Welcome to the Gnome Stew ENnies 2016 rundown.
There are a ton of great nominees out there, and we wanted to point out some Gnome Adjacent projects and the other nominees in the fields we are usually nominated in, Best Blog and Best Website. Of course we want you to give Gnome Stew the best possible vote (Mark Gnome Stew as a 1), but we want you to check out the great competition too. Vote here from now until July 21st!.
Gnome Adjacent Projects
The Misdirected Mark Podcast (Best Podcast)
If you are seeking the pinnacle of podcasting, listen no further than the Misdirected Mark podcast where you can hear Gnomes Phil Vecchione, Chris Sniezak, and Bob Everson talk about gaming, geek life, and the various projects they are working on. You can even watch live on Tuesday nights on their Hitbox broadcast and participate in the chatroom.
Focal Point: The Complete Game Master’s Guide to Running Extraordinary Sessions (Best RPG Related Product)
Gnome Stew and Engine publishing continue to maintain a strong relationship. The latest book from Engine Publishing was written by Walt Ciechanowski, Phil Vecchione, and John Arcadian, edited by Martin Ralya and has art in it from Avery Liell-kok! It’s a Gnome-a-palooza and full of great tips to run games at the table, build props to get engagement, and get the most out of your players. Well worth a look.
“Honorable” Mentions
I’m being told that as part of the Gnome/Kobold armistice following the 2016 hacking attempt we are required to tell you about these “great’ things you should look at. All joking aside (NEVER SURRENDER!) Kobold Press makes some awesome stuff and the Southlands campaign setting is really cool. This is well worth your perusal and voting for.
- Southlands Campaign Setting Map (Kobold Press, Best Cartography)
- Southlands Campaign Setting (Kobold Press, Best Setting)
Best Blog
We are often nominated under best blog and are quite happy to be there, but this year the ENnies judges split up blogs and websites, so check out the great bloggers working on producing quality content.
- Campaign Mastery – Founded by John Fourr and Mike Bourke, Campaign Mastery does a lot of great advice and well thought out out content. With a focus on GMs, they’ve got a lot in common with the stew and stew writers have sometimes been contributors there as well.
- The Other Side – Witches, gaming content, and good advice articles. The Other Side is Timothy Brannan’s blog that covers multiple gaming topics. He puts together character sheets and summaries for many pop culture characters and they are always top notch.
- Illuminerdy – Run by Liz Bauman and full of content by great authors, the Illuminerdy have their hands in everything gaming. The 100 word rpg hook, articles about gaming and life balance, and the ever popular #RPGchat are great reasons to keep the Illuminerdy close.
- World Builder – James Introcaso posts great content, pregens, and has a podcasting arm called Have Spellbook, Will Travel as well as, of course, The Tome Show. World Builder is a great stop when looking for some interesting backgrounds or character options.
- Raging Owlbear – Marty Walser is the person behind Raging Owlbear, and his rage is owl-beary indeed. Although not a weekly update, the content on Raging Owlbear is always top-notch and he’s not afraid to get a little political among reviews, gaming tips, and the occasional pieces of game specific content. It’s always worth a read.
Another Honorable Mention
- Yore by Martin Ralya -Â Previous head Gnome Martin Ralya has a great blog since going solo. Yore covers gaming topics, personal thoughts, and little bit of hiking stuff. Yore is a great read and is in the Stew’s list of favorite blogs out there. While he’s not up for an ENnie (this year!), you should go check it out and follow his blog so you don’t miss any of the incredible stuff he is making.
Best Website
This is where you find us, but also where you find some awesome competition. Go check out the competition, then cast your vote. And we’re not pressuring you to vote for us or anything, but we do have access to 3 out of the 4 necessary nuclear launch codes… Just saying you wouldn’t like us when we are grumpy. Wait, why are these written in crayon?
- See Page XX: The Pelgrane Press Webzine – The Pelgrane Press webzine has some great content that is managed by the incredible Cat Tobin. With a great pool of industry veterans, multiple articles a month, and perspectives on Pelgrane games and mechanics that can be ported everywhere, it’s worth distracting you from your day job.
- Adventureaweek.com – Adventure A Week produces some very good weekly adventures and content on a subscription basis. While you might think that the weekly schedule for new adventures would mean they were skimpy, every one is well thought out and incredibly detailed with a good layer of polish.
- Gnome Stew — The Gaming Blog – Wow, gnomes smell good. We smell so good. Like supernaturally good and not in that Sam and Dean way, although we have to assume those two smell pretty darn good as well. While these others are awesome, vote for us! You’ll smell good like us too! (Please don’t go around in public sniffing garden gnomes – turned to stone by the dread medusa wars. If you do, just tell people you’re playing a new version of Pokemon Go. That covers for everything for now!)
- Tribality Website — D&D 5th Edition Resource – Tribality is a D&D-centric blog with a lot of great content and D&D news. Their resource page is one of the best out there and has a ton of useful and timely resources for the 5e player on the go. It’s a great collection of links and self hosted resources.
- Melvin Smif’s Geekery – With a name like Melvin Smif it has to be good. With a ton of reviews, news, and and a smattering of tabletop wargaming through in, Melvin Smif’s Geekery has a lot of bases covered.
You got my vote, guys. What more can I say? LOL
We appreciate it!