GITP Monster Competition XXVIII Voting Thread

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Voting For Banquet Of Beasts



The contest has ended and voting begun. See the entries below to vote for your choice.
(Note: As the poll option is still down just post your choice in this thread.)

Like all the GITP Monster Competitions, voting is open to any and all.

Voting will end at Midnight of December 31st

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Monstrous Menu

Angel of Sustenance
Bitterbug
Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen
Chocolate Truffle
Edible Golem
Eggnog Elemental
Gingerbread Giant
Gumwad

[BisectedBrioche]

I'm going to vote for the Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen
<campy voice>I absolutely loved the fluff</camp voice>

[Bhu]

Man, it was really hard for me to decide this time. Half the entries appealed to me. But in the end I'm gonna go with the Chocolate Truffle.

[RS14]

I'm going to vote for the Edible Golem.

The Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen was a close second.

[Egiam]

I vote for the Gingerbread Giant.

[Lappy9000]

I vote for the Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen by adanedhel9.

[insecure]

How I'd put it:

1. Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen!
2. Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen!
3. Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen!
4. Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen!
5. Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen!
6. Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen!
7. Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen!
8. Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen!

[The Demented One]

No doubt about it, the Fully Automatic Kitchen.

[afroakuma]

I'll vote for the Chocolate Truffle.

[RTGoodman]

Yeah, I'm definitely gonna have to go with the Chef's Mage^TM Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen. Great job, adanedhel.

[Debihuman]

These are getting better [I still disqualify entries that do not follow the format as requested -- gingerbread giant, chocolate truffle].

Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen was my favorite and the Bitterbug was a close second. Eggnog elemental was also very good.

Kudos to the Gumwad as well.

While I really liked the Angel of Sustenance, it seemed to be missing the ability to Command attackers to flee which is in the set-up paragraph. I am guessing it should have Command as a spell-like ability.

The edible golem was interesting but the monsters made of "food stuffs" seemed to be too vague. I think that the sample should have been the more specific cabbage golem rather than a generic golem.

Debby

[RS14]

I still disqualify entries that do not follow the format as requested -- gingerbread giant, chocolate truffle.

Really? I thought I followed the formatting guidelines quite closely. What did I miss?

[Debihuman]

Really? I thought I followed the formatting guidelines quite closely. What did I miss?

Honestly, you didn't miss anything -- you just didn't follow the format that was given. I HATE the format that you used. I hate that words are sometimes spelled out and sometimes abbreviated and that sometimes colons are used but not consistently. The format that was asked to be used is this:

Name
<Size> <Type>
Hit Dice:
Initiative:
Speed: (# squares)
Armor Class: (), touch, flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple:
Attack:
Full Attack:
Space/Reach:
Special Attacks:
Special Qualities:
Saves: Fort +, Ref +, Will +
Abilities: Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
Skills:
Feats:
Environment:
Organization:
Challenge Rating:
Treasure:
Alignment:
Advancement:
Level Adjustment:

Base Attack/Grapple: +X/+X is not BAB +X/Grapple +X. I admit that I was being particularly harsh in discounting monsters that didn't follow the format, but it's pretty basic stuff. In the matter of contests, not following the rules should have an effect.

How exactly do snowballs entangle? They should do range damage and perhaps cold damage.

Debby

[afroakuma]

Well, if he'd mentioned it to us or disqualified us, then I would agree with you. As is, when it came time to format, I just used the same one I always do, because I happen to have a copy of that code on hand and haven't received complaints.

[RS14]

Honestly, you didn't miss anything -- you just didn't follow the format that was given. I HATE the format that you used. I hate that words are sometimes spelled out and sometimes abbreviated and that sometimes colons are used but not consistently. The format that was asked to be used is this:



Base Attack/Grapple: +X/+X is not BAB +X/Grapple +X. I admit that I was being particularly harsh in discounting monsters that didn't follow the format, but it's pretty basic stuff. In the matter of contests, not following the rules should have an effect.

That does seem sort of silly. I'll be sure to keep up my obnoxious format in the future.

I think any further discussion of this should go in the discussion thread.

How exactly do snowballs entangle? They should do range damage and perhaps cold damage.

Its a gooey icing. Functionally, it is like a tanglefoot bag.

[Debihuman]

Well, if he'd mentioned it to us or disqualified us, then I would agree with you. As is, when it came time to format, I just used the same one I always do, because I happen to have a copy of that code on hand and haven't received complaints.

Hey wait a gosh darn minute! I've complained several times about this on other contests [and in other places besides this site]. I really dislike [I'd be more vehement but I'm trying to be polite and civil] the non-conforming format. It doesn't disqualify you from the contest at all. You just won't receive my vote because of it. That is MY choice. I have no idea how other judges make their choices.

Voting is completely subjective. This time the monsters were all in good stead, so I went to lesser criterion to base my decision. You simply gave me an easy excuse to cast my vote elsewhere. I thought it was only fair to say this because 1. it's easily fixable 2. it affects every contest. I look at spelling too but to a much lesser degree. It may mean the difference between liking an entry and loving an entry.

BTW, I thought the chocolate truffle was really good. Unfortunately, it's not caffeine but theobromine (theobroma cacao, "food of the gods") that is found in the cocao plants. If I may go off on a tangent here, my dad was a taste tester for Nestlé for years, so I have a bit of an informal chocolate education. On the other hand, I thought it was vastly amusing that the "aroma" of the chocolate truffle was enough to cause a sugar rush.

The question you probably wanted to ask but didn't was how I would have voted if this had been in proper format. I would have voted this in 2nd place. I like it a lot, but Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen was still the best entry.

Debby

[afroakuma]

I was simply surprised that you thought to bring it up at all. Fax's format is not so terribly illegible compared to VT's that I felt concerned enough not to use it a second time.

Evidently I was mistaken; I shall endeavor to switch to the proper format the next time I choose to enter.

And yes, I am aware of theobromine (org. chem) but I suspected that layman's understandings would make for a more amusing monster. I could have gone on about proper crystallization of the fat crystals, or made a white chocolate variation that exploited its additional cocoa butter, but chose not to.

[Debihuman]

That does seem sort of silly. I'll be sure to keep up my obnoxious format in the future.

Perhaps it is a bit silly, but all the entries were really good and well, I had choices to make. Don't say you weren't warned!

Its a gooey icing. Functionally, it is like a tanglefoot bag.

Well, you called it a "snowball." Silly me, I expected it to act like a typical snowball and not a goo ball made of icing. I've been hit with plenty of snowballs and not one ever acted like a tanglefoot bag.

Debby

[strawberryman]

Fully Automatic Kitchen.~

[Debihuman]

I was simply surprised that you thought to bring it up at all. Fax's format is not so terribly illegible compared to VT's that I felt concerned enough not to use it a second time.

Evidently I was mistaken; I shall endeavor to switch to the proper format the next time I choose to enter.

Well, I usually try to explain why I vote the way I do because the contestants deserve to know how I arrive at a decision and because sometimes, I may have thought something was wrong when it wasn't. I try to be fair and offer constructive criticism, but I realized that I was being biased.
You are correct; I could have kept my mouth shut. However, that would have been dishonest on some level.

Thank you for switching.

And yes, I am aware of theobromine (org. chem) but I suspected that layman's understandings would make for a more amusing monster. I could have gone on about proper crystallization of the fat crystals, or made a white chocolate variation that exploited its additional cocoa butter, but chose not to.

I bow to your superior intellect in this regard. Dang, I would have loved to have seen a variant White Chocolate Truffle.

I wanted to post an Ameglian Major Cow but really it was just an Awakened Bison (minus the gore attack) with the special qualities of being Tasty and Humanely Suicidal.

Debby

[RTGoodman]

While I really liked the Angel of Sustenance, it seemed to be missing the ability to Command attackers to flee which is in the set-up paragraph. I am guessing it should have Command as a spell-like ability.

HERE's the discussion thread, since this one is just supposed to be for voting. I'll respond there.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Ok folks, as long as it follows a recognizable format that has all the basics of that which I posted it is legit and no stigma should be placed on it.

Well, you called it a "snowball." Silly me, I expected it to act like a typical snowball and not a goo ball made of icing. I've been hit with plenty of snowballs and not one ever acted like a tanglefoot bag.

This is explained:

"Additionally, as a free action, a Gingerbread Giant can transform a held snowball into a ball of soft icing, as for a cake. This is thrown in the same manner as a snowball, and functions as a tanglefoot bag. This is a supernatural ability."


And finally, though comments on entries is all fine and good, it's a bit difficult to wade through extensive debates to find actual votes.

[Stycotl]

bitterbug.

[AKA_Bait]

Voting for Chocolate Truffle. As always, several fantastic creations.

I'll probably chime in over on the discussion thread later this afternoon too.

[Debihuman]

Thanks VT. I knew my comments were going to be controversial, but I wanted to be as honest as possible because I was being biased and to hide it would have been unfair to everyone involved.

However, to say that not using a decent format with proper spelling and consistency shouldn't have an impact on the voting is unenforceable. How do you know what criteria are being used by judges? As I previously mentioned, all voting is subjective. Should I have overlooked the format? Perhaps, but I made the choice not to. That made me biased. Granted, my choice to discount the ill-formatted entries was a bit harsh, so I did go back and reviewed all the critters in the contest.

Despite my dislike of their formatting, neither the gingerbread giant nor the chocolate truffle would have been my first choice. However, the chocolate truffle really had a lot to offer and I would have made that a close number two.

I could have put the comments on the chat thread but my previous request for information there was ignored. Posting there seems to be hit and miss, especially since it's not linked the way the voting thread is linked.

Also, is it fair to give out advice and assistance during the contest? I've been avoiding commenting on contests until I vote but I want to be sure.

Debby

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I could have put the comments on the chat thread but my previous request for information there was ignored. Posting there seems to be hit and miss, especially since it's not linked the way the voting thread is linked.

The chat thread is linked twice on the main thread, on the first two posts. Very blatantly I might add.

4. Post all entries on this thread. Do not post conversation here. Any and All Comments and discussions will take place on a separate thread here (this is a link).

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As well, here is the standard 3.5 monster format. Only complete entries will be accepted. If there are any questions feel free to ask me or post queries in the GITP Contest Chat Thread.

This is where I will respond to the rest of your post.

[adanedhel9]

I enjoyed all the entries, but I'm going to have to vote for myself this month.

Fully Automatic Kitchen

[The Vorpal Tribble]

And voting has come to a close.

Adanedhel9 wins this month's contest with his culinary killer, the Chef's Mage™ Brand Fully Automatic Kitchen!

Congrats!