Before I share my thoughts on this year’s nominees, let’s have a look on the categories and which products have been nominated this year:
Judges’ Spotlight Winners
Dragons in the Stacks: A Teen Librarian’s Guide to Tabletop Role-Playing (Libraries Unlimited) – Annah Madrinan
Wicked Lies and Alibis (Imaginary Empire) – Stacy Muth
Posthuman Pathways (Genesis of Legend Publishing) – Jakub Nowosad
Firefly Echoes of War: Thrillin’ Heroics (Margaret Weis Productions) – Kayra Keri Küpçü
East Texas University (Pinnacle Entertainment Group) – Kurt Wiegel
Best Adventure
Cake Walk (Fabled Environments)
East Texas University: Degrees of Horror (Pinnacle Entertainment Group)
Horror on the Orient Express (Chaosium)
Hoard of the Dragon Queen (Wizards of the Coast)
A Red & Pleasant Land (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Best Aid/Accessory
DungeonMorph Dice: Explorer Set (Inkwell Ideas)
D&D Dungeon Master’s Screen (Wizards of the Coast)
Syrinscape’s Rise of the Runelords Mega SoundPack (Syrinscape)
Black-green Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition RPG Dice Set (Q-Workshop)
Pathfinder Cards: Deluxe Harrow Deck (Paizo Inc.)
Best Art, Cover
Iron Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy Monsternomicon (Privateer Press)
MUTANT: Year Zero – The Roleplaying Game (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Freeport: The City of Adventure for the Pathfinder RPG (Green Ronin Publishing)
Achtung! Cthulhu: Terrors of the Secret War (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Rise of Tiamat (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Art, Interior
D&D Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast)
Interface Zero 2.0: Full Metal Cyberpunk (Gun Metal Games)
Trail of Cthulhu: Dreamhounds of Paris (Pelgrane Press)
The Strange (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Core Rules Hardcover (Privateer Press)
Best Blog
ConTessa – Tabletop gaming by women for everyone!
DMDavid Blog
Gnome Stew
House Rule Gaming
NERD TREK
Best Cartography
MUTANT: Year Zero – The Roleplaying Game (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
The Guide to Glorantha (Moon Design Publications)
Distant Outposts Deluxe Poster Map Set (Christopher West’s Maps of Mastery)
Horror on the Orient Express (Chaosium)
Ninth World Guidebook (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
Best Electronic Book
Mass Effect: Fate RPG (Don Mappin)
Basic Rules for D&D (Wizards of the Coast)
Ken Writes About Stuff Volume 2 (Pelgrane Press)
Cake Walk (Fabled Environments)
Valiant Universe RPG Digital Initiative (Catalyst Game Labs)
Best Family Game
Atomic Robo: The Roleplaying Game (Evil Hat Productions)
D&D Starter Set (Wizards of the Coast)
Infestation, An RPG of Bugs and Heroes (Third Eye Games)
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space – Limited Edition Anniversary Rulebook (Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.)
Adventure Maximus RPG Starter Set (Eden Studios)
Best Free Product
Mass Effect: Fate RPG (Don Mappin)
Basic Rules for D&D (Wizards of the Coast)
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space – Arrowdown (Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.)
13th Age: The Archmage’s Orrery (Pelgrane Press)
East Texas University: Redneckromancer (Pinnacle Entertainment Group)
Best Game
D&D Player’s Handbook (Wizards of the Coast)
The Strange (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
Firefly Roleplaying Game (Margaret Weis Productions)
MUTANT: Year Zero – The Roleplaying Game (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Atomic Robo: The Roleplaying Game (Evil Hat Productions)
Best Miniature Product
Gen Con Adventurer’s Tavern – Painted (Games and Gears)
D&D Icons of the Realms: Elemental Evil Boosters (WizKids)
Fantasy Pirate Goblin Lieutnant 28mm Miniature (Via Ludibunda)
Pathfinder Pawns: Inner Sea Pawn Box (Paizo Inc.)
Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Roleplaying Game Adventure Kit (Privateer Press)
Best Monster/Adversary
D&D Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast)
13th Age Bestiary (Pelgrane Press)
The Strange Bestiary (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
Iron Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy Monsternomicon (Privateer Press)
Achtung! Cthulhu: Terrors of the Secret War (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Best Podcast
Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff
Miskatonic University Podcast
Translating the Strange
NPC Cast
Grim Dark Podcast
Best Production Values
Horror on the Orient Express (Chaosium)
D&D Starter Set (Wizards of the Coast)
The Guide to Glorantha (Moon Design Publications)
Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Roleplaying Game Adventure Kit (Privateer Press)
Shadowrun: Runner’s Toolkit: Alphaware (Catalyst Game Labs)
Best RPG Related Product
Designers & Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry (Evil Hat Productions)
Chicks Dig Gaming: A Celebration of All Things Gaming by the Women Who Love It (Mad Norwegian Press)
Shadowrun: Crossfire (Catalyst Game Labs)
Temple of Elemental Evil (WizKids)
Doctor Who: The Card Game 2nd Edition (Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.)
Best Rules
D&D Player’s Handbook (Wizards of the Coast)
MUTANT: Year Zero – The Roleplaying Game (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Mindjammer – The Roleplaying Game (Transhuman Science-Fiction Adventure in the Second Age of Space) (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
At the Hands of an Angry God (BlackWyrm Games)
Monster of the Week (Evil Hat Productions)
Best Setting
The Strange (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
The Guide to Glorantha (Moon Design Publications)
MUTANT: Year Zero – The Roleplaying Game (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
A Red & Pleasant Land (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Trail of Cthulhu: Dreamhounds of Paris (Pelgrane Press)
Best Software
Roll20 (Roll 20)
D&D Complete Core Monster Pack for Fantasy Grounds (SmiteWorks USA LLC)
Hero Lab (Lone Wolf Development)
Syrinscape’s Rise of the Runelords Mega SoundPack (Syrinscape)
Eclipse Phase: Singularity Character Generator (Posthuman Studios & Snow Dog Labs)
Best Supplement
D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (Wizards of the Coast)
Pathfinder RPG: Pathfinder Unchained (Paizo Inc.)
Savage Worlds Science Fiction Companion (Pinnacle Entertainment Group)
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Sourcebook (Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.)
Shadowrun: Run Faster (Catalyst Game Labs)
Best Website
Tabletop Audio
Adventureaweek
Age of Ravens
The Escapist
The Illuminerdy
Best Writing
Ken Writes About Stuff Volume 2 (Pelgrane Press)
D&D Player’s Handbook (Wizards of the Coast)
The Strange (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
A Red & Pleasant Land (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Designers & Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry (Evil Hat Productions)
Product of the Year
MUTANT: Year Zero – The Roleplaying Game (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
The Strange (Monte Cook Games, LLC)
Horror on the Orient Express (Chaosium)
A Red & Pleasant Land (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
The Guide to Glorantha (Moon Design Publications)
D&D Player’s Handbook (Wizards of the Coast)
Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Core Rules Hardcover (Privateer Press)
Mass Effect: Fate RPG (Don Mappin)
Firefly Roleplaying Game (Margaret Weis Productions)
Mindjammer – The Roleplaying Game (Transhuman Science-Fiction Adventure in the Second Age of Space) (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Wow! That’s a lot of nominees and there are a lot of awesome products on this list. But there are also a couple of surprises. Let’s start with the biggest surprise this year.
The ENnie awards endorse copyright and trademark infringement? WTF?!
This may perhaps be a pretty strong accusation, but in a way it’s true. Even though I love the work Don Mappin has done with his Mass Effect RPG (based on Fate), it’s basically IP theft. He uses Bioware/EA’s artwork and intellectual property to create a roleplaying game. I think most of us would consider this fair use, but I am pretty sure lawyers would think otherwise. But in most cases EA would probably ignore the existence of a fan product like this as long as no money is made and it flies under the radar. BUT for some reason unknown to me, the creator submitted his works to the ENnies. And more surprisingly the ENnies judges decided to nominate it. Unless Mr. Mappin has made some deal with Bioware/EA recently, the risk that EA’s lawyers will send him a C&D letter has risen tremendously. In addition to that the ENnies judges are sending out a questionable message if they publically endorse IP theft – even if it’s well-made and loved by fans all over the world.
D&D is back
Even though I am a bit burned out on all things D&D at the moment, it’s nice to see official D&D products on the nominees list. D&D 5th Edition is IMHO the best edition of D&D to date and it would definitely deserve a couple of ENnies.
ConTessa
I have to admit that I haven’t participated in ConTessa nor did I check out the website that often, but I fully support the decision of the ENnie judges to nominate their blog. The Role-playing games hobby has always been pretty male-dominated and getting more women involved in all aspects of the hobby is an important goal – and ConTessa has done a marvelous job so far. The blog is definitely worth checking out!
A Red and Pleasant Land
Zak S. may be controversial to some, but you can’t deny his creativity. What sets this book apart from regular RPG products is that it just doesn’t look like one. Zak’s artwork gives the whole book a distinct style unseen in RPGs before. The setting combines elements from Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Worderland and Bram Stoker’s Dracula spiced up with the weirdness we already enjoyed in Zak’s debut title Vornheim. A Red and Pleasant Land is an exceptional book, definitely not for everyone, but it’s great to see it nominated!
Mindjammer
Last but not least I want to share a few thoughts on Mindjammer. The original Mindjammer was a setting book for Cubicle 7’s Starblazer Adventures game. Eventually Sarah Newton released a 2nd Edition, a stand-alone Fate Core-based game, which has now been nominated in two categories. Mindjammer is also the name of the novel set into the same universe, which is one of the best-written Science Fiction novels I’ve written in a long time. And trust me, the game is as well written!
What are your thoughts on this year’s ENnies? Please share your thoughts below.
Related posts:
My thoughts on the 2009 ENnie Award Nominations
More Thoughts on the Cypher System
D&D 5th Edition: A Few Thoughts