The Unofficial Top 32 Guildhall and Haunted House

[Jeffrey Swank]

AHHHH! We have to wait until Monday! lol

[Donald Robinson]

I'm going to be looking forward all weekend to see what you guys came up with! :)

[Robert Thomson]

Adam Daigle wrote:

Well, I haven't read *yours* yet...

*induces a bit of panic*

... I'm only up to the ones that came in before I left work today.

Just joking around, Walter. :) I'm sure your submission will entertain me. It's a monster, right. I love monsters.

Fun fact—the first monster submission came in on Tuesday. I bet myself $5 that the first submission would come in by the time I went to sleep on Monday... and I lost the bet.

I was tempted to submit Monday. Very glad I didn't.

[Philip Tucker]

*glances at Owen* Now that submissions are in, is there any chance of getting a sneak preview of the next round's rules?

[Mark Griffin]

Anybody else think the Submit button is attached to a cause fear spell?

[Monica Marlowe]

Adam Daigle wrote:

I've been reviewing submissions since they started coming in. I've been liking a lot of what I'm seeing. Good job everyone!

Hey Neil, you're going to need to talk with Daigle about his non-evil, uplifting comments to this season's contestants. This is simply not acceptable :-)

[Monica Marlowe]

Philip Tucker wrote:

*glances at Owen* Now that submissions are in, is there any chance of getting a sneak preview of the next round's rules?

While that might happen, I wouldn't count on it.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

Philip Tucker wrote:

*glances at Owen* Now that submissions are in, is there any chance of getting a sneak preview of the next round's rules?

We'll do a preview, but almost certainly not until after the weekend. I'm out of the office until Tuesday, and I need to coordinate some things with other people before I can be certain the exact details of round 4.

[Walter Sheppard]

Mark Griffin wrote:

Anybody else think the Submit button is attached to a cause fear spell?

That'd only affect us lower level folks. It's probably a flat out fear. Or maybe a scare, which could also explain why not everyone is stressing :)

[Walter Sheppard]

Adam Daigle wrote:

Well, I haven't read *yours* yet...

*induces a bit of panic*

... I'm only up to the ones that came in before I left work today.

Just joking around, Walter. :) I'm sure your submission will entertain me. It's a monster, right. I love monsters.

Fun fact—the first monster submission came in on Tuesday. I bet myself $5 that the first submission would come in by the time I went to sleep on Monday... and I lost the bet.

You fiend! :P

Its all good. I had a monster ready to submit Monday, but sat on it because it wasn't quite there.

On Tuesday I had inspiration for an entirely different monster that I wrote up and ended up submitting instead. I'm really glad I didn't submit my first idea, it was safe, but not quite "superstar" enough in my opinion.

[Taylor Hubler]

So, if I am reading that correctly, we can expect a preview Wednesday? Friday at the latest?

Awesome that we will be getting one.

For my fellow contestants, might I suggest that we practice on existing Paizo Flip-maps and our very own Round 2 maps?

Anyone have a good suggestion for word counts we can practice with?

[Isaac Volynskiy]

What if the twist is to use someone else's map!?

[Mark Griffin]

I find the idea of using round 2 maps to be the least likely. Some of them are awfully specific places, and I think that runs the risk of having the encounter be overshadowed by its location (although maybe the challenge is to not do that?). Then of course there is the problem with having monsters that match such specific places. I figured we'd be provided with a number of flip-mats to choose from, but who knows?

[Adam Daigle]

Mark Griffin wrote:

When you lose a 5 dollar bet with yourself, where does the money go? Do you just set it on fire? If you win do you steal 5 bucks from Owen?

I get to keep it. If I feel like making a thing out of it I'll just move the money from one pocket to the other. I rarely gamble, so when I do, I aim to always win (even when I lose). :)

[Taylor Hubler]

My best guess is that there will be a selection of maps presented to us, all of them at the same scale and covering the same area, and we will be able to select which one to use. It could be existing flip-maps, which would be the easiest thing to give us, but I wouldn't be surprised if the maps are previously unreleased.

All I know for sure from what has been said so far is that we won't need to draw another map, though even that assumption could be wrong.

[Thomas LeBlanc]

Taylor Hubler wrote:

It could be existing flip-maps,

So if Paizo decided everyone would have to use Arcane Dungeon (square rooms side) to make the contest a real challenge...

[Kiel Howell]

I have to say, now that I'm out I'm really enjoying watching the rest of you. And get my day job done. And play some Destiny. And writing catch up on other projects.

Good luck folks1

[Robert Thomson]

Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

Taylor Hubler wrote:

It could be existing flip-maps,

So if Paizo decided everyone would have to use Arcane Dungeon (square rooms side) to make the contest a real challenge...

Those rooms are way bigger than 10ft x 10ft. Way too big for 100 orcs. I'll have to use ogres and giants.

[Taylor Hubler]

Robert Thomson wrote:

Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

Taylor Hubler wrote:

It could be existing flip-maps,

So if Paizo decided everyone would have to use Arcane Dungeon (square rooms side) to make the contest a real challenge...

Those rooms are way bigger than 10ft x 10ft. Way too big for 100 orcs. I'll have to use ogres and giants.

Even if they were 10 ft. x 10 ft. Minecraft has taught me that we can stuff any number of creatures in extremely small spaces. It also taught me that fun things happen when you suddenly open the door to that space.

[Kim Frandsen]

Robert Thomson wrote:

Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

Taylor Hubler wrote:

It could be existing flip-maps,

So if Paizo decided everyone would have to use Arcane Dungeon (square rooms side) to make the contest a real challenge...

Those rooms are way bigger than 10ft x 10ft. Way too big for 100 orcs. I'll have to use ogres and giants.

100 Giants perhaps?

[william collins]

Kim Frandsen wrote:

Robert Thomson wrote:

Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

Taylor Hubler wrote:

It could be existing flip-maps,

So if Paizo decided everyone would have to use Arcane Dungeon (square rooms side) to make the contest a real challenge...

Those rooms are way bigger than 10ft x 10ft. Way too big for 100 orcs. I'll have to use ogres and giants.

100 Giants perhaps?

They might be giants...

[Adam Daigle]

They might be rain
They might be heat
They might be frying up a stalk of wheat

[william collins]

Adam Daigle wrote:

They might be rain

They might be heat
They might be frying up a stalk of wheat

Katapesh was the-Golden-City

Now it's Katapesh, not the-Golden-City

Been a long time gone, the-Golden-City

Now its cactus delight on a moonlight night

[Taylor Hubler]

Even Korvosa was once Shoanti land.

Why'd they change it I can't say.

Maybe they like it better that way!

[william collins]

:)

I like it—Korvosa has a nice ring to it.

[william collins]

And I'm sure the Chelish always like it better their way

[william collins]

Taylor Hubler wrote:

All I know for sure from what has been said so far is that we won't need to draw another map, though even that assumption could be wrong.

I'm afraid I missed something vital...was there discussion concerning next round's specifics?

[Robert Thomson]

I think the waiting is getting to all of us.

[Mark Griffin]

At some point Owen gave a brief overview of every round. Tried looking for it but couldn't find it. He mentioned that round 4 would use provided maps.

[John Leclaire]

*bursts through the door* Ahhhhhhh I'm super late to the party!! But I brought punch, cake, and pie for everyone!

Sorry I've been so quiet everyone! Been having laptop issues at home so I've been doing most of my computer-related stuff at work or through the roommate's computer. And somehow I didn't notice that this thread existed until this morning...*hangs head*

So, uh, introductions would be in order. I'm John, I live in Ottawa, Canada, and I currently work as a library technician for a non-profit association's technical library. In my spare time I run an amateur baking business with a friend of mine. For the last few years as a "fun" project, I've been working on a musical centred around tabletop gaming.

I've been playing tabletop RPGS for about 10 years now and Pathfinder for about 5 I guess. Currently playing through the Reign of Winter AP, and have finished Carrion Crown as well quite a few homebrews. Hoping to GM Wrath of the Righteous at some point soon.

This is my fourth year submitting an item for RGPSS. Previous items submitted were Thief's Chalk, the Choking Coil, and the Ebon Cloak of...something (which shows happy I was with it, haha). I still can't believe I've made it this far, and I'm super excited to be up against a group of such talented people!

So that's it! Hope to be posting more as the competition continues!

PS. Cats, always cats.

[william collins]

Mark Griffin wrote:

At some point Owen gave a brief overview of every round. Tried looking for it but couldn't find it. He mentioned that round 4 would use provided maps.

Arr! This scurvy ol' scallywag thanks ye heartily, matey.

[Adam Daigle]

As of about an hour ago, I've completed reviewing all of the submissions. I'm going to sit on my thoughts for the evening and enter my comments tomorrow. As it stands, my comments document is about 6,000 words. There are quite a few interesting monsters in this batch, and over all I'm happy with the quality of the submissions this year. Good job everyone!

[Adam Daigle]

Monica Marlowe wrote:

Adam Daigle wrote:

I've been reviewing submissions since they started coming in. I've been liking a lot of what I'm seeing. Good job everyone!

Hey Neil, you're going to need to talk with Daigle about his non-evil, uplifting comments to this season's contestants. This is simply not acceptable :-)

You're asking a paladin like Neil to convince me to be more evil? That'll never work! :)

[Adam Daigle]

Each year I judge the monsters, I make a spreadsheet to track things like CR, alignment, size, and type (and any subtypes). I like to see what was the most common choices folks made and see who worked to find a niche. I also just like seeing the data.

So, I'm going to share the most common choice in each category to whet people's appetites for what they'll get to see on Monday:

Challenge Rating—CR 7
Alignment—CE
Size—Tie between Medium and Large (the only other choice was Small!)
Type—undead

[Taylor Hubler]

I am going to guess that at least one person submitted a CR 7 CE undead that can transition from Medium to Large.

[Isaac Volynskiy]

I'm a big fan of the undead, even more excited for the reveal now.

[william collins]

I am so excited/anxious that I'm getting loopy.

I should be doing homework, but instead I haunt the messageboards and think up bad puns for the pirate thread.

[Mark Griffin]

Adam Daigle wrote:

Each year I judge the monsters, I make a spreadsheet to track things like CR, alignment, size, and type (and any subtypes). I like to see what was the most common choices folks made and see who worked to find a niche. I also just like seeing the data.

So, I'm going to share the most common choice in each category to whet people's appetites for what they'll get to see on Monday:

Challenge Rating—CR 7
Alignment—CE
Size—Tie between Medium and Large (the only other choice was Small!)
Type—undead

Damn, I'm all of those. Now I'm worried.

[Brian Minhinnick]

Adam Daigle wrote:

Each year I judge the monsters, I make a spreadsheet to track things like CR, alignment, size, and type (and any subtypes). I like to see what was the most common choices folks made and see who worked to find a niche. I also just like seeing the data.

So, I'm going to share the most common choice in each category to whet people's appetites for what they'll get to see on Monday:

Challenge Rating—CR 7
Alignment—CE
Size—Tie between Medium and Large (the only other choice was Small!)
Type—undead

Huh...that's interesting data. Not exactly what I would have guessed, but also not really surprising.

On a separate note, for me I think the submit button was linked to a you will never sleep properly again spell cast by whatever killed Aroden.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

Adam inspired me and I updated the breakdown of monsters I did for the 2015 season, adding in the 16 new monsters. You can check it out here.

[Wren Brown]

Mark Griffin wrote:

Adam Daigle wrote:

Each year I judge the monsters, I make a spreadsheet to track things like CR, alignment, size, and type (and any subtypes). I like to see what was the most common choices folks made and see who worked to find a niche. I also just like seeing the data.

So, I'm going to share the most common choice in each category to whet people's appetites for what they'll get to see on Monday:

Challenge Rating—CR 7
Alignment—CE
Size—Tie between Medium and Large (the only other choice was Small!)
Type—undead

Damn, I'm all of those. Now I'm worried.

Yeah, but what's your monster like? :P

[Mikko Kallio]

If you're in the top 16, remember that you may get DQ'd if you talk about your monster.

Anyway, looking forward to reading the monsters and the judges' comments!

[Walter Sheppard]

Mikko Kallio wrote:

If you're in the top 16, remember that you may get DQ'd if you talk about your monster.

Anyway, looking forward to reading the monsters and the judges' comments!

Entering silent mode

[Philip Tucker]

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

Adam inspired me and I updated the breakdown of monsters I did for the 2015 season, adding in the 16 new monsters. You can check it out here.

So it looks like Neutral Medium-sized Abberations were the most common submissions in years past? Interesting. I wonder what's in the zeitgeist this year that caused such a variation?

[Taylor Hubler]

A phone rings. You pick it up. From the reliever you hear a harsh whisper.

"24 hours."

[Mark Griffin]

Taylor Hubler wrote:

A phone rings. You pick it up. From the reliever you hear a harsh whisper.

"24 hours."

If at some point my tv turns to static and Neil crawls out of it, I'm quitting Superstar for good.

[Jeffrey Swank]

Mark Griffin wrote:

Taylor Hubler wrote:

A phone rings. You pick it up. From the reliever you hear a harsh whisper.

"24 hours."

If at some point my tv turns to static and Neil crawls out of it, I'm quitting Superstar for good.

Thanks! Now I will have nightmares!

[william collins]

Just remember: nothing bad will happen until the moment you close your eyes...

Sweet dreams ;)

...

[Taylor Hubler]

Mark Griffin wrote:

Taylor Hubler wrote:

A phone rings. You pick it up. From the reliever you hear a harsh whisper.

"24 hours."

If at some point my tv turns to static and Neil crawls out of it, I'm quitting Superstar for good.

Don't worry. If you throw a blanket over his head he will be stunned and unable to do anything.

[william collins]

If he crawls through your tv, cast dominate person posthaste!

“He who controls the Spicer controls the universe."