2005 ENnie Nominations

[Justin D. Jacobson]

I think that's up to the nominated companies to do. It would be quite a burden for the ENnies team to confirm the proper individuals to list. And it might do a disservice to other individuals who facilitated the project. For example, even for best cartography, someone's got to the art notes for the cartographer, lay it out in a manner that presents the cartography in the best light, etc. I for one will thank by name the individuals who worked on OQL:

Lee Hammock - The Hemmingway of RPGs
Danilo Moretti - Put the book together in record time without comprimising the quality
Chad Barr - The most enthusiastic person I've ever had the pleasure of working with, who came to the time via our $10 alien open call
R. J. Grady - Our giant brain in a vat, who kept the ship going in the right direction
Brandes Stoddard - Responsible for the sensation, upon reading OQL, of "Hey, I guess there is a typo in this book after all."

 

[barsoomcore]

Congrats to all the nominees. The only products there I'm familiar with are the Iron Kingdoms World Guide and PCGen. But I like lots of those people, so I hope EVERYBODY wins.

 

[Psion]

By request, a game system rundown, to the best of my knowledge (I don't have many of these products, so couldn't swear whether some borderline cases fall on one side of the line or the other.)

Best Fan Site
www.Againsttheshadow.org - d20 / Midnight
buffy.velvet-edge.com - Buffy (cinematic Unisystem)
www.d20srd.org - um, d20?
www.modus-operandi.co.uk - Mostly for Spycraft
www.planewalker.com - Planescape
Honorable mention: www.paranoia-live.net/news.php - Paranoia

Best Cartography
City State of the Invincible Overlord (Necromancer Games) - d20 fantasy
Dungeons of Doom (Green Ronin Publishing) - no system
e-adventure Tiles Dungeon Details vol 2 (Skeleton Key Games) - no system, but sized for d20
Temple Quarter: A City Quarters Sourcebook (The Game Mechanics) - d20 fantasy
World Map of Greyhawk (Paizo Publishing) - no system, but a D&D property
Honorable mention: Hudson City: The Urban Abyss (Hero Games) - HERO

Best Art, Cover
The Authority (Guardians of Order) - A tri-stat based game.
Beyond Countless Doorways (Malhavoc Press) - d20 fantasy
Blue Rose (Green Ronin Publishing) - OGL based on d20
Ex Machina (Guardians of Order) - A tri-stat based game
Paranoia XP (Mongoose Publishing) - Paranoia
Honorable mention: Iron Kingdoms Character Guide-Full Metal Fantasy Vol 1 (Privateer Press) - d20 fantasy

Best Art, Interior
Dark Legacies Players Guide (Red Spire Press) - d20
Dreaming Cities (Guardians of Order) - Tri-stat
Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved (Malhavoc Press) - OGL based on d20
Vampire: the Requiem (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller
World of Darkness Ghost Stories (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller
Honorable mention: Ars Magica 5th Edition (Atlas Games) - Ars Magica

Best Production Values
Ars Magica 5th Edition (Atlas Games) - Ars Magica
The Authority (Guardians of Order) - Tri-stat based game
Warhammer Fantasy RPG (Black Industries) - WFRP 2.0
Werewolf: The Forsaken (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller
X-Crawl Color Edition (PandaHead Productions) - d20 fantasy
Honorable mention: Red Star (Green Ronin Publishing) - d20 modern (with many liberties)

Best Writing
Iron Kingdoms World Guide: Full Metal Fantasy Vol 2 (Privateer Press) - d20 fantasy
Meddling Kids (Pandahead Productions) - ? (Their own, I assume)
Murchad’s Legacy (Parent’s Basement Games) - ? (d20 fantasy, I assume)
Valus (Different World Publications) - d20 fantasy
World of Darkness Core Book (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller
Honorable mention: Beyond Countless Doorways (Malhavoc Press) - d20 fantasy

Best Rules
Advanced Bestiary (Green Ronin Publishing) - d20 fantasy
Ars Magica 5th Edition (Atlas Games) - Ars magica
Blue Rose (Green Ronin Publishing) - OGL based on d20
Burning Wheel (Burning Wheel) - Burning Wheel
Capes (Muse of Fire Studio) - Capes
Honorable mention: The World of Darkness: Storytelling System Rulebook (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller

Best Adventure
DCC 11: The Dragon Fiend Pact (Goodman Games) - d20 fantasy
Maure Castle: Dungeon Magazine #112 (Paizo Publishing) - D&D
Slavelords of Cydonia (Bad Axe Games) - Grim Tales (d20)
Trouble at Durbenford (Necromancer Games) - d20 fantasy
Villiany Amok (Hero Games) - Hero/Champions
Honorable mention: Danse de La Mort parts1-8 (White Wolf Publishing) new WoD storyteller

Best Adversary/Monster Product
Advanced Bestiary (Green Ronin Publishing) - d20 fantasy
Foes of Freedom (Green Ronin Publishing) - Mutants & Masterminds
A Magical Soceity Beast Builder (Expeditious Retreat Press) - d20 fantasy
Monster Burner (Burning Wheel) - Buring Wheel
Old World Bestiary WFRP (Black Industries) - WFRP 2.0
Honorable mention: Master and Minions 1: Swarm of Stirges (Behemoth3) - d20 fantasy

Best Campaign Setting/Setting Supplement
Black Company (Green Ronin Publishing) - d20 fantasy
Hudson City (Hero Games) - HERO
Iron Kingdoms World Guide: Full Metal Fantasy Vol 2 (Privateer Press) - d20 fantasy
Valus (Different World Publication) - d20 fantasy
X-Crawl Color Edition (PandaHead Productions) - d20 fantasy
Honorable mention: Valdorian Age (Hero Games) - Hero

Best Supplement
Advanced Gamemasters Guide (Green Ronin Publishing) - d20 fantasy
Beyond Countless Doorways (Malhavoc Press) - d20 fantasy
Dark Champions (Hero Games) - Hero
Temple Quarter: A City Quarters Sourcebook (The Game Mechanics) - d20 fantasy
Vampire: the Requiem (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller
Honorable mention: Werewolf: the Forsaken (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller

Best Aid or Accessory
Area of Effect Packages (Steel Sqwire) - no system (but size for d20 size grid)
Battlebox: Core Fantasy Set (Fiery Dragon Productions) - d20 fantasy
Conan Pocket Edition (Mongoose Publishing) - OGL based on d20?
Dungeon Magazine (Paizo Publishing) - D&D
Future Tiles: Starships (Fiery Dragon Productions) - no system?
Honorable mention: Vampire: the Requiem Storytellers Screen (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller

Best Free Product or Web Enhancement
Danse de La Mort parts1-8 (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller
Dungeon magazine map and handouts (114-122) (Paizo Publishing) - D&D
Fort Griffin Echo Vol 1, number 1 (Dog House Rules) - Sidewinder / d20 modern ?
Harphq.com (Iron Crown Enterprises) - HARP
A Magical Society: Guide to Monster Statistics (Expeditious Retreat Press) - d20 fantasy
Honorable mention: Necromancer Games web page - d20 fantasy

Best Electronic Product
Sponsored by DriveThruRPG.com
Buy the Numbers (ST Cooley Publishing) - d20 fantasy
Counter Collection Digital (Fiery Dragon Productions) - d20 fantasy ?
Danse de La Mort parts1-8 (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller
Frontier town Ft Griffin (Dog House Rules) - Sidewinder / d20 modern
PCGen 5.8.0 (PCGen) - d20 fantasy / d20 modern
Honorable mention: Campaign Suite Extended (Twin Rose Software) - d20 fantasy / d20 modern

Best Game
Ars Magica 5th Edition (Atlas Games) - Ars Magica
Capes (Muse of Fire Studio) - Capes
Fireborn Players Handbook (Fantasy Flight Games) - Fireborn
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying (Black Industries) - WFRP 2.0
World of Darkness Rulebook (White Wolf Publishing) - new WoD storyteller
Honorable mention: Burning Wheel (Burning Wheel) - Burning Wheel

Best d20 Game
Blue Rose (Green Ronin Publishing) - OGL based on d20
Castles & Crusades (Troll Lord Games) - OGL based on d20
Dawning Star: Operation Quick Launch (Blue Devil Games) - d20 modern/future
Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved (Malhavoc Press) - OGL based on d20
X-Crawl Color Edition (PandaHead Productions) - d20 fantasy
Honorable mention: Masque of the Red Death (White Wolf) - Licenced d20/D&D

 

[Crothian]

Can someone post what game systems (d20, d20 Modern, Hero, OGL, etc.) these nominations are for?

I don't recognize alot of them.

I think I got this right, it's from momory

edited out since Psion beat me by less then a minute!!

 

[Faraer]

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Can you really tell, when you are holding a book in your hand, whether it is of excellent writing quality because of the author or because of the editor?

No, not for certain. As an editor of non-game books, some of which I've salvaged from unpublishable messes, I'm glad that authors get credit for their own books (!) in literary awards. I also work on RPG books and appreciate very well the roles of developers and editors, but I think the pros of directly recognizing creative people far outweigh the cons of sidelining others who contributed.

Sorry guys. I agree that it would be a nice thing to do and really highlight the deserving, but fans recognize products more than people. If this were strictly a panel-of-judges based awards, we could consider doing things the way you suggest. But as it is, it's just not realistic to do so.

Fans recognizing products more than people is a situation this industry and culture have suffered too long. Authors and artists are the main determinant of a book's quality and publishers exist to facilitate that, and the condition that authors are relatively anonymous hurts the arts of writing and game design, the appreciation of talent, and creatives' ability to earn a living. Maybe this situation has so much inertia that there's nothing the ENnies can do, but it seems to me this is a chance to make the situation better.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Best Writing
Murchad’s Legacy (Parent’s Basement Games) - ? (d20 fantasy, I assume)

Yep!

Though, hey man, calling ML d20 fantasy is like saying the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder is just another way to pick up the groceries.

 

[Psion]

I think I got this right, it's from momory

edited out since Psion beat me by less then a minute!!

Well, you could check my questionables. For example, not having counter collection digital, I don't know if its d20 branded or derivative in any way.

 

[JoeBlank]

Congrats to all the nominees, especially the first-timers and little guys!

Looks like the judges have done another great job. And the website looks great too.

A few comments, not meant as criticisms, as I have neither the time nor the money to be familiar with all the products submitted:


Best Writing
...
Murchad’s Legacy (Parent’s Basement Games)
...

Congrats to BG! From your comments on EN World I can tell you poured your heart into this, and I'm glad to see it pay off for you. And you coudln't ask for a better payoff than an ENNigasm! What will you do if you win?


Best Adventure: Surprised not to see World's Largest Dungeon here. Did AEG enter it? (If the judges can say, not sure if entries are confidential). Again, I am not familiar with most of the nominees in this category, but thought WLD would be one of them.

Best Electronic Product: Expected to see Fantasy Grounds here. Same question as before; did they enter?

Good luck to everyone! I've got some research to do before I vote.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Though, hey man, calling ML d20 fantasy is like saying the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder is just another way to pick up the groceries.

Hey cool! I just watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off last night. Great movie.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Murchad’s Legacy (Parent’s Basement Games)
...
What will you do if you win?

Move to a different state and hide from all the White Wolf guys.