Congratulations to the 2020 ENnies Nominees

Nilbog · Jun 30, 2020

Retreater said:
Had to research this one. That game system has some very disturbing adventures. I've played only one (not the one mentioned above), and it was one of the worst times I've had in an RPG. They've long been on my ignore list, but this just moves them more into the despicable weirdos category.

I've not been able to find anything around this, could you point me in the right direction?

Gradine · Jun 30, 2020

I mean, it does been the question of how an adventure featuring sexual assault managed to win an award here. 2017 is not that long ago. I mean, I know there was a time when the OSR crowd dominated the Ennies for like a minute, but even this seems a little beyond the pale.

"Fun" Fact: This adventure also features as its main antagonists a parody of the Oompa Loompas, only somehow more racist.

It's kind of sad because I've followed the author relatively recently and it's hard to reconcile that he's the same person who wrote... This. He's talked about making mistakes in the past, and I, uh, guess this was certainly one of them.

It is apparently still available on DriveThruRPG, for some reason, for those curious.

Retreater · Jun 30, 2020

Nilbog said:
I've not been able to find anything around this, could you point me in the right direction?

I Googled some of the more descriptive phrases listed above and found out what it was....

Product not found!

Nilbog · Jun 30, 2020

Retreater said:
I Googled some of the more descriptive phrases listed above and found out what it was....

Product not found!

That is just.....wow, and not a good wow

Fenris-77 · Jun 30, 2020

Content aside for a moment, the adventure in question is apparently really well put together, which would, I assume, be why it won an award. Also, it's advertised as a psycho-sexual romp, and the game is generally acknowledged as 18+, so some of the content shouldn't surprise people, even it might dismay them.

As far as Massif Press goes, I'm not impressed with their stance here. They might have issues with the content, fine, but demanding answers and not accepting awards? Um, ok. I guess that's their prerogative. I read the reviews on DTRPG, and a bunch of independent reviews at the time and while there are some issues with the 'pygmies', I didn't read a single reference to the berry orgy. That's really neither here nor there, but I thought it was interesting. Also, the reviews tend to be pretty positive too, which I also found interesting given what was said here before I went to read them.

HawaiiSteveO · Jun 30, 2020

Was surprised about no WOTC in a few categories- Best Art Interior - Descent into Avernus had some pretty eye popping art (Zariel stained glass windows comes to mind)!

Espadadelaaurora · Jun 30, 2020

Glad to see Alien Rpg in the list. The product really deserves it.

Feepdake · Jun 30, 2020

HawaiiSteveO said:
Was surprised about no WOTC in a few categories- Best Art Interior - Descent into Avernus had some pretty eye popping art (Zariel stained glass windows comes to mind)!

They'd have to submit their products for nomination, and WotC hasn't done so for the main official books for a while now.

Waller · Jun 30, 2020

Tun Kai Poh said:
On a more serious note, Massif Press says "until further clarity around why they gave a top award in 2017 to an rpg product that features a 'berry orgy' scene with violent sexual assault that is referred to on dtrpg by the publisher as 'simply ridiculous' we will not be accepting any ENnies"

But they submittted their game to the awards? Why?