[Announcement] Outplay 2017 Results

[Admin Bhelogan]

3 Wrecked and Stranded Crews. 24 Heroes. One Winner.

Our Finalists!
D&D 5e: Wynamoinen's Syarafina
Mutants and Masterminds: JackinIrons' Wanderer
Pathfinder: Blackfyres Kavax the Magnificent

And the Winner of Outplay 2017 is:

 

Wynamoinen!




Congratulations!!! Princess Syarafina Grinelda Delight-and-Chastity Halethorpe-Šztöffbînder of Rheum,
the Story Book Princess captured all of our hearts.

[RonarsCorruption]

 

I fear you've hit a plateau for your character. You're getting angry and upset a lot, and some of that is understandable, but here especially it's coming off more one-note than dominant trait. I keep stressing this - Kavax is a spellcaster and thinks himself a dragon besides, but every supernatural thing that happens to him he keeps brushing off like it's imaginary or fake and not even thinking about it.

Although Kavax remains a solid character, I think he peaked last round - and a lot of that was because you had prepared more in the opening round than your opponent. A little bit of planning and a little bit of luck. This round, he's been less of a force to be reckoned with and more of an angry little creature looking for every point to disagree.

And sure, that's his character. He refuses to admit he's not a dragon. He wants to be respected and feared. And that's good, but I'm not sure it's enough.

 

I don't feel you started out as strong as you could, you eventually do get into the idea that the spirit of this round is a competitive one. As has been the case throughout, your character has a fascinating perspective and, although complex, is always clear with what she is doing and why. Of course, she does jump to a lot of assumptions, but always in character.

Which I feel makes her interesting. She isn't always right, or even good. But she is always interesting, and that makes her feel a lot more human than the other characters in this particular round. She's less predictable, and less... tropey than the others. I suspect that was part of your plan from the very beginning, because there's the big 'disney-princess' sticker on her (metaphorical) forehead. But I find her really refreshing.

 

This is my introduction to Geoffrey, and from what I gather he's some sort of immortal. Which kinda messes up our plans, you darn player you. Why must players always find ways to do unexpected things. Geez. (this is sarcasm, by the way. It might make more work, but I love when players make me rethink things.)

He sure comes across as a bored-wtih-life immortal, but he also seems to care about people. And have lots of esoteric knowledge - I mean, for a supposed hobo and warrior at least. *checks* eidetic memory? Feels a little weird for the rest ofthe character, but sure. Okay.

As far as playing goes, Geoffrey is solidly written, and consistent. He is also, I feel, not interesting enough. He's got lots of interesting backstory, but he doesn't really catch my spark of interest in this round. He feels a lot like he's been Cursed with Awesome, but there's not a whole lot else to him that makes me like him throughout.

 

This was a fine round, but there weren't really any surprises in it. I think that the characters all really revealed their cores here, which is really quite fitting. We have an angry little dragon, a bored immortal, and a princess who isn't what you expect.

Maybe that already reveals who I vote for. Because in the end, I feel that the best player is the one who found an interesting way to subvert my expectations and not play into the way I expect a character who looks like your character to be. My vote goes to...

 

Wynamoinen's Syarafina!

Congratulations! You've done some great gaming here.

JackinIrons' Wanderer, you were solid, and I award you my personal second place.
Blackfyre's Kavax, was also good, obviously or you wouldn't have gotten so far, but I don't feel you quite met my expectations for a character who reached the final round.

But really, if I was allowed to tie you two for second, I would have.

[MoonZar]

1. Wynamoinen & Syarafina
Really liked the princess' energy, she didn't lose her cool and politeness and tried to be helpful most of the time.

2. Jackinirons & Geoffrey
This was a close call between Geoffrey and Syarafina, but unfortunately only one could prevail. Honestly, you were my biggest discovery in outplay this year, you are a great role player and it was very good to read you all along. I could try to give a comprehensive hint of why my preference was with the princess' but at the end of the day it becomes subjective and the difference was by the thickness of hair.

3. Blackfyre & Kavax
Kavax is a great character, after all he made it that far. I voted for him first or second in all the previous round. Somehow for the final round, I started to find him a bit repetitive in his interactions, mostly spending his time to be hostile and in conflict with most of what the other characters are saying. Over time it wasn't that much interesting to read anymore. I guess this is his temper, but still I would have expected him to be less easy to anticipate.

[Squeak]

At this point in the game, I know your writing is going to be stellar. What I’m looking for now is which PC moves the story forward the most, impresses me with RP skills and shows character development.

I did a bit of a running blog as I read through your character concepts so you know what I was thinking as I read it. My comments may not make the most sense to you when you read them, but it is definitely how I took them at the time.

 

Post 1 Love the flame towards the volcano god and basically telling him off. It makes sense that fear is quite different for someone immortal.

Post 2 – Great writing and explanation of his history. I love the part where you say that if you don’t know fear you can’t be brave – very profound. The one thing I don’t quite get is you cavalier attitude about the idea of being brain dead. I would think that it would be far worse to be useless for eternity than to be dead.

Post 3 – Cute Jack Chic reference. And you are continuing to push for another alternative besides ‘life’, which really has an impact on your character.

Post 4 – Love the whole different perspective reference and what you would think of paladins and Asmodeus. But it took a long time until you started trying to sell yourself in the last paragraph.

Post 5 – Interesting question, asking who they would pick as a 2nd choice. Wonder if the others are going to bite? I just wish so sold yourself more.

Post 6 – at first I was shocked there was no response to Sara’s attack and then I looked at the time stamp, so no foul..
Interesting that he’s got nobody to write to – I like the effort.

 

Post 1 Here comes Snow White with hidden fangs. Really like the internal struggle she has keeping herself polite.

Post 2 – Disbelief that you are dead is a very reasonable reaction. But then she goes with what she thinks is the illusion? She called out that it was a contest of wills and she think she won it. But if this was all an illusion from the hag, couldn’t she still be in the middle of the contest?

Post 3 – OK, now you’re cooking with gas. Not only are you questioning what the power of the volcano god, but you are making a case for why you should be the one to live.

Post 4 – Playing the good guy foil to Kavax bad guy. Kudos for taking a side and continuing to build your case as to why it has to be you.

Post 5 – The argument has expanded to not only say why it needs to be you, but why it shouldn’t be the other guys.

Post 6 – Nice heartfelt letter. And HOLY CRAP, it was a goodbye letter!!!
I love the twist and the initiative – and it definitely fits within your character concept.

 

Post 1 OK, he’s still the same arrogant dragon child.

Post 2 Disbelief because his body is still a kobold? I get that Kavax truly believes he is a dragon, but it seems a bit off that he wouldn’t even be internally questioning himself after all that has happened.

Post 3a I think you misunderstood his comment on transformation. The shapechanged TRex still looked and acted like a dog. Reasonable argument about the definition of ‘already dead’. Good job in dismissing “Mr Immortal”, but I wish you had made a case why you needed to be the one to live.

Post 3b Still whining about lizard references… Hoping he can move on to more important priorities than the whole "I'm a real dragon" thing. Going the evil angle, which is good – but still no attempt to make a case for yourself.

Post 4 –The argument that he should move forward because of his birthright probably makes sense to you, but not necessarily him.

Post 5 – Are you suggesting that dragons are above stealing? Not sure other dragons would agree. And it looks like you have bitten on Geoffrey’s trick question. I would have rather had him say that there was no second choice.

Post 6 – Refusing to write a letter was keeping in character. I like it.

At the end, it came down to the one PC that took initiative and moved the story forward. My vote goes to

 

Wynamoinen

[Avner]

1. Jackinirons as Geoffrey
This has been a great character to watch all the way through Outplay and I love how in the final round he even used the interactions he had throughout the contest to justify his reasoning. A full fleshed out and developed character that seemed to shine just a little bit brighter than the others.

2. Wynamoinen as Syarafina
Another incredible showing in Outplay. I think that your character was really dynamic and showed some great development. It was really a close call between Geoffrey and Syarafina, but I think in the end Geoffery seemed more irreplaceable.

3. Blackfyre as Kavax
The character started off well enough but he didn't seem to move anywhere past the first or second post. I was intrigued at first by his insistancethat he was indeed a dragon and his belief superseded anything that contradicted it, but after that reveal he seemed to just spin his wheels lacking any big moment.

[DeJoker]

Okay I abstain ... I just really enjoyed the read in general ... perhaps the next time I will have better input -- this time I am just awed and I want all 3 of those players in a game (any game) that I am running or even playing in

[Admin Choc]

I seriously kept reading and reading, but for now there is only one winner ;-)
Hardest part was to pick number 2 and 3 and in the end I had no clear reasons and went for the character that I simply liked a tinybit better.
I would have preferred a tie between JackinIron and Blackfyre

Number 1 Wynamoinen's Ex-Princess Syarafina Grinelda Delight-and-Chastity Halethorpe-Šztöffbînder of Rheum The best aspect of this character is the fact that it is a very 3D character very well roleplayed. Wynamoinen kept the Princess vibrant and sparkling, and her positive royal energy was everywhere. Loved the little accents like for example the >PLUNK< of the final note and the ending with the written letter and attack was really cool and strong. Cliffhangers are the best way to 'end' a story and I loved this character. Impressed how the first round's characters lived on within the Princess' actions and thoughts...

Number 2 JackinIron's Geoffrey Buckland, the Wanderer I really liked the catch 22 in this entire character, having died so many times and now the final round the paradox of needing to answer the question about the why of continuing to live. The way you described the actions made me able to see it, and that was well done

Number 3 Blackfyre's Kavax the Magnificent Clever the detect magic spell; and very strong in character monologues about the illogical way of actions of the god and the scepticism of the entire situation. Intriguing character....