The Ennies 2022 – an annual Oscars-style event that gives awards to the creators of excellent tabletop role-playing content – is in full swing. Products for Dungeons & Dragons and many other RPG systems have been nominated to specific categories of awards, and the winner among these finalists, voted for by the gaming public, will be revealed at the official Ennies award ceremony in August 2022. Fans of D&D 5th Edition should keep a particularly close eye on the following nominations, each designed to augment or transform the experience of running campaigns with 5e rules.
There are many RPG products besides D&D compatible content that get nominated for the Ennie Awards. In 2022 alone, content for games such as the doomed-world fantasy RPG MÖRK BORG, the LGBT fantasy game Thirsty Sword Lesbians, and peaceful Wind In the Willows-style RPGs such as Wanderhome have been nominated for categories such as Best Game, Best Art/Cover, or Best Aid/Accessory.
Most of the Ennie nominated D&D products listed below are D&D 5e publications made by third-party developers - games designers and dungeon-crafters who took advantage of the 5th edition System Reference Document published by Wizards Of The Coast under an Open Gaming License. Among these products are vividly-drawn fantasy game settings, bestiaries of new monsters/challenges, and even creative rules players can use to revitalize or even hack their D&D RPG experience.
Historia – Dark Fantasy Renaissance Setting for 5e
The D&D 5e setting sourcebook Historia, for sale on Drivethru RPG and published by Mana Project Studio, has been nominated for both the Best Art, Interior and Best Setting categories of the Ennie Awards. The fantasy world this sourcebook describes, similar to the Pugmire RPG system, is populated by anthropomorphic animal people and possesses the technology and cultures of Renaissance Europe. The tone of this fantasy setting is centered around gallant adventure and sinister intrigue, while the text of the sourcebook contains rules for new character classes, new animal species archetypes, and even rules for Faction-focused gameplay and the use of period firearms.
Nightfell – Bestiary For D&D 5e
Nominated for the Best Monster/Adversary Award of the 2022 Ennies, Nightfell – Bestiary For D&D 5e is a catalog of new monster designs Dungeons Masters can hurl at their players. That isn't all, however; it's also a setting book depicting a fantasy world where the sun is dead, the moon is the only source of light, and the survivors of this dark world are assailed at every turn by Undead scourges and ancient horrors. The tone of the Nightfell setting seems to be heavily inspired by classic tales of perishing worlds such as the Dying Earth novels by Jack Vance and The Night Land by William Hope Hodgeson, while the monster write-ups evoke uncanny nightmares not too dissimilar from the Bloodborne video game's hard-to-beat beasts and cosmic kin.
Critical Role Sourcebook – Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn
The Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn book, nominated this year for the Best Setting Ennie Award category, is a sourcebook full of world-building details, plot hooks, and creature statblocks for the fantasy continent of Tal'Dorei, the setting for the first season of the Critical Role Actual Play series. Published by Darrington Press, this Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition-compatible volume lets roleplayers and Actual Play fans explore the world of Exandria two decades after the journeys of the Vox Machina adventuring party. The Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn book immerses players in iconic locales of Critical Role's Exandria setting such as the cities of Whitestone and Vasselheim, unlocks setting-specific subclasses, and offers mastery of the use of legendary artifacts known as Vestiges of Divergence.
Fateforge: Tetralogy Box Set 5e
Published by the France-based Studio Agate, the Fateforge: Tetralogy Box Set is a collection of the core books for the Fateforge Dungeons & Dragons fantasy setting. Nominated for the Best Writing Ennie Award category, the setting books of Fateforge immerses role-players in a world of sword and sorcery full of diverse civilizations. Fateforge features unique takes on classic D&D non-human races, and plot hooks such a wellspring of corruption called the Canker, ancient portals left behind by a people called the Travelers, and Fate as a real force meddling in people's lives. The Fateforge: Tetralogy Box Set also contains a customized RPG system based off the D&D 5th Edition SRD, containing new rules for character creation, and a brand new magic system that gives narrative weight to each new spell learned.