Judging Iron GM
People have asked how the judging worked at the Iron GM competition between Ryan Macklin and Brian Isikoff at Endgame 9/25. Here are the kind of things we did and the kinds of things we looked for, although your mileage may vary. Bruce Harlick was the other judge, and I hope he'll post his own views.
Iron GM is inspired by the Japanese Iron Chef show, in which 2 master chefs have 1 hour to cook 5 dishes all using a theme ingredient, which are then evaluated by a panel of judges. There's also an inferior American remake.
In Iron GM, two GMs use a pre-agreed game system to each run a game for (in this case) 4 players in absolutely no more than 4 hours, incorporating ingredients revealed at the beginning. The judges watch and ask questions and amuse themselves, and at the end each GM gives a 2-minute talk on how they cleverly incorporated the required ingredients, then go have a drink while the judges ask questions of the players. Then the judges go off and talk a bit, separately write down scores in various categories, add the scores up, and tell the MC the result (but not the scores). The GMs return, and the MC announces the result. (The actual scores aren't revealed. The show does that, but I don't think it's a good idea in a friendly competition.) Typically, there is then more drinking.
First, a caveat! Brian and Ryan are really good GMs, and made Iron GM look a lot easier than it is. If you want to try Iron GM again, make sure your GMs are IRON, and not just brass or bronze or tin or like that.
Second, it would have been MUCH less fun for the judge had there only been one, so don't do that. There must be at least two judges, and they must both be good GMs themselves. I don't think they have to know the game system, but it's useful. Ideally, the second judge is Bruce Harlick, because he's very entertaining to co-judge with. I don't think a third judge is necessary, but try it and see if you like. Having a third or at least alternate judge has the advantage that if one judge can't make it, you still have two judges. The judges should not be players and vice versa.
Now, the details!
Plan for 5 hours with room to run over. A bit to get everyone settled, 4 hours (and not 1 second more) to create and run the game, and some time for judging after.
Karen T organized the event, Chris R of Endgame agreed to MC. Bruce and I agreed to judge. Brian and Ryan agreed to GM. Karen & Chris also played. It would be handy to have some alternate players lined up although with some scrambling Karen made sure each GM had 4 players. It's important that both GMs have the same number of players. 4 each is best for our purposes.
Well before the appointed time, Karen and Chris and Bruce and I worked out tables of required ingredients to be used in the game, with dice rolls just before the start to decide which would be used. That's not necessary but was fun. The 4 ingredients were Genre, Location, Adversary, and Item. Three might have been enough, and some contests might want to just decide on them instead of rolling, but this way there was no chance the information could leak, since we didn't know ourselves. It does mean you could get some strange combinations, but that's all part of the challenge.
On the day of the event, we set up two tables (alike in size, shape, and dignity) chairs, and the judge's table between them. Each judge got a clipboard with their scoresheet, and they'll need a timer (Bruce used his iPhone).
The judges roll the ingredients in secret and note them on their scoresheets, on a piece of paper for the MC to announce at the start, and on two notecards to give to each GM at the start.
The MC explains how the contest will work.
Just before the ingredient announcement, 8 cards (Ace through 4 of Hearts and Spades) are shuffled and cut by the judges and players each draw one, to determine which GM's table they'll play at. Players take their seats at the tables, the GMs each make a short declaration of their fighting spirit. The MC reads the ingredients aloud (Horror, Secret Temple, Pirates, Secret Weapon) and declares "BEGIN!" as the judges hand the ingredient notecards to the GMs and start their timer.
Bruce announced time remaining at 3 hours left, 2 hours, 1 hour, 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and had it been necessary, 1 minute. I don't recommend doing a last 10-second countdown like the TV show, but when time is called, the games END. Not one more word! Emphasize that at the beginning.
During the game, the judges watch the games, ask questions of the GMs (not of the players. Players are *ingredients*), make notes, and talk quietly to each other. It's good to avoid interrupting the GM's flow, so ask questions when there's an opening and it'll be entertaining rather than noxious. But make sure up front the GMs and players know there WILL be questions. Just a few minutes in I asked the GMs to let me know when character creation was done (and when they notified me, I noted the time on my score sheet, although I won't say if it was a factor or not). We also took note of breaks - a good GM doesn't make players sit 4 hours straight until their bladders explode.
On Iron Chef, there are a lot of detailed technique questions, and so I asked some of those, to get a feel for things like how they were doing skill trees, how many aspects, how many fate points. FATE has a lot of adjustable bits.
We made notes on GM preparation and materials. Did they have the game book? Character sheets? Dice? At this level all those should be givens, but the sorts of material a GM brings can be useful to observe.
Throughout, watch for use of the ingredients. It's a given that GMs at this level can run an entertaining improvised game in 4 hours, the challenge is in incorporating ALL the ingredients, and not just check them off, but blend them and play them off against each other.
Ideally, watch the Japanese Iron Chef a time or few to get a feel for the rhythm of the questions. "You're using necrotic energy hounds? Are those skinned or skinless?" "Skinless, and they're transformed from south east asian pirates." "Oh, those would be good fried!" Keep the questions sharp, focused, and use them sparingly.
Ask questions, but don't make suggestions! Pay attention to what the players are doing as well as the GMs. You're judging the GMs, and interaction with players is a big part of what a GM does, after all.
The clipboards are essential. The score sheets were very useful: each judge had one page with places to write the 4 ingredients at the top, then a column for each GM with rows for the scoring criteria. GMs were judged on:
There was also a place to note Favorite Moments.
When 4 hours is up (or before then, if both adventures finish early), each GM is called upon to describe his use of the ingredients to the judges, in no more than 2 minutes each. Then the GMs go off out of earshot and have a beer or whatever. The judges then talk to each group of players for a few minutes about how the game went. Did they have fun? What did they think of how the ingredients were used? What were their favorite moments?
The judges then take all the paper trail generated by the games (if they want to) and go off by themselves and discuss as they see fit, then separately note their scores and add them up. Unlike the TV show, the actual numbers are never revealed, only the final result of who won.
The GMs are called back, the MC declares the winner in sufficiently extravagant fashion, and the GMs, players, judges, and everyone is thanked. In this case, each GM named one of their players to compete in the next Iron GM contest, which will be Matt Steele vs. Mike Bogan, game and time to be determined. Ingredients should not be re-used.
Many thanks to everyone else involved, and I'm happy to answer questions in comments or email.
Iron GM is inspired by the Japanese Iron Chef show, in which 2 master chefs have 1 hour to cook 5 dishes all using a theme ingredient, which are then evaluated by a panel of judges. There's also an inferior American remake.
In Iron GM, two GMs use a pre-agreed game system to each run a game for (in this case) 4 players in absolutely no more than 4 hours, incorporating ingredients revealed at the beginning. The judges watch and ask questions and amuse themselves, and at the end each GM gives a 2-minute talk on how they cleverly incorporated the required ingredients, then go have a drink while the judges ask questions of the players. Then the judges go off and talk a bit, separately write down scores in various categories, add the scores up, and tell the MC the result (but not the scores). The GMs return, and the MC announces the result. (The actual scores aren't revealed. The show does that, but I don't think it's a good idea in a friendly competition.) Typically, there is then more drinking.
First, a caveat! Brian and Ryan are really good GMs, and made Iron GM look a lot easier than it is. If you want to try Iron GM again, make sure your GMs are IRON, and not just brass or bronze or tin or like that.
Second, it would have been MUCH less fun for the judge had there only been one, so don't do that. There must be at least two judges, and they must both be good GMs themselves. I don't think they have to know the game system, but it's useful. Ideally, the second judge is Bruce Harlick, because he's very entertaining to co-judge with. I don't think a third judge is necessary, but try it and see if you like. Having a third or at least alternate judge has the advantage that if one judge can't make it, you still have two judges. The judges should not be players and vice versa.
Now, the details!
Plan for 5 hours with room to run over. A bit to get everyone settled, 4 hours (and not 1 second more) to create and run the game, and some time for judging after.
Karen T organized the event, Chris R of Endgame agreed to MC. Bruce and I agreed to judge. Brian and Ryan agreed to GM. Karen & Chris also played. It would be handy to have some alternate players lined up although with some scrambling Karen made sure each GM had 4 players. It's important that both GMs have the same number of players. 4 each is best for our purposes.
Well before the appointed time, Karen and Chris and Bruce and I worked out tables of required ingredients to be used in the game, with dice rolls just before the start to decide which would be used. That's not necessary but was fun. The 4 ingredients were Genre, Location, Adversary, and Item. Three might have been enough, and some contests might want to just decide on them instead of rolling, but this way there was no chance the information could leak, since we didn't know ourselves. It does mean you could get some strange combinations, but that's all part of the challenge.
On the day of the event, we set up two tables (alike in size, shape, and dignity) chairs, and the judge's table between them. Each judge got a clipboard with their scoresheet, and they'll need a timer (Bruce used his iPhone).
The judges roll the ingredients in secret and note them on their scoresheets, on a piece of paper for the MC to announce at the start, and on two notecards to give to each GM at the start.
The MC explains how the contest will work.
Just before the ingredient announcement, 8 cards (Ace through 4 of Hearts and Spades) are shuffled and cut by the judges and players each draw one, to determine which GM's table they'll play at. Players take their seats at the tables, the GMs each make a short declaration of their fighting spirit. The MC reads the ingredients aloud (Horror, Secret Temple, Pirates, Secret Weapon) and declares "BEGIN!" as the judges hand the ingredient notecards to the GMs and start their timer.
Bruce announced time remaining at 3 hours left, 2 hours, 1 hour, 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and had it been necessary, 1 minute. I don't recommend doing a last 10-second countdown like the TV show, but when time is called, the games END. Not one more word! Emphasize that at the beginning.
During the game, the judges watch the games, ask questions of the GMs (not of the players. Players are *ingredients*), make notes, and talk quietly to each other. It's good to avoid interrupting the GM's flow, so ask questions when there's an opening and it'll be entertaining rather than noxious. But make sure up front the GMs and players know there WILL be questions. Just a few minutes in I asked the GMs to let me know when character creation was done (and when they notified me, I noted the time on my score sheet, although I won't say if it was a factor or not). We also took note of breaks - a good GM doesn't make players sit 4 hours straight until their bladders explode.
On Iron Chef, there are a lot of detailed technique questions, and so I asked some of those, to get a feel for things like how they were doing skill trees, how many aspects, how many fate points. FATE has a lot of adjustable bits.
We made notes on GM preparation and materials. Did they have the game book? Character sheets? Dice? At this level all those should be givens, but the sorts of material a GM brings can be useful to observe.
Throughout, watch for use of the ingredients. It's a given that GMs at this level can run an entertaining improvised game in 4 hours, the challenge is in incorporating ALL the ingredients, and not just check them off, but blend them and play them off against each other.
Ideally, watch the Japanese Iron Chef a time or few to get a feel for the rhythm of the questions. "You're using necrotic energy hounds? Are those skinned or skinless?" "Skinless, and they're transformed from south east asian pirates." "Oh, those would be good fried!" Keep the questions sharp, focused, and use them sparingly.
Ask questions, but don't make suggestions! Pay attention to what the players are doing as well as the GMs. You're judging the GMs, and interaction with players is a big part of what a GM does, after all.
The clipboards are essential. The score sheets were very useful: each judge had one page with places to write the 4 ingredients at the top, then a column for each GM with rows for the scoring criteria. GMs were judged on:
- Use of Ingredients, 10 points
- Originality, 5 points
- Presentation, 5 points
- Player Enjoyment, 5 points
There was also a place to note Favorite Moments.
When 4 hours is up (or before then, if both adventures finish early), each GM is called upon to describe his use of the ingredients to the judges, in no more than 2 minutes each. Then the GMs go off out of earshot and have a beer or whatever. The judges then talk to each group of players for a few minutes about how the game went. Did they have fun? What did they think of how the ingredients were used? What were their favorite moments?
The judges then take all the paper trail generated by the games (if they want to) and go off by themselves and discuss as they see fit, then separately note their scores and add them up. Unlike the TV show, the actual numbers are never revealed, only the final result of who won.
The GMs are called back, the MC declares the winner in sufficiently extravagant fashion, and the GMs, players, judges, and everyone is thanked. In this case, each GM named one of their players to compete in the next Iron GM contest, which will be Matt Steele vs. Mike Bogan, game and time to be determined. Ingredients should not be re-used.
Many thanks to everyone else involved, and I'm happy to answer questions in comments or email.