The Goodie Awards: Our annual Thank You to the community!
This week’s Goodie Awards were a star-studded affair featuring the best and brightest of the Goodman Games community! Each year we like to say ‘thank you’ to those individuals that go above and beyond to show their love for Goodman Games with the Goodie Awards — and you can watch the replay of this year’s show on our YouTube channel.
You’ll want to check out the complete show for all the details and stories about the many nominees, but we’ve also provided a complete list of the nominees, honorees, and winners below with some information about all the amazing work they do, across every facet of development, gaming, and community building — dedicated folks like this are truly at the heart of what we do, and to all of them we say both ‘congratulations’ and ‘thank you.’
2024 Goodie Award Medalists
Lafia Morrow of BackerKit, for her incredible support of so many of our crowdfunding activities over the last several years, and especially for her assistance in making the Purple Planet cross-publisher crowdfunding project a reality – and soon to be the first project to ever fulfill across multiple publishers!
Ben, aka Judge Rooster, who is a fantastic influence in the gaming community of Eastern / Central Florida. Working with the Space Coast Adventurers Guild, Judge Rooster is a judge, talented storyteller, and all-around great person who has brought so many people into the hobby. He runs 0-level funnel-style games for new players, higher level DCC, XCC and MCC! Moving into 2025, he is working to set up a recurring series for DCC games that our community’s players can drop into and out of to progress a world and plot/story through a greater arc of adventure. We can’t express our appreciation enough to him for introducing DCC to the Space Coast section of Florida and our community.
Nick Baran, for his excellent support of so many aspects of the community. His YouTube videos about DCC RPG are quick, concise videos about the rules that the community continually finds helpful. He loves dogs and helps them – which we all appreciate. He creates meaningful content. Nick took the game into a serious direction that is different than the wacky/funhouse/gonzo description people sometimes use to describe the game. And he’s a personable, friendly presence at Goodman Games con booths all over. He will respond to your concerns about ANYTHING.
Xuan Stanek, for all her help and efforts with this year’s Organized Play program, for being a powerful force for positivity in the Goodman Games community, for being the origin and impetus for the Gongfarmer’s Local Chapter program, for going ultra hard for the Road Crew, and for being an unwavering presence in Goodman Games Fandom.
Stefan Surratt, who is best known for his work as the creative force behind Dragon Peak Publishing, as well as his role of co-host of Rules as Written on the Goodman Games Twitch channel. When not performing those duties, he helps run the Goodman Games booth at various conventions and occasionally assumes the identity of Molan the Chaos Lord to help spread the word about DCC RPG. Stefan received several nominations from the Goodman Games community, all of whom praised Stefan for his willingness to help other designers, his eagerness to go above and beyond for both his players and the DCC RPG community at large, his overall friendliness, and, in the words of one nominator, being “one of the greatest people I’ve met in game design.”
Roy Swarms, who came in as a volunteer for us at Gen Con, but he went above and beyond by dropping his own plans to run games in place of DCC judges who didn’t show up! Instead of dozens of players walking away grumbling, he created a great experience for them at the drop of a hat. Roy is a return volunteer, having staffed for us in the LOS and at our main booth at Gen Con 2022 as well. We look forward to his continued assistance – but hopefully fewer no-shows this time around!
2024 Goodie Award Nominees
All the judges and GMs who run so many amazing games at Gen Con and so many other cons each year.
All the people who ran events to raise money for charity at cons in 2024! Some specific examples include the Gamehole Con charity events “Crawl for the Cure” organized by Cory Welch and his friends, Karen Arnold Ewing and her fundraise at Rincon for Diana Jones Excellence in Gaming Award, and David Baity (of Weird Frontiers fame) for his ongoing support of various cat rescue and charity efforts.
The Purple Planet Horde, a set of indie DCC publishers who collaborated with Goodman Games to create the first multi-publisher collaborative crowdfunding event in history. Thank you to Jon Marr Benjamin Marr, Martin Buinicki Andrea Buinicki, Tim Sattley Aaron Kreader, Ed Stanek James Pozenel, and John Cornyn.
The entire Spiral Galaxy crew – Dan, John, Jon, Dave, Chloe, Karen – for such a great partnership in general but especially their hard work in supporting the Goodman Games EU/UK store.
The entire Twenty Sides to Every Story Team (Alex, Casey, Isaac and Dawson) for all of their 5E GMing of Castle Whiterock events at GaryCon, GenCon, and Gamehole Con. Special shout out to Alex who handled on-site logistics at GenCon and Gamehole Con!
The Road Crew Advisory Council who submitted so many great ideas this year – Nick Baran, Spencer Ellsworth, Craig Langrall, Chase Reinhardt, and Joan Troyer.
The entire Gongfarmer’s Almanac leadership team, past and present, for giving the community a place to share their creations and inspire one another.
Ashraf Braden for bringing DCC RPG to Uganda, creating new content based on his cultural heritage, and creating work for Ugandan artists
Bob Brinkman for his amazing endurance and stamina in hosting 4+ hours of the Caverns of Thracia countdown show.
Cory and CRWN Fulfillment, who are super easy to work with, and more than willing to help us with any shipping (and Ship Station!) nuances. Cory had our back even before our warehouse opened.
Bruce Cunnington for his in-person help at UK Games Expo, as well as his continual promotions, judge-wrangling at various UK cons, and schlepping stuff around the country for us throughout the year.
Michael David Davis, for running great events at MythicCon in Charlotte, NC, and for demonstrating exceptional leadership and dedication as the organizer of a Gong Farmers Local chapter. His group has grown from two members to a thriving community of eight regular participants, due to his infectious enthusiasm, expertise in DCC, entertaining judging style, and genuine inclusivity, making both newcomers and veterans feel equally welcome.
Michael Delicate, who stepped in like an angel to assist with the booth at UKGE at the last minute. Between his enthusiasm and knowledge of the product lines, he was an absolute godsend and our time at the NEC was made all the better for it.
Matthew C. Funk of Witch Please Publishing for producing excellent DCC RPG adventures as well as embodying what the DCC community is all about.
Julian Hayley (aka DJ Full English) and Steve Barnett (DJ Pile On), who are the judges who made the XCrawl Classics tournament possible at DragonMeet UK. They did sterling work both in preparation and during the tournament itself. Plus, of course, tournament organizer Bruce Cunnington (DJ Mort).
Terry Hellman and Matt Demory of Diamond Book Distributors for their extensive help getting our product set up in new distribution channels this year, allowing even more new fans to find Goodman Games.
Gary Con founder Luke Gygax, for being the convention that “hosted” the creation of DCC RPG from 2010-2012 and continues to be a wellspring of support for Goodman Games.
Hugo Hernandez of DeathDieClub. Through KobaldCon (Mexico), he promotes RPGs, including DCC. He is also a game designer and one heck of a great Game Master, and is generous with his time, speaking to a group of Valparaiso University game-design and Spanish language students over Zoom and also appearing at the Indie RPG Creator Summit.
Loz the Eye Wizard, whose art and Photoshop skills continue to both inspire the community and dash their hopes when they realize his fantastic mock-ups don’t actually exist…yet.
Shane Christopher Madgett, a previous nominee, who was nominated again for being the origin and impetus for the Gongfarmer’s Local Chapter program, for going ultra hard for the Road Crew, and for being an unwavering presence in Goodman Games Fandom
Mark Manchester, for being an ambassador for Goodman Games and avid gamer, judge and rules lawyer extraordinaire.
Lenora Mills. She saw the overwhelming crowds in the LOS at Gen Con this year and swooped in to help with the check-in process. She wanted and expected nothing in return, simply because it made her happy to make all the players happy (and to alleviate some stress from the GG employees, who were new to the process). She provided feedback and recommendations for the LOS HQ on-site tracking, and she is already chomping at the bit for Gen Con 2025!
Chase Reinhardt for his DCC community building efforts in Portland, OR, his passion for the game, his convention-organizing effort, overall creativity and imagination, and his unshakable camaraderie.
Christophor Rick for creating unique indie DCC content (including a physical digital bomb defusing device for Ziggurat of the Megaton-Maiden), recruiting many new players to DCC RPG, running an amazing 13-person funnel, running games for kids and adults as The Kid’s DM, and so much more.
Ben Rodgers, who is the head of Chapter #100 of the Jack Vance Book Club, a regular DCC judge, and a regular judge at the local game store Elf’n Moon. “The main reason Ben Rodgers deserves to be recognized is for the memories he helps create at the table. I’m sure we all have those “highlight reel” moments from playing tabletop games. Those moments that we think of as what the games are all about. Ninety percent of these memories for me have Ben Rodgers at the table and I KNOW that he makes these kinds of memories at any table he plays or judges at.”
Jarred Saxman, national warehouse manager of ACD Distribution, for letting us pick his brain several times on best practices as we set up our own warehouse
Greg Setliff of Canthon Games (the Bug Professor), for being an exciting storyteller, amazing DCC judge, founder of a university DCC club that is “beyond supportive and kind to all members.” His love for DCC is unmatched, and it shows in his published works.
Jim Skach for being the foundation of our DCC Organized Play at Gary Con this year.
Emanuel Eggers Turra, who demonstrates endless patience in explaining the rules of the game, and the nuance and subtlety of the dice chain. He is generous with his own time and as a judge goes that extra mile by translating the puzzles of official DCC adventures so they better fit game sessions in Portuguese. He also happens to be the face and champion of DCC in Brazil.
Tim White and all the fans who’ve contributed to bringing DCC to Foundry VTT. Although we’ve recognized them in the past, their ongoing efforts deserve ongoing appreciation.
Eric Young was a previous winner, but is due to be recognized again this year for his role in keeping Tuesday Night Demo Club humming, his incomparable help with the Organized Play program, and his overall fellowship and cheer.
Critical Hit Table-Top Gaming in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has gone all in on DCC: hosting open table sessions as part of their Free-Style Fridays, Free RPG Day, and DCC Day; carrying the dice, adventures, rulebooks (MCC, too!), etc.; “Dungeon Crawl Classics Played Here” sign in the window; and starting Gongfarmers Local #918 – “Gong Farmer’s Only.”
A monthly event in Southern Brazil called RPG Bagual, where enthusiasts, newcomers, and seasoned RPG players meet to play one-shot adventures at Hex Boardgame Cafe. It is a safe place for networking. Different RPG groups are reunited there, and for many of those in Brazil, it is the place to get to know DCC RPG. You can learn more at http://www.instagram.com/nuhuine pire to be.
