That dead thump you heard, the one that sounded like a body hitting the sidewalk from ten stories up, that was the sound of the Origins Awards nominees being announced in Las Vegas at GTS last week. The nominees are in, and the pundits are pissed. Let’s face it, no one who has any sense likes the changes made to the awards over the last few years. As Bruce Baugh so lucidly pointed out, the whole supplement/game conundrum was a horrible decision. For those of you at home making odd faces, here is the scoop.

In 2000 and 2001 people were terrified of the DDL Juggernaut. Terrified, Terrified, Terrified. DDL was going to crush everything. Oh the horror, oh the huge manatee… The doom and angst threatened the very foundations of the hobby! Either that, or someone was making a decision with little basis in reality, and no knowledge of previous trends. The Academy decided that a game had to stand alone, as in not require another book to play. Because of this, books like Werewolf, Mage, and Iron Heroes are supplements. In much the same way, my car is a game accessory.

By the way, for me the Origins Awards discussions are fraught with peril, and along this way lay madness. Anyway, the nomination process is now juried, and pretty much leaves out anyone who cannot afford to send free copies to the entire jury. Frankly, any awards of 2005 that leave out Werewolf: the Forsaken, Truth & Justice, Second Edition Shadow of Yesterday, and Third Edition Legend of the Five Rings can go hang. In the old system the company didn’t make a decision to nominate; anyone who worked on the book could. So other than excluding games released in series based on a common mechanics (the World of Darkness), eliminating small press companies who cannot afford to swag a few dozen copies (Truth & Justice, Second Edition Shadow of Yesterday), and creating a complete cluster of rules governing which new editions can be submitted and which cannot (Third Edition Legend of the Five Rings, TORG 1.5, Second Edition Shadow of Yesterday); GAMA has done a great job.

The whole “colleges” thing pisses me off too, but I don’t want to sound unhappy. So here are the important nominations (emphasis mine). Remember to vote for my car as Best Game Accessory. Driving all over the US and showing it to the jury was a pain in the ass.

Nominees for Role-Playing Game of the Year: Role-Playing College

• Army of Darkness by Eden Studios
• Artesia by Archia Studios Press
• Deryni Adventure Game by Grey Ghost Press Inc.
• Serenity by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
• World of Warcraft by Sword and Sorcery Studios

Nominees for Role-Playing Game Supplement of the Year: Role-Playing College

• Exalted Autochthonians by Whitewolf (by the way, White Wolf is two words; nice press release).
• GURPS Infinite Worlds by Steve Jackson Games
• Mage by RPG Whitewolf (again, misspelled, and even mis-titled. The correct title is Mage: The Awakening).
• Midnight 2nd ed. RPG by Fantasy Flight (I think they meant Fantasy Flight Games)
• Shackled City by Paizo Publishing, LLC.

To be honest, the other awards are less important to me because I don’t play those games. Except Rocketmen, Versus, Yu-Gi-Oh, Clout, and all the others my son makes me play. It is his entire fault, I blame him, really. Again, I digress. Since most of the other awards aren’t, or aren’t as, important to me, I just don’t care as much.

Not that there haven’t been some positive changes in the awards. I am sure the 300 people who play by mail were upset when the category was eliminated, but who cares. Maintaining an award for that category was useless, and probably has been for a decade. Still I think the elimination of “the Academy” was a bonehead play, even though “it wasn’t really elimination”.

So what would I do if I had my druthers? Contrary to popular belief I would not hold summary executions and showy trials. Instead I would start again. I would form “the Academy” officially. By the way, lest you think otherwise, I am officially talking as me, myself, and I. I do not represent RPGnet or anyone else. I gave GAMA a shot and I am convinced the organization is doomed. This is not simply because the membership chose not to elect me to the board, but also because of the infighting and bad decisions that I think have been made.

The Academy of Adventure Game Arts & Design would be composed solely of named recipients of previous Origins awards, or recipients of the Hall of Fame. Companies would not be eligible, only people. The Academy would serve two primary purposes; to vote on awards as a sort of jury, and to disqualify games based on the Academy’s interpretation of the rules.

Each January the Academy Chair would hold open nominations for each category they feel has enough of an audience to justify an award. Anyone can nominate a product for the awards. The Chair would then place each nomination in a category. In February any member of the Academy may move to disqualify any product. Each of these motions would be held to an up or down vote. Should half of the Academy feel a game should be disqualified it is then removed from the running. Motions for disqualification must be signed, public, and publicly available.

In March the Academy votes the top six nominees in each category and the finalists are announced. Also in March any member of the Academy or any GAMA voting member could nominate any product or person for the Vanguard award or the Hall of Fame. By April 15th the final ballot is released.

From April 15th to June 15th the voting is open. Academy members’ votes are weighted as 50% of the final ballot, and the gaming public is also weighted as 50%. On Thursday night at Origins the awards are announced in a thirty-minute ceremony. Coordinated press releases will be issued from GAMA and the winners within 30 minutes of the end of the awards. GAMA’s web site would also be updated with the winners within minutes.

I’d also probably have a people’s choice award, but I have no idea how. In a perfect world all of the ballots would be signed and public as well. Of course no one would vote. I guess certification by accountancy would be better, but the Academy doesn’t have the money. I’d have to find a way to fund the academy separately as well, since being beholden to GAMA for cash is problematic.

So I am starting to ramble. Shocking, I know. So what is next? Exalted!

As this column goes off to the editor Exalted Second Edition is being published by White Wolf. I certainly hope the game is every bit as good as the new World of Darkness proved to be. I plan on spending the majority of next month’s column looking at it. Until then you can get the free PDF Preview (Return to the Tomb of 5 Corners) from drivethrurpg.com

Adios.