Congratulations to the 2017 Gen Con EN World RPG Award Winners!

Tonight, at Gen Con in Indianapolis, the 17th Annual Gen Con EN World Awards (ENnies) ceremony took place. Congratulations go to all the nominees, and to this year's award winners! The ENnies are an annual award program celebrating the best that tabletop roleplaying games have to offer, created in 2001.

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2018 Judges Brian Nowak Denise Robinson Kurt Weigel Reece Carter Sean McCoy Best Adventure Gold: Blood in the Chocolate (Lamentations of the Flame Princess) Silver: Doors to Darkness (Chaosium) Best Aid/Accessory Gold: Call of Cthulhu Keepers Screen Pack (Chaosium) Silver: Kobold Guide to Plots Campaigns (Kobold Press) Best Cover Art Gold: Call of Cthulhu Investigator Handbook (Chaosium) Silver: Torment Tides of Numenera The Explorers Guide (Monte Cook Games) Best Interior Art Gold: Tales from the Loop Roleplaying in the 80s That Never Was (Free League Publishing) Silver: S Petersens Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors (Chaosium) Best Blog Gold: Gnome Stew The Gaming Blog Silver: Age of Ravens Best Cartography Gold: Call of Cthulhu Keepers Screen Pack (Chaosium) Silver: 7th Sea Map of Thah (John Wick Presents) Best Electronic Book Gold: The Things We Leave Behind (Stygian Fox Publishing) Silver: Hubris A World of Visceral Adventure (DIY RPG Productions) Best Family Game Gold: Bubblegumshoe (Evil Hat) Silver: Masks A New Generation (Magpie Games) Best Free Product Gold: 7th Sea Basic Rules (John Wick Presents) Silver: City of Mist Free PDF Starter Set (Son of Oak Game Studio) Best Game Gold: Tales from the Loop Roleplaying in the 80s That Never Was (Free League Publishing) Silver: 7th Sea Core Rulebook (John Wick Presents)

Best Miniatures Product Gold: Achtung Cthulhu Skirmish Servitors of Nyarlathotep (Modiphius Entertainment) Silver: Dungeons Dragons: Molzurs Marvelous Miniatures (WizKids) Best Monster/Adversary Gold: S Petersens Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors (Chaosium) Silver: Veins of the Earth (Lamentations of the Flame Princess) Best Podcast Gold: Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Silver: Spellburn Best Production Values Gold: Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Slipcase Set (Chaosium) Silver: Unknown Armies Deluxe Set (Atlas Games) Best RPG Related Product Gold: Call of Cthulhu The Coloring Book (Chaosium) Silver: The ABCs of RPGs (Hunter Books) Best Rules Gold: 7th Sea Core Rulebook (John Wick Presents) Silver: Adventures in Middle Earth Players Guide (Cubicle 7 Entertainment) Best Setting Gold: Tales from the Loop Roleplaying in the 80s That Never Was (Free League Publishing) Silver: The Dark Eye Aventuria Almanac (Ulisses North America) Best Supplement Gold: Pulp Cthulhu (Chaosium) Silver: 7th Sea Pirate Nations (John Wick Presents) Best Website Gold: Tabletop Audio Silver: Elven Tower RPG articles and cartography website Best Writing Gold: Tales from the Loop Roleplaying in the 80s That Never Was (Free League Publishing) Silver: Veins of the Earth (Lamentations of the Flame Princess) Fan's Choice for Best Publisher Gold: Wizards of the Coast Silver: Chaosium Product Of The Year Gold: Tales from the Loop Roleplaying in the 80s That Never Was (Free League Publishing) Silver: 7th Sea Core Rulebook (John Wick Presents)

 

[Desh-Rae-Halra]

This is the first year I'm actually pissed about the outcomes.
I get Tales from the Loop was a smash hit.....I just don't know how Savage Rifts or Polaris didn't get any love......and Wizards = Best Publisher? Seriously???

 

[JonM]

This is the first year I'm actually pissed about the outcomes.
I get Tales from the Loop was a smash hit.....I just don't know how Savage Rifts or Polaris didn't get any love......and Wizards = Best Publisher? Seriously???

Gotta agree with that last comment. I find it a little bizarre that a game company that has no actual games that won any awards and that doesn't plan to have meaningful presence at Gencon would, nevertheless, take the Best Publisher award, for games, at Gencon.

 

[Morrus]

Gotta agree with that last comment. I find it a little bizarre that a game company that has no actual games that won any awards and that doesn't plan to have meaningful presence at Gencon would, nevertheless, take the Best Publisher award, for games, at Gencon.

Everybody has their own voting criteria. Not that I would want to try to second guess why people voted the way they did, this category would encompass things like their comprehensive Organized Play program (DDAL), their player outreach, their community interaction and growth, the many shows and events they put on, the charity events they do, etc. It’s a category which isn’t just about a single product, unlike the other categories.

But each person votes according to their own voting criteria. Which may or may not be the same as yours.

 

[thegrinningfrog]

Who wins or who should win is always grounds for debate with any award ceremony. Thinking positively it strikes me as a great list of products to try out! Let's give a round of applause to everyone who won and was nominated and cheer this wonderfully creative hobby!

 

[Ghal Maraz]

Well, Wizards is the big name. The Ennies are , more or less, a popularity contest. Even if Wizards, this year, couldn't qualify in the products categories (and it's what it should have been: remember when 5th edition came out and the Monster Manual - usually considered a functional product at best - won the gold in the bestiary category?), there's nothing unusual for it to get the best publisher, simply through the sheer numbers of voters. People vote only in the categories and for the products they know and, quite sadly, the majorities of RPG players only know about D&D and Wizards of the Coast.
Having said that, I agree it's a senseless won, as Wizards certainly wasn't the best RPG publisher in the last year. And that analyzing the thing through the most objective criteria. Wizards is the giant of the industry and yet they still managed to keep an almost invisible footprint.

 

[Zak S]

Well I'm pretty proud how many tiny tiny tiny OSR things with a fraction of the mileage behind them that mainstream products have managed to win this popularity contest.

 

[discosoc]

Feels like Call of Cthulu was a pet favorite...

 

[Kelanen]

Well deserved win by WOTC and the other winners. I especially liked SPetersons field guide and I am glad to see it recognized.

 

[Desh-Rae-Halra]

Morrus, I get it....
Its just that as someone who has gamed a long time, I just look at how Pinnacle/ (and our own Sean Patrick Fannon) took Rifts, (fantastic setting, maybe would win for most horrible rules) and turned it on it's head to be so good for Savage Worlds. He put a shot of adrenaline in a dying franchise.....
Maybe there needs to be a new award category....the Ennies Lazarus award for resurrecting a franchise/IP from the dead. If you make this, SPF needs to win retroactively.