The Golden Quill Award

While Doug Rhea of North Texas RPG Convention and I were exploring my idea of the Three Castles Award™ last year, I was also nursing another idea in the vein.  This one is more personal and depends less on voting. It's my personal choice.   It's not limited to RPG but includes all table-top games.   It doesn't require someone submitting a game, but if the author or publisher feels strongly about their creation, they may do so.  It's meant to recognize truly inspirational and original game design.  I will be looking about the net as I always do, searching for that needle in a haystack; or if some fan, author or publisher of said game feels I should have a look at a particular piece,  I will read reviews if any, attempt to query the author/designer, explain the award and thereafter if I feel assured that there is a likelihood of it being a high grade in my estimation, I will purchase it, read it, seek others opinions, if possible, and then make a decision.

A small overview beyond that is presented below.  My caution is this:  Don't go suggesting your most recent fan-driven experience without first considering whether you have prior insight into what would be considered good or better game design. Though I can appreciate that sort of excitement, please look before you leap to save time for everyone involved in this, yourself, myself and perhaps even the author(s).  I expect for the most part to do this on my own with some product-pointers here or there from friends, associates or colleagues.  The monetary conferment available per annum is $500.00 in private funds earmarked for escrow and generated through the sale of my publications.  One such title, a reprinting of my adventure, "ICE GRAVE" which first appeared in TROLL MAGAZINE #1, 1997, is nearly finished.  It just requires some additional art that I am waiting on.

Original Cover Art for TROLL MAGAZINE #1 Featuring the Attack of the Ice Morph, from my Adventure, Ice Grave. Illustration Copyright Melissa A. Benson

I am happy to note that Black Blade Publishing will be hosting the .pdf of this old adventure set in my WORLD OF KALIBRUHN™, but as always, quite useful as a generic adventure outside of this due to the isolation of the adventure locale. There can be multiple awards (thus reducing the conferment to each designer), for instance, if I find more than one who is deserving.  The more originality presented in a design will earn it a higher cash award to the limit of the per annum amount. True designers will know what is original or not and what is merely a formulaic approach or add-on to past designs, which in essence may make them unique when set side-by-side with their predecessors, but hardly original.  I'm looking for the platinum here, not the electrum.

If there are questions, you can either post them here or reference my profile for my email to write me directly.

Three Castles Award™ UPDATE

There is an update expanding on the Three Castles Award™ at this North Texas RPGCon LINK.

The 3CA Judges Guidelines are finished.  These are not public but are made available to judges and 3CA folks only.  The update (second paragraph) notes in general what categories each entry will be judged for.

The THREE CASTLES Award (Link)

The submission guidelines are here in pdf form.  Doug has also created a discussion topic at the NTRPGCon site forums for those with any questions or comments.

Three Castles Award™ Guidelines Finished (UPDATED 1)

I was delayed by a very nasty bug which is going about, but I've recently finished the submission guidelines and forms for the 3C Award!

Doug Rhea and I will now go over same before making them available.

UPDATE 1:  Doug and I had email exchanges and a phone call that ironed out some minor details with the submission guidelines. They will be posted in PDF form tomorrow or the next day at NTRPGCON's site and I will link to that download with the next UPDATE.  

The THREE CASTLES Award

How It Came into Being

I will take full blame for the initial award idea.  Very soon after returning home from NTRPGCon #1 I contacted Doug Rhea and suggested this, then drew three roughs for him to look at. In between I roughed out the award process and we discussed the preliminary rules by phone and email. A furious email exchange soon ensued between us where the idea started to take firmer root.  The initial plan was a very intricately designed plaque, but as it turns out, Doug was bitten by the scope and immensity of the idea, which is to award "The VERY Best" in RPG design. He now suggested that it be a 3D sculpture.   I, of course, stood back, not wanting to suggest expenditures which were not coming out of my own coffers.  No worry there, quoth Douglas!  So, in pictures, this is how it took shape:

Step 1) I commissioned Andrew Taylor (ATOM) to give us standard views of the three castles used in D&D's play-test,1972-1973:  Blackmoor, Greyhawk and El Raja Key.  Andy produced the following concept sketches from my detailed notes, all of which were splendid and accepted.

Step 2) I introduced Lauren Hawkins to Doug after David LaForce (Diesel) who Doug had originally contacted could not go forward with the design or the sculpt due to other concerns. Lauren (Journalizer from this blog) stepped firmly in with her 3D rendering mastery to craft the final composite design based on Andy's full-blown sketches, and from many angles.  There ensued another furious email exchange between Lauren, Doug and myself wherein we nailed down many specifics about the final design.

Step 3)  Doug passed  along Lauren's excellent finished design and many perspective sketches to the sculptor at Awardsideas.com.  The sculpting process was now in full gear.

Step 4)  Finish.  About a month before the convention and after 10 months of work in various forms from my initial ideas and drawings.  Doug and I, Andy and Lauren and the sculptor are all proud of it!  It's possibly one of the most expensive awards ever rendered for our industry and certainly each of these is a piece of art that any deserving RPG designer would be proud to have on their shelf.

The 3C Award:  What it Is and What it Isn't...

This award is for true excellence in RPG design.  The criteria for winning is very demanding. There will be only one award given per year so the competition could be very tough,  However, the judges can rule that no submission equals the rules standards and thus a year could have no winner.  This is not a placebo (or best of what has been submitted) award, as I noted at the convention introduction to the award where Doug and I spoke about it.  There will be several stages which pare down the entrants, and if by the final round none have met the criteria, no award will be issued that year.  As Vice-Chairman of the 3C Award Steering Committee, the process I am drafting for the adjudicators is both stringent but refined.  The competition is not only among the entrants. More importantly, each submission will be eyed for raising the bar when compared to past designs of excellence in our industry. 

NTRPGCon co-founder and Chairman of the 3C Award Steering Committee, Doug Rhea, will receive RPG submissions for 2011 between Oct 01 and Dec 31.  News on submission and closure dates will be posted on the NTRPGCON site very soon along with full submission guidelines.

Year 2011's 3C Award judges have roughly 200 years of game design and other far-ranging industry experience between them.  Many of the judges have been nominated for, or won, awards for work in our industry.  Their work as a whole has been noted for excellence and/or for raising the bar in game design or interrelated areas.  They are:  Dennis Sustare, Paul Jaquays, Steven J. Winter, Tim Kask and Robert J. Kuntz.

Enjoy the news and be looking for more updates here and at NTRPGCON.com !

North Texas RPGCon: Over and Out

I had more than a blast at NTRPGCon.  More to follow, but highlights were meeting and gaming with Kyrinn Eis (Timeshadows, the Urutskian Queen), running my Dungeon of Death twice, gaming and chatting with myriads of friends and fellow conventioneers, like Allan Grohe, Tim Kask, Chris Finch, Alan Silcock, John Lile, Brian Kawano, Jason Braun (and his counterpart in art Amanda) and a host of others, and announcing with Doug Rhea the annual "Three Castles Award" (photo included).  More as I recover and come up to ordinary speed.