Origins Awards' 2026 TTRPG Finalists

The Origins Awards, which is an award program which covers all manner of tabletop gaming, from board games, to war games, through to tabletop roleplaying games, is run by the Game Manufacturer's Association and presented at the annual Origins Game Fair--which this year runs from June 17-21.

Amongst the various categories, there are two for tabletop RPGs: Roleplaying Game of the Year and Roleplaying Supplement of the Year. The shortlist includes Daggerheart, Cosmere, Starfinder, and Warhammer, amongst others. These are the nominees in each of the roleplaying categories:

Roleplaying Game of the Year

• Age of Vikings (Chaosium
• CHEW: The Roleplaying Game (Imagining Games)
• Coriolis: The Great Dark (Free League)
• Cthulhu Bay (MS Edizioni and Ares Games)
• Daggerheart Core Set (Darrington Press)
• Land of Eem Deluxe Box Set (Exalted Funeral)
• Cosmere RPG Stormlight Starter Set (Brotherwise Games)
• Starfinder Second Edition (Paizo Publishing)
• The Bonsai Diary (Gene Koo)
• Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide (Cubicle 7)

Roleplaying Supplement of the Year

• Advent-ure Calendar 19: Kitty Clacks Christmas (Black Oak Workshop
• ALIEN RPG: Rapture Protocol (Free League)
• Call of Cthulhu: The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising (Chaosium)
• Cthulhu by Gaslight: Keeper’s Guide – (Chaosium)
• Full Art Dice Set: Porcelain (Q Workshop)
• Green Oaks (MS Edizioni and Ares Games)
• Pendragon: Gamemaster’s Handbook (Chaosium)
• The Field Guide to Floral Dragons: Explorer’s Box Set (Hit Point Press)
• The Vault of Mini Things (Tinkerhouse Games)
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: High Elf Player’s Guide (Cubicle 7)

The winners will be announced at Origins Game Fair in June.

 

[Aldarc]

I would have liked to have seen Legend in the Mist on this list, but it's still an unsurprising list of games.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but why are the awards in the middle of the year as opposed to the end?

Typically, awards are for the previous calendar year. It takes some time to get these sorts of things together, so you don't see many awards happening until mid-spring. (The Oscars were just Sunday night, for instance, and covered movies released in 2025.)

 

[Parmandur]

It's certainly the buzziest game of the year. But yeah, I don't know how these are selected. Is it all insider baseball?

Per the GAMA website in this, the winner is chosen by a panel of industry professionals and experts, so probably a lot of inside baseball. Most of the categories are board or card games, but here the winners for RPG since 2014 (a few gaps, thanks Covid), it seems to swing pretty wildly between big popular games and critical darlings (probably with merit) :

• Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast
• DIE: The Roleplaying Game
• Coyote & Crow
• Teens in Space
• Adventures in Middle-earth
• No Thank You, Evil!
• Star Wars: Force and Destiny
• Dungeon & Dragons (2014 Core)
• Numenera

 

[Parmandur]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but why are the awards in the middle of the year as opposed to the end?

What if you release something after those dates, does it just roll over to 2027?

It is for the previous year...?

 

[Baumi]

I'm surprised that Draw Steel is not in the list, it was one of the most popular and successfull launches last year.

Anyway my pick would have been Nimble, which is also missing. Other notable missing RPGs are 13th Age 2nd Edition, Swords of the Serpentine and Vagabond (I'm not sure if that released last or this year).

 

[Parmandur]

I'm surprised that Draw Steel is not in the list, it was one of the most popular and successfull launches last year.

Anyway my pick would have been Nimble, which is also missing. Other notable missing RPGs are 13th Age 2nd Edition, Swords of the Serpentine and Vagabond (I'm not sure if that released last or this year).

It was a strong year for new RPGs. One of the strongest ever, maybe.

But I think those missing games might highlight that this is an industry award, not a hobbyist award.

 

[Morrus]

I'm surprised that Draw Steel is not in the list, it was one of the most popular and successfull launches last year.

Anyway my pick would have been Nimble, which is also missing. Other notable missing RPGs are 13th Age 2nd Edition, Swords of the Serpentine and Vagabond (I'm not sure if that released last or this year).

Swords of the Serpentine was released years ago. I've had a copy on my shelves since at least 2022.

 

[mamba]

I think those missing games might highlight that this is an industry award, not a hobbyist award.

I don’t know, Draw Steel, 13th Age 2e, and Nimble 2e all feel more ‘industry’ to me than at least The Bonsai Diary, a product you can buy on itch.io for $5. In fact that to me pretty much is the definition of hobbyist

 

[Parmandur]

I don’t know, Draw Steel, 13th Age 2e, and Nimble 2e all feel more ‘industry’ to me than at least The Bonsai Diary, a product you can buy on itch.io for $5. In fact that to me pretty much is the definition of hobbyist

Maybe: I'm not familiar with what the political dynamics might be, but the members of GAMA are precisely who MCDC dismisses from their business model, so I would not be shocked if there was some inside baseball in play.

 

[Baumi]

Swords of the Serpentine was released years ago. I've had a copy on my shelves since at least 2022.

Wow, time flies. Could have sworn I got it last year
Then it's high time that I actually bring it to the table it (get way to distracted by new stuff)

Btw. of the list of nominees, I played Daggerheart and Cosmere (just yesterday) for a few sessions and can recommend both of them. I also used parts of Land of Eem (the fantastical Crafting System) to great success. But I cann't say much about the others.