The 2011 Basement Awards!

[Batman]

It's that time of year again!

With more lives than Bounce's second account, the RPG Awards season is once again upon us. And as patron moderator of our fair section, I humbly bid you all a warm welcome to the 2011 Basement Awards!

Well, actually, I only bid ten of you welcome. Because I only got ten ballots in total. You other ****ing *******s can kiss my ****.

Per tradition, this will be the thread for the actual award winners themselves. In no particular order, the thread will be periodically updated to announce who won what and give out the annual tropies, painstakingly made by our very own trustyside-kick. As Byrd would likely say, "it's the most work that the lazy Mexican's done in years."

So, who'll take home the gold? Who'll get the bragging rights? Who just doesn't give a damn either way? Find out in this thread. Now, to remind you of the categories...

Overall MVP (In All Categories)

MVP (Marvel Games)

MVP (DC Games)

MVP (Misc Games)

RPG Lifetime Achievement Award

RPG of the Year

Best Game Master Award

Breakout Player of the Year

Most Improved Player

Best Newcomer

Best Multiple PC Story Arc

Best Solo Story Arc

Best Hero

Best "Walking The Line" Character

Best Villain

Best Developed Character

Best Team-Up

Best Fight

Best Post

For each winner, this list will be updated until the end, when I announce Overall MVP. However, now's not the time for the individual awards. We'll start off with the RPG specific nominations and work from there. If anyone wants to present an award before we've passed them all out, feel free to PM me for the trophy to hand out.

Good luck, *****es.

Unless you didn't vote.

Then **** you, *****es.

[Batman]

First Award Of The Evening!: Best Team-Up

We all know how vital interaction is to the RPGs. Infact, if it weren't for interacting with other players, we'd essentially be writing slashfics. I mean fanfics. Not that I've ever wanted to write slash fiction, that's absurd. I mean, so what I've dreamed of a day when Batman can profess his undying love for Boba Fett? Don't judge that, you can't prove anything. None of you have **** on me.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. Team-Ups.

Here are the nominees for Best Team-Up:

Prophets of the Unknown - The Create-A-Hero RPG

The Justice League of America - The World of Heroes DC RPG

The Guardians - The Create-A-Hero RPG

Ultimate Justice League - The Ultimate DC RPG

And the winner of Best Team-Up of the Year goes to...

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

ULTIMATE JUSTICE LEAGUE!
Spike_x1, Andy C., Batman, Byrd Man, and MST3K 4ever

[Byrd Man]

**** yeah!!!!!!

So this is what it's like to win and not know you're gonna win. What a ****ing rush!!!!

[trustyside-kick]

^Lul.

[Byrd Man]

Now presenting the award for Best Solo Arc is two time winner, Byrd Man!

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

*Pulls out remote and presses a button. Applause suddenly dies.*

Thank you. Thank you. I am so happy to be here. I've already won this award twice, so it is a honor to bestow it to someone else. If there's one thing all the nominees have in common, it's playing with themselves!!!

*crickets*

Playing with themselves!

*Presses a button on the remote*

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

Thank you. Now without further ado, here are the nominees for Best Solo Arc:


The ****tastic Adventures of Howard The Duck - Rain Dog, All-Star Marvel

Dick Grayson's Journey - Andy C., Ultimate DC

Current arc of Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE - Watchman, World's Finest

Suicide Squad - Byrd Man, Ultimate DC

Lex Luthor's Journey - Andy C., Ultimate DC


And the winner is....

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

[Carnage27]

Very well deserved on both accounts.

[Andy C.]

Congrats to the winners so far; both were quite well-deserved indeed.

[Batman]

Third (and likely final) award of the evening...

Best Post

You know, it's awards like this that really weed out the cream of the crop. Sure, we all arguably try our best with each post that we write, whether it be a sentence long or several paragraphs (often too many, in my case). But when you really write something that sticks with your reader for a long time to come, you've made a statement. And the statement is "****, I'm an awesome bastard".

Here are the nominees:

The Joker's Wild - Keyser Soze, World of Heroes

The Bat is Broken - Batman, Ultimate DC

Damian Wayne Goes Ape**** - Bounce, World of Heroes

Vigilante Gets Into Deep **** - Hound55, Create-A-Hero

And the winner is, to I'm sure no one's surprise...

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

The Batmobile comes to a stop and the top of the cockpit slides open. Batman jumps out, his cape swishing behind him as he walks. He yanks the cowl off his head and lets it hang off his neck.

In his hands is a DVD, the only piece of information Deadshot would give up. He has a feeling that he knows exactly what's on that disk. He's had a good idea ever since Croc uttered the name Eric Morecambe. Eric Morecambe, the alias of the man who hired Lawton to kill Joker, is also the real name of a British comedian. Half of the famous comedy duo Morecambe and Wise.

Pulling the DVD out of its case, Batman slides the disc into the computer. The black screen blinks on, basking the cave in the bright light of his white skin.

“SURPRIIIIIIIIISE! BLAAAAAHAHA! OOGA-BOOGA-BOOGA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!”

The Joker’s face is pressed against the screen, blowing raspberries out at Batman.

“I’m here to haunt you from beyooond the graaaaave! AWOOOOOO! That’s right, if you are watching this, it means I’m dead, expired, deceased, no longer of this world, finito. It’s curtains for me, and all that remains is this, my final message to you, my dearest friend. I’m sure you have questions, the biggest one being: why would I order my own death?”

The Joker runs a finger along his neck in a theatrical gesture, crossing his eyes and sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth for added effect.

“That’s a very deep question, and the answer is complicated, so I’m going to begin at the end, and explain why I placed the assignment with Deadshot. On the surface, the two of us couldn’t be more different, but in fact ol’ Floyd and I are quite alike, in that boring, clichéd sacred cows like life and death hold little value or meaning to either of us. For me, it’s all about the game, and for him it’s all about the job. From his cold, clinical, utterly objective perspective, the view of a man who didn’t have a horse in the race – who doesn’t have any horse in any race – I gave him the conditional contract a long time ago, with the fee already paid, leaving him with the judgement to act upon it when he felt The Joker/Batman rivalry had become safe, stale and predictable. I didn’t know when death was coming, and frankly I’m surprised it hadn’t happened by the time I made this message.”

The Joker scratches his head in confusion, his brow furrowing.

“Boy, it sure is weird talking about oneself in the past tense. Anyway, you might want to know what I mean by safe, stale and predictable, so allow me to elaborate. You and I were made for each other, two sides of the yin-yang forever encircling one another. Neither of us could ever bring ourselves to kill the other, you claiming a bloated sense of moral superiority, I claiming that you were the mysterious, untouchable Batman and, try as I might, I just never had the chance to kill you. But we were both kidding ourselves. We couldn’t admit it, but what really drove us was that, deep down, neither one of us could live without the other, we gave each other’s lives meaning. We built an elaborate game of chance and wits around this core truth, and it was a perfect system, perfectly capable of sustaining our merry dance forever... and ever... and ever.”

The Joker’s grin begins to fade, a deep sadness filling his eyes.

“Then it all fell apart.”

Letting out a deep sigh, The Joker falls into a deep silence for close to a minute, his fevered mind lost in unsettling thoughts and recollections.

“It was the mask that ruined it. The moment you lost your mask in front of me and I saw, standing before my eyes, Bruce Wayne in a Batman costume. I mean, I knew already. I always knew. How could I not? I know you better than anyone, Batman. I’ll do you the respect of calling you by your real name. Bruce Wayne is the mask you put on during the day so you can walk around with the peons and make-believe that you’re a normal person with feelings and the capacity for human connection. But when night falls, you go into your cave and you peel off your three-piece suit, then you peel off your skin and your dumb, grinning face, and the cape and cowl are underneath... isn’t that right? I know you. I knew... but I couldn’t let anyone in on the joke, not even myself. I could play along and convince myself that if only I knew Batman’s ‘true identity’, I might be able to hit him where it hurts and kill him. It was a nice little illusion, but then I see you without the mask and the phoniness of it all is exposed in plain sight. I couldn’t see you like that and just DO NOTHING. Pandora’s Box had been opened, the illusion shattered, it was all over. I just didn’t know it yet.”

The Joker smiles again, smirking knowingly to himself.

“It’s quite funny, looking back. I can pinpoint the exact moment where I sealed my fate, and I began down the path that ultimately led to my demise. I had just been injured by The Parasite, and shipped off to Arkham for the hundredth time. But this time was different. This time I was imprisoned with the knowledge that Batman and Bruce Wayne were one and the same. And I schemed, I planned, I figured it all out... the dreaded word... the endgame. I curse myself for ever thinking of that stupid word now. Endgame. Why would I ever want this game to end? That big master-gag, you know the one, the one where I murdered Alfred and buried you alive in the desecrated grave of your parents.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

He bursts into wild hysterics, only getting himself under control after a couple of minutes. He wipes a tear of laughter from his eye before continuing.

“Oh, nostalgia. That gag changed the whole dynamic of our danse macabre. I broke the rules, I shifted it from being something endless and evergreen to something finite, something with an expiration date. And when I tried to go back to the usual old routine – remember the antimatter bomb on my island fortress? – it rang hollow. It was no good. I’d peeled back the curtain, and exposed the artifice in our game, exposed that hidden truth that we were both simply playing a role. There was no going back. Only forward, inevitably towards the end. We started hitting the grand final notes of our love ballad. You killed me. I killed you. We broke the sacred, unbreakable rules, the two of us. And we exposed the lie. How long have we said that this was always going to end with you killing me or me killing you? That was a fine thing to say... so long as it never actually happened! But when it did, it became clear that this couldn’t be the end, that we needed it to keep on going. Batman needs a Joker. The Joker needs a Batman. Don’t you see? Don’t you get it!? DON’T YOU GETIT!!!?!?!?!”

The Joker looks hysterical, eyes bulging out of his skull, as he tugs at his hair. He turns his back for a moment, shoulders hunching, then turns to face the screen once more, looking weary.

“I don’t know when the hammer fell, when the executioner came for me. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it was after I helped bring you back. When I travelled the world to find you, and I restored you from lost, mindless shell to the Batman of old. Oh, I was so proud of myself. Things would go back to the way they used to be! Only they didn’t, and they never would, would they? I could never win. If I killed you, I knew from experience I’d be adrift, lost in despair, and so I could never kill you again. Every punch I threw from that point on would be pulled. We were always players in a grand fiction, Batman, but now I could see the borders of the pages around me, I had taken what was implied and made it overt. And like a joke explained and dissected, the bite was taken out of the punchline. The Joker had been rendered impotent. So, really, if Deadshot didn’t put a bullet in my head right around then, I don’t know what I paid him for.”

The Joker perks up again, a big, maniacal grin spreading across his face as he moves closer to the screen, as if seeing through it, seeing right into Batman’s eyes.

“But we had some good times, didn’t we? Oh, what a ride it was. There were highs and lows, there were thrills and chills, and there was plenty of bloodcurdling, soul-crushing horror, but through it all, we were together. And now that I’m gone, I worry about you, old friend. You’ve probably kept yourself going lately by devoting your every waking hour to avenging my death, solving the unsolvable case. But now you’ve solved it, and you’re no better off than when you started. The Joker: case closed. Where does that leave you, when you’re alone in bed at night with only the screaming demons in your head to keep you company? Does it keep you up at night, knowing that there’s no Joker to terrorise the city and force you to be forever vigilant... but you’ll still keep on putting on that costume anyway? How does it feel to be going through the motions, Batman? How does it feel to be hollow? How does it feel... to be alone?”

There’s a tear brimming in his eyes, and for a moment it seems like The Joker might be serious in his sympathy. But then he bursts out laughing, a laugh wild and violent in its power, a laugh that Batman hoped to never hear again, that he never would hear again after tonight.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So long, Caped Crusader! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Auf Wiedersehen, Dark Knight! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Bye bye, Batman! HA! HA! HA!”

And the screen goes black. Curtains.

[Byrd Man]

Partial credit to me for being the frame that beautiful masterpiece got mounted in!

[Andy C.]

In regards to the Best Post winner:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Picture you've just got a hot new sports car, say, a Porsche or a souped-up Corvette or something. You're prouder of that car than you are of anything else you've ever done. You take pictures of yourself with it at every opportunity, you wash it obsessively, you baby it, and when you drive it, you feel like God. Driving that car makes you the baddest mother****er on the planet....

...until one day you're idling at a red light and someone pulls up to you in a classic Ferrari, and leaves you in the dust when the light turns green.

That's kind of what it's like for me, having picked up Joker in OE. I'm super-psyched to get to play such a high-caliber villain, I think of the best lines and evil schemes I can think of, I flaunt my hot new take on the Joker at every chance I get.......and then I go, "Oh. Right. Keyser Soze."

So hats off to you, Keyser. Eating your dust may be bitter for the kid playing with his favorite new toy, but god damn the classic is just glorious to see in action.

[Batman]

Alright, folks, here we go. Day 2. The next award is...

RPG Of The Year

Think back to the all-time greats that we've ever had. World of Heroes. Heroes vs. Villains. One Universe. Uh... um... Star Wars? I guess? Anyway, the point is that a truly great game is that of which you can recall fondly with good times and excellent moments laced throughout, whether you were a contributor or a really enthralled spectator. A game can do so much to challenge a writer - it can establish a tone, a setting, a set of characters. Damn near everything about the RPG that the players are applying for.

So who's going to join the ranks of the prestigious? Well, let's just see now...

The nominees for 2011's RPG of the Year are:

The Create-A-Hero RPG

The Ultimate DC RPG

One Earth: The Marvel/DC RPG

And the winner is...

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

TIE! The first of a few, actually!

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

[Byrd Man]

W00T!

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

[Byrd Man]

Best Villain


Hero good. Baddie bad. Without one, the other cannot exist. Ipso facto, habeas corpus, etc. etc. Here are the nominees for Best Villain:

Director Anderson - NiteMare Shape, CAH

Dylan Chambers - MST3K, CAH

Bane - Spike_x1, UDC

And the winner is...

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

[Batman]

Truly a menace of menaces.

[Byrd Man]

And a teabagger of teabaggers.

[Carnage27]

The ******* of *******s.

And I'm talking about Spike, not Bane.

EDIT: Dang censors!

[Rain Dog]

Originally Posted by Byrd Man

Now presenting the award for Best Solo Arc is two time winner, Byrd Man!

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

*Pulls out remote and presses a button. Applause suddenly dies.*

Thank you. Thank you. I am so happy to be here. I've already won this award twice, so it is a honor to bestow it to someone else. If there's one thing all the nominees have in common, it's playing with themselves!!!

*crickets*

Playing with themselves!

*Presses a button on the remote*

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

Thank you. Now without further ado, here are the nominees for Best Solo Arc:


The ****tastic Adventures of Howard The Duck - Rain Dog, All-Star Marvel

Dick Grayson's Journey - Andy C., Ultimate DC

Current arc of Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE - Watchman, World's Finest

Suicide Squad - Byrd Man, Ultimate DC

Lex Luthor's Journey - Andy C., Ultimate DC


And the winner is....

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Thanks a lot, guys. It's a shame I won't be able to continue on with him but that's my fault. Congrats to the other winners and keep on truckin'.

[Batman]

Best Walking The Line Character

To most characters, the world is black and white. But these ****ers define the idea of morally gray. This award honors the freaks and weirdos that try and cross their own line in the sand, between heroism and villainy, but often become the most engaging of either category in the process.

The nominees for Best WTL are...

Superboy - Bounce, Ultimate DC RPG

Damian Wayne - Bounce, World of Heroes DC RPG

Edward Nygma - Byrd Man, Ultimate DC RPG

Howard The Duck - Rain Dog, All-Star Marvel

So, who's the most ****ed up character in the games?

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Trick question, because it's another tie!

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

[Byrd Man]

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Thanks for the props, all those who voted for me. Nygma is by far my favorite character of all the folks I've ever played. I think I've said all I can say about the character since I finished with him late last year. It's an honor to share the award with Bounce, and thanks once again to those who voted for me

[Bounce]

Dang it, the military blocks photobucket here! So I have no idea who won.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

But whichever of my two took home the trophy, I appreciate the votes. Especially if I tied with Ultimate Nygma, who got my vote and I honestly assumed Byrd was going to sweep this category. Which isn't to say that Rain Dog's Howard the Duck was not completely awesome, because he was. I definitely didn't see my characters as bringing home the gold with that kind of competition though.

[trustyside-kick]

Originally Posted by Bounce

Dang it, the military blocks photobucket here! So I have no idea who won.

[Spike_x1]

Originally Posted by Byrd Man

Best Villain


Hero good. Baddie bad. Without one, the other cannot exist. Ipso facto, habeas corpus, etc. etc. Here are the nominees for Best Villain:

Director Anderson - NiteMare Shape, CAH

Dylan Chambers - MST3K, CAH

Bane - Spike_x1, UDC

And the winner is...

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Hate that guy. Where's he been all this time? I demand a recount!

[Batman]

Then you'll really hate this.

Best Multiple-PC Story Arc

Whether you wanna consider it the backbone, the life blood, the heart, or even the tasty, tasty liver of the RPG's, this is what it's all about. A bunch of geeks getting together to show off their freakish union in order to tell a story about men and women in tights either duking it out, or coming together against a common threat. Check your social lives at the door, because this is why we're all here in the first place.

The nominees for Best Multiple PC Story Arc are...

'72 Chevy - Harlekin/Byrd Man, All-Star Marvel

STRIKE Strikes - Various, Create-A-Hero

Death's Destiny/Ultimate JLA vs. Dr. Destiny - Various, Ultimate DC

And the winner is...

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Another goddamn tie! You people can't make decisions for ****!

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

[Byrd Man]

No love for the Chevy?!

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

[Andy C.]

Speaking of things that get no love, it's Andy C! And he's here to present:


BEST HERO


As much as everyone says the bad guys have more fun, it's hard to resist a good hero. Hell, the word's right there in the name of the site, and the genre we all know and love. They represent the best of us, even in the worst of times, and embody everything we wish we could be. At the very least, they're the ones at the heart of the story. It's a hero's world; everyone else just screws with it.

Anyway, here are the folks who really put the "Pro" in "Protagonist":

Mister Fantastic- Byrd Man, All-Star Marvel

Vigilante- Hound55, Create-A-Hero

Batman- Batman, Ultimate DC

The Flash- Byrd Man, Ultimate DC

Spider-Man- Andy C., All-Star Marvel



And the winner is...........

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

...you son of a *****.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!: