Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ceridwenavery 06-27-05, 10:13 AM	Any news on the posting of finalists? :confused:
Lashan 06-27-05, 10:53 AM	It should be posted today. Don't forget that WOTC is on West Coast time, so we should wait until noon (at least) on EST. I hope they do it early in the day, though.
Kuje31 06-27-05, 11:54 AM	We also had to do a last minute judging the other day. So patience people. :)
Lashan 06-27-05, 04:18 PM	Hmmmmm....it seems no news today. I am leaving for the day and my home pc is dead. I guess I will find out tomorrow (maybe). Just interested in the contest, is all. It's a good one.
superpriest 06-28-05, 09:08 AM	I didn't really expect them to make the deadline. But why announce the date to begin with?
Lashan 06-28-05, 09:21 AM	Well, since it was the 2nd deadline, I was kinda hoping..... Not rushing you guys, though! Don't want to look pushy.
Kuje31 06-28-05, 10:31 AM	I didn't really expect them to make the deadline. But why announce the date to begin with? Well I can't say but just so you know, we had about 82 entries to judge and then they have to pick a winner. :) I'm not even sure how many judges there were so the final judge(s) have to go through all of our scores and decide who one.
Lashan 06-28-05, 11:41 AM	I wonder if ex-employees can enter. Like SKR or Monte Cook? Then again, I doubt they care about the free book that they would win.
superpriest 06-28-05, 11:56 AM	Well I can't say but just so you know, we had about 82 entries to judge and then they have to pick a winner. :) I'm not even sure how many judges there were so the final judge(s) have to go through all of our scores and decide who one. I thought there would be 10 finalists, and everyone would vote on their favorite. Did this change?
GnomeBoy 06-28-05, 12:26 PM	Well, since it was the 2nd deadline, I was kinda hoping..... I don't think there were meant to be two deadlines... I think the "June 17th" deadline here... http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ru/20050617a ...was a typo. That's my guess anyway. ...I wondered how they were gonna wade through all the entries that quick! But it's soooo hard waiting for the fianlists to be posted so I can win.... :D
GnomeBoy 06-28-05, 12:55 PM	I forgot to ask... It won't slow them down if I'm refreshing the contest finalists page incessantly all day, will it? :D
Kuje31 06-28-05, 01:47 PM	I thought there would be 10 finalists, and everyone would vote on their favorite. Did this change? Uh not sure. I might be wrong but either way just give it some time. :)
Kereminde 06-29-05, 04:56 AM	Hmmm, and anxiously waiting for news about what finalists have been chosen at least . . . Since I'm supposed to vote on them :)
Rick Day 06-29-05, 11:06 AM	This wait is driving me nuts. :D Ive never entered any contest like this and I must say it was quite interesting.
Lashan 06-29-05, 03:37 PM	OK....so they are in the middle of updating the last 10. I had seen a thread that had some of the finalists. I was reading it, but there weren't 10. I hit RELOAD and the thread was gone!!!!!! After I went back to the main forum, I see that there is the sticky on the top where you can vote. Now, I just need to be patient to see where they post the descriptions again.
GnomeBoy 06-29-05, 04:00 PM	Ah, well, so much for the joke that occured to me while eating lunch... Both the June 17th and 27th dates were typos. The real date is the 17th of July. ...or the 27th of July.... But today works fine for me. Sadly, I do not appear to be among the finalists. Being eleventh means I've now got to shell out the dough for WCoS.... Ah, well.
Lashan 06-30-05, 08:01 AM	OK...so I wasn't selected. Still, there are a lot of good entries! Congrates to those that did.
Lashan 06-30-05, 10:29 AM	I really liked Undead Wish . I felt that one is interesting for several reasons: 1) It's fantastical nature. It's got a djinn who grants wishes! That's classic fantasy story right there. 2) There isn't automatically combat. There is a chance to interact and talk with people to get involved in a story. It's not hack-n-slash. 3) Moral dillema. Will the party try to help the Curst? What about the djinn who hates the Curst? What will the party do with just one wish?
Iron Klaw Merc 06-30-05, 11:17 AM	I enjoyed A Hunger to Die For, but then I have always liked vampires, and reaccuring enemies are always a good thing. I just keep picturing the vampire turning up at the most irritating times to attack the party, or take out a player the stumbles to far from the party. I also think it would make a good adventure trying to hunt down the vampire as it keeps leading the party into traps and encounters.
Lashan 06-30-05, 11:53 AM	Haha! I didn't like that one just because of the vampire! Well, it was a good one, but I didn't vote for it because vampires are always over done. I would have liked it a lot better if there was a chance that you could interact with the vampire. He is a scholar and knows a lot about Undermountain. I bet he could be a great source of information for the players. Instead, he is just another monster to kill.
Iron Klaw Merc 06-30-05, 01:40 PM	Why would you want to interact with an evil blood sucking creature, well I guess you could if you are playing evil characters, but I would think the cost of dealing with a vampire would be to great. The Undead Wish was pretty good, you would have to try to banish the efreeti back to its home plane before it started causing trouble, but I did not think it was much of a moral dillema when it came to the Curst, he was killing adventurers that came into the room, it would make more sense to me to use the wish to help the Curst's victims than to use it to help the Curst.
Lashan 06-30-05, 02:21 PM	A lot of the information that would come out would depend on who and what the players asked. Perhaps they met the Curst before they talked to the efreeti. He didn't tell them about killing the others. They talk to the efreeti and he is bitter and angry for being annoyed. The players could tend to blow the efreeti off as just being insensitive. The good players would want to use the wish on the Curst. There are always a lot of ways it could go. That's what I love about the game. You really can't guess how it will happen. It all depends on the exact words you say and how the party is feeling at the momment. As for talking to the evil vampire, that is what would make it interesting! Imagine if a good party needed to talk to the vampire to get some info from him. That would be good role playing. You don't have to be an evil person to interact with evil. Even paladins don't just smite on site all evil people they see.
Kuje31 06-30-05, 02:54 PM	A lot of the information that would come out would depend on who and what the players asked. Perhaps they met the Curst before they talked to the efreeti. He didn't tell them about killing the others. They talk to the efreeti and he is bitter and angry for being annoyed. The players could tend to blow the efreeti off as just being insensitive. The good players would want to use the wish on the Curst. There are always a lot of ways it could go. That's what I love about the game. You really can't guess how it will happen. It all depends on the exact words you say and how the party is feeling at the momment. As for talking to the evil vampire, that is what would make it interesting! Imagine if a good party needed to talk to the vampire to get some info form him. That would be good role playing. You don't have to be an evil person to interact with evil. Even paladins don't just smite on site all evil people they see. Plus not all vampires are evil. Yes I know what the current lore states but in FR there are shades of grey. :) And so there are good or neutral vampires.
Lashan 06-30-05, 03:01 PM	I will say that Auditorium was my 2nd favorite. I liked the general weirdness about it. The danger is real, too, unlike the Foolish Noble.
Iron Klaw Merc 06-30-05, 03:10 PM	I guess it depends on your way of thinking, IMO Vampires are evil, and a Paladin would not deal with a vampire, the paladin would look at it as his/her duty to destroy the vampire. A good party would have to think long and hard about using a wish from a efreeti they to a most likly evil and once free will try to enslave an harm people. The curst being insane an all probably did not do a good job hiding his victims, and I would think that a party has equal chances of believing a efreeti over a curst, or more likly just assuming they are both lying to get what they want, but as I said it all depends on your way of thinking.
Kuje31 06-30-05, 03:11 PM	I guess it depends on your way of thinking, IMO Vampires are evil, and a Paladin would not deal with a vampire, the paladin would look at it as his/her duty to destroy the vampire. A good party would have to think long and hard about using a wish from a efreeti they to a most likly evil and once free will try to enslave an harm people. The curst being insane an all probably did not do a good job hiding his victims, and I would think that a party has equal chances of believing a efreeti over a curst, or more likly just assuming they are both lying to get what they want, but as I said it all depends on your way of thinking. It's not my way of thinking, it's the way the Realms works. Not all vampires are evil and not all paladins kill evil undead, evil races, etc, on sight.
Iron Klaw Merc 06-30-05, 03:12 PM	I would have voted for the Hall of Light......Hearts?, if the vampire one was not there I found that one to be entertaining an gnomes just make great pranksters :)
Kuje31 06-30-05, 03:14 PM	Haha! I didn't like that one just because of the vampire! Well, it was a good one, but I didn't vote for it because vampires are always over done. I would have liked it a lot better if there was a chance that you could interact with the vampire. He is a scholar and knows a lot about Undermountain. I bet he could be a great source of information for the players. Instead, he is just another monster to kill. To be honest, this was one of things I used to judge the entries. If there were vampires, liches, fiends, orcs, and other cliche monsters I judged the entries as average unless there was a lot of good lore on why those beasties existed. I did the same with locals like temples, shrines, etc.
Iron Klaw Merc 06-30-05, 03:22 PM	It's not my way of thinking, it's the way the Realms works. Not all vampires are evil and not all paladins kill evil undead, evil races, etc, on sight. I would say that is your way of think, one of the first rules I remember of the game is that all rules are subject to what the Dungeon Master says. To be honest, this was one of things I used to judge things. If there were vampires, liches, fiends, orcs, and other cliche monsters I judged the entries as average unless there was a lot of good lore on why those beasties existed. I did the same with locals like temples, shrines, etc That sounds fair, and if you did not like the brief history of the vampire used in the room discription thats fine too. I guess I justed liked it is all :)
Kuje31 06-30-05, 03:25 PM	I would say that is your way of think, one of the first rules I remember of the game is that all rules are subject to what the Dungeon Master says. No, its not and it's how the world was created and how it works. If you want to change that then fine, but in FR vampires do not have to be evil and paladins do not kill evil on sight. It would also depend on which deity the paladin worshiped. I can name at least 4 to 5 vampires from canon FR material that are not evil and one of them is Lawful Good!
Iron Klaw Merc 06-30-05, 03:36 PM	No, its not and it's how the world was created and how it still stands. If you want to change that then fine, but in FR vampires do not have to be evil and paladins do not kill evil on sight. I can name at least 4 to 5 vampires from canon FR material that are not evil and one of them is Lawful Good! Yes, that is the way it was created, your right, but the DM may change anything they like about a rule or a game setting, including the way vampires are portrayed in FR.
Kuje31 06-30-05, 04:08 PM	Yes, that is the way it was created, your right, but the DM may change anything they like about a rule or a game setting, including the way vampires are portrayed in FR. Yes but since we are discusing a soon to be made canon entry, then not all vampires have to be evil. :)
Aloria 06-30-05, 04:11 PM	I like the Hag Lair. First, it just seems like something that should be in Undermountain. I remember in the old boxed set that there were portals that led to strange places, and its cool to think that monsters (or PCs!) might stumble across these while wandering in a swamp and end up in Undermountain. Second, the descriptions are cool! Third, there are some really innovative traps (how often do monsters get to WEAR traps? Not to mention that disturbing the toads causes them to flee their pool, activating the symbol trap. Any trap that allows me to use Wild Empathy to bypass it is cool in my book. ;)
Lashan 06-30-05, 04:29 PM	I admit that the hag one is neat (especially the frogs), but I have to admit some bias. My DM has thrown a whole lot of hag based adventures at us recently and I am burnt out on them. "It's all me. It's not your fault. I'm just not ready yet."
Lashan 07-01-05, 10:58 AM	I can't believe that Auditorium hasn't gotten a single vote yet. It was my 2nd favorite.
sus323 07-01-05, 03:50 PM	Don't worry Lashan, I just voted for the Auditorium. I loved it!