Natalie Rodriguez

Online Nickname: POTaDOS

Introduction 

I am Natalie Rodriguez, and I’ve been playing TTRPGs for over 20 years and running them for about 15! I play and run a wide range of systems, from the big names to the tiny indies, and love RPGs as a medium for storytelling. I’m known locally as the person who knows a system for just about every genre and story, and I keep up with the new releases and follow games still in development!

Why do you play/run RPGs?

I adore storytelling, especially collaborative storytelling! The combination of dice and other people changes how the story plays out, and it’s uniquely satisfying when the mechanics and the narrative mesh together well.

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 am a member of the Space Coast Adventurer’s Guild, a TTRPG group in Florida, and have a long term online gaming group as well! Both groups are happy to support and hear me chatter about different games. My family also plays TTRPGs with the Guild.

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?

While I currently work in tech, my degree is in English, with a focus on writing and editing! I’ve done editing for a wide range of projects from personal writings to technical documents to literary journals! I’ve also reviewed journal submissions.

This, combined with a lot of experience playing TTRPGs, gives me a different perspective on critiquing not just the game and how it plays, but how it’s constructed.

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 enjoy a very wide range of games! My favorite systems share a major thing in common – they’re designed to give a specific sort of experience, whether that be a narrative or a gameplay one, and they are frequently very specific in genre.

Pasion de las Pasiones, Riverbank, and Paranoia are some of my current favorites for the chaotic, madcap nature of the gameplay, and the character vs character while the players are egging them on.

I also very much enjoy the flexibility and modular nature of character creation in games like Lancer, Legend of the Five Rings, and Legend in the Mist.

I enjoy horror games even if they don’t always work for me specifically, and I tend to avoid games that inherently very gory.

 

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?

Legend of the Five Rings is one of my favorites due to how the titular Rings inform your character’s approach to the world as well as give their stats. It makes characters feel unique and makes roleplaying them come very naturally!

Avatar Legends is another one I really enjoy playing – interpersonal relationships flow naturally from the mechanics, which encourage characters to cheer or challenge each other.

On the flip side, I have a lot of fun making new builds in Lancer and testing the limits of what’s possible to do!

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?

I love introducing systems to people and actually got an award last year for the widest range of systems run within the Space Coast Adventurer’s Guild! As a whole we ran 90 different systems and personally I’ve ran close to 20 different ones.

I tend to choose systems to run based on what my players enjoy – I just finished running an Imperium Maledictum oneshot this afternoon and run weekly Lancer and Vampire the Masquerade games. But I also look for quality adventures and settings for inspiration. With as many one shots as I run, being able to smoothly create characters and teach the rules efficienctly is also very important.

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

To me there’s a few major points to look at:
– What game do I want to Play? i.e. is it clear to learn and play? How is character creation?
– What game do I want to Run? i.e. are the rules clear? Is the layout well organized for quick reference? Are there interesting modules or do I have tools for making my own adventures?
– What game adds to TTRPGs as a genre/medium? i.e. is it innovating new mechanics, or improving on existing ones? Is it telling a different story than others in the field? Is there something unique about the game in art, setting, etc?

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

I can always learn the rules and the basics of them, but a good adventure often is system agnostic – how clear is the narrative and the goals of the scenes/encounters? How easy is it to follow as a GM? Are there tools for when players inevitably go off the rails?

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

I’d love to see more highlighting of indie games and creators!
While I understand the need for sponsorships, the Ennies should always remain a neutral body and not give favor to any sponsors or paid promotions.