Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Ennies 2016 Nominees and Spotlight Winners.

I'm an old fart regarding the internet.  I remember when EN World was still the up and coming Eric Noah's World of 3rd Edition.  Now, they're serious business in the gaming forum "industry", even hosting their own awards show, the Ennies, at GenCon.

Recently they announced the most recent nominess of the 2016 awards and I continue to be an old fart yet again.

Highlighting my choices in bold.
(edit:  I think I caught all the typos.  Nothing like doing it after S. John Ross and Kenneth Hite "+1'ed" the post.  Spell and grammar check every post, Eric!  Arrrrgh.)

Judges’ Spotlight Winners
Worlds in Peril (Samjoko Publishing) – Stacy Muth
Eclipse Phase: Firewall (Posthuman Studios) – Jakub Nowosad
Out of the Abyss (Wizards of the Coast) – Kayra Keri Küpçü
Sword Coast Adventure’s Guide (Wizards of the Coast) – Kurt Wiegel
I assume these win awards right out the box, and I haven't seen a copy of any of these at the FLGS or box store.  I guess congrats are in order?

Best Adventure
Dracula Dossier (Pelgrane Press)
Curse of Strahd (Wizards of the Coast)
Achtung! Cthulhu – Shadows of Atlantis (Modiphius)
Maze of the Blue Medusa (Satyr Press)
Deadlands: Stone and a Hard Place (Pinnacle Entertainment Group)
These aren't your father's 16-page modules.  Dracula Dossier is massive and quite worth it. 

Best Aid/Accessory
Adventure Scents (Adventure Scents)
Non-Player Cards: An Artful and Inspirational NPC Generator (Metal Weave Games)
All Rolled Up – Dracula Dossier: The Black Archive (All Rolled Up)
13th Age Game Master’s Screen and Resource Book (Pelgrane Press)
Feng Shui 2 Game Master’s Screen (Atlas Games)
None of these excite me in the least... next!

Best Art, Cover
Fragged Empire Roleplaying Game (Modiphius Entertainment)
Curse of Strahd (Wizards of the Coast)
Pathfinder RPG: Ultimate Intrigue (Paizo, Inc)
Achtung! Cthulhu: Shadows of Atlantis (Modiphius Entertainment Ltd)
Ryuutama (Kotodama Heavy Industries)
If this is the best cover art, perhaps companies should start paying more for better artists.  It also explains why nothing grabs my eye at the store anymore.  Nod to Shadows of Atlantis

Best Art, Interior
Low Life: The Rise of the Low  (Mutha Oith Creations)
Baby Bestiary Handbook Vol 1 (Metal Weave Games)
Degenesis (Six More Vodka)
Dragon Age Core Rulebook (Green Ronin Publishing)
War of Ashes: Fate of Agaptus (Evil Hat Productions)
Baby Bestiary might be too cute for sure, but no one can deny the quality of the artwork.

Best Blog
Campaign Mastery
The Other Side
Illuminerdy
World Builder
Raging Owlbear
Just using the last four or five articles for reference, I found Raging Owlbear to be the superior site, with Illuminerdy a distant second.  They seriously need to look over at wargaming blogs that don't involve gnomes for some far superior examples. 

Best Cartography
Cthulhu Britannica London (Cubicle 7)
Shadows of Esteren Cartography of Tri Kazel (Agate Editions)
Snow White (AAW Games LLC)
Maze of the Blue Medusa (Satyr Press)
Southlands Campaign Setting Map (Kobold Press)
I'll homer this one, the Cthulhu Britannica London is pretty freakin' sweet.

Best Electronic Book
Snow White (AAW Games LLC)
Ten Candles (Cavalry Games)
Trail of Cthulhu: The Long Con (Pelgrane Press)
Maze of the Blue Medusa (Satyr Press)
Shadowrun Missions: Ten Fifty-Seven (Catalyst Game Labs)
No interest in e-books.

 Best Family Game
No Thank You, Evil! (Monte Cook Games)
Lone Wolf (Cubicle 7)
Ryuutama (Kotodama Heavy Industries)
It’s Element-ary! (Nothing Ventured Games)
War of Ashes: Fate of Agaptus (Evil Hat Productions)
I remember shying away from the Kickstarter for No Thank You, Evil!, simply due to cost.  After reading a few reviews, and listening to some info via podcast, it's a very solid, if overpriced product.

Best Free Game
TOONZY! the Cartoon Role Playing Game (Genres Game System LLC)
Delta Green: Need to Know (Arc Dream Publishing)
ScreenPlay: The Rehearsal Edition (Mystical Throne Entertainment)
FAITH: the Sci-Fi RPG (Burning Games LTD)
King of Slimes (Sproutli Games)
Delta Green wins, but I was immediately smitten by TOONZY's crazy charts.

Best Free Product
Pathfinder Module: We Be Goblins Free (Paizo, Inc)
Chill Quickstart: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors (Growling Door Games, Inc)
Toast of the Town(Cumberland Games & Diversions)
Epic Space Battles (End Transmission Games, LLC)
Race to Starport (Pelgrane Press)
Toast of the Town is a Risus Adventure.  Wins, hands down.

 Best Game
Urban Shadows(Magpie Games)
Ten Candles (Cavalry Games)
Dragon Age Core Rulebook (Green Ronin Publishing)
Degenesis (Six More Vodka)
Feng Shui 2 Core Rulebook  (Atlas Games)
I was tempted to throw my powerful voting block towards Robin D Laws' Feng Shui 2, but truth be told, I don't have interest or expertise in this area. 

Best Miniature Product
WGC Hydra Brush Set (Games and Gears)
Frostgrave (Osprey Publishing)
Gaming Paper Mega Dungeon 3 – Sewers (Gaming Paper)
Pathfinder  Battles – The Rusty Dragon Inn: Bar (Paizo Inc.)
Death & Taxes Collector’s Set(Lesser Gnome)
Frostgrave blows the rest out of the water.

Best Monster/Adversary
Baby Bestiary Handbook Vol 1 (Metal Weave Games)
Pathfinder RPG: Bestiary 5 (Paizo, Inc)
Aventyr Bestiary (AAW Games LLC)
Colonial Gothic: Lovecraft (Rogue Games, Inc)
Larger Than Life: Savage Worlds Edition (High Rock Press)
Baby Bestiary...

Best Podcast
Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff
The RPG Academy
Total Party Thrill: RPG Advice From Our Table to Yours
The Misdirected Mark Podcast
Role Playing Public Radio
I have vastly improved my knowledge of other podcasts, but Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff is just so vastly superior for any player/GM that I can't fathom the other choices.

Best Production Values
Degenesis (Six More Vodka)
Numenera Boxed Set Edition: Reliquary (Monte Cook Games)
Death & Taxes Collector’s Set(Lesser Gnome)
Cthulhu Britannica London (Cubicle 7)
Lone Wolf (Cubicle 7)

Best RPG Related Product
Don’t Turn Your Back (Evil Hat Productions)
Epic Treasure Coins (Campaign Coins)
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Wrath of the Righteous (Paizo, Inc)
Focal Point: The Complete Game Master’s Guide to Running Extraordinary Sessions (Engine Publishing)
Ken Writes About Stuff Volume 3 (Pelgrane Press)
I do like Ken talking about random stuff better than writing about it, but I certainly would choose this over the other options.

Best Rules
Feng Shui 2 Core Rulebook (Atlas Games)
Urban Shadows(Magpie Games)
Ten Candles (Cavalry Games)
Lone Wolf (Cubicle 7)
War of Ashes: Fate of Agaptus (Evil Hat Productions)
No horse in the race

 Best Setting
Fragged Empire Roleplaying Game (Modiphius Entertainment)
Feng Shui 2 Core Rulebook (Atlas Games)
Degenesis (Six More Vodka)
Warrior Princesses Realms of Everafter (Galileo Games)
Southlands Campaign Setting (Kobold Press)
Again, my steed?  Not competing.

Best Software
Don't do gaming software.  Wouldn't even want to pretend to know..

 Best Supplement
The Dresden Files RPG Vol. 3: The Paranet Papers (Evil Hat Productions)
Encylcopedia of Impossible Things (Monte Cook Games)
The Dracula Dossier: Hawkins Papers (Pelgrane Press)
Pathfinder RPG: Ultimate Intrigue (Paizo, Inc)
Delta Green: Agent’s Handbook (Arc Dream Publishing)

Best Website
Gnome Stew. Like there was any doubt?

 Best Writing
Maze of the Blue Medusa (Satyr Press)
The Dracula Dossier: Director’s Handbook (Pelgrane Press)
Delta Green: Agent’s Handbook (Arc Dream Publishing)
The Dresden Files RPG Vol. 3: The Paranet Papers (Evil Hat Productions)
Snow White (AAW Games LLC)

 Product of the Year
Degenesis (Six More Vodka)
Maze of the Blue Medusa (Satyr Press)
Snow White (AAW Games LLC)
Ten Candles (Cavalry Games)
Urban Shadows(Magpie Games)
Feng Shui 2 Core Rulebook  (Atlas Games)
War of Ashes: Fate of Agaptus (Evil Hat Productions)
Dracula Dossier (Pelgrane Press)
Curse of Strahd (Wizards of the Coast)
Dragon Age Core Rulebook (Green Ronin Publishing)
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1 comment:

  1. StephenJuly 28, 2016 at 2:08 PM

    Hey Eric -- I didn't want to post this while voting was still open because I didn't want it to seem like I was begging for a vote, but I'd love to send you a PDF of Ten Candles if you are interested in checking out the game more. Let me know! stephen [at] cavalrygames com

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