Here’s this year’s ENnies nominations, as sourced from ENworld. Some comments follow.
Best Adventure
- Dead Rock Seven (Pelgrane Press)
- Invasive Procedures (Pelgrane Press)
- Madness at Gardmore Abbey (Wizards of the Coast)
- Streets of Zobeck (Open Design)
- The Rending Box (Pelgrane Press)
I usually don’t have much of a dog in this hunt, but I did layout-flow on Dead Rock Seven using a template provided by Pelgrane, so, yay!
Best Aid/Accessory
- DungeonMorph Cards (Inkwell Ideas, Inc.)
- GameMastery Chase Cards (Paizo Publishing)
- Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs for Any RPG (Engine Publishing)
- Mutants and Masterminds GM’s Kit (Green Ronin)
- Shadowrun Runner’s Toolkit (Catalyst Game Labs)
Best Art, Cover
- Black Crusade: Core Rulebook (Fantasy Flight Games)
- Cthulhu by Gaslight (Chaosium Inc.)
- Mutants and Masterminds Gamemaster’s Guide (Green Ronin)
- Neverwinter Campaign Setting (Wizards of the Coast)
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box (Paizo)
Best Art, Interior
- Book of Drakes (Open Design)
- Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple (Evil Hat Productions)
- Dragon Age: Set 2 (Green Ronin)
- Legend of the Five Rings, Fourth Edition: The Great Clans (Alderac Entertainment Group)
- The One Ring: Adventures Over the Edge of the Wild (Cubicle 7)
The art sourcing and direction on Do was all Daniel Solis — he created the vision of the world and got his artists to live in it — but as the publisher, I’m thrilled.
Best Blog
No personal stake in here, but pleased to see the Gaming as Women blog making it onto this list.
Best Cartography
- Harker Asylum – Virtual Boxed Set (0One Games)
- Madness at Gardmore Abbey (Wizards of the Coast)
- Mass Transit III (Maps of Mastery)
- Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Jade Regent Map Folio (Paizo)
- The Shadowlands Conversion Guide (BlackStar Studios)
Best Electronic Book
- Advanced Encounters: Terrain Toolbox (Sneak Attack Press)
- Cthulhu Apocalypse: The Apocalypse Machine (Graham Walmsley & Pelgrane Press)
- GURPS Social Engineering (Steve Jackson Games)
- Spookybeans: The Gothic Comics RPG (Chapter 13 Press)
- Way of the Wicked Book One: Knot of Thorns (Fire Mountain Games)
GURPS Social Engineering?! HMMMM.
Best Free Product
- Black Crusade: Broken Chains (Fantasy Flight Games)
- Dragon Age Quickstart Guide (Green Ronin)
- The One Ring: Words of the Wise (Cubicle 7)
- The Shadowlands Conversion Guide (BlackStar Studios)
- Pathfinder Module: We Be Goblins! (Paizo)
Best Game
- Cosmic Patrol Core Rulebook (Catalyst Game Labs)
- Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple (Evil Hat Productions)
- Hollowpoint (VSCA Publishing)
- Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game (Margaret Weis Productions)
- Savage Worlds Deluxe (Pinnacle Entertainment Group)
Man, what a brutal Best Game roster this year! Thrilled to have an Evil Hat game on there by way of Dan, but seeing our VSCA allies crack this list with Hollowpoint was a surprise and a treat. But for sheer weight of numbers — and oh, yeah, Marvel — I’m both pleased to see the work of many friends on Marvel Heroic Roleplaying get the nod here, and expecting to see the win. Savage Worlds Deluxe may come out swinging, though.
Best Miniatures Product
- Dungeons and Dragons Dragon Collector’s Set (Wizards of the Coast)
- Monster Medallions Set 1: Deadly Encounter Groups (Fiery Dragon Productions)
- Pathfinder Battles: Heroes and Monsters (Paizo)
- Serene Fist Set Four: Katana Schoolgirls vs. Zombie Furries (Okumarts Games)
- Steam Tower (Mayhem in Paper)
Best Monster/Adversary
- DC Adventures: Heroes & Villains, Vol. 1 (Green Ronin)
- Deathwatch: Mark of the Xenos (Fantasy Flight Games)
- Hacklopedia of Beasts (Kenzer and Co.)
- Hunter Sheets Issue Two—An SLA Industries Supplement (Nightfall Games)
- Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale (Wizards of the Coast)
Best Podcast
- Haste – The Official Obsidian Portal Podcast
- Iron GM
- Jennisodes
- Law of the Geek
- Role Playing Public Radio
Yaaay, Jennisodes!
Best Production Values
- Hacklopedia of Beasts (Kenzer & Co.)
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box (Paizo)
- Smallville High School Yearbook (Margaret Weis Productions)
- The One Ring: Adventures Over the Edge of the Wild (Cubicle 7)
- Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition (CCP Games/White Wolf Publishing)
Dresden Files RPG editor Amanda Valentine worked on the Smallville High School Yearbook. I’ve heard good things.
Best RPG Related Product
- Carnival Arcane (Midnight Syndicate Soundtracks)
- Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design (Open Design)
- Cthulhu Wrapping Paper (Gaming Paper)
- Lords of Waterdeep (Wizards of the Coast)
- Tales of the Far West (Adamant Entertainment)
Best Rules
- Bulldogs! (Galileo Games)
- Hollowpoint (VSCA Publishing)
- Lorefinder—The Pathfinder / GUMSHOE Mashup (Pelgrane Press)
- Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game (Margaret Weis Productions)
- Spellbound Kingdoms (T. Shield Studios)
Bulldogs! is one of the best Fate builds out there right now, in essence a very strong very smart “port” of Spirit of the Century into a space opera genre. All the updates it makes to that Spirit of the Century base are very clever — this is probably the purest “SOTC 2.0″ out there — to the extent that we’re definitely stealing some of its ideas to fold into Fate Core and (by association) Atomic Robo. I’ve already commented on Hollowpoint and Marvel above; this is another super-competitive list.
Best Setting
- Ashen Stars (Pelgrane Press)
- Cthulhu Apocalypse: The Apocalypse Machine (Graham Walmsley & Pelgrane Press)
- Cthulhu Britannica: Shadows Over Scotland (Cubicle 7)
- The Investigator’s Guide to Occult London (Pelgrane Press)
- Unhallowed Metropolis, Revised (Atomic Overmind Press)
Best Supplement
- Agents of Oblivion (Reality Blurs)
- Cthulhu by Gaslight (Chaosium Inc.)
- Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Options: Heroes of the Feywild (Wizards of the Coast)
- GURPS Horror, Fourth Edition (Steve Jackson Games)
- Star Hero (Hero Games)
I did layout on Star Hero!
Best Website
Best Writing
- GURPS Horror, Fourth Edition (Steve Jackson Games)
- Panopticon (Posthuman Studios)
- Stealing Cthulhu (Graham Walmsley)
- The Investigator’s Guide to Occult London (Pelgrane Press)
- Your Whispering Homonculous (Open Design)
Graham Walmsley is fast becoming The Other Name That Comes Up When Talking About Cthulhu Besides Ken Hite. That’s no sleight on Graham, given the heights to which Ken rises. I’m pleased to see his name more than one place on this year’s nomations.
Product of the Year
- Cthulhu Britannica: Shadows Over Scotland (Cubicle 7)
- GURPS Horror, Fourth Edition (Steve Jackson Games)
- Hacklopedia of Beasts (Kenzer and Co.)
- Hollowpoint (VSCA Publishing)
- Madness at Gardmore Abbey (Wizards of the Coast)
- Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game (Margaret Weis Productions)
- Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs for Any RPG (Engine Publishing)
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box (Paizo)
- Star Hero (Hero Games)
- Stealing Cthulhu (Graham Walmsley)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! But, yeah, my heart in all this lives with Marvel. Whuff, though. Whuff.
