ENNIES Pre-Show Interviews; WotC, Paizo, 13TH AGE at PAX; PAIZO is in Top 5000 Growing Companies; an

ENNIES Pre-Show Interviews; WotC, Paizo, 13TH AGE at PAX; PAIZO is in Top 5000 Growing Companies;and a D20 SHAPED BOWL!

[h=3]ENnies 2013 Pre-show Interviews[/h]
At the ENnies at Gen Con Indy this year, we - for the first time - streamed pre-show interviews LIVE on air! Which was terrifying, as I'd never done anything of the sort before. Before the ENnies begin, we always have the glamourous pre-show period where guests (read: loads of famous game designers!) mingle, chat, and avail themselves of the cash bar. Matt Freeman and myself interviewed willing (and not so willing) people live on air. This is a cleaned-up, edited version of those pre-show interviews, right in front of the ENnies stage.

STARRING: Sean Patrick Fannon, Tracy Barnett, Leighton Connor, Mike Myler, Erik Mona, Charles Ryan, Amanda Valentine, Mathew Muth, Rone Barton, Eloy Lasanta, Robin D. Laws, Mary Crowell, Todd Gamble, Jonathan Nelson, Kirin Robinson, Dominic McDowell.

Later videos will showcase the music acts (Mary Crowell, and the publisher karaoke) and, of course, the ceremony itself. The ENnies really are quite the event, and we fill our venue every year. We do worry the critical mass of publishing genius might form a singularity of some kind and swallow up Indianapolis - are that many game designers legally allowed to be in one room?

[video=youtube;Fm1CAbuqm7M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm1CAbuqm7M[/video]
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[h=3]Dungeons & Dragons News[/h]
[DND]x[/DND]A little press release from WotC summarizing their presence at PAX Prime this weekend in Seattle.

Wizards of the Coast will be at PAX Prime in a big way this weekend with plenty of Dungeons & Dragons themed events and gameplay opportunities!

Headlining the activities is the Acquisitions Inc. Live Dungeons & Dragons game which returns to PAX Prime once again with a theatrical (and hilarious!) Dungeons & Dragons show. At this year’s highly-anticipated event, experience the thrilling conclusion to the most recent podcast adventure and meet the new Acquisitions Inc. Intern, best-selling author Patrick Rothfuss! Patrick joins Gabe, Tycho, Scott Kurtz and DM to the stars, Chris Perkins, as they take on the Sundering in this not-to-be-missed live Dungeons & Dragons game! [Saturday, August 31; 3:30-5:30pm; Main Theater] [Note - this will be livestreamed]. [Note 2 - the prologue exists as a podcast here].

D&D’s digital future is brighter than ever and jam-packed with awesome new gaming offerings across multiple platforms. Find out what’s in store for Dungeons & Dragons in a special panel presentation on the Digital Past, Present and Future featuring members of the D&D team. [Friday, August 30; 2:30–3:30 PM; Kraken Theater]

Finally, the ever-popular Dungeons & Dragons play area will be brimming with games, tournaments and tutorials throughout the weekend. See the full list below.

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• 
  [*=1]D&D Next: Learn to Play: Want to learn how to play D&D Next? Learn the basics, and head out on an adventure! No prior experience is necessary!
  [*=1]D&D Next: Confrontation at Candlekeep: Want a taste of what D&D Next has to offer? Candlekeep is under siege, and it needs adventurers to help protect it! Heed the call to defend the legendary monastery and stand against the tide of evil.
  [*=1]D&D Next DM’s Challenge: Mines of Madness: Are you as cool as the characters in PvP? Are you a Table Titans wannabe? Scott Kurtz's Mines of Madness awaits! Hurl yourself into a deadly dungeon in search of the fabled Forever Stone, but beware the outhouse!
  [*=1]D&D Board Game Open Play: Come with your friends to play any of our D&D themed board games all weekend long! Stop in anytime to select from Dungeon!, The Legend of Drizzt, or Lords of Waterdeep.
  [*=1]Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport Tournament: Think you’re a master of Lords of Waterdeep? Participate in this 3-round tournament to determine who will be crowned the PAX Prime 2013 champion!

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• Lost Lavandril -- The obvious tale is not necessarily the truth of a situation, and Ed shows you just how far from the gossip something can be. Is Lavandril lost? What else could be going on here?
• Grab some Sundering/The Companions wallpapers here.

[h=3]Pathfinder RPG News[/h]

• [pf]x[/pf]Paizo Publishing Makes Inc Magazine's Top 5000. This is a US magazine which lists the fastest growing companies in America. Paizo came in at #2370. Lisa Stevens, CEO of Paizo Publishing, says: "I am proud of our team here at Paizo, and thank our fans for making Pathfinder the #1 roleplaying game in the world!" It'll be interesting to see how much Paizo can grow - or how much it wants to. I was speaking to Lisa at Gen Con and she said that they deliberately had a hard limit of 50 employees set - so as not to become too corporate or ivory-towered - and that they were in the 40s right now (not that employee numbers is the figure that matters!) [HI][threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?340437-Paizo-Publishing-Makes-Inc-Magazine-s-Top-5000[/threadcm][/HI]
• Paizo's Jason Bulmahn gives the scoop on the new Pathfinder ADVANCED CLASS GUIDE slated for August 2014. "This 256-page rulebook will contain 10 new classes, each a mix of two existing classes, taking a bit from each class and adding new mechanics to give you a unique character. Around the office we're calling them "hybrid classes." You can think of the magus (from Ultimate Magic) as our first test of this concept." Six of the classes have been announced already: Bloodrager, Hunter, Shaman, Slayer, Warpriest, Swashbuckler.
• Paizo will also be at PAX Prime at the weekend. Amongst other things, project manager Jessica Price will be on this panel about sexism at PAX on Saturday, 10:30am.
• Mike Selinker talks about the PATHFINDER ADVENTURE CARD GAME at Gen Con Indy.

[h=3]13th Age News[/h]

• [13]x[/13]D&D won't be the only ones at PAX! Pelgrane will be there with 13TH AGE, too! Here's some of what they're doing:
  • Play 13th Age - 13 awesome GMs will run 13th Age at Indie RPGs on Demand, Washington State Convention Center Room #305/306, with games starting every hour. We’ll also have Very Special Guest GMs, and never-before-seen monsters from the 13th Age Bestiary.
    • Friday, 10AM-7PM - Guest GM: Rob Heinsoo, all day.
    • Saturday, 10AM-7PM – Guest GM: KISW’s The Rev. En Fuego, 3PM-7PM
    • Sunday, 10AM-7PM – Guest GM: EA BioWare’s Patrick Weekes, Noon-4PM
  • Buy 13th Age - Gamma Ray Games is in the same room as Indie RPGs on Demand, and has stacks of 13th Age books to sell.
  • Get a 13th Age poster map, art print or original sketch from artist Aaron McConnell - Aaron will be at the 13th Age table, WSCC level 2 on Saturday and Sunday, 2PM-4PM.
• Rob Donoghue continues is look at the 13TH AGE classes with the sorcerer and wizard.
• The thing that seems to get tweaked and written about most in 13th AGE is ways to use the icons system. This article is no exception, and crosses the idea with IRON KINGDOMS.
• Keith Baker wants to tell you about running EBERRON in 13TH AGE! [threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?340436-13th-Age-Keith-Baker-a-few-years-ago-(-Eberron)[/threadcm]

[h=3]RPG News[/h]

• [NU]x[/NU]MYSTICAL: KINGDOM OF MONSTERS, by Northwinter Press, is now available over on DriveThru RPG. Featuring 154 monsters, 7 trainer classes, and a host of new feats, magic, and even a monstorin race, this Companion for 4th Edition D&D is a great way to introduce players to the world of monsters training. Also coming soon to Pathfinder.
• NUMENERA's THE DEVIL's SPINE is going to layout. "Even if you don’t normally like published adventures, you’re going to want to check out the Devil’s Spine, just for the art." It's a 96-page book slated for October and priced $24.99; a "grand adventure takes PCs to all kinds of strange locales and really conveys the flavor of Numenera."
• Monte Cook has also posted a new NUMENERA FAQ.
• And here's a blog about why NUMENERA is different.
• RPG Geek interviews Jay Little about STAR WARS: EDGE OF THE EMPIRE.

[h=3]Boardgaming News[/h]

• Toys-R-Us has published it's Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids for the upcoming holiday season. While it does, as you might imagine, focus heavily on toys there are number of games and puzzles included and a handy guide to the developmental skills they can help teach.
• Catalyst Game Labs give us another peak into SHADOWRUN: CROSSFIRE. This time the focus is on the Face of the group.and how he can contribute to your successful runs via cooperation.
• Fantasy Flight Games has announced the return and update of a classic Reiner Knizia game, BLUE MOON. Re-issued as Blue Moon Legends, the game does away with the previous versions need to buy individual expansions and instead packages them all in one box. Blue Moon Legends is a two=player card game and is expected to release in the 1st Quarter of 2014.
• And finally, if you find yourself stuck for ideas about your latest board game design, or you just need a push in the right direction, be sure to check out the Boardgamizer for inspiration. IT produces a random set of mechanics, theme, victory conditions, and constraints each time you run it.

[h=3]Other News[/h]

• I know you've been asking for a d20-shaped bowl to keep your dice in. Well.... now you can have one!

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[Vyvyan Basterd]

Paizo Publishing Makes Inc Magazine's Top 5000. This is a US magazine which lists the fastest growing companies in America. Paizo came in at #2370.

Congrats to Paizo! They certainly have earned it.

I was speaking to Lisa at Gen Con and she said that they deliberately had a hard limit of 50 employees set - so as not to become too corporate or ivory-towered.

...or to not go over the magic number 50 that would make them no longer a small business and on the hook for many employment laws they currently are allowed to ignore.