Lizz Liberda

Introduction 

Hi! I’m Lizz, and a 40yo mom of 3 living in Ohio. I’ve been gaming for the entirety of my adult life, and my friends I’ve made gaming have brought me across the country, and made my life what it is today!

I will make a good judge because, first – I’m a fast, comprehensive, reader. It’s a lot of material to get through! And second – even with Genres that aren’t my thing, I can see and appreciate when something is well made for someone who likes that style of gaming.

Why do you play/run RPGs?

As for playing- I love getting immersed in a story and character. I love the twists and turns and messing up the GMs best laid plans with a ridiculous nat 20. (Or whatever that system uses)

When I run games, I run to see that excitement from the other side. (And hope they don’t mess up my best laid plans too badly!)

Gaming has been one of my loves since I discovered it was a thing I could do. Playing and reading adventures and seeing the threads tie together is my way of connecting with friends and entertaining myself, friends, and family.

The ENNIES requires a major commitment of time and energy. What resources do you have that will help you discharge these responsibilities? Will your gaming group or other individuals be assisting you? Does your family support you?

I’ve got a few great groups of gamers around me to run through games with me. One meets at least weekly, and we have been gaming together for 5 years. I have others that meet more sporadically. My husband is excited to have a ready made amazing things to talk about and spend our free time on, and my kids are just getting old enough to be into gaming, and maybe help try some games too!

Judging requires a great deal of critical thinking skills, communication with other judges, deadline management, organization, and storage space for the product received. What interests, experience, and skills do you bring that will make you a more effective judge?

Mostly, I love taking notes and sharing info on things I love. My day job involves taking info, working through it, putting together the important points, and sharing it for feedback and questions, so I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it.

What styles and genres of RPGs do you enjoy most? Are there any styles or genres that you do not enjoy? Which games best exemplify what you like? Do you consider yourself a fan of a particular system, publisher, or genre?

I genrally like games set with some sort of fantasy/supernatural setting. D&D, Shadowrun, and World of Darkness are my most commonly played games, but it’s more based on the game/story being run than the specific RPG. I can have a blast with a clunky system and setting if I’m playing with friends. When given a choice, I tend to lean away from military style games. (both current and futuristic)

List (up to 5) games you’ve played in the last 2 years. What drew you to playing them? Which did you like best and why?

D&D – Curse of Strahd – Wild beyond the Witchlight
Pugmire
Tales of the Valient
Vampire the Masquerade
The Quiet Year

I play games to spend time with my friends and family, so these were all great for that. I really loved the story through Wild beyond the Witchlight- parts of it were used in multiple of our campaigns – and there is just so much fun bits and details that kept both groups engaged – We played with both adults with a darker group, and my kids, who are having a blast playing through it.

Have you been a game master in the past 2 years? If yes, what games have you run? What made you decide to run those games?

No. I’ve had a couple of long term games I’ve been playing in, and lots of friends with game ideas they’re super excited to run for one shots and short campaigns. I haven’t needed to step in and run anything.

Summarize the criteria you would use to determine if a game deserves to be nominated for Best Game.

– Well written and edited
– Interesting story/plot
– Rules that don’t obviously contradict each other.

How will you judge supplements or adventures for game systems whose core rules you are unfamiliar with or you believe are badly designed?

For systems I don’t know – Find a core book, someone who has it, or someone who knows it, to either read what I need or be given a run down enough to understand the supplement.

For systems I don’t love – a great story/game idea can be put over a difficult system. I love reading adventures for the whole package. I can dislike a system and love the adventure, and judge those two parts on their own.

How would you like to see the ENNIEs change? What should remain inviolate?

I haven’t had a lot of experience with the ENNIES yet, beyond seeing their final nominations, so I’ll have more feedback on this next year, hopefully!