Congratulations to the 2020 ENnies Winners!

In an online ceremony hosted by Robin D. Laws, Misha Bushyager, Kenneth Hite, Chris Spivey, and Mike Pondsmith, the RPG awards for 2020 were announced last night, with the gold award for Product of the Year going to MÖRK BORG by Free League Publishing (who also took home the gold for Best Game with their Alien RG).

Best Family Game / Product
Silver – Kids on Bikes: Strange Adventures Volume 2 (Renegade Games)
Gold – Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (River Horse)

Best Aid or Accessory
Silver – The Dungeon Books of Battle Mats (Loke Battlemats)
Gold – Deck of Many Animated Spells (Hit Point Press)

Best Online Content
Silver – RPG Writers Workshop (Scribemind)
Gold – The Monsters Know What They’re Doing (Saga Press)

Best Podcast
Silver – Red Moon Roleplaying
Gold – Asians Represent!

Best Monster/Adversary
Silver – Big Bad Booklet 1-6 (Hit Point Press
Gold – Mordenkainen’s Fiendish Folio, Volume 1: Monsters Malevolent and Benign (Wizards of the Coast)

Best Cover Art
Silver – The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Exalted Funeral Press)
Gold – Call of Cthulhu – Berlin the Wicked City (Chaosium)

Best Interior Art
Silver – Strata (Rowan, Rook and Decard)
Gold – The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Exalted Funeral Press)

Best Organized Play
Silver – Where Can She Be? (Robbie Pleasant)
Gold – Stygia Untamed (Greasy Snitches and Paul Gabat)

Best Free Game/Product
Silver – Tunnel Goons (Highland Paranormal Society)
Gold – TTRPG Safety Toolkit (Smooching Knife)

Best RPG Related Product
Silver – Session Zero (John C. Byram)
Gold – Absinthe in Carcosa (Pelgrane Press)

Best Electronic Book
Silver – Uncaged Volume III (Scribemind)
Gold – New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley 2nd Ed (Stygian Fox)

Best Layout and Design
Silver – A Pound of Flesh (Tuesday Knight Games)
Gold – MÖRK BORG (Free League Publishing)

Best Cartography
Silver – Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (River Horse)
Gold – Trilemma Adventures Compendium Vol 1 (Trilemma Adventures)

Best Rules
Silver – Zombie World (Magpie Games)
Gold – Thousand Year Old Vampire (Petit Guignol)

Best Writing
Silver – The Monsters Know What They Are Doing (Saga Press)
Gold – MÖRK BORG (Free League Publishing)

Best Adventure
Silver – Trilemma Adventures Compendium Vol 1 (Trilemma Adventures)
Gold – A Pound of Flesh (Tuesday Knight Games)

Best Setting
Silver – Arkadia – The Greek Setting for 5e (Arcana Games)
Gold – Call of Cthulhu: Berlin the Wicked City (Chaosium)

Best Supplement
Silver – Ironsworn Delve (Shawn Tomkin)
Gold – Delta Green: The Labyrinth (Arc Dream Publishing)

Best Production Values
Silver – Humblewood Box Set (Hit Point Press)
Gold – Thousand Year Old Vampire (Petit Guignol)

Fans’ Choice for Best Publisher
Gold – Free League Publishing

Best Game
Silver – MÖRK BORG (Free League Publishing)
Gold – ALIEN the Roleplaying Game (Free League Publishing)

Product of the Year
Silver – Thousand Year Old Vampire (Petit Guignol)
Gold – MÖRK BORG (Free League Publishing)

Judges’ Spotlight Awards
Sleepaway (Jay Dragon)
Glitter Hearts (Greg Leatherman)
Refractions in Glasston (Taylor University PWR Press, Sam Guinsatao, Carson Jacobs, T.R. Knight, Joy Lemont, Elijah Oates, Rayce Patterson, Emily Pawlowski, J. Tucker White)
Knarls Candy Compendium (Makenzie De Armas, Levi Phipps)
Hit the Streets, Defend the Block (Rich Rogers)

 

[Maggan]

Wizards are in the UK Games Expo awards and Pathfinder 2E was in the Origins awards.

Interesting. So why wouldn't they submit to the ENnies, do you think?

 

[dave2008]

Is there a reason they do not submit their products?

not sure, but they used too. It started (or stopped I guess) a few years back. Some time after the release of 5e IIRC.

 

[dave2008]

I would take the awards more seriously if these other publishers products were in it. I'm not going to naughty word on these winners and I am going to check out the Alien RPG but the fact this is more like an "Indie" award does take away something whatever that may be.

As I noted previously, it was only fairly recently they stopped submitting products. Not sure why the big publishers stopped, but WotC and Paizo used to regularly win some Ennies.

 

[Haffrung]

So essentially, the Ennies are the independent small-press RPG awards. Any reason they don't just call them that?

It is strange that the six or seven largest RPG publisher recuse themselves from the only RPG industry awards. It would be like if the only movies nominated for Academy Awards were independent films that only had limited release on 100 or fewer screens, or the Pulitzers were only open to books that sold fewer than 10k copies.

I guess industry leaders feel giving publicity to small publishers is more worthwhile than recognizing excellence in the field. But even if that's the case, the boost is probably negligible, along the lines of selling 700 copies of a product instead of 400. It all seems like inside baseball at that point, and nothing really to do with average gamers at all. And no, people who read this forum daily and buy multiple indie RPG books a year are not average gamers.

 

[dave2008]

So essentially, the Ennies are the independent small-press RPG awards. Any reason they don't just call them that?

It is strange that the six or seven largest RPG publisher recuse themselves from the only RPG industry awards. It would be like if the only movies nominated for Academy Awards were independent films that only had limited release on 100 or fewer screens, or the Pulitzers were only open to books that sold fewer than 10k copies.

I guess industry leaders feel giving publicity to small publishers is more worthwhile than recognizing excellence in the field. But even if that's the case, the boost is probably negligible, along the lines of selling 700 copies of a product instead of 400. It all seems like inside baseball at that point, and nothing really to do with average gamers at all. And no, people who read this forum daily and buy multiple indie RPG books a year are not average gamers.

Agreed, but average gamers don't know anything about RPG awards either. I mean i just learned in this thread that Origins gives out an RPG award and that event takes place in my hometown!

Also, the big publishers were involved with the ennies until very recently. Not sure why this has changed, but I am curious to know.

 

[Maggan]

But even if that's the case, the boost is probably negligible, along the lines of selling 700 copies of a product instead of 400.

If I was a small publisher that had my sales almost doubled from receiving an award, I'd be happy as a clam!

 

[hawkeyefan]

Pure conjecture on my part, but I know that WotC also does not attend GenCon in any official capacity. Maybe the Ennies being awarded at GenCon has something to do with that?

Regardless, though....I’m glad that’s the case. Do people really need to find out about Theros or Pathfinder 2 through the Ennies? No, not at all. These products are well known, and constantly discussed and debated here on this site and similar places.

And to be honest, even here on EN World, a place frequented by avid gamers, anything that’s not D&D or D&D adjacent still goes unnoticed by a significant amount of posters.

Let the Ennies highlight excellent games that folks might not otherwise be aware of. These products deserve attention. Let them get some spotlight.

 

[Arilyn]

To me, it feels like games are more likely to be judged on their own merits. With WOTC and Paizo not involved, there is not a huge bloc of voting going to DnD products, simply because too many voters had little or no exposure to other games.

 

[Morrus]

Regardless, though....I’m glad that’s the case. Do people really need to find out about Theros or Pathfinder 2 through the Ennies? No, not at all. These products are well known, and constantly discussed and debated here on this site and similar places.

Not that I speak for the ENnies' current goals, but when I was involved 'finding out about stuff' or 'sales' weren't a factor in why we did it; didn't even enter our heads. We assumed companies had that stuff under control and we made no claims of affecting sales (and neither would we want to).

It was for the creators (not the publishers per se, but the individual writers, artists, etc.) who got to be award-winning writers and artists. I never once met somebody walk off that ENnies stage not feeling on top of the world, at least for that day. No matter how cynical you are, winning an award feels good. And the internet can be kinda crappy to creators.

It was a way to reward people and say 'thank you'. When a company entered, it was for the benefit of their creators. Open up an RPG book and look at the list of names in the credits. Those people, who get to have 'award winning RPG designer' on their wikipedia page.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Not that I speak for the ENnies' current goals, but when I was involved 'finding out about stuff' or 'sales' weren't a factor in why we did it; didn't even enter our heads. We assumed companies had that stuff under control and we made no claims of affecting sales (and neither would we want to).

It was for the creators (not the publishers per se, but the individual writers, artists, etc.) who got to be award-winning writers and artists. I never once met somebody walk off that ENnies stage not feeling on top of the world, at least for that day. No matter how cynical you are, winning an award feels good. And the internet can be kinda crappy to creators.

It was a way to reward people and say 'thank you'. When a company entered, it was for the benefit of their creators. Open up an RPG book and look at the list of names in the credits. Those people, who get to have 'award winning RPG designer' on their wikipedia page.

That’s great to hear, and absolutely makes sense from a judge’s point of view.

I’m speaking solely as a spectator and consumer. I’ve definitely paid attention to the Ennies the past few years specifically because I feel that strong products are nominated. I always try to pick up a few of the nominated games.

Which likely reflects the kind of selection process you’re talking about! I feel like I’ll be getting a product that’s likely to contain quality work.