Hall of Fame Nominations 2011

[Admin Toad`]

It's time for another round of Hall of Fame nominations, this time for 2011!

The current games in this folder are amazing already, but we're sure there are more games of the same quality out there, and we'd love to recognize them.

Game Criterea Solo Games must have at least 300 in game posts and 'Regular' Games must have been active for at least a year. Games which were inducted into the Hall of Fame during a previous running are ineligible for nomination during this running. However, if a game was nominated during a previous running but DID NOT make it into the hall of fame, it is eligible. Staff-run games are eligible for nominations. Inactive games are eligible for nomination! Just because a game is finished or has died off, it doesn't mean that it's not a prime example of what we like to see. You can nominate any game that meets the criteria, even if you were/are a DM/player! It's not arrogant. It's nominating a game that you loved and thought was great-- and that's what we want to see. You must have at least 100 posts to nominate a game.

What we are looking for in a game Quality posts-- good role-playing is always a plus. Longevity-- dedication to a game on this site is one of the highest aspirations of a DM and players. Good Implementation-- Whether it's a very unique game idea or if it's a classical game idea done very well, a masterful DM and players make any game fun.

Nomination Format Name: (include a link) DM(s): Self-explanatory. Current Players: include past players if you wish Reasons for nomination: Describe your reasons for nominating the game and why you think it deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame. Links: You must provide a link to a section of ten posts which you would like reviewers to read. This link is allowed a paragraph of up to 300 words to set the scene. You can provide up to two of these. All of this makes it easier for the Community Supporters to review.

"Second"-ings should contain their own nomination and description so that the thread isn't cluttered with "second"s. Nominations that are a simple 'I second this nomination' will be deleted.

On June 1st, there will be a public poll to narrow the list down. Approximately a week after that, these games will be brought over to the CS Forum where the Community Supporters will decide which games make it in!

Want a hand in the final voting process? Go ahead and become a Community Supporter!

You can peruse all the previous Hall of Fame inductees here.

-Grave

[Nimlos]

Game: Trials and Tribulations
DM: Codger
System: 3.5
Current Players:
Elwen (Lorilei, human* swashbuckler/sorcerer)
Greaven (Slade, human rogue)
Nimlos (Liria, tiefling paladin)
RoadDog41 (Malik, human wizard)
Whispers (Rin, human ranger)
Run Time: Just over two and a half years and going strong.
Reasons: It started simply enough. I was looking for a new DM for a character I liked a lot, who had been marooned by a dead campaign. Codger contacted me, we chatted a few times and then we were off.

I didn't know what I'd gotten myself into. What started off seeming clear has gotten deeper and deeper, stranger and stranger. Ostensibly, the campaign is set in the Dalelands of the Forgotten Realms, but this merry band of cursed PCs (yes, all the Player Characters bear a curse of some kind) has walked paths far beyond simple forest tracks - venturing not just into underground labyrinths but along fey paths, dreamscapes, other planes and back and forth throughout time itself.

Our quest seems straightforward enough - to discover who is behind a Rotting Plague and put a stop to it, but in practice it is anything but simple. As we've followed the trail, it has become ever more convoluted and riddled with side paths offering some of us a tempting opportunity to possibly rid ourselves of some of our curses - or merely an opportunity to right what is wrong. We have chased clues through time and space, through the thoughts of an ancient elf and into the lair of a dragon. We have dealt with ancient elven rivalries, discovered unknown peoples long forgotten and abandoned, done favors for faerie, ameliorated ancient sins and faced things you won't find in any game book. It has been an amazing, interesting and altogether weird journey. I don't know what Codger's subconscious looks like, but I'm relatively sure I never want to look directly at it - and odd as it may sound, I mean that as a compliment.

Trials and Tribulations is one of the most unique campaigns I've ever had the privilege of playing in, with an inventive DM and outstanding players, most of whom have been with us since the beginning more than two years ago.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

Links:

Example 1 Shortly before this series of posts began, we were sidetracked from our quest to stop the plague by something none of us suspected - being hurled into the past to the last days of Myth Drannor. My character, Liria, had a sword that was a holy artifact of Heironeous, that had once been held by paladins within that ancient city. Its last wielder had, well, made a few mistakes and a few enemies - two things that led to an awful fate for the long-dead man. We were sent into the past specifically to stop that from happening, which we did, though the doing of it put us crosswise with a particularly powerful and troublesome elven house. Moreover, the sword itself had taken so much evil into itself working against the rotting plague that it was literally a hair's breadth from dissolving away. To top it off, we had no way to get back home. The one ally we met was able to point us toward a place outside the city called Ivorial Tor, where the sword might be fixed, where we might find refuge and perhaps even a way home. Thus, with the help of an odd little guide named Lerpha, we were trying to sneak past elven patrols and make our way to the Tor. Things never work out simply. What you'll see here is the first part of a two-part battle, along with the characters' hesitation about becoming involved for a wide variety of reasons. It's an example of some excellent role playing, along with a good example of Codger's remarkable descriptions and knack for unusual combats. At first, this seemed like simply a random encounter, but a few things that have happened since suggest it was not. Or perhaps those things are just shadows cast by another ball we've put in motion. Although it will take you far past a mere 10 posts, I recommend reading the entirety of both combats. Link 1

Example 2 This series of posts occurs just after the group, thrown back in time some 700 years to just before the fall of Myth Drannor, has restored a clan of dwarves access to their ancestral burial halls. On our way back out, we were ambushed by a cadre of demons, only to be plucked back to safety by oak tree that's a virtual nexus of fey power, which, earlier in the campaign, had tasked us with four errands suited to each of the fey poles of light, darkness, life and death (two of which we had completed). We're not certain what year it is, or indeed what path to take next, but we thought we would have at least one restful night beneath the tree's watchful boughs. We were almost right. Just before dawn, the peace of our camp was broken. Not by battle, but by a small, blind dwarven boy who is also, clearly, a prophet of some kind. I told you things were a little weird in this game. The prophet boy's words, which appear several posts into this series, are a collection of clues and vague references. Some we who've been in this game since the beginning can understand easily. Others are eluding us and still others refer to things that may or may not come to pass. Link 2 Oh, and just as an added wrinkle - the boy is now appearing to us as a silent apparition.

[Admin Chuck]

Nomination 1: Dark Sun Name: Dark Sun DM(s): Mountainbound and Birched Current Players: TheChuck, zebedee, Elucidus, Mountainbound, Birched, Peter172, ShadowcatX, Elfman6. Reasons for nomination: This is a Dark Sun game where the DMs are taking the old AD&D modules and running them with Pathfinder rules. We have completed Freedom and are working on The Road to Urik. The players and DMs are all top notch, each working off the others and bringing the overall writing level and level of RP up to ridiculously high levels. The character exploration and trials and tribulations that they have grown and developed through has been my favorite part of this game, though writing out the combat scenes is also great fun. This post is very near to the end of Freedom. We are currently trying to escape Kalak's death trap, where he intended to suck the life out of all of the citizens of Tyr to fuel a powerful spell of some variety. Not only do we have to contend with that, but thousands of panicked Tyrites and a frelling escaped Tembo as well. Also, it doesn't help that the My character, Big'un.half giant barbarian in the party loses control and begins randomly murdering people too. This scene is right at the end of the fight with the Tembo, as we continue trying to help people escape. Starting here and reading until here will net you a nice little bit of negotiation and manipulation, as well as some character growth as some folks discover that they are capable of more than they thought. We are trying to convince various factions in Tyr that they need to band together to fight of the army of Urik that is on the way to try to take over Tyr and its iron mines. From underhanded manipulation of a Senator to a simple rousing speech by a half giant with an intelligence and charisma of six each, those posts encompass much. Those are the most current posts in the game thread.

[zevonian]

Game Name: When The Skies Were Starless

Dungeon Master: Fading Echo

System Used: D&D 3.5e

Current Cast:
Endless Twilight, as Alyssa Hes'Sjacht
GeoAvanti, as Karak of the Shifting Wind
GLM, as Gideon Teasai
Klomag, as Korruth Many-Eyes
LoveBug, as Kathra Orothar
zevonian, as Vok the Yallah

 

Let me first say thanks again to everyone that voted last year. I still feel genuinely honored to have had two games I am part of be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Now onto my nomination:

When I think about the things I've wanted in a game on this site, and the things that I've read many on this site desiring, I realize that When The Skies Were Starless has delivered them.

Is it a game that didn't "die off" after a couple months?
Absoultely, the first characters were made in October 2009, and we've just started a new In-Character thread this month.

Have there been a lot of player drop outs?
Nope. Five of the original players from the game start are still active.

Have there been character level ups?
Indeed. Started at 3rd, now we're 8th. And it's always been a case of DM deciding that a level increase has been warranted based on roleplaying and story advancement, not just at tally up of XP from monster slaying.

How's the party dynamic? Everyone mostly getting along? Good group in combat?
We haven't tried to kill each other yet!

Ok, seriously, the group is uncannily effective as a unit, in terms of combat, conversation, and problem solving. Everyone has done an outstanding job of differentiating themselves and giving insight into their motivations, backgrounds and homelands.

Really, if you're reading this, and don't have to rush off and post elsewhere, drop in the OOC or IC threads. The people I'm in this game with, they care a lot about it. Even simple things like when my character, an arctic orc from a primitive tribe, doesn't quite understand a word spoken or a concept used in the "common" language, I have confidence that someone will come along and explain it. Actually, I've recently expressed an OOC interest in just going out and hitting bad guys with a stick...if battle come down, I know I'm with a well-balanced, well-powered group and we can take on anything.

So, what's up with the DM? How's the game world evolved?
I can't speak for any other players, but I can say that any question I've ever asked the DM about the world, my character, NPCs, anything at all has been concisely answered each and every time. The world is ridiculously richly layered. I've encountered and interacted with more named NPCs in this game than any other on site. This game has more characters than some games have encounters, and every one of those has had a substantial role. And there's a lot of locations yet to be explored. I honestly think that if somehow our party were to be teleported into any location the DM has ever mentioned, or any location a player might want to visit, Fading Echo would have notes somewhere and be able to run us through the place immediately.

In terms of evolution, the party started as signing up for a simple mission, go look for some other expedition that had went missing and report back. Those that hired us acted as if it would not matter if we died, and if we weren't fast enough in getting results, we'd be assumed dead anyway. It was as straightforward a task as you could get.

A year and a half real time later...we're in the Elemental Plane of Air, learning how to deal with a new sort of gravity. Along the way we've dealt with earthquake weather, blood rain and a tsunami. We've held our own, even if it meant holding our tongues at times, with villians, heroes, and inbetweeners of high-if-not-epic level. We've defeated a range of monsters, from metal made scorpions and cultists to icy toads and hydras. I think I can safely say, we've literally dealt with dungeons and dragons....and that's what many people desire in a game on this site, right?

Links: First, let me apologize to those who weren't looking for a wall of text in reasons for nominations.
With that said, I offer two links. One from the First Act of the game, when we first happened upon unusual weather. And a look at the end of the Third Act, to show the current ensemble.

Thanks to all for reading.

[idilippy]

Game Name: When The Skies Were Starless

Dungeon Master: Fading Echo

System Used: D&D 3.5e

Current Cast:
Endless Twilight, as Alyssa Hes'Sjacht
GeoAvanti, as Karak of the Shifting Wind
GLM, as Gideon Teasai
Klomag, as Korruth Many-Eyes
LoveBug, as Kathra Orothar
zevonian, as Vok the Yallah

Seconding this game for a few reasons. First, while 'assisting' the DM way back when it started it was obvious that Fading Echo needed no help in crafting the very intriguing story he and the players were working through, or really with any part of the DMing process. He has a good grasp of where he wants the game to go and has set a great stage for the players to play in. The story is excellent, the world interesting, and the players, at least as far as I've read, have all made interesting characters that interact well.

Second, this game has stood the test of time, continuing on for a long time in both out of game time and in game advancement. The players have traveled to different places, seen interesting and terrifying situations first hand, and have grown in power during the course of the story.

[Slepter]

Name: Atomic Sunrise
DM: Slepter
System: d20 Modern Apocalypse
Current Players: Ingo (as Edgar), Samulus (as Eli), Thamewolf (as Ohanzee), and BangBangTequila (as Rex)
Reasons for nomination:

 

First off, this game has been 95% homebrew right from the start, as I have utilized only what little is given regarding the campaign setting, wherein the nuclear holocaust has finally arrived, and the current age is in the generation that follows it. There's been a lot of learning, and a lot of give and take.

The goal at its genesis was simple: to acquire six players who each controlled a character that specialized in one of the six basic classes--Strong, Fast, Tough, Smart, Dedicated, and Charismatic. I couldn't have possibly imagined that this would end up being so difficult. Some of the players that we've seen since it started, however, have been quite talented, with user Spy Guy's character "Dredge" remaining fondly prominent in the foreground of my memory.

Though my co-DM doesn't wish to take credit, I've spent endless hours talking about how to work out the plot of this game with him in order to take it from being a vision to being a reality. There have been mysterious and shady mutants, massive amounts of death, poverty-stricken communities, and even an awkward lunch involving radroaches and a lot of puking. Taking my players through these various scenarios, despite the trouble we've had with keeping a static group, has been very enjoyable and rewarding for me.

I've also tried hard to keep the combat as clear and concise as possible for my players, while still keeping the action fresh and entertaining. I've gone through the trouble of making all of the combat grids myself through a combination of the few tools available to me--MS Excel and MS Paint.

There is still much to be seen for the players, and I believe the best is yet to come. But while I do what I can to provide a setting and a situation for my players to act in, it is the players themselves who make or break a game.

And I think this is where we really get into the heart of the matter. All four of my present players have created interesting yet distinct character personalities and backgrounds, and it's been very pleasurable to watch them develop and unfold. I have also assured them that at some point in the future, each of their backgrounds would each tie into the plot of the game in what will more or less amount to personal side quests.

Regardless of whether this game wins, loses, or is even nominated by anyone else, I'm putting this nomination forward to make sure everyone--both current and future players--see that I believe in this game. Despite how many players disappear on us, we will keep going.

Links: Not too far prior to the set of posts that I'm linking to, there is another post that gives a more elaborate exposition--however, I can condense it for the sake of easy digestion. In this amusing and embarrassing scenario, the players have come to the town of Heartwell, a town not too far from their own hometown, in search of food to bring back to their people. When the group arrives, they are greeted warmly and invited to share lunch with the townsfolk there. What they don't realize, however, is that the people here subsist on well-cooked radroach, which they have grown accustomed to. The scene is better set a few posts back, but needless to say, not everyone passes their Fortitude saves. The results last from here to here.

Here is another situation that I actually ended up really enjoying. In their ever-fruitless quest to find a healthy supply of edible food, the party visits the town of Bladen, only to find that its people have been brutally butchered and their corpses left out to rot. After a harrowing encounter with some feral dogs and radroaches that were scouring the remains of the massacre, in begins raining, and Buster--the Strong hero at the time--decides to investigate the mayor's house in search of any supplies. I didn't really have anything planned for that, so I winged it. Here's the result.

[Nimlos]

Game: Not All Who Wander Are Lost
DM: Elwen
System: 4E
Current Players:
erdrick (Galenas, eladrin and the only PC who's native to Ashfar)
Girlplay (Gwenn, human warlock/ardent)
lcg16 (Kerya, elven ranger)
Nimlos (Tali, half-elven rogue)
Zeppo007 (Ingus, dwarven fighter)
Run Time: A year and a half and going strong.
Reasons: The Journey Home is one of the most enduring and powerful themes in literature. It's not hard to see why - the idea of people in a strange land struggling to find their way back to where they belong, to home and hearth and family and friends, is something we instinctively understand. The concept of the journey resonates within us all. Most of these journeys are measured in distance, in miles and leagues. How much more compelling is it, then, when the distance home is infinite, when no matter how far you travel you will get no closer?

I'm not a particular fan of 4E, and had more or less decided never to play the system again by the time Elwen contacted me about this game. Still, I decided to give it one more try, and am extremely happy I did.

Elwen has taken the ancient theme of the journey home and put a few new spins on it. The PCs in her game are actually us, the players, and the first post in the game was us being yanked out of our 21st Century lives to wake up on a deserted hillside in a fantasy world. However, it's not quite that simple. Rather than hurling us bodily into that world, Elwen sent our consciousnesses, our identities, and we woke up in new bodies. Character creation itself was interesting, as we only had partial control over what our in-game vessels would be. Elwen had us each take several of the plethora of available online quizzes to find out what race and class best fit our personalities. Once that was determined, we had to roll dice to find out what gender our new body would be. Obviously, this has resulted in most of the 'characters' waking up in bodies rather different from the ones they're used to - in fact, only one of us is still human. Insert the joke of your choice.

But there's yet another wrinkle. In the context of the game, the conscious and subconscious of each of the players was placed in a host body in Elwen's fantasy world of Ashfar. The consciousness of the host body is apparently gone, but not so with the host's subconscious mind, which manifests in lingering emotional attachments, unexpected urges and flashes of memory none of us could possess. The most immediate impact of it was our names - though 'we' remembered our names from Earth, the names of our new selves felt 'right.'

After waking on that desolate hill, we spent a good deal of time perfecting our skills in denial, trying not to go mad and making the first, stumbling steps toward coming to grips with what had happened - something many of us still haven't managed. As soon as we were able to catch our breath, we began looking for a way home, and quickly discovered we are not the only people from Earth to be pulled into this world. Moreover, we discovered the world itself is nearly at the brink, with civilization threatened by an impending orc invasion, their bickering tribes forged into a cohesive army.

For some time, we thought we were making progress, until it all fell down around our ears. Most recently, while we were following up on one of the only leads left to us, we met the chief villain of the campaign. Another castaway from Earth, he's the worst kind of power gamer munchkin, now turned into a lich with real power. We narrowly escaped the meeting, after learning who he is and that he's the one behind the orc invasion. When we first arrived in this world, we essentially ignored its problems, focusing only on getting home. Now, as it comes to seem that the way home and helping save this world are somehow intertwined, a bunch of gamers who'd rather be anywhere else are coming to the conclusion they have to step up and help.

Not All Who Wander Are Lost is a goldmine of role playing. Not only do we as characters have to come to grips with the bodies we find ourselves in and work together to find a way home, we also have to deal with the day-in and day-out of living in a fantasy world. Thousands of mundane things that are second nature to those who call this place home are entirely new to us, a limitless supply of fish-out-of-water role play opportunities. Combined with Elwen's excellent sense of pacing and her stable of memorable NPCs, we literally never run out of things to post about - even if it's just a trivial matter like eating dinner. Having our real knowledge at the ready lends another aspect of fun to the game - after all, in how many D&D games can you quote Indiana Jones or Army of Darkness and have it be completely in character? Or insult the evil mastermind by telling him his character build sucks?

This is without a doubt one of the best games I've ever had the pleasure to be part of, one of the first things I check when I log on to the site. Player turnover has been almost nonexistent; we had one person drop out at the beginning of the campaign when he decided he just didn't have the time to devote to it, and a second player drop out recently when RL commitments made him cut back his time on site. The other three of us have been here since the beginning. The players, new and old, are invested and eloquent, the adventure is compelling, the DM is skillful and inventive. Our characters will keep trying to find their way home, somehow. But honestly, part of me hopes they never make it.

Links:

Example 1 May as well start at the beginning. These are the first posts of the game, in which we all wake up in new bodies in a new world. Though there's a bit of unsteadiness here and there (not to mention pronoun confusion) it's one of the strongest beginnings to a campaign I've ever read, and a testament to the role playing abilities of the group Elwen assembled for this game. Link 1

Example 2 This sample is relatively recent in the campaign. To set the scene: Aryon is the first NPC we ran into who, like us, is from Earth. He's spent the last 40 years trying to figure out how to get home, marrying science and magic in his research. He sent us on two errands when we met him, the first of which was to retrieve a piece of meteor he thought was also 'not of this plane.' We found the stone in a cave filled with weird crystalline growths and creepy jellyfish-like monsters. As soon as we picked it up (after destroying the crystal 'body' it had built around itself) we could feel the wrongness of it. Still, in the interest of getting home, we took it back to Aryon. We warned him of what we'd seen and felt, but he insisted he would take precautions. We left him with it to go on his second errand. When we returned a few days later, we found his tower coated with the same crystal we'd seen in the caves, and no immediate answer from within. In Aryon we'd invested our hopes of finding a way home. In fulfilling the errands he gave us, we felt we were making progress. In these few moments, we find out that all the progress we'd made was wasted, that all the hopes we'd held were gone and that, by bringing Aryon the stone he asked for, we delivered to him something that would twist his body as it consumed his sanity and his soul. It is, perhaps, the lowest point for us since we awoke in Ashfar. Link 2

[SyberJedi]

Name: Sabre Squadron
DM(s): KevinFipps
System: d20 Star Wars Revised
Current Players:
Magistrate as Captain Maxwell "Ghost" Sabian/Sabre One
Anodyzed as Commander Dirk "Dagger" Apogee/Sabre Nine
Leksy as Lieutenant Commander Zarron "Furball" Typhine/Sabre Seven
Ultimatum as Lieutenant Commander Mishkal "Smiley" Dylaen/Sabre Eleven; and 1st Lieutenant Liana'Dax/Sabre Six
SyberJedi as Captain Shaiey "Jedi" Tagla/Sabre 5; Captain Kade Tagla of the Evac Scrounger; Kinain Cerex; R2-R0 "Arnot"; and Ren Dathin.
The Fool as Ratapa of the Evac Scrounger
Jondera as Rinla "Blue" Stazi
masternate as 1st Lieutenant Jarl "Jack" Ander/Sabre 12 and Nilmah of the Evac Scrounger
lagerboy as Flight Officer Banlor Vanka/Sabre Eight
LupusRegalis as Typhus Coaralen
idilippy as Keith Ern
Vexander as 2nd Lieutenant Vexander "Schooler" Blackwood/Sabre Two
MCP as Kreegesk of the Evac Scrounger
rngrbob as Dex Rownari of the Evac Scrounger
Circle of Phoenix as Medic Tsukiko of the Evac Scrounger
Aliquot as Derin "Rags" Raglon of the Evac Scrounger
Solomon777 as Lok Akir of the Evac Scrounger
orangehatter as Behn Threihand
ThorLeifson as Etyk
Walker formerly as 2nd Lieutenant Lucian "Guts" Madryn Shales/Sabre Four

 

Here is a listing of all the characters who's players joined, then vanished from the game long enough for their characters to either be either listed as Killed In Action, or left for other reasons.

The List: Lieutenant Commander Zygmunt "Whisper" Vehar- Leave of Absence (Wimachtendienk) Flight Officer Talk'iona "Tails"- KIA (SniperKitty) 1st Lieutenant Tessan "Shifty" Ethos- KIA (kmank) Commander James "Delta 187" Noble- Reassigned: Wraith Squadron (Avenmar) 1st Lieutenant Tott "Eagle Eye"- KIA (The_Fighter) 2nd Lieutenant Dinin "Warthog: Do'Argon- KIA (Nold) Flight Officer Draaven "Slicer" Nedolo- Imprisoned for Treason, Attempted Murder (MMorris013) 2nd Lieutenant Severi "Sev" Caranthion- KIA 2nd Lieutenant Ilber "Tech" Asra- KIA (Imnota) 1st Liuetenant Waylon “Meat” Bonnlander- KIA (Doderic) 2nd Lieutenant Kalto "Klick" Koon- KIA (ododd) 2nd Lieutenant Ba-Rin "Royal"- KIA (The_Fighter) Lieutenant Commander Ithlor "Sneak" Claren- KIA (masternate) 1st Lieutenant Lar "Hammer" Ceis- KIA (nk144) 2nd Lieutenant Osaris "Eyes" Oleary- KIA (Fliege) B2 Z1- DIA {Destroyed In Action} (Gibbtall) 2nd Lieutenant Kaarack "Howler"- KIA (Aiden Tavell) 1st Lieutenant Rannek "Sniper" Storran- KIA (Veritas) 1st Lieutenant Alex "Slice" Tyrus- KIA (Thalin Slayer) Flight Officer Archyrr "Merc"- Leave of Absence (Magnus Kefka)

Reasons for nomination: Sabre Squadron has the honor of being the longest running Star Wars game on the DNDOG boards. It's been around for almost 6 years, which it will reach that anniversary in July. It has a core group of six players that have stuck with it from the beginning- Magistrate, Anodyzed, SyberJedi, Leksy, Ultimatum, and masternate. The story is dynamic and intense, which makes for good reading. It's not unusual for there to be guests on the site on the Sabre boards reading the story. While from time to time it gets slow and drags, it never remains dead for any length of time. And while there has been a huge turnover in players, the way the game is designed it is capable of handling the changeover, since it was inspired by the Star Wars X-Wing novels by Stackpole and Allston.
This game has all the ingredients that makes Star Wars great- action, some suspense, romance, and dynamic characters that are just as engaging as the originals from the movies and novels. All of those things that I have listed make for a great game, and one that I believe is worthy as being counted among the Hall of Fame.

Links: Sabre Squadron is in the middle of a space battle with a new, and completely unknown enemy. Not only are they dealing with brand new tactics being used against them, they also have to take out a massive mining ship that is compared to the Death Stars back during the Rebellion.
Link 1

In this section, the Sabres meet their new foes on the ground, up close and personal. However, some of them discover that there is more than just rescuing prisoners
Link 2

[hvg3akaek]

Name: Revenge of the Giants
DM: Olorian
Current Players: Thamewolf, Halcyon, Dalinen, Sakure, hvg3akaek, and until recently, Alegria.

Reasons for nomination: The game has been running for about a year and a half, although I have only been part of it for the latter half. It consistently has great posts from the DM and players, both within encounters and outside of them. Each character has a well-developed background, taking in to account the history and design of the world. The characters grow and change, learning more about themselves and each other through their interactions. The posts are regularly "Post of the Month" material, too.

Links: There's no time like the present (which, strangely enough, is quite a relevant phrase for a time-hopping adventure!). This is our current encounter, which started as an army of giants start to break through the magical force field protecting the city. Often, you will see games that switch automatically to a few lines of description and then actions when it comes to encounters (not that doing so is a bad thing!); here you will see a great range of excellent posts that go much deeper into the character's relationships, past actions, thought processes, and the like. There are many examples of this throughout the game, but this just happens to be the latest.

[leksy]

 

Name: Sabre Squadron
DM(s): KevinFipps
System: d20 Star Wars Revised
Current Players:
Magistrate as Captain Maxwell "Ghost" Sabian/Sabre One
Anodyzed as Commander Dirk "Dagger" Apogee/Sabre Nine
Leksy as Lieutenant Commander Zarron "Furball" Typhine/Sabre Seven
Ultimatum as Lieutenant Commander Mishkal "Smiley" Dylaen/Sabre Eleven; and 1st Lieutenant Liana'Dax/Sabre Six
SyberJedi as Captain Shaiey "Jedi" Tagla/Sabre 5; Captain Kade Tagla of the Evac Scrounger; Kinain Cerex; R2-R0 "Arnot"; and Ren Dathin.
The Fool as Ratapa of the Evac Scrounger
Jondera as Rinla "Blue" Stazi
masternate as 1st Lieutenant Jarl "Jack" Ander/Sabre 12 and Nilmah of the Evac Scrounger
lagerboy as Flight Officer Banlor Vanka/Sabre Eight
LupusRegalis as Typhus Coaralen
idilippy as Keith Ern
Vexander as 2nd Lieutenant Vexander "Schooler" Blackwood/Sabre Two
MCP as Kreegesk of the Evac Scrounger
rngrbob as Dex Rownari of the Evac Scrounger
Circle of Phoenix as Medic Tsukiko of the Evac Scrounger
Aliquot as Derin "Rags" Raglon of the Evac Scrounger
Solomon777 as Lok Akir of the Evac Scrounger
orangehatter as Behn Threihand
ThorLeifson as Etyk
Walker formerly as 2nd Lieutenant Lucian "Guts" Madryn Shales/Sabre Four

 

Here is a listing of all the characters who's players joined, then vanished from the game long enough for their characters to either be either listed as Killed In Action, or left for other reasons.

The List: Lieutenant Commander Zygmunt "Whisper" Vehar- Leave of Absence (Wimachtendienk) Flight Officer Talk'iona "Tails"- KIA (SniperKitty) 1st Lieutenant Tessan "Shifty" Ethos- KIA (kmank) Commander James "Delta 187" Noble- Reassigned: Wraith Squadron (Avenmar) 1st Lieutenant Tott "Eagle Eye"- KIA (The_Fighter) 2nd Lieutenant Dinin "Warthog: Do'Argon- KIA (Nold) Flight Officer Draaven "Slicer" Nedolo- Imprisoned for Treason, Attempted Murder (MMorris013) 2nd Lieutenant Severi "Sev" Caranthion- KIA 2nd Lieutenant Ilber "Tech" Asra- KIA (Imnota) 1st Liuetenant Waylon “Meat” Bonnlander- KIA (Doderic) 2nd Lieutenant Kalto "Klick" Koon- KIA (ododd) 2nd Lieutenant Ba-Rin "Royal"- KIA (The_Fighter) Lieutenant Commander Ithlor "Sneak" Claren- KIA (masternate) 1st Lieutenant Lar "Hammer" Ceis- KIA (nk144) 2nd Lieutenant Osaris "Eyes" Oleary- KIA (Fliege) B2 Z1- DIA {Destroyed In Action} (Gibbtall) 2nd Lieutenant Kaarack "Howler"- KIA (Aiden Tavell) 1st Lieutenant Rannek "Sniper" Storran- KIA (Veritas) 1st Lieutenant Alex "Slice" Tyrus- KIA (Thalin Slayer) Flight Officer Archyrr "Merc"- Leave of Absence (Magnus Kefka)

Reasons for nomination: Sabre Squadron has the honor of being the longest running Star Wars game on the DNDOG boards. It's been around for almost 6 years, which it will reach that anniversary in July. It has a core group of six players that have stuck with it from the beginning- Magistrate, Anodyzed, SyberJedi, Leksy, Ultimatum, and masternate. The story is dynamic and intense, which makes for good reading. It's not unusual for there to be guests on the site on the Sabre boards reading the story. While from time to time it gets slow and drags, it never remains dead for any length of time. And while there has been a huge turnover in players, the way the game is designed it is capable of handling the changeover, since it was inspired by the Star Wars X-Wing novels by Stackpole and Allston.
This game has all the ingredients that makes Star Wars great- action, some suspense, romance, and dynamic characters that are just as engaging as the originals from the movies and novels. All of those things that I have listed make for a great game, and one that I believe is worthy as being counted among the Hall of Fame.

Links: Sabre Squadron is in the middle of a space battle with a new, and completely unknown enemy. Not only are they dealing with brand new tactics being used against them, they also have to take out a massive mining ship that is compared to the Death Stars back during the Rebellion.
Link 1

In this section, the Sabres meet their new foes on the ground, up close and personal. However, some of them discover that there is more than just rescuing prisoners
Link 2

Name: Sabre Squadron
DM(s): KevinFipps
System: d20 Star Wars Revised
Current Players: As listed above
Reasons for nomination:I’ve been in and out of games over the years, seeing characters built and fade away before getting a mere taste of their destiny. With the Sabres, your characters more than develop; you begin to truly connect with them, just as you would those of the original stories. You feel the pain when one of your wingman is injured, the joy of seeing them pull through, or the chill that runs up your spine as you’re confronted with an exceptionally fearsome foe.

Many people have seen the Sabre Squadron threads up on my computer and have asked what it is, and I never refer to it as a game. To me it isn’t a game, we’re writing a story.


Links: This link is to an older thread, but one that I believe directly reflects my reasoning written above.
Link 1

Many times I feel that the monotonous parts of roleplaying get left behind for the more exciting aspects that directly affect the turnout of the story. As a Sabre, you’re presented the chance to have fun doing those very things. Be it training in the simulators, working in the medical facilities, or helping repair ships.
Link 2

[hvg3akaek]

Name: The Lost Writings of Aureon
DM: hvg3akaek

Current Players: Phil, Sakure, Coeur de Lion, Olorian, fox-master.
Recent Players: Hyregoth, kedcoleman, LoveBug.

Reasons for nomination: The game has been running for about a year and a half (since November 2009), and has been quite an enjoyable game to DM. The players have kept things interesting, even going so far as to create well-written and in-depth posts for the rounds where they are lying unconscious on the ground! Olorian has a lot of fun describing Pogo's relation with his summoned animals, as well as creating a unique, one-legged kobold druid, who spends the time when he's not a swarm of tiny insects hopping around. Throughout the game, the characters interact well, such as an early archery lesson between Amaranta and Vance, Phil's ranger; or the distrust of the introduction of newer characters, such as the half-orc Udodak, played by fox-master, who arrived claiming to have killed a former enemy.

Coeur de Lion's Valna, the head of an expedition into a twisted and corrupt tower, struggles to hold the group together whilst they bravely fight to destroy a curse that threatens to encompass them all. Enemy NPCs are interacted with (not merely slaughtered), and scary or tense moments have an effect on the characters beyond mere mechanical applications.

Links: Reading from here will give you the start of what happened to Sakure's character, Amaranta, when she fell unconscious in one particularly nasty battle. There is not a lot of background needed - indeed, the following posts give a lot of the background - but the short of it is Amaranta's fiancée died, and she misses him. And as she drifts closer to death, she meets him once more! Sadly, this deathly tale goes a lot further than the mere ten posts allowed for the nomination, but hopefully, it gives you a taste of what is to come, and you may well want to skim further ahead and find more

[Sakure]

(Seconding)
Name:The lost writings of Aureon
DM: hvg3akaek
Players: Lovebug, Sakure, Kedcoleman, Phil, Coeur de Lion, Hyregoth, Olorian, Fox-master

Reasons for nomination:
This game has been a very interesting one to be a part of. It's characters have some unique relationships as not all of them are super-loyal-friendly. There's some been some definite tension especially as new members join the trek.

The real star of the show is the DM's creative combat. Every battle has some wacky new monster or creature with an ability that the DM has used mercilessly! There's often a lot of OOC chatter and a dead cleric before a tactic is agreed upon to usurp the new opponents.

Link: This is one of the earlier battles. It shows the great maps and teamwork used by the party to overcome foes who always start harmless and end up very dangerous!

[Elwen]

Seconding nomination:

Game: Not All Who Wander Are Lost
DM: Elwen
System: 4E
Current Players:
erdrick (Galenas, eladrin and the only PC who's native to Althainia)
Girlplay (Gwenn, human warlock/ardent)
lcg16 (Kerya, elven hunter)
Nimlos (Tali, half-elven rogue)
Zeppo007 (Ingus, dwarven fighter)
Run Time: A year and a half and going strong.
Reasons: Nimlos really summed up what's been so enjoyable about running this campaign. From a DM's perspective, though, it's been so much fun just to watch the players roleplay. They seem to thrive on those moments where I just take a backseat and let them talk to each other or go through the day-to-day activities of the campaign world. They manage to make something interesting out of the mundane, like finding a place to stable their horse, getting a room at an inn, or changing their clothes.

The idea of being their modern-day, real life selves thrust into the bodies of their characters causes them to re-examine everything that one takes for granted in most games. It allows for the deconstruction of common fantasy tropes that may have grown stale for seasoned gamers. It revitalizes the generic swords and sorcery setting by seeing it through fresh eyes. There's an interaction between the narrative and the meta-narrative that necessarily has to be ignored in most games in the name of good role-playing. It adds a level of depth to the story as the characters try to figure out who they have become all the while trying to cling to their true sense of self. It combines questions of identity with the larger question of the very nature of their reality. The quickest way I can think to describe the campaign is "The Matrix meets the Lord of the Rings".

This campaign is somewhat experimental for me as a DM. I've played in modular games that felt very much like they were on a rail-road and I've played in open world games where I felt directionless and lost. With this game I'm trying to walk that line between the two, giving the players clear goals and various paths they can take to reach them. I make a list of possible hooks and flesh out adventures so that no matter where they go there's something for them to do... This is also a sequel to an unfinished campaign I once ran in real life. It takes place in the same world and features a colorful cast of NPCs that were once PCs themselves. One of the major themes is their failure: Failure to complete the campaign and return to Earth, serving to foreshadow what's at stake for this new generation of heroes.

The world is complex, and the cosmology I've created for it is going to be one of the great reveals of the story. But the world is nothing without the PCs, and they are the true strength of this game and the reason it deserves nomination. Each one is a seasoned role-player, and watching them play a character that is essentially a hybrid of their real world personality's ego and their new body's id is impressive. It's a unique role-playing challenge and they've risen to it. They are in a fish-out-of-water story crossed with unsettling feelings of deja vu. Elements of Nimlos's sarcastic wit manifest in the roguish Taliren's wry dialogue. Her constant displeasure at her newfound gender only makes her more eager to return to Earth, though Nimlos's separation from his wife and child are still the most powerful motivation. Girlplay's real world altruism is at odds with the demonic patron that powers her infernal warlock pact. Zeppo's protective, fatherly instincts become amplified by his role as a dwarven fighter. Lcg has to reconcile her human mindset with Kerya's primal, fey, and distressingly male instincts. Lastly we have Erdrick, playing Galenas, the only native of the campaign world. A mysterious eladrin charged with protecting the material plane from Far Realm corruption, he serves as a guide to the players now and a vehicle that I as a DM can use to transmit more information about the campaign world.

I wrote this game with a definite beginning, middle and end..and while I am looking forward to its satisfying conclusion, I am also reluctant to see the story someday end. Because the PCs have a tendency to take unexpected detours, I have no idea when that day will be, but I know I will enjoy the ride.

Links:

Example 1 This first link is a result of a failed skill challenge that led them into a camp of an orcish warband. Karsh, one of the heroes from the previous batch of former-Earthlings, has been tracking this group and is able to intervene. The battle and subsequent introductions become one of the more memorable NPC encounters of the game. Link 1

Example 2 This next scene follows their unexpected defeat by a band of hags. They are brought before the main villain of the game, who happens to be one of the first people from Earth who arrived in Ashfar. Once Melvin, a guy who worked in a call center out of Jersey, Malcorion may be the oldest surviving Starborn on Ashfar. Desperate to avoid returning to his mundane life, Malcorion turned his knowledge of sorcery into rediscovering the lost and forbidden art of Necromancy. While his friends died of old age or disease, Malcorion lingered on, having gifted himself with eternal unlife by turning himself into a lich. He has been pulling the strings behind the recent orc war, and his endgame seems to involve some sort of apotheosis by deposing of 'the sleeping goddess'. Malcorion's morality is a little hard to understand. He is a textbook sociopath, believing most of the residents of Ashfar to be 'npcs'. Because they aren't real, he has no qualms about murdering, torturing, or even committing genocide if it furthers his own goals. To him it is no different than running someone over in Grand Theft Auto. He does acknowledge that the Starborn are real, and is eager to have them join him in his plan for godhood. He seems to crave the company of 'real people', and went to elaborate efforts to kidnap the Starborn and pitch his idea to them. The way the PCs react to his plan is a classic example of a unique spin on an old trope. How many games can you listen to the lich's evil monologue and then inform him that he should go back home to his mother's basement and play his WoW account? Link 2

[Olorian]

(seconding nomination)
Name: Revenge of the Giants
DM: Olorian
Current Players: Dalinen, Halcyon, Sakure, Thamewolf, hvg3akaek. Former players: Alegria, Tilal
Game type: DnD 4E

Reasons for nomination: This game is the best of all roleplaying experiences I've had on this website. It's a classic example of good versus evil, executed in a flavorful, colorful tale of deliberately stereotypical characters, enacted by a team of players who enjoy to put a lot of thought, realism (in a fantasy setting) and humor into their writings.

I feel that the players are all excellent cooperative storytellers, who thrive in creating a gaming world together. The theme of the game is to save the world from an invasion of giants and elementals. The player characters are all heroes from different corners of the continent, who join forces to defeat this threat. At the start, every player created a part of the custom made world map, with its inhabitants, culture and history, and how fate brought the heroes together. Creating this world together has caused the players to fully submerge in their characters' minds, and allowed them to truly feel part of the world and the story as it evolved. The posts in general are highly creative and at times with a good dose of humor. You won't find many one-liner posts in this game! And besides all the marvellous descriptions and examples of very believable and often touching character interactions, they're having a great time researching the library for lost tomes of wisdom on the creation of the Divine Engine that entrapped the evil Primordial that is about to destroy the world, traveling through time to collect ancient artifacts that might aid them in their struggles against the elementals and giants, and some grand battles versus the besieging armies or the cannibalistic undead servants of an evil wizard.

Link 1: The Tipi on the Plain (intro).
By the hand of fate, all heroes are drawn to a mysterious Tipi in a misty mountain valley, where they will meet the Five Wise Men, who bring them news on the existence of the lost city of Argent, the ancient bastion of defense against otherworldy threats. When the characters enter the Tipi one by one, you will immediately catch the amount of talent these players display, and the joy with which each post is written. I recommend reading from the beginning, but if you've only got time for one post, why not this one. A post that provides an excellent example of Dalinen having fun with his dwarven protégé, Ferus Anvilhearthe.

Link 2: Nevara's link with Ferus
In one of the best posts of the game (in my humble opinion), Sakure displays some magical writing. Her wonderfully vulnerable cleric, Nevara Floret, has developed a special relationship with the gruff dwarven general Ferus, who has promised to protect her from harm earlier on in the story, during a battle with a group of fire elementals. Here, Sakure takes the reader to one of the fruits of her imagination, Melora's grove. A divine place to which the goddess Melora at times invites one of the heroes in a daydream, a vision, or merely a moment of reality while time stands still, to explain to them her plans with her earthly servant, Nevara, and how her fate is bound to that of the outcome of this war and the future of all natural beings. Intermissions such as these are seemingly effortlessly intertwined with a quirky battle against two flaming skulls and a skeletal naga who are about to grill a poor tiefling wizard alive, on a journey 600 years back in time.

[Olorian]

(seconding nomination)
Name: The Lost Writings of Aureon
DM: hvg3akaek
Current players: Sakure, Coeur de Lion, fox-master, Phil, Olorian
Game type: DnD 4E, Eberron setting

Reasons for nomination: The game reads like a good fantasy novel. From the start of the expedition to retrieve the famed Lost Writings, to the several adventures Lady Valna's crew encounter in the vast jungles of Q'barra, the game is a great example of dnd 4e at its very best. Hvg3 orchestrates the story brilliantly, allowing for a lot of freedom in the party's choices, while keeping things tense and interesting at every moment, wherever the party decides to go next. His monsters are threedimensional, have their own stories and reasons for doing whatever they do, and will respond to the party in a very believable way. As a player I constantly have that wonderful feeling that everything's possible. I was very glad that I was offered the opportunity to join the game a long while ago, and I've had a huge amount of fun reading the whole game thread before joining.

Link 1 Udodak and Pogo join the expedition
In this series of posts, Udodak the half-orc and Pogo the one-legged kobold join the expedition of Lady Valna's recruits. Part of the plot is discussed, including the mysterious taint that lingers over the tower where the remains of Aureon's Writings are supposed to reside.

Link 2 Meeting Denva, the corrupted knight
In the tainted tower, after getting rid of the disfigured dwarf Garen with his three eyes and his pet golemn, the party meets Denva, a corrupted knight who protects the higher levels of the tower from intruders. Denva is one of these examples of hvg's enemies who feel more like NPCs who have a true purpose in the story, rather than random wandering monsters just set there for the party to defeat. Pogo, the kobold, who just joined the party, has been a guide to the Stormcrows, the last adventuring party to have entered the tainted tower. Seeing his former employers as corrupted versions of himself, Pogo senses the danger within this horribly perverted knight, who does seem to remember the little lizard...