I'm considering three options for what to run there:
1) Dragon Bait: An adventure with kobold PCs involving a dragon; heroic or paragon tier, lots of trickery and played for laughs. Expect some kobolds to be squished underfoot, expect a lone survivor, expect a lot of fire damage.
2) A preview of the Court of the Shadow Fey planar adventure. Lots of demons, shadow magic, maybe a stealth sequence and a big, deadly roleplaying number with the Moonlit King. Dark and tragic, with a dollop of hope and victory.
3) Best of the River King: A highlights reel from the Wrath of the River King adventure, to include the Birch Queen's Fair and perhaps a certain crazy combat sequence. Would feature fey trickery, a moustache-twisting gnomish villain, and chances to do very foolish things to impress the ladies.
If you were attending the convention, what would you like to play?
Poll #1455313 Pick an Adventure for the Con
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 81
I would like to play....
Dragon Bait
36 (44.4%)
Courts of the Shadow Fey 36 (44.4%)
Wrath of the River King 19 (23.5%)
Other (see Comments) 1 (1.2%)
Anyway, if you'd like Open Design to keep materials in print, or keep the private/exclusive/limited to the chosen few, please weigh in on the topic in this thread.
The first Open Design was a head-to-head slugfest of something like 6 proposals, knockout style, until one pitch was the winner and went into the design phase. That was interesting (the vote never goes quite as I suspect), but part of me wanted to get away from the voting.
So the following projects had fewer and fewer proposals to choose from, until in the case of Blood of the Gorgon, there was no voting between projects at all.
However, many patrons have said "I like watching the process, and the proposals all sound good." Plus, I know some patrons feel they want something very particular, and obviously there's disappointment when a certain project isn't commissioned. Heck, I've felt that myself, when the project I was rooting for didn't wind up on top. Fortunately, though, the chosen project has always been interesting from a design perspective. Probably because there haven't been a lot of dud pitches.
As you may suspect from all this, I'm debating whether the Open Design announcement tomorrow will be for one project, or for a choice of two or three. Do you LIKE having the options, or do you find them annoying?
I await the will of the patrons and the public.Poll #1180339 Freedom of Choice
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 90
I prefer an Open Design commission to be....
A single perfect offer for me to accept or decline 11 (12.2%)
A choice of two good options, with the best one winning 23 (25.6%)
A choice of three options. Don't limit it. 52 (57.8%)
I have another idea (see comments). 3 (3.3%)
I haven't signed up as a patron at all, because .... (see comments) 1 (1.1%)
If you have considered signing up, but just don't care for the first project, I'd be especially interested in your comments.
Poll #812045 The next Open Design project
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: None, participants: 55
Which project type(s) interest you most?
An all-new adventure 35 (63.6%)
An adventure linked to "Steam & Brass" 14 (25.5%)
A setting book describing an exotic city or kingdom 20 (36.4%)
A crunch book of spells, magic items, and/or PC races/classes 6 (10.9%)
A monster book showing how to design new monsters 13 (23.6%)
How likely are you to be a patron of the next project?
Very likely 29 (52.7%)
Likely 16 (29.1%)
Maybe 8 (14.5%)
Not likely 2 (3.6%)
As a patron, would you return for the second round?
Currently a patron, will be back 33 (62.3%)
Currently a patron, not returning 0 (0.0%)
Currently a patron, not sure 10 (18.9%)
Not currently a patron 10 (18.9%)
The most appealing part of Open Design is...
Only patrons get a copy 2 (3.6%)
I can influence the design 15 (27.3%)
I see how the design work is done 21 (38.2%)
The design discussion and essays 15 (27.3%)
Other (see comments) 2 (3.6%)
I have a scrawled, jumbled list of topics that *I'd* certainly like to pursue, but I'll save those for a few months, just because I don't want to see a
Ok, back to my Secret Designer Lair, to hammer out some more of "Steam & Brass". Thanks for voting!
Also, I'm debating starting the design stage early, probably with a first post around June 1. I'd work up expanded outlines, maps, or major NPC creation for the top vote getter; final text would still wait until the greenlight stage. As of today, the top candidate is Steam & Brass, the city adventure featuring a clockwork mage, a frustrated devil, and the Mouse King.
The upside: Hey, at least small batches of the project are written sooner than I promised. Things might go from "greenlight" to "final text" faster as a result.
The downside: If the project doesn't reach greenlight, I'll be taking that locked content to paper publishers. And it probably means I don't write the remaining design essays.
What do you think? If you aren't currently a project patron, I'd love to hear from you in the Comments section.
Poll #734018 Running the Red Light June 1 (Current Patrons Only)
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12
Should design start before the project is funded?
Yes, why not? Slow progress is better than none. 6 (50.0%)
No, let other people sign up and comment first. 2 (16.7%)
No, keep doing the essays. No rush. 3 (25.0%)
No! If you start but don't finish, it's über-annoying. 1 (8.3%)
If the design starts in June, what would you like to see?
Maps 3 (25.0%)
More detail on outlines 5 (41.7%)
Major NPCs and monsters 3 (25.0%)
Other things that start with the letter "M" 1 (8.3%)
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open_design- Wolfgang Baur
- the Free City
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