UPDATED 2019-07-22:
After most of the first round of auctions closed, two were re-listed for a second shot at them!
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 28th July, 2019 at 1:30 PM EST
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the team at Alligator Alley Entertainment
- Some amazing swag from Alligator Alley Entertainment
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 28th July, 2019 at 2:17 PM EST
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the Petersen Games team
- Some Petersen Games swag!
NOT A RE-LIST BUT ENDS THIS WEEK:
AUCTION ENDS: Wednesday, 24th July, 2019 at 3:32 PM EST
REWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the Dwarven Forge team
- “A painted Starter Dungeon set! The set includes 19 pieces in pure Dwarvenite to start off (or top off) your dungeon. This set comes fully hand painted”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Want to step up your RPG freelancing game? RPG publisher looking to shake up the industry? Are you a fan of award-winning RPGs? Going to the ENnie Awards at Gen Con 2019? Chaosium, Cubicle 7, Magpie Games, Pelgrane Press, Petersen Games, and more will be there and they want to hang out with you! The ENnie Awards (the Oscars of tabletop RPGs) are auctioning off seats with these publishers as well as swag. On eBay, they’re offering you the chance to get some one-on-one time with some of the best creators in the industry!
Each year, I write an “ENnie Awards Dream Date Guide” to share these fantastic opportunities for fans, freelancers, and publishers. Curious what the prior options? Check them out here: 2017 and 2018.
In 2017, I won a “date” with Cubicle 7 and could not have been happier with the experience then and since. We sat at a table right in front of the stage, they shared industry tales, introduced me to other creators, and hooked me up with Adventures in Middle-earth books and maps (print and PDF). The cherry on that night was when they won an award while I was there. I went from a random fan to someone that C7 talks with every time I see them. The experience boosted me as an RPG fan, journalist, and creator, and I would recommend it to anyone that’s interested in RPGs whether a fan, a freelancer, or a publisher. To that end, let’s review these dates!
Cubicle 7 and Egg (shorts) at the ENnie Awards 2017. [Egg is going for a record for re-using this image.]
But, before we do, here’s a few notes:
“The 2019 ENnie Awards are held August 2nd, 2019 at 8pm at Gen Con! Don’t forget to vote for the ENnie Awards here. [Auction] winners must have a valid Gen Con badge [not provided] to attend the ENnie Awards and [the winners are] responsible for any associated expenses with attending Gen Con in Indianapolis, IN. All proceeds from the Dream Date auction are used to fund the production of the ENnie Awards each year. Egg Embry is not a part of the ENnie Awards. He writes these dream date guides for fun.”
See all of the auctions here.
AUCTION ENDS: Saturday, 20th July, 2019 at 3:30 PM EST
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the Cubicle 7 creative team
- A signed copy of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Rulebook - Up for two ENnies this year!
“Cubicle 7 is the creative team behind many ENnie nominated and winning products! These include 2019 nominated Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fourth Edition, The One Ring Roleplaying Game, Adventures in Middle-earth, Age of Sigmar Roleplaying Game, The Doctor Who Card Game, Doctor Who Roleplaying Game, and many, many more.”
EGG’S THOUGHTS: I’ve met C7 on multiple occasions and they’re nice, nice, nice. You’ll have a good time, they’ll keep you entertained, and, if you’re interested in one of their properties (Lord of the Rings, Warhammer, Doctor Who), they will share more insight into their worlds than you can handle.
But one of the hottest options for this night is the swag. If C7’s Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Rulebook picks up either, or both, of the ENnies it’s up for, your signed copy will become something of a gaming artifact: The signed ENnie Awards Dream Date Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Rulebook from the night it won ENnies.
AUCTION ENDS: Saturday, 20th July, 2019 at 1:45 PM EST
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the Pelgrane Press team including Cathriona “Cat” Tobin, Ken Hite and Robin Laws
- Hideous Creatures t-shirt
- Hideous Creatures – Bestiary of the Cthulhu Mythos book
- A GM ribbon
- Pelgrane Press button
“Pelgrane Press Ltd is a British role-playing game publishing company behind many ENnie Award winning products! This year is no exception, as they are up for multiple 2019 ENnies! Pelgrane Press currently produces Fall of Delta Green, Trail of Cthulhu, Night’s Black Agents, 13th Age, the Diana Jones award-winning Hillfolk RPG, the Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, and other related products.”
EGG’S THOUGHTS: Hideous Creatures – Bestiary of the Cthulhu Mythos is up for an ENnie Award this year and is a part of the swag the winner of this auction gets. As I mentioned with C7’s swag above, if this book wins then your copy defaults to a piece of gaming history, the ENnie Awards Dream Date Hideous Creatures – Bestiary of the Cthulhu Mythos.
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 12:30 PM EST
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with 2019 ENnie Awards judges, Brian Nowak, Ben Adelman and Chris Gath
- “The winner will also receive some amazing swag custom tailored to your gaming interests. Value of the prize pack will be at least $50 over that final auction bid!
At end of the auction, winner will receive an email asking for your tastes in genre (Horror, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, board games, etc…) We will do our best to match it with a selection of items that have been submitted to the ENnies and award them to you the night of the awards”
EGG’S THOUGHTS: If you’re a gamer, this will probably be the best swag deal of the convention as they’ll provide you with a lot of games (the judges get plenty throughout the year).
If you’re a publisher, it might open doors to talk with the judges to learn more about judging criteria, which could lead to improved products through your studio.
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 1:00 PM EST
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with Magpie Games team
- One of Magpie’s main product lines:
-
- Masks pack - a copy of the core book, supplement, one deck and a set of dice
Or
-
- Zombie World pack - a copy of the core book, both supplements, and a set of Kickstarter Exclusive Cards
“Magpie Games is a multi-ENnie Award nominated and winning game development and production company devoted to creating interesting, innovative, boundary-pushing, and most of all high-quality games across a wide variety of genres and styles. The majority of Magpie’s productions are tabletop roleplaying games, ranging from games designed to recreate disaster movies, to games designed to tell the stories of baby dragons on adventures, to gritty games about supernatural criminals and power brokers. Since its inception, Magpie Games has released many games, including Urban Shadows, Epyllion: A Dragon Epic, Masks: A New Generation, and Bluebeard’s Bride.”
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 1:15 PM EST
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 2:15 PM EST
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 3:15 PM EST
NOTE: There are three dream dates being hosted by the Petersen Games team
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the Petersen Games team
- Some Petersen Games swag!
“Petersen Games was founded to make games with top-grade components, amazing art, and great depth of gameplay. Their games include the immensely popular Cthulhu Wars, All Orcs Must Die! and Theomachy. In addition, Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for 5E is up for an ENnie this year!
Game Designer, Sandy Petersen, first conceived of the idea of doing a roleplaying game based on H. P. Lovecraft’s stories. That original idea, the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, is still in print today. Since that time, Sandy has worked on many tabletop products, including helping develop the original Arkham Horror board game. He also spent almost 20 years in the computer gaming industry, as a designer on the teams that produced Civilization, Doom, Quake, the Age of Empire series, and Halo Wars. He returned to the world of tabletop gaming with the famed Cthulhu Wars strategy game, and now he is Chief Creative Officer of his own company.”
EGG’S THOUGHTS: I’m hoping the “Petersen Games swag” includes a copy of Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for 5E since it is up for an ENnie this year. Obviously, it’s not mentioned in the swag (that’s ambiguous), but if the game wins, having a copy gotten at the awards ceremony will be a special memento of gaming.
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 1:30 PM EST
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 2:30 PM EST
NOTE: There are two dream dates being hosted by Alligator Alley Entertainment
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the team at Alligator Alley Entertainment
- Some amazing swag from Alligator Alley Entertainment
“Alligator Alley Entertainment is the publisher of adventure games including Witch Hunter: the Invisible World, Esper Genesis, and Demonbane Chronicles”
EGG’S THOUGHTS: Alligator Alley is the company behind Esper Genesis (sci-fi D&D 5e), which I reviewed for Knights of the Dinner Table #262. When I see them at cons, they’re always ready to talk and share lots of good information about being a small publisher that is making it. Plus, freelancer tales and more. Well worth checking out.
Executive Creative Director of Games at Andrews McMeel Universal, Daniel D. Fox. HONEST! Would I lie?!
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 2:00 PM EST
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 3:00 PM EST
NOTE: There are two dream dates for the Andrews McMeel Universal and Grim & Perilous Studios table
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the team at Andrews McMeel Universal and Grim & Perilous Studios, the team behind the twice Gold ENnie winner from 2018!
- Zweihänder (pdf and print)
- Main Gauche (pdf and print)
- Character Folio (pdf and print)
- GM screen (pdf and print)
- Monster Cards (pdf+print)
- Injury & Mishap Cards (pdf and print)
- One voucher of Zweihander Player’s Handbook (pdf and print) as it releases in December
- Drinks at the ENnies (must be over 21)
“Andrews McMeel Universal (AMU) is an American media corporation based in Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded in 1970 by Jim Andrews and John McMeel. AMU is passionate about discovering authors and creators who have a distinct point of view. They nurture humorous and inspirational voices that they believe have the potential to be both profound and popular. They respect the creator’s vision as the primary source of inspiration at every stage, offering an individualized, flexible approach to publishing success.
Daniel D. Fox is the founder of Grim & Perilous Studios, an independent publisher of over 30 titles since its inception. Dan is an author and game designer, having won the gold ENnie for Best Game and Product of the Year at Gen Con 2018 for ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG. His break-out success with ZWEIHÄNDER was featured on Forbes.com, and recognized by Kickstarter as one of their Projects We Love. ZWEIHÄNDER is ranked one of the best-selling tabletop games of all time at DriveThruRPG, with over 90,000 copies sold worldwide. Daniel is the Executive Creative Director of Games at Andrews McMeel Universal.”
EGG’S THOUGHTS: First, the winning bid gets hundreds of dollars worth of great gaming!
Second, I interviewed Daniel D. Fox (Zweihänder) at Origins Game Fair and can say he’s a fun guy to hang out with. Creators and publishers, part of Daniel’s job at Andrews McMeel Universal is finding the next hit RPG and bringing it to AMU. AMU has lent muscle to ZWEIHÄNDER as they’re stocked at Barnes & Nobles next to D&D, Pathfinder, Starfinder, and Star Wars. I am *NOT* saying Daniel will take your pitch or product, but I am saying that AMU is going to be a growing player in the world of RPG and it’d be good to talk to their ECD of Games.
AUCTION ENDS: Sunday, 21st July, 2019 at 4:00 PM EST
AWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the Chaosium team
- Miskatonic University the Restricted Collection Boardgame
- Chaosium Clandestine Game case Poker Chip set (special item from Horror on the Orient Express Kickstarter)
- Chaosium “tuxedo”black t-shirt
- One of these three premium game sets:
-
- RuneQuest:Roleplaying in Glorantha slipcase Set + PDF
OR
-
- Call of Cthulhu slipcase set + PDF
OR
-
- Masks of Nyarlathotep slipcase set + PDF
“Chaosium was founded by visionary game designer Greg Stafford in 1975. For more than forty years, Chaosium has captivated gamers, readers and mythic adventurers worldwide. Its award-winning roleplaying games, boardgames and fiction have been acclaimed as some of the most engaging and innovative of all time.”
EGG’S THOUGHTS: Picking your swag will be a challenge as your choices include more than one product that is up for an ENnie this year. This is a good problem for the winner to have because they know they’re choosing between strength and strength.
AUCTION ENDS: Wednesday, 24th July, 2019 at 3:32 PM EST
REWARDS:
- Attend the ENnie Awards 2019 with the Dwarven Forge team
- “A painted Starter Dungeon set! The set includes 19 pieces in pure Dwarvenite to start off (or top off) your dungeon. This set comes fully hand painted”
“Dwarven Forge was founded in 1996 by artist Stefan Pokorny, a medieval fantasy devotee and an avid Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast. After many months of painstaking design, sculpting and painting, he introduced the world’s finest pre-painted miniature terrain in 1996. Since then, Dwarven Forge has released many new sets, each fully compatible with the others, and each a new step forward in terrain design, yet maintaining a dedication to fine craft and excellent durability. These sets are built to last, and many collectors are now sharing them with their children and grandchildren.”
Again, don’t forget to vote for the ENnie Awards here then see all of the eBay auctions here. Auctions end between Saturday, 20th July, 2019 at 1:45 PM EST and Wednesday, 24th July, 2019 at 3:32 PM EST.