EN World, also known as Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG News, is a British-owned

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

news and reviews website. The website is run and owned by Russ Morrissey ("Morrus"). It reports current news and provides insight into major product releases before they are officially unveiled. EN World was the original host of the

ENNIE Awards The ENNIE Awards (previously stylized as ENnie Awards) are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products (including game-related accessories, publications, and art) and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN World ...

. The site's forums are a gathering place for over a quarter-million gamers. In addition to discussing games, members also participate in play-by-post games on the EN World message boards.

ENnies

Beginning in 2002, EN World hosted the

ENnies The ENNIE Awards (previously stylized as ENnie Awards) are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products (including game-related accessories, publications, and art) and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN Worl ...

in association with the

Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...

gaming convention A gaming convention is a gathering centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three business days long, and often held at ...

. The ENnies is an award show recognizing the best role-playing game products and publishers for the preceding year. The

were officially known as the "Gen Con EN World RPG Awards" from 2002 to 2019. As of 2017, the awards are run by business manager Stacey Muth. In 2019, EN World owner Russ Morrissey retired from the awards, which were officially renamed "The ENnies".

EN Publishing

EN Publishing was established in 2001 and is the publishing arm of EN World. It has published over 300 books, including the ''What's O.L.D. is N.E.W.'' (WOIN)

role-playing game system A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

, EN5ider magazine, and the official Judge Dredd (role-playing game). In 2016

Angus Abranson Angus Abranson is a game designer, publisher and poet who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Angus Abranson began playing ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' in 1984, and began working for Leisure Games by age 14, which one of the ...

joined EN Publishing as business director. Abranson left in 2019 and was replaced by Jessica Hancock, while Marc Langworthy joined as 2000 AD line manager. In October 2000, the company announced the ''Awfully Cheerful Engine'', a comic-book-inspired tabletop game.

Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition

In August 2020, EN Publishing announced a project code-named ''Level Up'', an advanced adaptation of ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' 5th Edition. The game was published in 2021. Kotaku.com listed ''Level Up'' in its 10 Best Tabletop Roleplaying Books of 2022, and Polygon featured it in the same year. Screenrant suggested that ''Level Up'' could be ''D&D 5e's Pathfinder''. ''Level Up'' is supported by a free online tools platform which contains all of the rules of the game, and a monthly magazine called the ''Gate Pass Gazette'. In 2022, following

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

proposing the termination of the

Open Game License The Open Game License (OGL) is a public copyright license by Wizards of the Coast that may be used by tabletop role-playing game developers to grant permission to modify, copy, and redistribute some of the content designed for their games, no ...

the A5E System Reference Document was released, enabling third party publishers to create and sell their own content for the ''Level Up'' game system. A Starter Box was released for the game system in 2023.

History

EN World was founded in 2000. It grew from the earlier "Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News" site, which was active from 1999 to 2001 and was the primary source of information about the third edition of the ''

'' role-playing game before its release by Wizards of the Coast. In 2005, the EN World GameStore was launched as a platform for selling downloadable RPG products. The GameStore allowed sellers to use their profits to purchase other products or transfer the money to

PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support E-commerce payment system, online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alter ...

. Buyers could transfer funds from PayPal or a similar service to purchase any non-free product. However, the GameStore was sold to DriveThruRPG in 2006. EN World began experimenting with media content in 2012, starting with a six-episode animated show 'The Perturbed Dragon', video coverage of DragonMeet and the Battle of the Bards music competition. In 2018, the site launched its official podcast, "Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk," a weekly program that provides insight into tabletop role-playing game news.

References

{{reflist

External links

EN WorldEric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News (archive)
Role-playing game websites