Comment Contest! WE HAVE A WINNER!

[Steampunk Knight]

If you feel that this entry does not meet the requirements, then please disregard

If you are going to use this I would limit it to only our solar system, or maybe even just the inner planets. Like you say in your post it might make the setting too large. But if you do want to go this route here is an idea. There is a G.O.O. that covers the entire surface of the moon its byproducts cause an atmosphere to form making it habitable for people to live on. The residents from a symbiotic relationship with the G.O.O.; they form their buildings from its flesh and grow food in its pores. In return the people must make sacrifices of the old, sick, and injured on a daily bases to the G.O.O. Sometimes, if the G.O.O. doesn't feel that there have been enough offerings it will take victims from their homes or right of the street. Since everything is made from the G.O.O. it just absorbs them directly into itself. Maybe its skin is somewhat translucent and you can see the person being digested.

That idea might be a little morbid.

It's a lovecraftian horror world where Elder Things have ruled the Earth for about 400 years - morbid is kind of the point. :P

As for that idea, I love it. If I do go that route, I'll almost certainly steal it - I just have to decide if I will. Definitely limiting it to our Solar System if I do, though I want to leave the Gas Giants as options so it'll go beyond just the Inner Planets. Good news is, I can start the setting without making a decision here yet, so I might let it simmer on the backburner for a bit before I do.

[sparkletwist]

I'll offer up my "impolite review" of Cad Goleór.
http://www.thecbg.org/index.php/topic,154256.msg210687.html#msg210687

[Xathan]

Yay! 3 entries! Keep 'em coming people, got 5 more days counting today for the deadline!

[Magnus Pym]

Not sure if this is an elligible entry,  but here it is.

I finally took some time to carefully read some of Terra Macabre and I like it. The sole fact that it happens on Earth does incite me to continue reading. Now with the G.O.O's and Atlantis, you bring me back to my childhood when I created a setting called Atlantis : The Shattered Souls. It had something to do with Earth initially, but then the action was relocated on another world, another dimension even. The G.O.O's, which could have been called like that anyways, were Titans. Some were evil, some were good, some didn't care, blablabla. Anyways, this is very interesting to me.

I especially like how vast you've made the adventuring possibilities, allowing one to fancy himself a spy for the benefit of the Atlantean rebels or the G.O.O's (or any other ambitious faction), an explorer of the universe or underground, or an abomination hunter, to only name a few.

Even though at first read the politics seem incredibly simple, I see the potential for extreme complexity, double-crossing, temporary power shifts and the eternal power struggle between more than just two factions. It's unsuspectingly complete. One just has to use his imagination.

I must admit I don't know a thing about Da Vinci, nor clockwork, so I won't comment much on that. It –seems- to me that it's kinda unique, in its own way and I like that.

I've never been one for races other than humans... not that I am racist. In your setting I think you've done well though, not using the cheesy standard races like elves, dwarves and whatnot. Unless you just renamed them.

Another thing that catched my attention is how you make the use of in-character description of things, events, e.t.c. I've wanted to do this for Plaguelands, but I realize I'm not so good at it. I have to say you've inspired me to try more though. Kudos!

You gave it your all, went in depth with slang and language thing. That takes some serious thinking effort, especially with the naming convention you're using, Kudos again!

I'll keep it at that for now. I might have more to say later!

[Xathan]

All entries are eligible! And I'm going to ignore what setting it was for - rather, I have a grading scale based on content, thought, helpfulness, etc that I'll use that's as unbiased as I could devise (thank God I know like 4 teachers who also are RPers who helped me design it).

[Xathan]

About 24 hours left to enter! Get those comments in! Remember, any in the eligible forums can be used!

[Superfluous Crow]

AH! Thought I had more time. Here is a late entry from me, hope it isn't disqualified for Microsoft product placement :p

I am a FATE novice as opposed to your two mentors, but I read through your thread (taking notes all the way; OneNote is the best software Microsoft has ever made) and I hope I can help out or at least provide you with some inspiration.

Going all the way back to the first post, there seems to a few minor discrepancies (to be expected for a WIP thread, of course!) namely the number of stress tracks and the skills that govern them. I remember the stress tracks as having static size, but might have changed with Dresden? Now they seem to be governed by Grit, Charisma and Determination. Yet these do not feature in your skill list later.
Tying the stress tracks to skills seems dangerous with broad skill categories; having a skill do nothing but affect the size of the stress track seems dull, but adding it to an existing skill makes it too powerful.
A have an idea for some more lovecraftian names for the stress tracks: Vigor and Psyche.
If you are still kind of interested in something akin to an addiction track, might I suggest something like a Desire track? If you group social and sanity under Psyche and add Desire you have three tracks which seems doable, and attacks to Desire might see your character pursue their goals or be tempted into bad deals and worse actions. Seems to fit the tone well enough, anyway. Would also be a good way to keep the plot moving if necessary.
A minor rules question: can I pick any number of skills as long as I observe the pyramid requirement you mentioned? And what is the lower level of the pyramid in this case, as I assume you are not forcing characters to assign the very worst rating (although you should certainly go beyond average to the bad ratings, just not all the way).

I don't really get the weapon categories; there should be something motivating a character to take a Category 1 weapon instead of a Category 3. This something might very well be the aspects tied to it, admittedly, but since all weapons have aspects it still seems a little unfair.
I realize that most warriors would rather hold a sword than a dagger in any fight, but this is a fairly cinematic setting which means that you'll probably have characters who want to use any and every insane combination of weapons available in their fight against ultimate alien evil.
I do like your example weapon aspects though, some of them are hilarious

As to the skills, many of them seem to be parallels to what one would consider an "attribute" in other gaming systems (e.g. might, dexterity etc).
I don't know whether this is a good thing, but it depends on your design goals. I feel like things that should be skills are things that are A) acquirable and/or improveable B) auxiliary to your character's nature. Things like might and dexterity reflect  how your character looks, handles and acts (they are, in  a way, a more ingrained part of a character) and I propose they might be better modelled with aspects. The problem aspects introduce, on the other hand, is a lack of range as it essentially limits you to being either "strong", "weak" or normal. (yes yes, these are horrible aspects; they are just for the sake of argument!)   
I wonder whether FATE could handle some kind of modular/scaled aspect?

Since you said you were looking for more Lovecraftian skill names, changing Grace to Etiquette (or Gentlemanship?) might work, although Grace isn't half bad. "Technology" (as a skill name) kind of bothers me, but I am having trouble coming up with an alternative. After some thesaurus browsing I found Machinist to be an apt candidate, but I don't know whether it completely encapsulates what you want that skill to cover.

Here is another snippet for your judgment, it might not look like much, but it seemed to be exactly what the thread creator was looking for so I hope that counts for something!

Considering the cold climes they hail from, I think rowed and covered galleys make the most sense. No one wants to be on deck and in the masts during a blizzard. I can imagine the ships being low and sturdy and having reinforced prows to break through ice floes. I see dark wood, cured leather and brass carved with duran scripture emerging from a frosty mist while covered in rime and barnacles.
I'm thinking something akin to a combination of a roman war galley, an icebreaker boat, a viking longship and a temple.

[beejazz]

A thought for next time, if there is one: nominations from recipients of comments. Could make the pre-game more competitive.

[Xathan]

There will be a next time, and that's an awesome idea.

[Xathan]

So, I swear that I've been holding off on this because I've been judging and weighing options and not because I've been completely distracted by school.

*cough*

Anyway, everyone did a great job - the reviews posted here were impressive, detailed, and exactly what a response to a thread should be. That being said, I do have to pick winners, and after careful consideration, the top 3 reviews are:


3) S. Crow's review on Agra aesthetics. While a shorter response than most, looking at the thread in context it is exactly what Leetz was looking for, and seems to be part of what sparked the ongoing partnership between Crow and Leetz on Agra, so it did it's job very well.
2) Steerpike's review of Terra Macabre. Much longer, but the basic reason for it's placement is the same: it is exactly the kind of help the thread's creator stated he need, and Steerpike took that to heart and went above and beyond with his level of detail.

and our first place winner....

1) Sparkletwist's Impolite Review of Cad Gaelor. It has all the elements of a great review, was unafraid to point out flaws in the setting, and most importantly, it was fun to read in its own right: while it is of course important for settings to be enjoyable to read, making your reviews helpful and enjoyable to read is something that makes the entire thread much better to read, contributing to the setting and the thread on different levels.

Well done everyone! I'll be getting badges out soon, and starting round two to run during winter break. :)

[Nomadic]

Congratulations sparkletwist. Congratulations to Crow and Steerpike as well. It always makes me feel good when I see the level of quality of the reviews on this site.

[Superfluous Crow]

Congratulations Sparkletwist! I'll gladly pass on the imaginary contest-crown to you, the impolite setting reviews are great, so your victory was well-deserved!

[Magnus Pym]

Congrats! :P

[LD]

Congratulations Sparkletwist. :)