Grumbling Dwarf

Source: http://www.enworld.org/forum/news/281731-gen-con-en-world-rpg-awards-nominations-2010-a.html

After going through hundreds of entries, the judges have narrowed the field and selected the nominees for each of the 20 categories. Voting for the ENnies will begin on July 16th.

The judges have chosen five products for each category below. The HM products (Honorable Mention) are products that the judges really liked, but fell short of an actual nomination. For more information, click on a product’s name. Winners will be announced on the evening of Friday, August 6th at Gen Con!

If you are a nominee, click here for the ENnie Awards 2010 Nominee image badge to place on your product’s website/marketing material.

Fans: Feel free to download a flyer for you to print out and take to your Friendly Local Gaming Store to spread the word about the ENnies: 2010 ENnies Nominee Flyer

And don’t forget to look at who will be running for a spot as a judge for next year’s ENnies: 2010 Judge Nominees. Voting for the judges will take place at the same time as voting for the products on Friday, July 16th.

Fan Award of Best Publisher

For all the other ENnie Award categories, a panel of fan-elected judges selects their favorite products upon which the world at large votes. However, when it comes to Best Publisher, the ENnies go to fandom directly and asks their opinion. To nominate a publisher, visit the 2010 ENnies Fan Award for Best Publisher Nomination Form. You have until July 14th to nominate a publisher.

Best Adventure

* The Grinding Gear (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
* Pathfinder AP #31: Stolen Land (Paizo Publishing)
* A Song of Ice and Fire: Peril at King’s Landing (Green Ronin)
* Trail of Cthulhu: The Armitage Files (Pelgrane Press)
* WFRP: The Gathering Storm (Fantasy Flight Games)
* HM: Trail of Cthulhu: Shadows over Filmland (Pelgrane Press)

Best Aid or Accessory

* Battlegraph Dry Erase Boards (Longtooth Studios)
* Campaign Coins (King of the Castle Games & Paizo Publishing)
* Gaming Paper (Gaming Paper)
* Hero Lab v3.6 (Lone Wolf Development)
* Pathfinder GM Screen (Paizo Publishing)
* HM: A Song of Ice and Fire Narrator’s Kit (Green Ronin)

Best Art, Cover

* Eclipse Phase (Catalyst Game Labs & Posthuman Studios)
* Pathfinder Bestiary (Paizo Publishing)
* Rogue Trader Core Rulebook (Fantasy Flight Games)
* Trail of Cthulhu: Rough Magicks (Pelgrane Press)
* WFRP: The Gathering Storm (Fantasy Flight Games)
* HM: Star Wars: The Unknown Regions (Wizards of the Coast)

Best Art, Interior

* Escape from Tentacle City (Willow Palecek)
* Pathfinder Core Rulebook (Paizo Publishing)
* Rogue Trader Core Rulebook (Fantasy Flight Games)
* Shadowrun – 20th Anniversary Ed. (Catalyst Game Labs)
* Warhammer Fantasy RPG (Fantasy Flight Games)
* HM: Hero 6th Edition (Hero Games)

Best Blog

* Critical Hits
* Gnome Stew
* Kobold Quarterly
* NewbieDM.com
* One Geek to Another
* HM: Sarah Darkmagic

Best Cartography

* Aces and Eights: Judas Crossing (Kenzer & Company)
* Dungeon of Terror Virtual Box Set (0one Games)
* Maps of Mastery: Swamp Caves (Maps of Mastery)
* Pathfinder City Map Folio (Paizo Publishing)
* Revenge of the Giants (Wizards of the Coast)
* HM: Death Frost Doom (Lamentation of the Flame Princess)

Best Electronic Book

* The Great City Player’s Guide (0one Games)
* Heroes of the Jade Oath BETA (Rite Publishing)
* To Kill Or Not To Kill (Rite Publishing)
* Pathfinder Society Scenario #29: The Devil We Know Part 1: Shipyard Rats (Paizo Publishing)
* Shambles (A Terrible Idea)
* HM: Fey Folio: The Unseelie Court (Alluria Publishing)

Best Free Product

* Advanced Players Guide Playtest (Paizo Publishing)
* Combat Advantage #15 (Emerald Press)
* Lady Blackbird (one.seven Design)
* Warriors Adventure Game (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
* Wayfinder #1 (Paizo Fans United)
* HM: Hexographer (Inkwell Ideas)

Best Game

* Dragon Age: Set 1 (Green Ronin)
* Hero 6th Edition (Hero Games)
* Pathfinder (Paizo Publishing)
* Shadowrun – 20th Anniversary Ed. (Catalyst Game Labs)
* Wild Talents 2nd Edition (Cubicle 7)
* HM: Labyrinth Lord (Goblinoid Games)

Best Miniature Product

* Alkemy Minis (Kraken Editions)
* D&D Minis (Wizards of the Coast)
* Fortress of Redemption (Games Workshop)
* Gaming Paper (Gaming Paper)
* Maps of Mastery: Swamp Caves (Maps of Mastery)
* HM: Battlegraph Dry Erase Boards (Longtooth Studios)

Best Monster/Adversary

* Aces and Eights: Rustlers & Townsfolk (Kenzer and Company)
* Hellfrost Bestiary (Cubicle 7)
* Pathfinder Bestiary (Paizo Publishing)
* Pathfinder: Classic Horrors Revisited (Paizo Publishing)
* Supernatural: Guide to the Hunted (Margaret Weis Productions)
* HM: Fey Folio: The Unseelie Court (Alluria Publishing)

Best Podcast

* All Games Considered
* Atomic Array
* NewbieDM.com Minicast
* Open Design
* Power Source
* HM: The Gamer’s Haven Podcast

Best Production Values

* Eclipse Phase (Catalyst Game Labs & Posthuman Studios)
* Pathfinder Core Rulebook (Paizo Publishing)
* Rogue Trader Core Rulebook (Fantasy Flight Games)
* Shadowrun – 20th Anniversary Ed. (Catalyst Game Labs)
* Warhammer Fantasy RPG (Fantasy Flight Games)
* HM: Mysteries of the Hollow Earth (Exile Game Studio)

Best Regalia

* Battletech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction (Catalyst Game Labs)
* Buried Tales of Pine Box, Texas (12 to Midnight)
* Cthulhu 101 (Atomic Overmind Press)
* Grind (Privateer Press)
* Three Dragon Ante: Emperor’s Gambit (Wizards of the Coast)
* HM: Best of All Flesh (Elder Signs Press)

Best Rules

* Atomic Highway (Radioactive Ape Designs)
* BASH Ultimate Edition (Basic Action Games)
* Diaspora (VSCA)
* Hero 6th Edition (Hero Games)
* Wild Talents 2nd Edition (Cubicle 7)
* HM: Earthdawn 3rd Edition, Player’s Guide (RedBrick LLC)

Best Setting

* Day After Ragnarok (Atomic Overmind Press)
* Goblin Markets (White Wolf Publishing)
* Kerberos Club (Cubicle 7)
* Judge Dredd (Mongoose Publishing)
* Rome: Life and Death of the Republic (Cubicle 7)
* HM: Shadowrun: Seattle 2072 (Catylst Game Labs)

Best Supplement

* Lucha Libre Hero (Hero Games)
* Mysteries of the Hollow Earth (Exile Game Studio)
* Nobis: The City-States (Pantheon Press)
* Player’s Handbook 3 (Wizards of the Coast)
* Rebellion Era Campaign Guide (Wizards of the Coast)
* HM: Cthulhutech: Damnation View (WildFire)

Best Website

* d20PFSRD.com
* Epic Words
* Obsidian Portal
* Pathfinder Wiki
* Pen & Paper Games
* HM: Hexographer

Best Writing

* Eclipse Phase (Catalyst Game Labs & Posthuman Studios)
* FantasyCraft (Crafty Games)
* How We Came to Live Here (Galileo Games)
* Kerberos Club (Cubicle 7)
* Victoriana 2nd Edtion (Cubicle 7)
* HM: Colonial Gothic (Rogue Games)

Product of the Year

* Doctor Who (Cubicle 7)
* Dragon Age: Set 1 (Green Ronin)
* Eclipse Phase (Catalyst Game Labs & Posthuman Studios)
* Geist the Sin-Eaters (White Wolf Publishing)
* Kerberos Club (Cubicle 7)
* Pathfinder (Paizo Publishing)
* Rome: Life and Death of the Republic (Cubicle 7)
* Shadowrun – 20th Anniversary Ed. (Catalyst Game Labs)
* Warhammer Fantasy RPG (Fantasy Flight Games)
* Wild Talents 2nd Edition (Cubicle 7)
* HM: FantasyCraft (Crafty Games)
* HM: Savage Suzerain (Cubicle 7)

I wrote an article on nostalgia back in April. It made me think of the old adventures I used to have as a kid. Forward a couple months and something has suddenly made me realize why I was looking back to those old adventures.

I was recently listening to a podcast, The Games the Thing. They featured an episode on old school gaming featuring Matthew Finch. Finch is part of Mythmere Games and is author, I believe, of Swords & Wizardry. The podcast is interesting, but what is even more interesting is the reference to an article that Finch put out in July of 2009. Ron, one of the hosts of the podcast, referenced this article as quite an eye opener for him. I felt that I had to see what this was about.

You can find Finch’s article online, for free, at Lulu.com. You can simply go here: http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/quick-primer-for-old-school-gaming/3159558 to download it yourself. If you have ever roleplayed dungeons and dragons before the year 2000, this is a must read. It has probably made me realize what has been missing in all the recent rpg games that I have been playing in or running.

Starting an RPG game doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking, but it usually is with one of the game groups I’m associated. It’s always a question of what roleplaying game do we want to play, how often are we going to play, and who is going to run the game.

We all have our preferences, with some participants being more passionate about certain options than others.  There are criticisms about how certain systems run and even more criticisms when contemplating a setting.  Combat takes too long with one system, but another one doesn’t seem to fit into the setting. To be clear, take a more generic rules system that seems to fit well with modern roleplaying games and try to incorporate it into a fantasy rpg setting. Some rules just do it better than others. For some reason Savage Worlds comes to mind. Before you correct me and put me in my place, I know Savage Worlds can do just fine in a fantasy setting, but it seems better to use one of the supplements to do so versus using the core rules. Again, this could be argued.

Then there’s the question regarding how long a game session should be. Should they be 12 hour marathons or short 4-6 hour sprints?

The campaign. Should it be ongoing to have no end, or should it have a start and end point even if it’s only in the GM’s head?

It’s times like these that make one want to do a survey for the group. “How would you rate your play type on a scale of 1 -5…”

We’re driven by many factors when choosing the rpg game we want to play. It can be mood. It can be that you’ve played the same rules system for 5 years and want to try something fresh and new. However, learning a new system can be fun, it can also be daunting and time consuming. “Wait a second while I look that up…….ummm….” Those pauses in game play can certainly halt game flow in its tracks.

How do you handle choosing the right rpg game?

Friends I game with know that I have gamer A-D-D. I grow bored of a particular game or rpg quicker than most. I’m not sure what it is. I’ve run games, and I’ve been a player. Some game campaigns last longer than others. It’s not burn out, necessarily, maybe it’s expectations. Starting a new game gets the blood flowing. Excitement comes when you think of the stories, the plots, and everything else that makes us enjoy roleplaying games.

On my recent hiatus from a consistent game I’ve been looking back upon the old stuff. AD&D is what I fell in love with a long time ago. I was 13 years old. We were in junior high, and the school I went to offered a ‘club hour’ of some kind where we could organize our own interests and take part in those interests with members of our own class and students in other grades. That’s where my older friends allowed to get into the Dungeons and Dragons group that they created. That’s where I created my first character, a first level Ranger. From that moment, I was hooked. I think I carried around my Player’s Handbook, the one with the big demon-looking statue with a gem getting it plucked out of it’s eye socket by a member of a presumed adventuring party, in my backpack for semesters to come. You never know when you could ditch the social studies book for a good read on the Paladin class.

The gaming group went on to conquer some of the greatest AD&D adventures of all time.

I have always liked the modern genre when it comes to roleplaying games. I grew up playing FASA Star Trek, of course AD&D, and Top Secret by TSR. It was always a good time. My friends and I were big fans of Bond and action movies. We read Ian Flemming’s books and didn’t stop short of watching just the movies.

I own GURPS, Savage Worlds and Spycraft by AEG and the 2.0 version by Crafty Games, but I have fallen short of executing on running the modern rpg. We tried Spycraft 2.0 and it went ok. Most of the demise was due to my gaming A-D-D. What can I say, I am stream of conscious and grow bored with things quickly. The fact that I have a few blog posts in a somewhat consistent manner is a miracle in and of itself.

Not only has the modern rpg been less than successful, but some of the guys that I play with are not interested in the genre because it’s too close to real life. They say that they game in order to escape real life. Certainly I can understand that. Regardless, it still disappoints me.