The Unofficial Top 32 Guildhall and Haunted House

[Mikko Kallio]

Mark Griffin wrote:

I imagine they just keep getting worse as it goes on.

It does.

Rounds 4 and 5? Yeah, a little worse than round 3.

Freelancing? Sometimes it's just 1-4 months until you can talk. That's not so bad. Sometimes, though, it's more than ...

Spoiler:

a year.

5 days is tough? You guys have it so easy. ;-)

Spoiler:

Seriously though, as a former contestant I know just how painful it is to wait, even if it's just 5 days. Stay tough! And good luck!

[Anthony Adam]

And it gets tougher still when you actually start working on real products...

I have a product in the pipeline for a 3PP where I was one of the lead designers for the first time. I finished some months ago and the work is now going through all the editing, pre-prodiction, production, post-production, art acquisition, construction into pdf, etc., that all products go through.

It's under NDA until release and rightly so... so that's months already of me waiting to say "I did that!" - and I will, you can count on that, it's by far one of my best things so far and I am very proud of it.

So how do you tackle this keep silent time? ...

You have to learn to keep moving...

Start some new designs.

Even if you don't have the round 4 rules, you could make some more maps, do some more monster creations, put into practice what you learnt from your feedback and at the same time build yourself a small grab bag of designs that can be in semi or fully finished state to draw on when you find you need something quick ;)

Keeping yourself busy will help improve your work and even revisiting old tasks builds your confidence and skills for when you do know if you progress or not.

[Brian Minhinnick]

Personally, I feel less than confident about my chances at advancing to the Top 8 right now.

That being said, I came up with two completely different (from each other and my Top 16 entry) monster ideas today and am considering starting a monster design blog after the contest shakes out.

[Philip Tucker]

Let me know if your blog will be accepting submissions. Regardless of what happens, I'd like to continue exploring monster design too.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

If I were a contestant right now, I'd be reading up on all the comments on previous encounters and adventures and thinking very hard about those rounds -- especially if I didn't think I'm going to advance, because NOT being ready is the surest way to make not advancing a self-fulfilling prophecy in the next round. One of the hardest things about Superstar is keeping yourself on an even keel and not letting yourself get too high or low in terms of emotions (and I know that's tough when you don't think you're going to advance, having suffered that fate twice).

The adventure round comes quickly -- you need to have your basic pitch for James Jacobs ready much earlier than the actual deadline -- so be thinking of possible ideas for any range of rules. Keep in mind that there are a couple Cheliax APs going on so avoid planning something there but otherwise find parts of Golarion that speak to you.

--

Also, while blogs can certainly raise your profile and that's good, remember that you can also try to hold on to those designs and pitch them for some other project that comes down the line. I eventually turned a monster I did as practice for Superstar 2014 into a small monster PDF (that's not out yet, but I can't wait to see it!).

[Philip Tucker]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

The adventure round comes quickly -- you need to have your basic pitch for James Jacobs ready much earlier than the actual deadline.

Do we have to send in a formal pitch before the submission deadline? I haven't been able to find any rules/guidelines for the final round anywhere.

[Jarrett Sigler]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

...The adventure round comes quickly -- you need to have your basic pitch for James Jacobs ready much earlier than the actual deadline -- so be thinking of possible ideas for any range of rules. Keep in mind that there are a couple Cheliax APs going on so avoid planning something there but otherwise find parts of Golarion that speak to you...

Speaking of Pitches, does anyone know a great website to read up on and study, the art of making a pitch using words? When it comes to writing; is there a specific method or a process out there that people use?

I'm curious, as I haven't seen one. But, perhaps my "Google-Fu" is weak.

[Thomas LeBlanc]

Lots of info and videos out there for "elevator pitches". If you go to a convention with a freelance seminar, it is usually brought up as well. I think one of the Know Direction podcasts from PaizoCon 2014 should have Wolfgang Baur discussing it. I know he covered it again at PaizoCon 2015, but I am pretty sure that seminar wasn't recorded.

[Jarrett Sigler]

Aha, Videos, THAT is the issue. I was looking for something to read.

[Kiel Howell]

Just completed all my critiques of the Top 16 beasts. You folks made it hard for me to choose just 4 when I had 5 "definites" and 2 or 3 more "really wants". Well done you 16 and remember, keep practicing regardless and start pitching to companies. Heck, at this point Paizo picks up folks from the Top 16 so you've done extremely well.

[Brian Minhinnick]

Well, advance or not this has been a great learning experience for me. I will keep working towards becoming a better writer and designer no matter my Superstar fate. The contest has only helped in that process.

[Adam Daigle]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

.... Keep in mind that there are a couple Cheliax APs going on so avoid planning something there but otherwise find parts of Golarion that speak to you.

....

This is smart advice not only for the final round, but for pitching ideas to publishers in general. Make sure you know as much about the things they've published and plan on publishing so that you don't end up submitting something that's already been done or is in the works. Like Jacob says, we already have 2 APs in the works that are set in Cheliax, so we're likely not going to publish a Module set there. We tend not to do too much in one place too close to each other in the schedule.

[Adam Daigle]

Jarrett Sigler wrote:

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

...The adventure round comes quickly -- you need to have your basic pitch for James Jacobs ready much earlier than the actual deadline -- so be thinking of possible ideas for any range of rules. Keep in mind that there are a couple Cheliax APs going on so avoid planning something there but otherwise find parts of Golarion that speak to you...

Speaking of Pitches, does anyone know a great website to read up on and study, the art of making a pitch using words? When it comes to writing; is there a specific method or a process out there that people use?

I'm curious, as I haven't seen one. But, perhaps my "Google-Fu" is weak.

I don't have any websites handy, but I do have a tiny bit of advice.

Focus on what the PCs do.

Many people spend a lot of time on backstory in order to set up their concept, but leave out the action of what the characters actually do in the adventure. Personally, I care more about leaping over pits of bubbling lava and fighting a flying ape at the top of a windy spire than I do about a long-dead wizard's scheme. (That's not to say a solid set up and backstory that makes sense isn't important, but don't spend half of your word count talking about it.)

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

The short elevator pitches for round 5 happen during the voting period for Round 4, before you know if you actually get to go on or not. That was we can give you a thumbs up, thumbs down, or feedback on what needs changing before the official writing period begins.

We have to be soooper serious about how we handle Round 5 pitches, because once those get turned into full contest entries, one of them is going to be an actual product we want to make money on. So it has to fit in with our world, our publishing plans, our schedule, the limits of our printing technology, and so on.

[Robert Thomson]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

The adventure round comes quickly -- you need to have your basic pitch for James Jacobs ready much earlier than the actual deadline -- so be thinking of possible ideas for any range of rules. Keep in mind that there are a couple Cheliax APs going on so avoid planning something there but otherwise find parts of Golarion that speak to you.

Funny thing with that...I have two full pitches already done (and 2 others in outline form.)

I approached this whole project working backwards from adventure pitches and used those to supply me with all of the other rounds of content.

I was really worried that work would get to busy and prevent me from having time for some rounds, so before I was willing to submit an item, I wanted to ensure I had something to submit for every round "just in case".

[Robert Thomson]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

We have to be soooper serious about how we handle Round 5 pitches, because once those get turned into full contest entries, one of them is going to be an actual product we want to make money on. So it has to fit in with our world, our publishing plans, our schedule, the limits of our printing technology, and so on.

Your printing technology doesn't limit us from designing a pop-up book module does it? Nobody has ever done it before. Think of the new markets!

[Isaac Volynskiy]

Robert Thomson wrote:

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

We have to be soooper serious about how we handle Round 5 pitches, because once those get turned into full contest entries, one of them is going to be an actual product we want to make money on. So it has to fit in with our world, our publishing plans, our schedule, the limits of our printing technology, and so on.

Your printing technology doesn't limit us from designing a pop-up book module does it? Nobody has ever done it before. Think of the new markets!

Can we combine that with scratch and sniff? While we're at it, how about having a scratch to win lotto sheet at the end?

[Jarrett Sigler]

Isaac Volynskiy wrote:

Robert Thomson wrote:

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

We have to be soooper serious about how we handle Round 5 pitches, because once those get turned into full contest entries, one of them is going to be an actual product we want to make money on. So it has to fit in with our world, our publishing plans, our schedule, the limits of our printing technology, and so on.

Your printing technology doesn't limit us from designing a pop-up book module does it? Nobody has ever done it before. Think of the new markets!

Can we combine that with scratch and sniff? While we're at it, how about having a scratch to win lotto sheet at the end?

Gives a whole new dynamic to the Chronicle sheets for pathfinder society.

Scratch it off, maybe get great loot.

[Steve Miller]

Scratch and sniff troglodyte

[Taylor Hubler]

I guess I could work on elevator pitches while waiting for the preview. I have a good list of encounter element ideas and I haven't yet looked ahead to a pitch.

[Eric Hindley]

Howdy folks,

I have posted my comments on all of the monsters. They're pretty brief (it's been a busy week), but I hope something useful is in all of them. Overall, this has been a great round.

I'll try to come back in a few weeks and see if there's anything I want to expand upon, or answer questions.

Enjoy the encounter round!

[Philip Tucker]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

The short elevator pitches for round 5 happen during the voting period for Round 4, before you know if you actually get to go on or not. That was we can give you a thumbs up, thumbs down, or feedback on what needs changing before the official writing period begins.

We have to be soooper serious about how we handle Round 5 pitches, because once those get turned into full contest entries, one of them is going to be an actual product we want to make money on. So it has to fit in with our world, our publishing plans, our schedule, the limits of our printing technology, and so on.

Are there ever any restrictions or limits on Round 5 modules that we might run afoul of if we start plotting our pitch now?

[Robert Thomson]

With contest participants proposing pop-up books, scratch and sniff, and scratch off products, how long do you think it will be before Paizo just cancels the rest of the contest and decides this crop getting published might be a bad idea?

[Taylor Hubler]

Robert Thomson wrote:

With contest participants proposing pop-up books, scratch and sniff, and scratch off products, how long do you think it will be before Paizo just cancels the rest of the contest and decides this crop getting published might be a bad idea?

Or hire us all and have us work on their new children's product line!

[Isaac Volynskiy]

Taylor Hubler wrote:

Robert Thomson wrote:

With contest participants proposing pop-up books, scratch and sniff, and scratch off products, how long do you think it will be before Paizo just cancels the rest of the contest and decides this crop getting published might be a bad idea?

Or hire us all and have us work on their new children's product line!

Is this a good time to pitch my explosive runes stickers (parental supervision is advised)?

[Robert Thomson]

I'm game! Players in my area tell me that my ability to hook kids into this is one of my strong points. My VC thinks Paizo seated me players between 6 and 12 all weekend at GenCon on purpose.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Philip Tucker wrote:

Are there ever any restrictions or limits on Round 5 modules that we might run afoul of if we start plotting our pitch now?

100% yes. Almost guaranteed. We have specific needs, which we'll let people who need to know, know.

...

Not all of which are decided yet, so I couldn't preview them to you know even if I wanted to.

...

Which of course I do.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Rules for Round 4

[Taylor Hubler]

Oh wow. Only three maps to choose from. This is going to make things interesting for commentators.

[Wren Brown]

So are contestants only allowed to use the side of each flip-map that is pictured on the Round 4 rules page? Technically the other sides that are not pictured are still part of the flip-maps named in the rules for the round.

[Chris Lambertz]

Russ Brown wrote:

So are contestants only allowed to use the side of each flip-map that is pictured on the Round 4 rules page? Technically the other sides that are not pictured are still part of the flip-maps named in the rules for the round.

Nope. Only the sides in the images shown should be used.

[Thomas LeBlanc]

Are the contestants getting free PDFs of the maps? Not many freebies for making it further in the contest anymore...

[Robert Thomson]

The rules seem to go that way (if you make top 8).

I'm happy with the map selection though. Now...if I can just get to where that matters. (Although is it sad I can name the scenarios that use each map.)

[Walter Sheppard]

Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

Are the contestants getting free PDFs of the maps? Not many freebies for making it further in the contest anymore...

Looks like they should.

Quote:

Select one of these provided Flip-Mats when creating your encounter. The Top 8 contestants will also be granted access to PDF versions of these maps for reference.

-------------

There's also some funky math going on here (or I'm just dead tired)

Quote:

Altogether, your entry must be at least 1,300 words and no more than 1,400 words. You may divide this word count as you see fit between describing the Location and the Encounter (for example, you may spend 300 words describing an old castle Location, and 1,200 words describing a specific Encounter in the castle).

300+1,200=1,500, which isn't between 1,300 and 1,400.

[Vadims Hesins]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

Rules for Round 4

Wow. This is super cool, I can't wait to see what the Top 8 comes up with. Going from an almost complete openness of the previous rounds to such tight restrictions of Round 4 is so challenging! Top 4 are all going to be awesome designers.

But also, while I am sad I didn't make it to the monster round, I'm actually happy that I don't have to work on this round - in my current personal circumstances I simply wouldn't have enough time to devote to this. I feel that a lot of effort must be spent to do this task justice, both in juggling creative options and in iterating on the minute details, not to mention playtesting.

[Mark Griffin]

Vadims Hesins wrote:

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

Rules for Round 4

Wow. This is super cool, I can't wait to see what the Top 8 comes up with. Going from an almost complete openness of the previous rounds to such tight restrictions of Round 4 is so challenging! Top 4 are all going to be awesome designers.

But also, while I am sad I didn't make it to the monster round, I'm actually happy that I don't have to work on this round - in my current personal circumstances I simply wouldn't have enough time to devote to this. I feel that a lot of effort must be spent to do this task justice, both in juggling creative options and in iterating on the minute details, not to mention playtesting.

I disagree with the restrictions being tight here. I could locate those maps nearly anywhere and fill them with literally anything. This round is almost terrifying in its openness, more so than the monster round for me.

[BJ Hensley]

Mikko Kallio wrote:

Mark Griffin wrote:

I imagine they just keep getting worse as it goes on.

It does.

Rounds 4 and 5? Yeah, a little worse than round 3.

Freelancing? Sometimes it's just 1-4 months until you can talk. That's not so bad. Sometimes, though, it's more than ...
** spoiler omitted **

5 days is tough? You guys have it so easy. ;-)

** spoiler omitted **

This is true! I made people sign NDAs a year ago they are just now able to start discussing somewhat publicly. The worst is ghost writing, it's an NDA FOREVER! O.O

[John Leclaire]

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

Rules for Round 4

Thank you Owen! I'm really looking forward to this round, regardless of which side of it I'm on!

[Charlie Brooks]

So...to make sure I'm clear on the rules here...

The entire encounter needs to be CR 6, 7, 8, or 9. So does that mean that everything on the map should total no more than 6,400 XP in rewards (i.e., one CR 9 encounter)?

So, for example, a CR 8 trap in one part of the map and a CR 8 monster in another part would disqualify the entry, since that would make it a CR 10 encounter?

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Charlie Brooks wrote:

So...to make sure I'm clear on the rules here...

The entire encounter needs to be CR 6, 7, 8, or 9. So does that mean that everything on the map should total no more than 6,400 XP in rewards (i.e., one CR 9 encounter)?

So, for example, a CR 8 trap in one part of the map and a CR 8 monster in another part would disqualify the entry, since that would make it a CR 10 encounter?

How you choose to interpret this section of the rules is up to the contestant. Which doesn't mean there isn't am right answer, just that at this point unless a rule is explicitly incorrect, this is as much direction in that regard as we're giving. If I were you, I'd be guided by what we said, and what we list as grounds for DQ, and us my best judgement.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Walter Sheppard wrote:

Quote:

Altogether, your entry must be at least 1,300 words and no more than 1,400 words. You may divide this word count as you see fit between describing the Location and the Encounter (for example, you may spend 300 words describing an old castle Location, and 1,200 words describing a specific Encounter in the castle).

"Altogether, your entry must be at least 1,300 words and no more than 1,400 words."

Even if a specific example is off, this range is given more than once in the rules.

[Garrick Williams]

The rules say we can use a part of the map for the encounter. Does this mean we can crop one of the provided maps and say that's part of our location?

[Walter Sheppard]

So here's something that I've been wondering. Is linking to the Paizo PRD in your submissions kosher? Like for obscure spells and what not. I've seen it a few times throughout the rounds so far (and even seen voter's commenting that they prefer that in submissions), but I don't remember seeing it spelled out anywhere.

Should contestants put links in their submissions?

[Vadims Hesins]

Mark Griffin wrote:

I disagree with the restrictions being tight here. I could locate those maps nearly anywhere and fill them with literally anything. This round is almost terrifying in its openness, more so than the monster round for me.

I'll try to clarify what I meant:

Option 1 - contestants could have had to create a custom map to support their encounter. This means they are free to create whatever works best for supporting their idea.
Option 2 - contestants could have had to choose from Round 2 maps for their encounter. This is more limiting, but at the same time each of those maps was designed to tell one or several stories on its own. So choice of a map would be an inspiration for the content of the encounter.
Option 3 - contestants could have had to choose from any Paizo Flip Mats or Map packs. This is still a much wider range of options and it has quite a few thematic elements (prison, arcane dungeon, etc).

What we have here instead is a choice from only 3 very generic and iconic locations - a dungeon, a river crossing and a city harbor. The stories these locations tell have been told a thousand times already. Contestants are also are restricted to PRD creatures, so no custom creatures or creatures from Round 3. Many of those creatures would not even fit the proposed maps or CR range at all. It means that the contestants have the task to craft a Superstar encounter - original, engaging, open-ended etc. - using only basic building blocks, and the main delivery vehicle for the 'wow-factor' would be the encounter text itself. I think it's deceptively simple and in fact quite devious on Owen's part :)

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Garrick Williams wrote:

The rules say we can use a part of the map for the encounter. Does this mean we can crop one of the provided maps and say that's part of our location?

There's no mechanism in place to display anything but the map as it is provided.

The rules say "The map may be a small part of your new location, or the entirety of the location." No option is given for only part of the map to be used for your location.

[Garrick Williams]

Oh right. Thanks for clarifying that.

[Walter Sheppard]

Got bit by the idea bug and now I have a few hours to work on my encounter before I have to run three prerelease events. Curse you Magic!

Shakes fist

[Curaigh]

Robert Thomson wrote:

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

The adventure round comes quickly -- you need to have your basic pitch for James Jacobs ready much earlier than the actual deadline -- so be thinking of possible ideas for any range of rules. Keep in mind that there are a couple Cheliax APs going on so avoid planning something there but otherwise find parts of Golarion that speak to you.

Funny thing with that...I have two full pitches already done (and 2 others in outline form.)

I approached this whole project working backwards from adventure pitches and used those to supply me with all of the other rounds of content.

I was really worried that work would get to busy and prevent me from having time for some rounds, so before I was willing to submit an item, I wanted to ensure I had something to submit for every round "just in case".

Working backward is an intriguing process Robert. I am glad it is working out for you and I hope it continues to do so :)

[Monica Marlowe]

I know the waiting is almost over, but if you have squandered your time just sitting around thinking about how hard it is to not talk about your monster, you're not taking advantage of the gift of silence. You must to be working on your next project/round. I've talked at length on what I did during the voting periods, if you really want to make this work, you need to be working ahead on what you know and not worrying about what's already out the door. Good luck Top 15.

[Taylor Hubler]

Once again, we are just 24 hours away. If you haven't taken the advice above and started thinking about and writing down encounters you will be behind in the next round.

Good luck to everyone. I hope to be moving on but if I don't I am still looking forward to reading through some excellent encounters.