Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Crafting the Charmies Catagories

Due to my disappointment with a certain annual RPG awards show, I have decided to start my own. The Charmies will be an award for the best RPG products, blogs and even people who I have encountered in the year from June to May every year. I'll be the only judge regarding nominees (since I am an expert on what I like) but I will hopefully be able to set up a voting booth for the public to voice their opinion.

In the meantime, I need to figure out what categories I want in the Charmies. Below is a list of categories I think work, many scrapped from that other award group that should be doing better. I have gotten rid of the categories I felt are redundant and added some I think are important to the RPG community.

If I'm missing something important or should cut something, please let me know.

Best Adventure - An 'adventure' is a supplement that focuses on a specific story or plot. This includes dungeons, mega- or nega-.
Best Setting - Less focused than an adventure, much more 'big picture.' This includes sandboxes that don't expect a specific plot to take hold.
Best Supplement - A more vague category, but intended for books like rules options, classes, races, spells, weapons, etc., that don't focus on a setting or adventure.
Best Aid/Accessory - Products that help people play games that don't fit the typical 'book' format.
Best Art - A product that contains the best art, either by an individual or a team of artists.
Best Cartography - Best maps, with a focus on artistic merit and functionality.
Best Rules - A focus on clear, concise rules that maximize fun at the table.
Best Monster - Best specific monster or villain. Not necessarily the best collection of monsters.
Best Production Values - Best overall production, including artwork, material quality, PDF features, layout and design.
Best Writing - The product that brings the most joy from simply reading.
Best Website - This includes blogs, web apps and more traditional sites.
Best Blog Post - Best specific blog post.
Best Old Product - I'm not only going to read or buy new products this year. This award is for best product I encounter that was released before the relevant year.
Best Free Product - The best product that costs no money to procure, including Pay-What-You-Want.
Product of the Year - The best single product. Anything is on the table.
Person of the Year - The one person who made the greatest single impact on RPGs in the year, hopefully for the best.
The Zak S. Memorial Award for the Advancement of Diversity in Roleplaying Games - The name is (sort of) a joke, but the award is totally serious. I want to see who is actively working towards diversity and inclusion in the RPG hobby and praise them for their efforts. This includes designers of minorities who produce excellent games or people who foster productive discussion about helping RPGs reach a more diverse audience. Smug white dude who weaponize minorities need not apply.

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