Origins RPG Nominations

I'm not going to go on about the nature of the awards, since the ENnies are about as good/bad, but let's look at the nominees:

Roleplaying Game of the Year
Burning Empires (Burning Wheel)
Exalted, 2nd Edition (White Wolf)
Faery's Tale (Firefly Games)
Hollow Earth Expedition (Exile Game Studio)
RuneQuest (Mongoose Publishing)

Burning Empires is a really cool, nice looking game with fantastic ideas. It is also:

• Not actually played that often outside its tight online network, I suspect.
• Surprisingly lightweight. It's a brick, but one in a smaller format with generous layout and a host of lists.
• One of those games other game designers like to have on their shelves and praise, for good reason. It's one of thise games you pretty much have to own.
  

Now Exalted 2nd Ed? People are playing the shit out of that game, but is it really the purpose of an award to congratulate people for revising something? Ex2e does feature substantial changes from the combat system up, but does anybody really care? With Exalted, it's hard to say how much of the appeal is rules versus concept.

I don't know much about Faery's Tale or HEX, possibly because I focus on buying games from stores. Faery's Tale has me as soon as the Green Ronin version comes out.

Runequest? Did somebody pay Steve Perrin yet?

Verdict: Burning Empires will win because it makes everybody feel good about themselves for being cutting edge and shit, but not knowing enough about two noms I can't say who should win. If Burning Empires did, I think that would be good enough.

Roleplaying Game Supplement of the Year
Deadlands Reloaded (Pinnacle/Great White Games)
GURPS Bio-Tech (Steve Jackson Games)
Out in the Black (Margaret Weis Productions)
Ptolus (Sword & Sorcery)
Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords (Wizards of the Coast)

Deadlands doesn't float my boat because, like most people who aren't American, I don't have that much empathy for the Western genre. Savage Worlds is a nice system, but Shrug.

*snore* What? A GURPS tech book? Okay. *snore* Seriously, I'm sure it's all good, but it's kind of par for the course for this book to exist and be what it is.

Out in the Black is probably there because the Serenity RPG is really popular, but self-proclaimed True Gamers don't like the fact that it's popular. I have no strong opinions about it.

I've read parts of Ptolus and it's pretty cool. Plus, Monte Cook, D&D, etc. I've always preferred to run house campaigns, but Ptolus is usable it chunks.

Tome of Battle is a pretty amazing plugin for D&D that showcases what you can do with the system. It's an all-new way to play the game and manages to do the Western Wuxia thing well. Might be seen an an Exalted-come-lately kind of thing.

Verdict: Ptolus or Tome of Battle. Either one would be deserving, but I think Ptolus slightly edges out Tome of Battle in its chances. Ptolus is a fine expression of D&D principles taken to back to setting, but Tome of Battle represents a genuine progression in the type of things D&D supports.

Origins RPG Nominations

I'm not going to go on about the nature of the awards, since the ENnies are about as good/bad, but let's look at the nominees:

Roleplaying Game of the Year
Burning Empires (Burning Wheel)
Exalted, 2nd Edition (White Wolf)
Faery's Tale (Firefly Games)
Hollow Earth Expedition (Exile Game Studio)
RuneQuest (Mongoose Publishing)

Burning Empires is a really cool, nice looking game with fantastic ideas. It is also:

• Not actually played that often outside its tight online network, I suspect.
• Surprisingly lightweight. It's a brick, but one in a smaller format with generous layout and a host of lists.
• One of those games other game designers like to have on their shelves and praise, for good reason. It's one of thise games you pretty much have to own.
  

Now Exalted 2nd Ed? People are playing the shit out of that game, but is it really the purpose of an award to congratulate people for revising something? Ex2e does feature substantial changes from the combat system up, but does anybody really care? With Exalted, it's hard to say how much of the appeal is rules versus concept.

I don't know much about Faery's Tale or HEX, possibly because I focus on buying games from stores. Faery's Tale has me as soon as the Green Ronin version comes out.

Runequest? Did somebody pay Steve Perrin yet?

Verdict: Burning Empires will win because it makes everybody feel good about themselves for being cutting edge and shit, but not knowing enough about two noms I can't say who should win. If Burning Empires did, I think that would be good enough.

Roleplaying Game Supplement of the Year
Deadlands Reloaded (Pinnacle/Great White Games)
GURPS Bio-Tech (Steve Jackson Games)
Out in the Black (Margaret Weis Productions)
Ptolus (Sword & Sorcery)
Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords (Wizards of the Coast)

Deadlands doesn't float my boat because, like most people who aren't American, I don't have that much empathy for the Western genre. Savage Worlds is a nice system, but Shrug.

*snore* What? A GURPS tech book? Okay. *snore* Seriously, I'm sure it's all good, but it's kind of par for the course for this book to exist and be what it is.

Out in the Black is probably there because the Serenity RPG is really popular, but self-proclaimed True Gamers don't like the fact that it's popular. I have no strong opinions about it.

I've read parts of Ptolus and it's pretty cool. Plus, Monte Cook, D&D, etc. I've always preferred to run house campaigns, but Ptolus is usable it chunks.

Tome of Battle is a pretty amazing plugin for D&D that showcases what you can do with the system. It's an all-new way to play the game and manages to do the Western Wuxia thing well. Might be seen an an Exalted-come-lately kind of thing.

Verdict: Ptolus or Tome of Battle. Either one would be deserving, but I think Ptolus slightly edges out Tome of Battle in its chances. Ptolus is a fine expression of D&D principles taken to back to setting, but Tome of Battle represents a genuine progression in the type of things D&D supports.