Popularity Contest

I've gotten two of these (with the oh-so-annoying picture), so I suppose I should participate. Let's get this over with.

First, the rules.

• Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
• Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
• Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
• Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
• Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog

I suppose they're serious. So...

• I got SS awards from James Mishler and his Adventures in Gaming as well as Michael Curtis' Society of Torch, Pole, and Rope.
• The link is in the rules and those rules as well as the award is displayed in this post.
• If I was at all inclined to put my name on their Mr. Linky List, I'd link it to a picture of my Mr. Tinky Wink.

So... I shall pass on this award (like a bad case of gas) to 5 most-deserving... uh... bloggy friends.

Bloggy friends?

Right.

I would like to point out that I read all of the blogs over there to the right that are on my blogroll. If I didn't, I wouldn't list them. But these are supposed to be my special little bloggy friends.

Grognardia. If gaming blogs all went away forever, I think this is the only one that would really be missed. Probably the only important blog writer out of all of us. Grognardia is also the reason I started blogging. Grognardia is at its best when it sticks to being "an exploration of the history and traditions of the hobby of role-playing," and not at its best when presenting the adventures of Tek Janson... er, Ya'govian of Volmar.

The Society of Torch, Pole, and Rope. It features lots of gaming content and useful inspirations for actual games.

Ars Ludi. West Marches!

Kellri. The guy is a complete twat, but his blog and netbooks and pdfs are all about immediately useful gaming charts and inspiration in the traditional style. Less sci-fi and more D&D-applicable stuff, please.

Sham's Grog and Blog. Mainly for his explorations into 1974 D&D, particularly the Why OD&D posts, and the currently ongoing D&D Cover to Cover series. I just first laid eyes on OD&D myself this year, and this guy, along with this page, really has helped acclimate me to the features and differences that make OD&D unique.

So there are my five. I picked them more for relevance to my game table and overall attitude towards gaming more than their actual writing ability (not to say that they suck at writing) or how well I get along with the writers (obviously).

Honorable mentions for writing ability and/or getting along with the authors or clever ideas that don't necessarily impact my game table:

Geoffrey McKinney's CARCOSA. I have the book so all the advertising is really unnecessary to me, and who the hell really needs a serialized set of fiction posts... but the blog does represent what I consider the shining light of traditional publishing projects (rocks the boat and takes ownership of traditional gaming rather than kneeling before it like a religion or blatantly copying what has come before), and Mr. McKinney has been quite helpful and supportive of my projects as well.

Confessions of an Amateur RPG Publisher. I like this more for the idea than the execution so far... but when it comes to the retro-clone movement, I'm more interested in the execution of publishing original material (rather than rules restatements) and I think there really should be some sort of central meeting ground for that sort of thing. Some will say there already is, but... bleh.

Uhluht'c Awakens. Look at those opening posts. You can just feel the insight and the knowledge ready to just burst right through the page... but then he has to concentrate on real-life world traveling bullshit instead of sharing his RPG scribblings with us. Bastard! And I'll say it right now, Labyrinth Lord leads the charge in rules restatements... in presentation, making an effort in getting to market, catering to a variety of approaches (see the Original Edition Characters supplement), and making this whole "Old School Renaissance" seem like a future viable commercial niche that welcomes a new generation of players instead of looking like a closed circle of old fuckers jerking each other off.

The Tao of D&D. Some of the time I'm thinking, "What the hell is this guy talking about?" Some of the time I'm thinking, "Haha, what a magnificent bastard!" Some of the time I'm thinking, "This guy likes to talk a lot." None of the time I'm thinking, "I'm bored."

There. Don't you love how these internet awards bring everyone together and warm everyone with that community spirit?