now, I've been away for a week, so I have to read all your monsters!
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You forgot to mention all his monsters had to walk uphill both ways to encounters, in the snow.In his day, most monsters didn't have all six stats. All had an Intelligence score and a few (giants mostly) had a Strength score specified in their descriptions, and that was about it as far as I can recall. Some very early adventures (maybe just KotB?) listed Dexterity scores for monsters because of how initiative worked at the time but that was soon dropped. Monsters having a full set of stats wasn't done until 2000 with Gygax long out of the picture.So here's a question I imagine should be fine to ask: Where did the rule that monsters need 3 odd stats and 3 even stats come from? Is there some rationale behind it, or is it just "the way things are done"?I know there is probably a real answer that is part "keeping things interesting" and "it's good game design", but my accumulated personal experience from this contest -* is the real answer is always "because some Gigax guy did it that way 40 years ago and we're still doing it that way since it works, so do it that way."
And they didn't have these shiny ~terrain maps~, they had maps in NON-PHOTO BLUE printed on CARDSTOCK
THE BLUE BOX DIDN'T EVEN HAVE DICE. WE CUT OUT LITTLE CARDBOARD TABS AND PUT THEM IN CUPS AND SHOOK THEM UP AND PICKED OUT NUMBERS
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You forgot to mention all his monsters had to walk uphill both ways to encounters, in the snow.
And they didn't have these shiny ~terrain maps~, they had maps in NON-PHOTO BLUE printed on CARDSTOCK
THE BLUE BOX DIDN'T EVEN HAVE DICE. WE CUT OUT LITTLE CARDBOARD TABS AND PUT THEM IN CUPS AND SHOOK THEM UP AND PICKED OUT NUMBERS
"I remember the day we got our dice with the little white crayon and we were thankful, thankful I tell you, that we could roll our numbers. Ya ungrateful whippersnappers. And we never had em-dashes, that was a luxury we couldn't afford."
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Got to actually *play* Pathfinder tonight for the first time in weeks, so yay me!
And I still have one of those crayons and the as-yet un-colored set of orange plastic dice. Good times.
Sounds like we cut our teeth on the same Basic set, Scott. I don't have any of the orange dice from it - only dice I ever wore out, because God were those ones ever cheap - but I think I still have some sea-green ones from my first Expert set somewhere. (I was an odd duck as I had the Mentzer basic set, but Zeb Cook's expert set that was meant to go with the Moldvay basic set).
That was an awesome set of 16 monsters! Even the ones that didn't get the judges approval could be awesome with just a few tweaks.
It is too bad we can only vote for 4.
Good Luck!
Yeah, I thought this was an exceptionally strong round.
I'm not kidding when I say this is maybe the most competitive group I've seen. I don't have a favorite to win at this point, which is odd. Could be anyone!
Haha! "Operation: Fail Again on Round 3 in Order to Compete Next Year" was a rousing success! Er, failure! Maybe. We'll see. :p
I'm assuming I won't get through, but I had a great time this year and I feel like this is collectively one of our strongest years yet!
I'll be around to continue supporting (and browbeating >:D) everyone. Good luck!
The competition is really tough, and this is one where I'm not sure if the exit polling will be accurate, so I wouldn't jump the gun. There were pros and cons to everything, but I truly thought everyone had some great ideas. :)
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Developer
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Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
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I said it before and I'll say it again... this round had some really great submissions. I wish I had more than four votes. Great job everyone! I asked for everyone to 'bring it' on the monster round and I wasn't disappointed.
Thank you!
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8
aka Black Powder Chocobo
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Haha! "Operation: Fail Again on Round 3 in Order to Compete Next Year" was a rousing success! Er, failure! Maybe. We'll see. :p
I'm assuming I won't get through, but I had a great time this year and I feel like this is collectively one of our strongest years yet!
I'll be around to continue supporting (and browbeating >:D) everyone. Good luck!
My thoughts as well :)
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
My fellow competitors seem beat down, we've gotten really quiet. I know we were on radio silence, but we bounce back slower and slower. In less than 6 hours we find out who's moving on to Round 4. Until then, here's some stuff to recharge your batteries!
Doggie with snuggie at the pool
Matt dancing and restoring my faith in humanity
We can do this, you are awesome designers and you can do this! Good Luck!
My fellow competitors seem beat down, we've gotten really quiet. I know we were on radio silence, but we bounce back slower and slower. In less than 6 hours we find out who's moving on to Round 4. Until then, here's some stuff to recharge your batteries!
Doggie with snuggie at the pool
Matt dancing and restoring my faith in humanity
We can do this, you are awesome designers and you can do this! Good Luck!
Mamaursula, still acting like a mama bear... :D
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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How's everyone doing? It was a good round, and I think we'll get an excellent Top 8 this year.
Good luck everyone! No teasers or torture this time!
You don't have anything to tease us with, we haven't turned anything in yet this week. I know we'll be seeing you again on Friday, you don't fool us Mikko Kallio! Shoo now and get off of my lawn! ;-)
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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Mamaursula, still acting like a mama bear... :D
Fun stuff
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
~Dalai LamaUnless one of the judges is tormenting us, then they get kicked off the lawn ;-)
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Twist for the Encounter Round: All encounters must include monkeys!
You don't have anything to tease us with, we haven't turned anything in yet this week. I know we'll be seeing you again on Friday, you don't fool us Mikko Kallio! Shoo now and get off of my lawn! ;-)
I seem to remember a crushing teaser about the letters in the Final Four's names last year. It wasn't a lot, but certainly didn't give me confidence. Some of these judges are lawful evil (OK, maybe neutral), don't forget. :p
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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You don't have anything to tease us with, we haven't turned anything in yet this week. I know we'll be seeing you again on Friday, you don't fool us Mikko Kallio! Shoo now and get off of my lawn! ;-)I seem to remember a crushing teaser about the letters in the Final Four's names last year. It wasn't a lot, but certainly didn't give me confidence. Some of these judges are lawful evil (OK, maybe neutral), don't forget. :p
Next year's Round 3 - create a new Evil Judge template