ENnie Award Opinions

Gen Con Indy is on the way, which means it’s time for the ENnie awards. Sure, everyone does a post expressing their thoughts on the nominees, but I think the Internet has room for mine as well. If you’re interested in other people’s take, you can read similar discussions on RPG Blog II and Critical Hits.

If you’re into gaming enough to be reading a blog dedicated to roleplaying, which I can safely assume you are, then you probably already know about the Ennies, but on the off chance you don’t, I’ll explain.

The ENnies are a fan based awards given to roleplaying games. They were started in 2001 on the EN World forums and have grown into one of the most respective awards in the industry. More information is available on the ENnie Awards Blog, including this year’s nominations. I recommend reading over the nominations before continuing.

And Now For My Opinions

Now I shall tell you who I think deserves to win each category. Obviously, I can’t have a fully informed opinion on every product. I haven’t read them all, or even heard of everything on the list. Chances are, you haven’t either. For that reason, I’ll try to be fairly thorough in my reasoning, but if you disagree with something, yell at me in the comments. Flame wars are good for business.

Best Adventure: Stolen Land

I can’t really be fair here. The only product in this category I’ve read is Pathfinder AP #31: Stolen Land. But I did read it rather thoroughly. The Pathfinder Adventure Paths have some of the greatest talent behind them and the best production values in the industry. This one, though is a bit of an experiment. It’s a sandbox world-building campaign where the Player Characters are supposed to become kings, which may be why the Adventure Path is called Kingmaker.

The appeal here is seeing how Paizo takes on what is essentially a Plot Point campaign. After reading it, I’m excited to find the right group to run it for. As such, I proudly choose it to win.

Best Aid or Accessory: Campaign Coins

I’m sorely tempted to give this to the Battlegraph Dry Erase Boards. I want those badly, but I probably wouldn’t really use them. The Campaign Coins, though, fulfill my love of props. And my love of metal things. It’s a win/win all around, really. I saw them in my local game store recently, but held off on buying them. They’re not cheap. But the website lets you buy them in smaller packs, and I may have to do that.

As a side note, I don’t understand Gaming Paper. It’s just a roll of large graph paper that I have to cut myself. I’d be far more interested if it was sold like an easel pad.

Best Art, Cover: Eclipse Phase

All of the nominations here have fantasic cover art, but I’ve seen enough Monsters and Fantasy covers that they no longer engage me. I haven’t seen very many tentacles ripping out of a space ship before. The whole Eclipse Phase cover fills me with a sense of loneliness. It’s breathtaking, in many ways, not all of them happy.

Best Art, Interior: Shadowrun – 20th Anniversary Ed

I adore Shadowrun, so I may be biased, but the amount of and quality of the art in this book really brings the setting to life. It’s not just quality, it’s evocative. Sure, the other contenders have great art, but again, I’ve seen fantasy. Lots of it, and it doesn’t enrapture me anymore.

Best Blog: NewbieDM.com

I read all but one of the nominations, and they’re all great works, but Newbie DM is working towards being a big name in gaming. The quality and usefulness of posts is consistent and high. Plus, NewbieDM practically lives on Twitter, so we hear from him a lot.

Best Cartography: Pathfinder City Map Folio

This packet comes with some beautiful city maps, which I simply like the look of more. Even if you’re playing your own city, you can use the maps in this pack. Each is distinct, with a unique feel and deisgn. That said, nobody does encounter maps as well as Wizards of the Coast, so I’ll give a solid nod toward Revenge of the Giants.

Best Electronic Book: Unknown

I’ve never even heard of any of these products, which probably speaks poorly of me. Sorry.

Best Free Product: Advanced Players Guide Playtest

It feels cheap to give this to Pathfinder. It was just a public beta test of the rules changes to what was already freely available in the SRD. Still, it was a very cool move, and it was a free copy of the Pathfinder rules, so it wins.

Best Game: Dragon Age: Set 1

I refuse to give this to Pathfinder or Shadowrun because they’re really just a little polishing and revising of the exact games I’ve been playing for years. Good improvements, all around, but not a new game by any means.

Dragon Age, while only one fourth of the whole game, is still a new game. And, the box comes with everything you need to play. And you can play the videogame to learn about the world. This comes together to make for a solid experience.

Best Miniature Product: Fortress of Redemption

This gets the win for just looking awesome. I want it. I don’t want to store it. I don’t play Warhammer. But I want it.

Best Monster/Adversary:  Hellfrost Bestiary

I have to give a nod to the Savage Worlds product. I also have to give a not to TAG for bringing a full monster book to Savage Worlds. Of course, Pathfinder is going to get this one, almost certainly, and probably even deservedly, but in the end it’s still just a Monster Manual.

Best Podcast: I can’t say

I haven’t listened to them, sadly. I’ll have to rely on your opinions.

Best Production Values:  Shadowrun – 20th Anniversary Ed

This one is close. As a whole Pathfinder has the highest production values in the industry. Every single product is fantastic. But the 20th Anniversary books are full of deep fiction, relevant and stunning art, and just about everything you need to really capture everything the game has been over the past 20 years. They’re something special.

Best Regalia:  Grind

It’s warjack soccer. Multi-ton steam powered robots pushing a spiked ball around a lava pit. I love it.

Best Rules: Can’t Comment

Strangely, I’ve never played any of the nominated games, so I can’t comment on the rules.

Best Setting: Day After Ragnarok

Even if this wasn’t a Savage Worlds setting, it would get my nomination. It’s unique, and not just a little. Ragnarok happened in the middle of World War 2. We nuked the giant snake. It’s pretty wicked.

Best Supplement: Player’s Handbook 3

With this release, Wizards has introduced hybrid classes and Psionics, and now 4th Edition D&D, after dozens of books, feels as complete as Pathfinder does in one book. That’s praise, of a sort. D&D 4e is it’s own beast, with certain strengths. If you’re a player that likes lots of shiny things, this book is the ultimate resource.

Best Website: d20PFSRD.com

Much of what I learned about Pathfinder I gleaned from this site. It’s well organized, making it an invaluable resource when you don’t want to dig through a several hundred page book.

Best Writing: Anathem by Neal Stephenson

I haven’t read any of the books on this list, but I did read Anathem, and it’s fantastic, if you like to fill your brain with science.

Product of the Year: Not Pathfinder

It’s inevitable that it will win. This game is the most significant release of the year, or for several years to come. And, I do like it. But I feel very dirty about giving Product of the Year to D&D re-branded. My personal favorite product is the Shadowrun 20th Anniversary, so in my heart it wins, but if the argument above applies to Pathfinder, it applies here too. So that’s it.

Thoughts?