Branimir Jurić

Online Nickname: SilaPrirode

Introduction 

TTRPGs are a major part of my life, both growing up and today. I have been playing for more then 20 years, sometimes as a PC but usually as a GM. Aside from playing I have also been heavily involved into homebrewing (for existing systems), designing (my own stuff and working on friends’ projects) and testing/developing.

In the last 6-7 years I have also expanded my interest to the broader community, I am involved in two different organized play organizations, one as a supporting member and one as a leader/organizer (Zmajeve Zgode). I am also planning on contributing to the local convention circuit, both in organization and in sessions/teaching. Also I am very keen on rules, rulesets, settings and everything else that goes with this wonderful hobby, in the last 3-4 years I have acquired and played more then 50 different games, and plan on getting that number up. This is basically a lifelong hobby for me 🙂

Why do you play/run RPGs?

Fantasy and SF has been a major part of my life from since I was born, I read Tolkien, Asimov, Zelazny and other wonderful and important writes since I have learned to read. Also video game RPGs have been a mainstay since I was very young, I played a slew of JRPGs before I was 10 years old, I learned English as a second language at 7 years of age precisely so I can follow the plot of Suikoden 1 and 2 and Final Fantasy 9. As an imaginative child with interest in fantasy and RPGs, DnD fell right into my lap.

I am now 36 years old and the passion is even stronger – I play to have fun, express myself, tell stories with friends (or myself for solo games!), I like the mechanical aspects of crunchy games. There is literally not a single thing I don’t like in TTRPGs, from simplest to most freeform to most rules heavy, everything has a place at my table.

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?

Well, for start, I do have a lot of time I can devote to projects like this. I don’t have kids, or any other major obligations really, apart from 40 hours of work every week. My work is relaxed enough, I work as a data analyst for telecom company, which means I have plenty of time during work hours for side stuff. All to say, my days are mostly free and I can devote them to my passions.

My family is my girlfriend, who is part of my steady gaming group 🙂 We meet up with friends twice a week, and all of them would be stoked to be part of this experience, they are all seasoned players and GMs. Writing this all out, I can give a 100% guarantee that I can test out rules at least twice per week for regulars sessions, with at least two more days on normal weeks.

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 have been a part of similar communities: I was a long term MtG judge, I was the recruitment specialist for both my company and my former student organization (AIESEC). Deadlines and organization is my jam, this is not the first high intensity project I would be a part of, that won’t be a problem for me.

Some qualifications I would like to mention:
– I am very strong in math/probabilities and in general number stuff, while also having a strong formal logic background. I am a member of MENSA, always score high on intelligence tests and have been a part of various competitions, my most prized one was first place in formal logic on national level during high school.

– I have a lot of experience with TTRPGs. While I do assume most of the judges have the same, taking apart rules and debating them is one of the things we do regularly in our gaming group, and have done so for years.

– In general I am good evaluator of my feelings/ideas and can put them down into concise words and precise numbers

– I am from Croatia, a small country in Europe that’s criminally underrepresented in TTRPG world. Balkans in general have a strong tradition of play, and I would be really happy to put us on the world map, even in this small way 🙂

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?

My favorite styles/genres of play (in no particular order) are mystery/narrative driven, horror and “underdogs trying to make things right”. In general my most important driving force is a robust story that players both discover and help build (with or without game mechanics), I like when all players at the table contribute to story, with GM serving as a “director” of sorts and guiding along. Apart from a strong story, I love interesting and colorful characters, who grow and change during the game.

My least played style are intimate/introspective ones, I much prefer my characters to grow in relation to the story/one another, I don’t particularly enjoy sitting for 10-15 minute monologues of ones internal feelings.

Game that at the moment best showcases my preferred playstyle is Fabula Ultima, it does a wonderful job of focusing on story/characters, making players take charge of any developments, and in general puts the focus on the game on parts I love the most, exploration, story and interesting and fun combat.

I consider myself a fan of a lot of things, I am currently obsessed with Free League Publishing and their various works, Tom Bloom is a hero (Lancer, upcoming ICON, Magnagothica: Maleghast, Cain and Goblin with a Fat Ass are all things I immensely enjoy), I can’t wait to see what happens with Cortex Prime now that is back on the table and I am a big fan of Legends of Avantris after I saw what they did with Crooked Moon. I would also like to shout out Lumen, great framework, I enjoy tinkering with it!

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?

Daggerheart – modern take on classic mechanics, innovative approach to the main roll (Hope/Fear), power based class building. In general, really polished, great game, I love how they approached things differently then established conventions in heroic fantasy. My favorite part is campaign frames, wonderful way to introduce people to homebrewing in game.

Twilight Sword – simple and sticks to the theme, JRPGs and adventure RPGs are an underused genre, visuals. TS is still not fully out yet but I think it does a lot of important things right, simple and fast combat turn resolutions, insanely good monster design, capturing the growing abilities of champions in different ways. My favorite is Despair/Hope mechanics, really simple but effective and cool way to guide the campaign, players and characters/story development along.

Last Arc – kinda stuck in the past but in good way, I wanted to see what a modern take on tactical, 2010s, TTRPG can look like. We bounced off pretty soon on this one, I think that it’s a great game for tactical minded folks that treat the games as skirmish miniature games. For more standard players the combat is too “advanced” and maybe even boring.

Mothership – great game, great vibes, one of the best horror games I have played. My only gripe is I am not sure how it would stand in longer plays, it seems like it’s more of a one-shot type of ruleset.

Chronicles of Darkness – Storyteller, a classic. We wanted to play regular people as vampire hunters, so we opted for chronicles instead of hunter the reckoning. Great game, not that great combat, as usual for storyteller games.

My favorite of those was Twilight Sword, mostly because it really captured that “legend of Zelda” feel that you can’t really get in classic fantasy play. It’s just “gamey” enough while still being rooted in fiction that it achieves a perfect balance of being both a roleplaying game and a mechanics driven game, while still being super simple.

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?

Lancer – one-shot to showcase the system to my group, to see if we want to make a campaign. I have been a long time fan of the ruleset, setting is great (one of the best), and mecha as genre is great pitch for my group. It was a great game, but my group bounced off the combat, it was too long/involved for their taste.

Fabula Ultima – full run campaign (35+ sessions). It really captured the feel of JRPGs and I loved the mechanical side (character creation is one of the best in my opinion). Also it did a lot of things right – the eight pillars, mechanical incentives to spend meta currency, how players influence the story/narrative direction. We had a lot of fun, it really does a lot of things right.

Mausritter – my first try with OSE/OSR style of play. I loved the idea and presentation, also the physical aspects of inventory are insanely cool. We played it in one-shot format, and while that style of play is not my favorite it’s still a great way to approach the game, everyone was roaring with laughter during some scenes.

Dnd 5.5e – Curse of Strahd campaign, heavily built upon and expanded. We are big fans of horror, and Strahd is a fan favorite. We played all other versions of this campaign so we decided to play this one too. It’s classic DnD, we homebrewed a lot of stuff for our enjoyment and in the end told a cool story.

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

I always look for 3 things: character creation, narrative mechanics/elements and character/story development.

Character creation – innovation, easy to understand, elegance (both with creation and character sheet), how does the process feel.

Narrative mechanics/elements – how does the game structure the play (for all types of play, from one-shots to full campaigns), how do players/GM influence the narrative, how is the meta currency done (if there is one), what are the pillars of gameplay.

Character/story development – how does character advancement work, is it connected with the story or is it own separate thing, how does story development work, are there clear signs/goals that give player the bigger picture.

Apart from those I also love innovative elements in classical stuff, for example, how are the dice treated (which ones are used, how does it impact the math)? I love how modern development is still in exploratory stage, we have a lot of mechanics still to discover and use and I am always on the lookout for new breakthroughs.

Lastly, of course, the presentation, both visual and in general. Rules have to be enjoyable to read, visuals of all kind are welcome, examples and clarifications are a must for some mechanics, etc.

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

Well I would always try to familiarize myself with the core rules first, the grand picture is always important.

Apart from that:
– supplements: what do they add to the game, is it just more of the same content or is there innovation? For example, if the supplement is meant to showcase new monsters I need not only statblocks but also rules and guidelines how to make my own, expansions to the core principles, etc. I don’t want just a big book of statblocks. The same goes for any other kind of supplement, it’s important to both showcase new stuff and give me tools to build my own.

– adventures: does it sound fun? is it well written? can I follow the information in a logical way? It’s hard to design a good adventure, there are many traps one can fall into.

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

I would like them to be more visible, right now it seems to me that ENNIES are their own corner of the TTRPG space, totally unconnected with what’s happening. I don’t think that’s true, but that’s the feeling.

Core principles should stay the same, but I think a more open space can be conductive to better involvement into the community.