Velmont said:I agree with you Rae. If we want to show the best transparency, a judge should be name, even if there is 4 of them involved in it (why I suddenly feels alone). I, honestly, don't mind, but Bront is true. It's hard to keep track of teh sex of everyone, I'm about to use the (s)he pronoun before all my verbs...
I agree with Velmont. Every adventure should have a judge; I don't think it appropriate for players and DM, even by agreement among themselves, to dispense with the requirement. The judge isn't there just for the benefit of the DM and players, but for the benefit of all LEW. Among the judge duties are ensuring the coherence of LEW. A player isn't qualified to slam the brakes on if a DM does something inappropriate, because at the time the player won't know everything that a judge might know. A uninvolved judge, who's read the adventure proposal and can discuss developments candidly with the DM, is needed.
Also, if someone needs to take over in the event of DM emergency, it's easier with a judge who's been following the whole game all along than with someone who steps in and has to come up to speed on a moment's notice. So we should have someone who's committed in advance to being a backup. I've stepped in to rescue games twice, one that I had been judging and one where the designated judge went AWOL before the DM had. The latter was much harder than the former.
Finally, the judge needs to rubber-stamp XP awards. No player should be in charge of approving XP for his or her own character; it's too obvious a conflict of interest.
So, I looked through the game threads for adventures without judges listed:
* Crux of the Matter (Rystil Arden, also with a side thread for Tenebrynn), as mentioned, needs a judge.
* Ashin's Commission (Rystil Arden, multiple threads) also has no judge listed. This is a rescued game; is this another game where we lost both judge and DM? If so, a new judge should be appointed.
* Bounty of the Endless Sands (Rystil Arden (I'm seeing a pattern!)) also has no judge listed.
* Showdown in the Forgotten Ruins (Rystil Arden). I understand this is a result of the merger of Immortality Awakens (Knight Otu judging) and Bounty of the Endless Sands. So is Knight Otu also judging this, as a continuation of his duties from Immortality Awakens?
* S1 (Manzanita) -- OK, so the pattern is broken.
Now, who can judge each of these? High level adventures will inevitably have multiple judges playing, because the qualifications for becoming a judge ensures that a high proportion of the high-level characters in LEW belong to judges. I can judge any of them; I'm trying not to take on too many adventure-judging responsibilities since becoming character judge, but if needed I can. Who else can?
