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1 year ago ::
Dec 09, 2011 - 12:12PM
#1
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- Forum Guide
- Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist
- Master Dungeon Master
Date Joined:
Jun 23, 2005
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XDMC 33: Create a Holiday!Welcome to the thirty-third Expert Dungeon Master Competition! The primary purpose of the Expert Dungeon Master Competitions is threefold:
- 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.
The best way to keep informed about the competition is to join the Expert Dungeon Master Competition group. There you can review the rules, archives, and future contest ideas, and get broadcasts telling you when new competitions begin and when results are released! The topic for this competition is Holiday. Campaigns generally do not occur in our world, but in a fantastical realm of gods or demons, of monarchs and tyrants. Historically, people would pay homage to these entities in festivals commemorating the turn of the seasons, a mythic miracle from ages past, or even a remarkable victory or event within the lifetimes of the celebrants. PCs find these celebrations to be a welcome respite from the danger of adventuring... or a dangerous adventure of its own. This contest asks you to devise a commemoration suitable for insertion into a campaign. Required ElementsIn order to enter this competition, your entry must fulfill the following required elements:
- Holiday: Name your holiday.
- History: Explain why the holiday is observed. The holiday need not be religious.
- Horology: Describe when the holiday is observed. It cannot be observed more than once a season, but may last multiple consecutive days.
- Hullabaloo: Describe how the holiday is observed. The holiday need not be festive.
- Heroes: Briefly describe one or more ways to involve the heroes in the holiday, either as part of the observance or with holiday-themed encounters.
If you fail to include a required element, you will receive a score of zero in Themes. Optional ElementsEach entry must include three of the following optional elements:
- Anomalistic: The holiday never occurs on the same calendar day in consecutive years.
- Clandestine: The holiday cannot be celebrated openly.
- Diversified: Either the holiday is never celebrated in the same location twice in a row, or each community observes the holiday differently.
- Epicurean: The holiday involves an unusual feast of some kind.
- Heterodox: A select group believes the holiday means something the majority of celebrants does not believe.
- Impossible: During the holiday, one or more supernatural acts or phenomena are possible without the use of magic or ritual.
- Jeopardous: Observation of the holiday sometimes maims or kills celebrants or spectators.
- Mandatory: The authorities allow or mandate that anybody who refuses to observe the holiday be punished.
- Profane: The holiday commemorates an evil god or allows celebrants to engage in otherwise forbidden behavior.
- Repurposed: The holiday is now observed for a different reason than it was when first celebrated.
- Ritual: Observation of the holiday involves the casting or interruption of a Ritual.
Your entry should list the optional elements you intended to include. If you do not, you will be scored only for those elements the judges happen to notice. General RulesFollowing are some general rules of the Expert DM Competition. The complete list of rules is in the Expert Dungeon Master Competition Group Wiki.
- 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 Made at Entrants' Own Risk. A judge may download your entry any time after it is submitted. So any edits you make might not be considered by a judge. For this reason, you should submit your entry in as complete a form as possible. Use the preview function liberally. Once winners have been announced, entrants may edit their entries.
- Multiple Entries Prohibited. Each applicant may only submit one entry 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 Materials Prohibited. Your entry may not include material hosted on a website other than wizards.com and community.wizards.com. Images from your profile gallery may be used. The judges must ignore material hosted on other websites.
- Plagiarism and Peer Reviewing 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.
Judges and ScheduleThe contest will run from today through Friday, December 23, 2011. All entries must be submitted no later than 12:00 midnight at the end of that day (Eastern Standard Time). The judges of this contest are Johnathan_Vagabond, Lord_Ventnor and Wipxepitl, and the coordinator of this contest is wrecan. Good luck and have fun!!
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1 year ago ::
Dec 09, 2011 - 12:12PM
#2
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- Forum Guide
- Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist
- Master Dungeon Master
Date Joined:
Jun 23, 2005
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Questions and Answers(questions posed by potential entrants and the coordinator's response) Q. For purpose of the "Clandestine" optional element, what does "openly" mean?
A. "Openly" means the celebration can be perceived by members of the public. If a stranger visiting the community would not perceive that a holiday is being observed, then the holiday is not being celebrated openly.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 09, 2011 - 12:12PM
#3
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- Forum Guide
- Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist
- Master Dungeon Master
Date Joined:
Jun 23, 2005
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1 year ago ::
Dec 09, 2011 - 12:13PM
#4
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- Forum Guide
- Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist
- Master Dungeon Master
Date Joined:
Jun 23, 2005
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Medalists and ScoresWe are pleased to announce the winners of Expert Dungeon Master Competition 33!
The bronze medal goes to... Frostpanner_19
for
Hadassah's Reckoning!The silver medal goes to... Astrolingus
for
Time of Atonement!!and the gold medal goes to... geoffa
for
Spring Raid!!!This means geoffa and frostpanner_19 are our newest Heroic Dungeon Masters! Congratulations to all of the medalists and thanks to the judges, Johnathan_Vagabond, Lord_Ventnor, and Wipxepitl!
Stay tuned while we plan Expert Dungeon Master Competition 34. In the meantime, enjoy these carefully tabulated scores:
| No. |
Creativity |
Usability |
Themes |
Clarity |
Bonus |
Total |
Entrant's Entry |
| 1 |
12 |
7 1/3 |
7 5/6 |
6 1/3 |
0 |
33 1/2 |
Barvas' Rebirthing Time |
| 2 |
13 2/3 |
10 2/3 |
9 |
8 |
2 |
43 1/3 |
geoffa's Spring Raid |
| 3 |
10 2/3 |
11 |
7 |
8 |
0 |
36 2/3 |
Pluisjen's Heroes' Homecoming |
| 4 |
11 2/3 |
12 2/3 |
8 1/6 |
7 5/6 |
0 |
40 1/3 |
Astrolingus' Time of Atonement |
| 5 |
11 2/3 |
8 5/6 |
9 1/3 |
8 1/3 |
0 |
38 1/6 |
Frostpanner_19's Hadassah's Reckoning |
| 6 |
11 1/3 |
8 1/2 |
6 1/6 |
8 1/2 |
0 |
34 1/2 |
akitayne's Gnollhunt |
| 7 |
10 1/3 |
11 1/2 |
7 1/2 |
8 1/3 |
0 |
37 2/3 |
Resurrection_Man's Portos's Pearly Moon Festival |
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1 year ago ::
Dec 09, 2011 - 4:18PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Oct 19, 2008
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A very appropriate XDMC for this month...  Maybe I can try to get involved in this one.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 10, 2011 - 2:57AM
#6
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Date Joined:
Nov 17, 2011
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A very appropriate XDMC for this month...
Indeed! Nice touch to have the deadline just before Christmas 
I sure hope I can find the time to conjure up an entry.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 10, 2011 - 1:26PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Oct 24, 2001
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I intend to participate in this one. I am soooo glad to see this one chosen. Thank you!
Here are the PHB essentia, in my opinion: - Three Basic Rules (p 11)
- Power Types and Usage (p 54)
- Skills (p178-179)
- Feats (p 192)
- Rest and Recovery (p 263)
- All of Chapter 9 [Combat] (p 264-295)
A player needs to read the sections for building his or her character -- race, class, powers, feats, equipment, etc. But those are PC-specific. The above list is for everyone, regardless of the race or class or build or concept they are playing.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 11, 2011 - 7:39PM
#8
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I have an idea. Now I need to force myself to be disciplined and finish grading all of my students' exams before I start working on XDMC!
I heard that they are making a new video game, where you control the Netherese flying citadel of Sakkors, raining death on your helpless enemies below. Working title: Mythal Command.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 12, 2011 - 2:41AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Oct 28, 2010
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I think I shall probably get on board wityh this one. I've been meaning to attempt the XDMCs for some time, but this is the first on that's really caught my attention.
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1 year ago ::
Dec 13, 2011 - 8:30AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Aug 20, 2007
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The Rebirthing Time
Once every few decades a trail of humans can be seen making its way out of the flood plains of El Majal in the great desert, and climbing the winding path to the great sandstone caverns of the Maker's Bones. This is a sign that the Rebirthing Time is upon the People of the Grain, and that the great river will soon cover their homes and fields, leaving with it a richer soil and many years of better harvests.
Legends tell the People of the Grain that they first emerged into the world from the caverns where they will spend the next few weeks, and during the time that they are there they must observe the old ways from before they learned to harness the waters and the soil. For this reason, they leave all of their possessions behind them, and bring only clothes spun from the flax that grows in the region. All of the finery brought to their villages by trade is left in their now-abandoned homes.
The People of the Grain survive their time in the caverns by gathering the plants and berries that grow upon the mountainside and eating the the mushrooms that grow within the deeper caves. The eating of meat is strictly forbidden.
Once the waters of the great river recede, the people return to their villages, where all of their possessions remain miraculously untouched—the grain is dry and everything is in the same place as it was before despite having spent weeks under the surface of the flowing river. The rich mud brought by the waters covers only the fields themselves.
It is at this time that the Rebirth begins in earnest: all debts owed to members of the People of the Grain are cancelled, and the first person to enter any house may claim it for herself and her descendents until the next Rebirthing Time. Not only does each house come with its contents, but it comes with certain rights. Many village homes are attached to the right to work certain fields. A house in one of the towns may comes with the right to work a certain trade. The most desired homes are those that come with the right to rule.
The Rebirth can be a dangerous time—although entry into a home establishes a legal right that will be absolutely upheld, the laws do not protect the people as they rush to claim desired locations. Fights can and do break out, and people die. People take dangerous risks in their rush to reach desireable locations; and more than one person has tumbled to his death while trying to find a shortcut down from the Maker's Bones. It is during this time that schemes and intrigues hatched during the weeks in the caverns come to fruition.
The quick, the strong, and the clever rise to the top of society. The timid take their place at the bottom. In the weeks and months following the Rebirth, the new social order takes shape, new alliances are made, and a new equilibrium is reached.
Getting the Heroes Involved: There are several ways to involve the heroes in the Rebirthing Time. If they are from El Majal or own property there, then they may participate in the festival itself, and may attempt to lay claim to some of the choicest positions in the society during the Rebirth.
If the heroes are outlanders, then they might arrive just at the time that the waters are beginning to rise. They might be approached by someone who promises them great rewards in exchange for help during the Rebirth. Perhaps this is a person who owes them money or a favor, and they will be unable to collect if the person is unable to claim a good location.
Finally, the legends of the People of the Grain's origin is true—they did emerge into the surface world from the sandstone caverns, but only after spending centuries of bondage in the Underdark. Now, a new Underdark empire has learned that a vulnerable and defenseless population will be spending weeks on the outskirts of its domain. If the heroes are travelling through the Underdark, they will hear of this as well. Can they convince the People of the Grain to alter some of their oldest traditions? If the heroes cannot convince them, will the heroes defend them against Underdark slavers?
Optional Elements: Anomalistic, Impossible, Jeopardous, (Arguably) Epicurean.
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