Aurelien Laroulandie
Introduction
We all wear many faces, and I’m no exception:
– I’m a professional historian by training, a writer and translator by trade, and an entrepreneur by obligation. Award winner in all these fields, and a jury member in most of them at one point or another.
– I’m an active researcher, specializing in the evaluation process. Writing and translation, mostly.
– I’m an international profile. French by birth, but I have spent my life between Asia, Europe, and the US. That’s given me a fine mixture of influences and sensibilities from many different communities around the world.
– I’ve led many initiatives over the years, from international symposiums and writing workshops, to companies and TTRPG conventions. Leaving me with a strong set of organizational skills.
And of course, I’m a TTRPG enthusiast, although the word enthusiast is probably too modest for my involvement with the TTRPG community. I recently launched a YouTube channel where I review games and question the way we’ve done things until now. But is that really important? Well, if it is, the answers below will surely help you get to know me better.
Why do you play/run RPGs?
– I play them because they offer me a different perspective, they force me to see things from another angle.
– I play them for all the people I meet at the table, and all the wonderful stories I can tell afterward from what we lived together.
– I play them because I love creativity, and because I love reflecting on why a game was made in a certain way.
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?
– Experience: From participating in award committees to managing projects with hundreds of to-do items.
– Time: I start a year-long sabbatical this September, that will surely help a lot.
– Support: I can also rely on two very active online communities I’ve helped build along the way. One of these communities was created precisely to help test and review games for my YT channel. I know they will be extra helpful during this ENNIE adventure.
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?
– Critical thinking is what I teach at university, alongside creative writing and translation. Organization is where I thrive. Communication is a point I’m striving to improve, but I have enough experience in large-scale projects to know how to behave.
– My former experience as a jury member in literature/translation awards and the reviewing framework I developed for my TTRPG channel are two points which will be useful, I believe.
– Overall, my strengths probably lie in (1) a strong analytical sense, (2) an unrelenting work ethic, and (3) an openness to different sensibilities, cultures, and points of view.
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’m eclectic. I run classics, OSR and narrative games, big names and small indies, duet and solo RPGs too. Not a lot of High Fantasy though, as I favor modern and sci-fi settings. I like good systems, but I like good stories a lot more, as that’s what makes TTRPGs stand out from other types of games in my opinion. I like the old-fashioned way of playing around a table, but I also like all the immersive tools that VTTs have brought with them.
As such, I don’t consider myself a fan of anything in particular. Instead, I believe the way we make TTRPGs today is changing radically from what we used to do, as different communities are bringing new ideas to the table. And I think the role of the ENNIE awards is to pay tribute to those ideas.
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?
Between my two weekly games and annual TTRPG conventions, I probably play more than 60 games a year, every year. If I had to pick only a few signature games:
– Alien RPG: For its atmosphere, and its perfect blending of the mechanics and the story it tells.
– Liminal Horror: For giving life to this new version of OSR, and for taking over where Mothership left off.
– Brindlewood Bay: For offering a new way to run investigation, and for just being awesome.
– Broken Compass: For teaching players how to take risks while having fun, and because I play too many horror games otherwise.
– Thousand Year Old Vampire: Because Solo RPGs is a brave new blend, taking risks where other genres wouldn’t dare.
I could add to the list games like Mothership, Delta Green, Public Access, Blade Runner, Broken Tales, Mythic Bastionland, Perils & Princesses, Cthulhu Dark, Ten Candles, Breathless, Midnight of the Century, Blurred Lines, Kobold Ate my Baby! And still, it would only be a small fraction of what I’ve played these past two years.
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?
Same as above. Because I’m mostly a GM, the only time I’m not behind the screen is when I want to see how other GMs are running games I enjoy.
Summarize the criteria you would use to determine if a game deserves to be nominated for Best Game.
In my understanding, Best Game is a category assessing how a game brings together the different elements of its design. These elements include the game mechanics (character creation, action resolution, sub-systems like combat), the art direction (cover, illustrations, layout), the setting (originality of the idea, accessibility of the information, writing), the game materials (character sheets, cheat sheets, handouts, VTT modules if available, etc.), but also the quality of the official scenarios/campaigns (as those best exemplify how the author pictures their game).
From there, these are the questions I would consider relevant:
1) Is the core idea of the game clearly established and developed throughout the game?
2) Do all the elements above effectively support the core idea of the game?
3) Is this core idea adequately explained to the GM through the book?
4) Does the game create actual emotions on the player’s side when played?
I’m still curious to know what elements are important to the other judges, and how to balance our perspectives in the discussion to come.
How will you judge supplements or adventures for game systems whose core rules you are unfamiliar with or you believe are badly designed?
You mean, other than going and checking the rulebook?
I would find videos of people talking about it or doing actual play. Even better, I would try to find people who love the game and have them explain to me why. The important thing is to seek another point of view, to understand why someone else loves a game I don’t.
How would you like to see the ENNIEs change? What should remain inviolate?
I’m waiting to survive the process to make any judgments on what should change. But the statements made by Clayton Notestine in his blog Explorers Design seem relevant. The judging and application structure will probably need to evolve one day, given the amount of works submitted at the moment.
On the other hand, the spirit of discovery animating the ENNIEs should remain, even better if it’s done while allowing a broader discussion about what makes good design in TTRPG. That’s how we all progress as a community.
