[4E] Expert Dungeon Master Competition #4: Create an Urban Menace! > What's a DM to Do?

2 years ago :: Oct 01, 2008 - 6:53PM #1
wrecan Posts: 8,175 Date Joined: 06/23/05 Forum Guide Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist Master Dungeon Master	I was going to wait until Friday to post this, but given the impending forum downtime, I thought we should get this out immediately! Expert Dungeon Master Competition #4 Create an Urban Menace Welcome to the fourth Expert Dungeon Master Competition! The primary purpose of the Expert Dungeon Master Competitions is threefold: [list=1] To create a resource for new Dungeon Masters drawing on the vast talent pool of the experienced Dungeon Masters of this forum. To create a fun and vibrant competition that is sportsmanlike and friendly. To showcase the creativity and talent of Dungeon Masters like you. In honor of Halloween, we're looking to be creeped out! In this fourth competition, the objective is to create an "urban menace" that is terrorizing a community and that the PCs are intended to confront. Urban Menace, Defined [list=I] The menace is an individual or group of individuals that threatens the lives or livelihood of a portion or all of a community The menace can represent an external threat (such as Freddie Kreuger or the Mongol hordes) or an internal threat (such as Jack the Ripper or a thieves' guild). The majority of the community is neither Evil nor Chaotic Evil. The community (or the targeted portions) must be aware of the existence, and afraid, of a threat posed by the menace. In order to enter the competition, you must fulfill the following required elements: [list=A] Name the menace and describe what level PCs the menace is intended to challenge. Describe the menace's resources, methods and goals. Provide stats for the menace. (If the entry uses an unaltered creature, race, class, item, trap or power described in an official 4th edition product, including Dragon and Dungeon magazines, you need only cite the product.) Provide suggestions for how the PCs might confront the menace. In addition, the entry must meet three of the following thirteen optional elements: [list=1] One or more of the menace's body parts (or of one member of the menace if an organization) has been replaced with an inanimate object (glass eye, peg-leg, axe for a hand, etc.) Several or all of the pets in the community are more than they appear. The community ignores or forgets the menace's victims for reasons explained in the entry. The menace can provide a challenge for parties from first through thirtieth level (as described in the entry). The menace has an alignment of Good or Lawful Good. The menace is a solo creature. The menace (or all members, if an organization) has a speed of 5 squares or less. The menace (or all members, if an organization) is either undead and/or from a plane other than the Material. The menace (or one or more of its members, if an organization) has an attack with the psychic keyword. The menace prefers to target adolescents. The menace uses a false urban legend to its advantage. The PCs can discover -- and use to their advantage -- that the menace has an affection for a single harmless creature or person. The PCs can engage in a Skill Challenge (described in the entry) to learn useful information about the menace. Following are some general rules of the Expert DM Competition. >>>You can read the complete contest rules here<<<. Code of Conduct. All entries must comply with the forum's Code of Conduct. Contest Duration. Contests usually run for two weeks, beginning with the post announcing the competition. The Coordinator may extend the duration of the contest at his discretion after consulting the other judges for that competition. However, such extensions should be done very rarely. Edits After 15 Minutes Prohibited. Applicants may not edit their entries more than 15 minutes after submission. This includes editing done by forum moderators, unless the moderator specifically states that the entry had not been edited prior to the moderator's action. If the entrant submits an entry before the contest closes and then edits the entry after the contest closes, but within fifteen minutes of submission, the edits will be considered valid. Entrants should use the forum’s “preview post” function or an off-line text editor to check the entry before posting. Once winners have been announced, entrants may edit their entries. Multiple Entries Prohibited. Each applicant may only submit one entry prior during the period in which entries may be submitted. Submitting multiple entries disqualifies all entries. Additional entries may be submitted after the competition closes, but they will not be judged. Multi-Post Entries Prohibited. Each entry must be contained within a single post. The judges must ignore any subsequent posts. Outside Links Prohibited. Entries may not include material hosted on a website other than the post on which the entry appears. Images hosted on, or links to, other websites will be ignored by the judges when scoring. Plagiarism and Previewing Prohibited. All entries must be the original, exclusive work of the applicant. Entries found to be copying the work of another, or that have been posted for review prior to the close of the competition, will be disqualified. The contest will run from today through Friday October 17, 2008. All entries must be submitted no later than 12:00 midnight on that day (Eastern Standard Time). The judges of this contest are BraveBoudica, Nyarlathotep and wrecan and the coordinator of this contest is wrecan. Good luck and have fun!! Unearthed Wrecana
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2 years ago :: Oct 01, 2008 - 6:57PM #2
wrecan Posts: 8,175 Date Joined: 06/23/05 Forum Guide Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist Master Dungeon Master	Questions & Answers (reserved for questions posed by potential entrants) Q. What constitutes a "community"? A. Any sort of permanent grouping of intelligent creatures with a shared society, from as large as a major metropolis to as small as a camp of nomads. However, it must be more than an extended family. Q. For optional element 1, can the replaced body part be magical? A. Yes, as long as the item is not self-willed, is a replacement for the body part (rather than a transmuted body part), and is not composed of living flesh. Q. For optional element 6, can the solo creature be a leader of an organization? A. Only if the organization is not itself menacing the community. Q. For optional element 6, can the solo creature be a swarm? A. Yes. Unearthed Wrecana
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2 years ago :: Oct 01, 2008 - 6:57PM #3
wrecan Posts: 8,175 Date Joined: 06/23/05 Forum Guide Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist Master Dungeon Master	Entry List (reserved for list of entries) [list=1] TwinBahamut's Fangs in the Darkness (Gold Medalist!) Decapitus' Passaway -- The Horror of Ohln (Silver Medalist!) Eini's Dark Mist on the Moontide (Bronze Medalist!) Eldritch Lord's A Vampire Despite Himself (Bronze Medalist!) Veok's Witch of the Creeping Forest TelinArtho's Bogeyman Athistaur's Snorr the Ripper dulsi's Yeowwy the Kittyrar Lord Ventnor's Yaratolzat ff6shadw's Mirigen, Shadow Assassin Tancread's Horror in the Clocktower Baboonicle's Everun River Haunt mccowen's Encroachment Someone's "No, You Kill It!" nowiwantmydmg's Tick Tock Dragoncat's Aegnysethis Unearthed Wrecana
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2 years ago :: Oct 01, 2008 - 6:59PM #4
wrecan Posts: 8,175 Date Joined: 06/23/05 Forum Guide Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist Master Dungeon Master	Medalists The Bronze Medal Is a Tie and Goes To... Eini with "Dark Mist of the Moontide" and Eldritch Lord with "A Vampire Despite Himself" The Silver Medal Goes To... Decapitus with "Passaway -- The Horror of Ohln"!! The Gold Medal Goes To... Twin Bahamut with "Fangs in the Darkness"!!! Congratulations to all of you! The gold medalist, Twin Bahamut, is eligible for a custom title of "Heroic Dungeon Master" (if he desires it). Also, Decapitus, having won a second medal, is also entitled to the custom title of "Heroic Dungeon Master". Both of them are also now eligible to judge future competitions! If they win subsequent competitions, their custom titles can be changed to "Paragon Dungeon Master" and then "Epic Dungeon Master". Thanks also to my fellow judges, BraveBoudica and Nyarlathotep, who did a professional and amazingly quick job of judging the competitions. I am so very grateful to them for volunteering. Again, congratulations to everyone for such wonderful entries and thanks for making the XDMC a continuing success! Stay tuned for XDMC #5 to begin (hopefully) in a few weeks. In the meantime, enjoy the carefully tabulated scores below. CONSOLIDATED SCORES BY RANK Entry Creat'y Adpt'y Theme Rules Clar'y Bonus Total Author's Entry 4 13 1/3 7 1/2 7 7 1/6 4 1/3 2 41 1/3 Twin Bahamut's Fangs in the Darkness 13 11 3/5 6 1/3 8 3/5 7 1/2 3 1/3 0 37 1/3 Decapitus' Passaway -- The Horror of Ohln 8 12 1/2 7 1/3 7 6 1/6 3 2/3 0 36 2/3 Eini's Dark Mist on the Moontide 14 10 8 8 3/5 6 1/2 3 2/3 0 36 2/3 Eldritch Lord's A Vampire Despite Himself 11 11 3/4 7 1/4 7 3/7 6 1/6 3 2/3 0 36 1/4 mccowen's Encroachment 1 11 2/3 7 1/2 6 6 5/6 4 0 36 Veok's Witch of the Creeping Forest 6 10 7 1/6 7 5/6 6 5/6 3 2/3 0 35 1/2 Lord Ventnor's Yaratolzat 3 10 5/6 7 7 1/3 6 1/6 4 0 35 1/3 Athistaur's Snorr the Ripper 10 10 1/3 8 1/3 7 2/3 5 1/2 3 1/3 0 35 1/6 Baboonicle's Everun River Haunt 15 10 5/6 6 5/6 7 3/5 6 1/6 3 1/6 0 34 3/5 nowiwantmydmg's Tick Tock 12 11 1/2 7 3/5 5 6 1/6 4 0 34 1/4 Someone's "No, You Kill It!" 7 11 6 7 1/2 6 1/6 3 0 33 2/3 ff6shadw's Mirigen, Shadow Assassin 2 9 1/6 8 5 5/6 6 5/6 3 1/3 0 33 1/6 TelinArtho's Bogeyman 9 11 1/2 7 7 1/6 4 1/6 2 3/7 0 32 1/3 Tancread's Horror in the Clocktower 16 12 1/6 5 1/2 5 1/6 6 1/6 3 1/3 0 32 1/3 Dragoncat's Aegnysethis 5 9 1/3 7 1/3 5 2/3 4 1/3 3 5/6 0 30 1/2 Dulsi's Yeowwy, the Kittyrar CONSOLIDATED SCORES BY ENTRY Entry Creat'y Adpt'y Theme Rules Clar'y Bonus Total Author's Entry 1 11 2/3 7 1/2 6 6 5/6 4 0 36 Veok's Witch of the Creeping Forest 2 9 1/6 8 5 5/6 6 5/6 3 1/3 0 33 1/6 TelinArtho's Bogeyman 3 10 5/6 7 7 1/3 6 1/6 4 0 35 1/3 Athistaur's Snorr the Ripper 4 13 1/3 7 1/2 7 7 1/6 4 1/3 2 41 1/3 Twin Bahamut's Fangs in the Darkness 5 9 1/3 7 1/3 5 2/3 4 1/3 3 5/6 0 30 1/2 Dulsi's Yeowwy, the Kittyrar 6 10 7 1/6 7 5/6 6 5/6 3 2/3 0 35 1/2 Lord Ventnor's Yaratolzat 7 11 6 7 1/2 6 1/6 3 0 33 2/3 ff6shadw's Mirigen, Shadow Assassin 8 12 1/2 7 1/3 7 6 1/6 3 2/3 0 36 2/3 Eini's Dark Mist on the Moontide 9 11 1/2 7 7 1/6 4 1/6 2 3/7 0 32 1/3 Tancread's Horror in the Clocktower 10 10 1/3 8 1/3 7 2/3 5 1/2 3 1/3 0 35 1/6 Baboonicle's Everun River Haunt 11 11 3/4 7 1/4 7 3/7 6 1/6 3 2/3 0 36 1/4 mccowen's Encroachment 12 11 1/2 7 3/5 5 6 1/6 4 0 34 1/4 Someone's "No, You Kill It!" 13 11 3/5 6 1/3 8 3/5 7 1/2 3 1/3 0 37 1/3 Decapitus' Passaway -- The Horror of Ohln 14 10 8 8 3/5 6 1/2 3 2/3 0 36 2/3 Eldritch Lord's A Vampire Despite Himself 15 10 5/6 6 5/6 7 3/5 6 1/6 3 1/6 0 34 3/5 nowiwantmydmg's Tick Tock 16 12 1/6 5 1/2 5 1/6 6 1/6 3 1/3 0 32 1/3 Dragoncat's Aegnysethis Unearthed Wrecana
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2 years ago :: Oct 01, 2008 - 7:22PM #5
nowiwantmydmg Posts: 1,488 Date Joined: 07/29/02	Cool! Lets see if I can do a little better........
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2 years ago :: Oct 01, 2008 - 7:44PM #6
mccowen Posts: 1,193 Date Joined: 10/16/07 Heroic Dungeon Master	I haven't entered any of these before (despite writing up entries for the first two), because I'm scared to have actual judges looking over my stuff. I'm stiffening my spine for this one, though; wish me luck. I do have one request for clarification: this round is titled "Urban Menace", but the rules don't specify that the community has to be a town or city. For instance, a forest dragon that demands harsh tribute from a farming hamlet currently satisfies all four parts of the definition. So, what would the judges find acceptable as a "community"?
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2 years ago :: Oct 01, 2008 - 9:35PM #7
Nyarlathotep Posts: 1,855 Date Joined: 05/11/04 Heroic Dungeon Master	mccowen wrote: I haven't entered any of these before (despite writing up entries for the first two), because I'm scared to have actual judges looking over my stuff. I'm stiffening my spine for this one, though; wish me luck. I do have one request for clarification: this round is titled "Urban Menace", but the rules don't specify that the community has to be a town or city. For instance, a forest dragon that demands harsh tribute from a farming hamlet currently satisfies all four parts of the definition. So, what would the judges find acceptable as a "community"? Unless the other judges disagree, I would accept a farming hamlet as a community. I personally would define a community as any sort of permanent grouping of intellignet creatures with a shared society, anything from a Major City to a Nomadic Camp.
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2 years ago :: Oct 02, 2008 - 3:15AM #8
whitebaron Posts: 5,571 Date Joined: 08/13/07	wrecan wrote: >>>You can read the complete contest rules here<<< weee! he took my suggestion! -- i wonder if i should rework my council of broken souls and enter it. fits the bill almost perfectly [i know this is not allowed as it was already "previewed"] -- @mccowen: well, suburban includes the word urban, so... i think the title is more for style than actual judging criteria, just go for it. one thing to consider, though, it should be big enough to really BE a community, a hamlet with 3-5 farmer families living there seems definitely to small for that definition. This new forum is terrible. Try again Wizards.
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2 years ago :: Oct 02, 2008 - 5:50AM #9
wrecan Posts: 8,175 Date Joined: 06/23/05 Forum Guide Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist Master Dungeon Master	I agree with Nyarlathotep and whitebaron about the definition of community. Unearthed Wrecana
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2 years ago :: Oct 02, 2008 - 7:44AM #10
Veok Posts: 1,753 Date Joined: 01/02/08	whitebaron wrote: weee! he took my suggestion! Wait a minute, he took my suggestion Haha. Mr. Burns Voice Eeeexcellent. Now to further flesh out my idea threads. Edit: I have a question about optional element 1, the inanimate object. Does the limb / eye / etc. literally have to be just useless material? Or can we have like, say, half-golems and the like counting for this? What about someone who replaces a limb with magically contained fire or the pseudopod of a gelatinous cube? Edit2: Irrelevant at this point in my plans, but it may as well be answered anyway for others. Edit2: Do the Gleemax forums have a limit on characters for individual posts? Aside from that, can the urban menace 'lead' an organization? By this I mean, optional criteria #6 is "Menace is a Solo Monster". Do I fulfill this if the urban menace is a group lead by such a solo monster? "Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights." ~ Judge Vaughn Walker
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