CS3 Mysterious Island Contest

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Wing_department
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by Wing_department »

MinkyBoodle wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2023 2:00 am OK, folks, here's mine. I apologize in advance for the terrible formatting issues and the fact that we may need to change all the instances of "troglodyte" given the new wording in 4th ed.
I like the conflict between the two factions, especially since it can be resolved at the end of the adventure, depending on the party's choices. I usually run games set in one world, so every instance of permanent change caused by the PCs is a plus for me.
The fact that the majority of the reward depends on how many prisoners the PCs rescued is great, though if I ever run this, I will probably add a time limit; the more the players mess around, the more prisoners die or get turned into zombies by the lizardman mage. And if the players are fast and efficient, they might save the guy from cell #3, who, according to the adventure, is dead no matter what.
It's a shame that there are nearly no extra encounters on the island. I got interested in the conflict between the barklings and lizardmen, maybe some ruined camps or battlefields?
Lastly, I'm glad to see that most monsters don't simply sit in rooms waiting for the PCs to come in - they eat, strategize and experiment on their prisoners. It makes the adventure setting feel alive, even though I don't think it uses its potential.
(Oh, and the naturally-formed magical crystal statue is a very nice, unique idea!)
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MinkyBoodle
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by MinkyBoodle »

Wing_department wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:25 am
MinkyBoodle wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2023 2:00 am OK, folks, here's mine. I apologize in advance for the terrible formatting issues and the fact that we may need to change all the instances of "troglodyte" given the new wording in 4th ed.
I like the conflict between the two factions, especially since it can be resolved at the end of the adventure, depending on the party's choices. I usually run games set in one world, so every instance of permanent change caused by the PCs is a plus for me.
The fact that the majority of the reward depends on how many prisoners the PCs rescued is great, though if I ever run this, I will probably add a time limit; the more the players mess around, the more prisoners die or get turned into zombies by the lizardman mage. And if the players are fast and efficient, they might save the guy from cell #3, who, according to the adventure, is dead no matter what.
It's a shame that there are nearly no extra encounters on the island. I got interested in the conflict between the barklings and lizardmen, maybe some ruined camps or battlefields?
Lastly, I'm glad to see that most monsters don't simply sit in rooms waiting for the PCs to come in - they eat, strategize and experiment on their prisoners. It makes the adventure setting feel alive, even though I don't think it uses its potential.
(Oh, and the naturally-formed magical crystal statue is a very nice, unique idea!)
Thanks. I really appreciate the feedback. Oh man, why didn't I think about adding more encounter hexes?! Dang it. Live and learn, I guess. Loving your time limit idea, too. You're honestly making me wish I were playing in your version of this adventure. :D
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Solomoriah
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by Solomoriah »

You can update your entries up until the deadline. Of course, since forum members are voting, those who read the original version may not go back and read the improved one, so that may be a consideration.
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by toddlyons »

MinkyBoodle wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 6:24 am Oh man, why didn't I think about adding more encounter hexes?! Dang it. Live and learn, I guess.
Keep making updates until the contest closes. I'm not familiar with the vote margins of these things, but where you place doesn't matter to the GMs who will run your adventure. When I scan through an AA# book, I'm looking for a concept that *I* find interesting and that's level-appropriate, and even a winning entry will get modified to my taste.
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MinkyBoodle
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by MinkyBoodle »

Solomoriah wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:12 am You can update your entries up until the deadline. Of course, since forum members are voting, those who read the original version may not go back and read the improved one, so that may be a consideration.
Sounds like a plan. And yeah, that's a consideration, but better to improve the adventure in the long run.
toddlyons wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:42 am Keep making updates until the contest closes. I'm not familiar with the vote margins of these things, but where you place doesn't matter to the GMs who will run your adventure. When I scan through an AA# book, I'm looking for a concept that *I* find interesting and that's level-appropriate, and even a winning entry will get modified to my taste.
Honestly I never expected to win. I'm an average adventure writer at best. But if I know I came up with even half an idea that people want to incorporate into their own games I'll be thrilled. So expect r2 to show up before too long.
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Wing_department
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by Wing_department »

Rutibex wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 7:39 pm Here is my finished adventure. Its not a contest entry, I just figured some people might like to play it. I am going to be play testing it next time I run a session:

The Isle of Beauty
https://www.mediafire.com/file/khq9bovl ... 0.pdf/file
I know that it's not an entry but I really want to give feedback.
First of all, the concept is pretty good. I like that all entries so far have a gimmick when it comes to enemies. An island full of beautiful, yet dangerous humanoids? Classic!

Now, here's a thing that bugs me: this adventure is full of holes, parts that are more of inspirational ideas than instructions for the Game Masters. I'll quote an example:
Hex 6 wrote:They guard a magical spring that can heal wounds and grant immortality, but drinking from it also attracts the attention of a powerful dragon.
What dragon? How strong is the beast? Is this the same dragon that lives in Hex14? How powerful is the spring; does it make you literally immortal or just stops the aging process? Are its effects permanent? What I'm trying to say is that I can easily come up with answers to all of the above but I know that many GMs don't improvise so easily (and they are often those, who choose to run a pre-written adventure). So, details would make a lot of things clearer and more engaging.

But even though the encounters often aren't well-explained, they fit the gimmick well and are very different from each other - I can really feel that the island is full of life! The satyrs, mermaids, ruins of some forgotten cultures; there is a lot to see, makes you wonder what lies just a hex farther.

...the answer to the above is death, probably :D I mean it, the level range on the cover page says "levels 3 to 5". Nearly everything is above 5 Hit Dice. D8 Succubi (7 HD each), a few minions of the witch (9 HD each) and a KRAKEN. Holy cow! I know it's OSR and some encounters are supposed to be hard, but on this island even a random encounter will utterly destroy 5 level PCs. That said, I would keep the strong monsters and just increase the level range - there are many good, formidable monsters guarding powerful magic items.

I left my favorite bit for the end. I love how you handled Midi the succubus. A 2d20 table of motivations? A d100 (!) table of random disguises? This adds so much replayability to the adventure! It reminds me of the Curse of Strahd but there the main villain had only like, 5 different motivations. A main villain, whose behavior can be randomized at the start of the adventure is something that I will use in my adventures from now on. I don't know if I ever run this but I might include Midi as a femme fatale villain in the future, so for this section alone, this not-so-finished adventure lands in my Adventure Folder.
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MinkyBoodle
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by MinkyBoodle »

Updated entry. Here is r2 of my adventure.
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C3 The Island of the Lost-r2.odt
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"My love is my sword."
"If I were you I'd stay away from thoughts like that."
-Dekar and Guy, Lufia II
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Rutibex
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by Rutibex »

Wing_department wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:12 pm
Rutibex wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 7:39 pm Here is my finished adventure. Its not a contest entry, I just figured some people might like to play it. I am going to be play testing it next time I run a session:

The Isle of Beauty
https://www.mediafire.com/file/khq9bovl ... 0.pdf/file
I know that it's not an entry but I really want to give feedback.
First of all, the concept is pretty good. I like that all entries so far have a gimmick when it comes to enemies. An island full of beautiful, yet dangerous humanoids? Classic!

Now, here's a thing that bugs me: this adventure is full of holes, parts that are more of inspirational ideas than instructions for the Game Masters. I'll quote an example:
Hex 6 wrote:They guard a magical spring that can heal wounds and grant immortality, but drinking from it also attracts the attention of a powerful dragon.
What dragon? How strong is the beast? Is this the same dragon that lives in Hex14? How powerful is the spring; does it make you literally immortal or just stops the aging process? Are its effects permanent? What I'm trying to say is that I can easily come up with answers to all of the above but I know that many GMs don't improvise so easily (and they are often those, who choose to run a pre-written adventure). So, details would make a lot of things clearer and more engaging.

But even though the encounters often aren't well-explained, they fit the gimmick well and are very different from each other - I can really feel that the island is full of life! The satyrs, mermaids, ruins of some forgotten cultures; there is a lot to see, makes you wonder what lies just a hex farther.

...the answer to the above is death, probably :D I mean it, the level range on the cover page says "levels 3 to 5". Nearly everything is above 5 Hit Dice. D8 Succubi (7 HD each), a few minions of the witch (9 HD each) and a KRAKEN. Holy cow! I know it's OSR and some encounters are supposed to be hard, but on this island even a random encounter will utterly destroy 5 level PCs. That said, I would keep the strong monsters and just increase the level range - there are many good, formidable monsters guarding powerful magic items.

I left my favorite bit for the end. I love how you handled Midi the succubus. A 2d20 table of motivations? A d100 (!) table of random disguises? This adds so much replayability to the adventure! It reminds me of the Curse of Strahd but there the main villain had only like, 5 different motivations. A main villain, whose behavior can be randomized at the start of the adventure is something that I will use in my adventures from now on. I don't know if I ever run this but I might include Midi as a femme fatale villain in the future, so for this section alone, this not-so-finished adventure lands in my Adventure Folder.
The hex locations are deliberately vague, so the DM can roll up random stuff or come up with stuff on the fly. I like to use the tables in the OSRIC core book, and some other stuff. Also you are correct the majority of the encounters have a lot of hit dice, but the majority of creatures on the island are also friendly and not immediately hostile. That means you are supposed to gather allies on the island, not murder everything in your path. I didn't really spell that out explicitly, and I guess I should have lol

Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you liked it! :D
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toddlyons
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by toddlyons »

Rutibex wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 1:16 pm you are supposed to gather allies on the island, not murder everything in your path. I didn't really spell that out explicitly, and I guess I should have
It never hurts to provide the GM with advice on the pitfalls. I also like to design encounters that are lethal for players who don't realize there's more than one way to handle monsters.
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Wing_department
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Re: Mysterious Island Contest

Post by Wing_department »

Cranial Croaks r2. For those, who have read r1, here are the only changes:
  • I named the areas in the three dungeons (like "LABORATORY" or "PIRATE CAMP")
  • Changed the random scroll inside the shark to be a set scroll with two valuable spells
  • Minor editor changes in the random encounters tables, very minor
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