With the ENnie Awards coming up at Gen Con soon, and voting fully underway, I thought another look at the various nominations was in order. So, once again, I've chosen to delve into certain categories and pick something to highlight while pointing out some other entries in the same field. This week, it's the Judges Spotlight Winners, Best Family Game, Best RPG Related Product, Best Art, Cover, and Product of the Year.
CORIOLIS
Gen Con loometh, so let’s take another week to spotlight some of the nominees. Oh, hey, don’t forget to vote! As the second week I’m Picking ENnie nominees, let’s call this theme week ENnie Nom-Nom Week.
(What? I just got back from a con. Leave me alone…)
We’ll start with one of the Judges Spotlight Winners (which also includes Rippers Resurrected, and The Ninja Crusade). Coriolis would have also been a great Pick for last week as part of Take to the Stars, being a kind of “Arabian Nights in space” experience.
“I’m getting a signal.” Dalil’s voice crackled over the com. “We’re close.” The navigator gazed into the darkness ahead, his face ghostly pale in the cold glow from the tabula in his hands.
Radwa nodded silently for her comrades to advance, approaching the strange ruins in the moonscape. The only sound they could hear was their own breathing through the air filters, and the soft crunch under their boots.The floodlights from the freighter Narzalus behind them cast long shadows of the trio.
“Something is wrong, boss.” The sharp voice of Jhara broke the silence. Her vulcan rifle hummed as the tall woman from Sadaal activated her weapon. Without turning, Radwa raised her hand to still her friend.
“Easy, Jha,” she whispered over the com.
The explorers shone their suit-mounted flashlights over the ruins. Alien signs were carved into the smooth dark surfaces. In the light, they seemed to be glowing.
Something slowly unraveled before them. A darkness rose from the surface of the dead moon, reaching towards the starry sky above them.
“Mercy of the Icons!” Radwa gasped, and felt a chill spread throughout her body.
Coriolis – The Third Horizon is a science fiction role-playing game from the makers of critically acclaimed Mutant: Year Zero (six-time nominee and winner of a Silver Ennie for Best Rules 2015).
Features:
EPYLLION
ENnie Nom-Nom Week continues with a Pick from the Best Family Game Category. You definitely don’t want to miss out on voting, as this is your chance to select who the winners of one of the most prestigious awards in the RPG hobby are. In addition to Epyllion, this category also includes:
These are the games that the ENnie Judges feel are best for folks to play with the youngest gamers in their circles, so they’re extra-important to me.
Do you want new gamers? Because this is how you get new gamers!
Dragonia faces a threat we dragons have all but forgotten. Inside each of us are seeds of Darkness waiting to take root in doubt, anger, and sorrow. You and your fellow dragons— although small now—must protect Dragonia from the growing Darkness…and learn what it means to be a true friend. — Tass the Gigantic, Councilmember
Epyllion is a tabletop role playing game about young drakes who investigate rumors, solve problems, and discover the truth of a growing evil in Dragonia. While you play, you and your friends tell awesome stories, explore what it means to be a drake of Dragonia, and discover the value of friendship through magical, whimsical, and heartfelt adventures.
This easy-to-learn adventure game helps you tell the stories of a brave clutch of young dragons through a supportive yet simple system that promotes active listening, creativity, and cooperative play.
CINEMA AND SORCERY
Marching on through ENnie Nom-Nom Week (yes, I know, but I was delirious from exhaustion and hungry at the time, and now I just can’t stop myself), I figured I’d shine the light on a category that doesn’t always get its share of attention. The Best RPG Related Product category contains those things that folks were brave enough to take a chance on – something that isn’t, per se, directly useful for playing a game, but supports the hobby through fun information, or just goofy fun. The category also includes The ABCs of RPGs Activity Book (which could have also been attached to the Family Games category, I think).
From the dawn of feature films, fans—be they artists, gamers, visionaries, writers, or dreamers—have drawn inspiration from the big screen. Now, between the covers of Cinema & Sorcery, embark on a decades-long journey through time from the earliest days of sword and sorcery films up to the present day.
Learn the who, the what, the where, and the how of your favorite fantasy movies (and perhaps a few you may have never even heard of until now). Fifty films are covered in great detail, followed by shorter entries for every fantasy film we could find.
So turn up your Krull soundtrack, slip into your Labyrinth t-shirt, and brush up on your Princess Bride quotes, this is Cinema & Sorcery: The Comprehensive Guide to Fantasy Film!
RIFTS: SAVAGE FOES OF NORTH AMERICA
Yes, today’s ENnie Nom-Nom Week Pick is very near and dear to my heart, but I feel fully justified in Picking it, as I had nothing whatsoever to do with the art (other than saying “Holy crap! Most awesome thing evar!”). Today, we’re looking at the Best Art, Cover Category for the ENnies (DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!), which also includes:
The cover is the grabber, the thing that gets people to seriously look at something as it sits on the shelf. Even in this day of “digital shelves,” that cover makes all the difference as eyes scan screens, looking at what they might click on to discover more. The essence of a product has to be summed up in the cover, but a cover also inspires, making a player want to delve into the world depicted and making a GM want to present something memorable.
I am pretty sure the cover of our Savage Foes book wants to make people get right with whatever they believe in before the inevitable…
IN A WORLD FULL OF MONSTERS AND MADNESS, IT’S GOOD TO KNOW WHAT’S COMING.
One day, your heroes may face a heavily mechanized patrol of Coalition Soldiers. The next, they’re trading lasers and mystic bolts with a horde of cybernetic-loving demons called Brodkil. Next week, a gargantuan tentacled horror from a Rift threatens every living thing in the region, and it’s up to the Tomorrow Legion to stop it…somehow.
Rifts®: Savage Foes of North America contains stats and descriptions for all of the major monsters and enemies a group of heroes might face as they serve in the Tomorrow Legion: the Coalition States, the Federation of Magic, the Black Market, the 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry, the bandits of the Pecos Empire, and much, much more. Important key figures, such as Emperor Prosek, Lord Alistair Dunscon, and Sabre Lasar are included. For those times when a Rift opens and you want randomly figure out what comes out of it, there’s an extensive Creatures from the Rifts Generator to help you.
This book requires the Savage Worlds core rules, Rifts®: The Tomorrow Legion Player’s Guide, and (also ENnie-nominated) Rifts®: Game Master’s Handbook to play.
ATLAS OF EARTH PRIME
So many amazing products! So many amazing people behind these things! You really, really need to vote to make sure the awards represent you! I can’t imagine closing out ENnie Nom-Nom Week with anything less than the Product of the Year category. I’ve got a lot of friends and folks I deeply respect behind today’s Pick – a sourcebook that cannot help but inspire anyone running any supers game. This category also includes some seriously incredible material (a company in which I am deeply honored to be counted among):
Visit a world not our own, but strangely familiar—a world of heroes and villains, of wonders and dangers, and limitless adventure! The Atlas of Earth-Prime is a trip around the world of the Freedom City and Emerald City settings for the Mutants & Masterminds RPG. Your heroes can explore the sites and perils of all seven continents, as well as fabled Atlantis, the Lost World, and the strange realms of Sub-Terra that lie at the center of the earth. Packed with locations, heroes, villains, and worldwide agencies, the Atlas of Earth-Prime is the campaign setting book Mutants & Masterminds fans have been waiting for!
-----
And there we have a lot of great products that are up for coveted ENnie Awards. In order to make sure these awards represent you, you gotta vote!
It's a supers gaming weekend for Yours Truly. Interestingly enough, both of my Modern Gods campaigns are playing - one on Friday, one on Sunday - as both the Storm Wardens and the Storm Knights continue their journey through The Archos Imperium "crisis event" to restore reality to what it should be.
As always, I hope you have some great gaming and great overall fun planned.
The Adventure Continues!
Note that I use affiliate links in all my posts as a way to generate additional revenue for my efforts; I make my Picks and other article choices, however, based on the desire to share a wide variety of things with you. Thank you for your support.
Sean Patrick Fannon
Writer & Game Designer: Shaintar, Star Wars, Savage Rifts, much more
Please check out my Patreon and get involved directly with my next projects!
CORIOLIS
Gen Con loometh, so let’s take another week to spotlight some of the nominees. Oh, hey, don’t forget to vote! As the second week I’m Picking ENnie nominees, let’s call this theme week ENnie Nom-Nom Week.
(What? I just got back from a con. Leave me alone…)
We’ll start with one of the Judges Spotlight Winners (which also includes Rippers Resurrected, and The Ninja Crusade). Coriolis would have also been a great Pick for last week as part of Take to the Stars, being a kind of “Arabian Nights in space” experience.
“I’m getting a signal.” Dalil’s voice crackled over the com. “We’re close.” The navigator gazed into the darkness ahead, his face ghostly pale in the cold glow from the tabula in his hands.
Radwa nodded silently for her comrades to advance, approaching the strange ruins in the moonscape. The only sound they could hear was their own breathing through the air filters, and the soft crunch under their boots.The floodlights from the freighter Narzalus behind them cast long shadows of the trio.
“Something is wrong, boss.” The sharp voice of Jhara broke the silence. Her vulcan rifle hummed as the tall woman from Sadaal activated her weapon. Without turning, Radwa raised her hand to still her friend.
“Easy, Jha,” she whispered over the com.
The explorers shone their suit-mounted flashlights over the ruins. Alien signs were carved into the smooth dark surfaces. In the light, they seemed to be glowing.
Something slowly unraveled before them. A darkness rose from the surface of the dead moon, reaching towards the starry sky above them.
“Mercy of the Icons!” Radwa gasped, and felt a chill spread throughout her body.
Coriolis – The Third Horizon is a science fiction role-playing game from the makers of critically acclaimed Mutant: Year Zero (six-time nominee and winner of a Silver Ennie for Best Rules 2015).
Features:
- Create your unique player character – including skills, talents, gear and relationships – in mere minutes.
- Fight fast and furious battles, praying to the Icons to overcome your enemies.
- Build and crew your own spaceship, to explore the many star systems of the Third Horizon.
- Experience thrilling spaceship duels, using a game system that puts all player characters at the heart of the action.
- Take part in the intrigue between powerful factions on the majestic space station Coriolis.
- Uncover the mysteries of the Third Horizon, a rich tapestry of cultures that have settled the stars.
EPYLLION
ENnie Nom-Nom Week continues with a Pick from the Best Family Game Category. You definitely don’t want to miss out on voting, as this is your chance to select who the winners of one of the most prestigious awards in the RPG hobby are. In addition to Epyllion, this category also includes:
These are the games that the ENnie Judges feel are best for folks to play with the youngest gamers in their circles, so they’re extra-important to me.
Do you want new gamers? Because this is how you get new gamers!
Dragonia faces a threat we dragons have all but forgotten. Inside each of us are seeds of Darkness waiting to take root in doubt, anger, and sorrow. You and your fellow dragons— although small now—must protect Dragonia from the growing Darkness…and learn what it means to be a true friend. — Tass the Gigantic, Councilmember
Epyllion is a tabletop role playing game about young drakes who investigate rumors, solve problems, and discover the truth of a growing evil in Dragonia. While you play, you and your friends tell awesome stories, explore what it means to be a drake of Dragonia, and discover the value of friendship through magical, whimsical, and heartfelt adventures.
This easy-to-learn adventure game helps you tell the stories of a brave clutch of young dragons through a supportive yet simple system that promotes active listening, creativity, and cooperative play.
CINEMA AND SORCERY
Marching on through ENnie Nom-Nom Week (yes, I know, but I was delirious from exhaustion and hungry at the time, and now I just can’t stop myself), I figured I’d shine the light on a category that doesn’t always get its share of attention. The Best RPG Related Product category contains those things that folks were brave enough to take a chance on – something that isn’t, per se, directly useful for playing a game, but supports the hobby through fun information, or just goofy fun. The category also includes The ABCs of RPGs Activity Book (which could have also been attached to the Family Games category, I think).
From the dawn of feature films, fans—be they artists, gamers, visionaries, writers, or dreamers—have drawn inspiration from the big screen. Now, between the covers of Cinema & Sorcery, embark on a decades-long journey through time from the earliest days of sword and sorcery films up to the present day.
Learn the who, the what, the where, and the how of your favorite fantasy movies (and perhaps a few you may have never even heard of until now). Fifty films are covered in great detail, followed by shorter entries for every fantasy film we could find.
So turn up your Krull soundtrack, slip into your Labyrinth t-shirt, and brush up on your Princess Bride quotes, this is Cinema & Sorcery: The Comprehensive Guide to Fantasy Film!
RIFTS: SAVAGE FOES OF NORTH AMERICA
Yes, today’s ENnie Nom-Nom Week Pick is very near and dear to my heart, but I feel fully justified in Picking it, as I had nothing whatsoever to do with the art (other than saying “Holy crap! Most awesome thing evar!”). Today, we’re looking at the Best Art, Cover Category for the ENnies (DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!), which also includes:
- Torment: Tides of Numenera—The Explorer’s Guide
- 7th Sea: Pirate Nations
- Call of Cthulhu Investigator Handbook
- Blue Rose
The cover is the grabber, the thing that gets people to seriously look at something as it sits on the shelf. Even in this day of “digital shelves,” that cover makes all the difference as eyes scan screens, looking at what they might click on to discover more. The essence of a product has to be summed up in the cover, but a cover also inspires, making a player want to delve into the world depicted and making a GM want to present something memorable.
I am pretty sure the cover of our Savage Foes book wants to make people get right with whatever they believe in before the inevitable…
IN A WORLD FULL OF MONSTERS AND MADNESS, IT’S GOOD TO KNOW WHAT’S COMING.
One day, your heroes may face a heavily mechanized patrol of Coalition Soldiers. The next, they’re trading lasers and mystic bolts with a horde of cybernetic-loving demons called Brodkil. Next week, a gargantuan tentacled horror from a Rift threatens every living thing in the region, and it’s up to the Tomorrow Legion to stop it…somehow.
Rifts®: Savage Foes of North America contains stats and descriptions for all of the major monsters and enemies a group of heroes might face as they serve in the Tomorrow Legion: the Coalition States, the Federation of Magic, the Black Market, the 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry, the bandits of the Pecos Empire, and much, much more. Important key figures, such as Emperor Prosek, Lord Alistair Dunscon, and Sabre Lasar are included. For those times when a Rift opens and you want randomly figure out what comes out of it, there’s an extensive Creatures from the Rifts Generator to help you.
This book requires the Savage Worlds core rules, Rifts®: The Tomorrow Legion Player’s Guide, and (also ENnie-nominated) Rifts®: Game Master’s Handbook to play.
ATLAS OF EARTH PRIME
So many amazing products! So many amazing people behind these things! You really, really need to vote to make sure the awards represent you! I can’t imagine closing out ENnie Nom-Nom Week with anything less than the Product of the Year category. I’ve got a lot of friends and folks I deeply respect behind today’s Pick – a sourcebook that cannot help but inspire anyone running any supers game. This category also includes some seriously incredible material (a company in which I am deeply honored to be counted among):
- Tales from the Loop
- 7th Sea
- Bubblegumshoe
- POLARIS
- Doors to Darkness
- Torment: Tides to Numenera
- TimeWatch
- Savage Rifts: Game Master’s Handbook
Visit a world not our own, but strangely familiar—a world of heroes and villains, of wonders and dangers, and limitless adventure! The Atlas of Earth-Prime is a trip around the world of the Freedom City and Emerald City settings for the Mutants & Masterminds RPG. Your heroes can explore the sites and perils of all seven continents, as well as fabled Atlantis, the Lost World, and the strange realms of Sub-Terra that lie at the center of the earth. Packed with locations, heroes, villains, and worldwide agencies, the Atlas of Earth-Prime is the campaign setting book Mutants & Masterminds fans have been waiting for!
-----
And there we have a lot of great products that are up for coveted ENnie Awards. In order to make sure these awards represent you, you gotta vote!
It's a supers gaming weekend for Yours Truly. Interestingly enough, both of my Modern Gods campaigns are playing - one on Friday, one on Sunday - as both the Storm Wardens and the Storm Knights continue their journey through The Archos Imperium "crisis event" to restore reality to what it should be.
As always, I hope you have some great gaming and great overall fun planned.
The Adventure Continues!
Note that I use affiliate links in all my posts as a way to generate additional revenue for my efforts; I make my Picks and other article choices, however, based on the desire to share a wide variety of things with you. Thank you for your support.
Sean Patrick Fannon
Writer & Game Designer: Shaintar, Star Wars, Savage Rifts, much more
Please check out my Patreon and get involved directly with my next projects!
