Diar Davey-Rogerson

Introduction 

Hello, I am Diar, it is nice to meet you. I would be a good ENNIES judge because I am professional and fair, as well as having nearly thirty years experience around RPGs. As a queer individual, I would bring a distinct perspective that would be good to have represented on the panel.

Why do you play/run RPGs?

I have been playing and running RPGs since I was seven years old. I enjoy the storytelling, character interaction, thematic exploration and suspense. Most of all, I appreciate the chance to socialise and build community.

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 independently wealthy and have a very supportive family. I will not be asking other people to assist me because I would be the judge. They are not the judge, so it would be unethical to include them.

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?

I am director of a non-profit with a big garage. I am extremely proficient at all of the skills mentioned, as well as ranking things and making decisions.

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 generally have a history of playing homebrew systems. I’ve played a variety of rules-light, and rules heavy systems, in a mix of genres. I’ll happily try anything once.

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?

Games I have played in the last 2 years include: Mappa Mundi, Stars Without Number, Discworld: Adventures In Ankh-Morpork, Avatar Legends and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

The one I enjoyed the most was Mappa Mundi, which I was interested in trying due to it’s focus on storytelling and exploration. I really enjoyed the art and setting, and the chance to interact in that space with interesting characters was a delight.

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?

Yes. I have run a variety of one-shots. You can find a video of an AP where I ran them here: https://youtu.be/ZH6R2y1n2TA. These include but are not limited to ‘Honk! Honk! TTRPG‘ by La Lionne Publishing, ‘Nice Marines‘ by Grant Howitt and ‘The Workplace‘ by Matteo Sciutteri. I picked these games in order to highlight European creators and because their systems blended well together. The goal was to make it funny to raise money for charity.

I have also run ‘You Are A Frog‘ for my homegroup. I decided to run this game because it seemed whimsical and fun and I wanted to provide my group with the chance to be a frog.

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

Is the game:
1. Well written? 2. Well designed? 3. Inclusive? 4. Original? 5. Fun? 6. Saying anything interesting?

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

If I’m unfamiliar with them then I’ll learn them. I’m not judging the system, I’m judging the supplement. I’ll look at the aspects of the supplement independent of the wider system.

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

I think people who work in the industry should probably be allowed to be judges, if they recuse themselves from relevant work. There should be a minimum standard of diversity for the judging panel. I think the whole process could be a bit more transparent. Some of the questions in this application probably aren’t required.