Sept 2, 2004 (North Providence, RI) — Bad Axe Games is extremely pleased at the recognition awarded to Grim Tales by our fellow d20 designers. Although we would like to thank our fans, our freelancers, and our staff for a job well done, we are especially grateful to the many designers and contributors of Open Content whose work appears within the pages of Grim Tales. We share this award with all of you.

EN World Peer Award

Due to last-minute confusion, the EN World Peer Awards were accidentally left out of the awards ceremony at GenCon. Now, at last, we are happy to announce the Silver and Gold Award winners on EN World. First, a revision of the speech this year’s Peer Award coordinator Will Hindmarch wrote for the presentation of the Peer Award at Gen Con Indy 2004:

The Peer Award is determined through direct voting by a wide selection of d20 System game designers and authors. The process involves no nomination process: each invited participant simply votes for his or her favorite d20 System products from the last year (May 31, 2003 through May 30, 2004) and the products with the most votes are recognized with an honorary ENnie for their contribution to the library of products at large.

The spirit of the award is this: d20 System designers are fans, too, but sometimes measure the success of a product differently than the fan community at large. These products, therefore, are those which excited us as designers–or made us jealous. These are products we admire and appreciate, even if they weren’t included in the formal nominations of the EN World Awards.

No trophy is given for these products. Instead, we announce them here, in good company, as a pat on the back or a tip of the glass. If you haven’t given these books a chance, please do so. Each is an exceptional example of d20 System design at work, whether it bravely attempts something new or masterfully realizes a favorite old concept. If you’re a d20 System designer (and all you DMs are to some extent), study these books and learn. Then, when you see their creators at a convention somewhere, buy them a drink, throw the goat, or do whatever it is you do to recognize quality work.

It’s been my pleasure to conduct this year’s voting and be witness to the respect and generous praise each voter cast upon his or her peers. Better still, this year’s votes left us with ties in both the Silver and Gold Award Categories, so we get to share the good feelings with many talented designers and honor four stellar products today! They are, in no discernable order:

SILVER AWARD WINNERS:

• Grim Tales (Benjamin Durbin, for Bad Axe Games)
• Draconomicon (Andy Collins, James Wyatt, Skip Williams, for Wizards of the Coast)

GOLD AWARD WINNERS:

• Arcana Unearthed (Monte Cook, Malhavoc Press)
• Grimm (Robert J. Schwalb, Robert Vaughn, for Fantasy Flight Games)

Visit the Grim Tales product page for more information.

The Section 15 for Grim Tales has been updated and will remain available for download at www.badaxegames.com.

The complete, updated Section 15 for Grim Tales reads as follows:

15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

System Reference Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson;

Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Charles Ryan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.

System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich baker, Andy Collins, David noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

CORE Explanatory Notice, copyright 2003, Benjamin R. Durbin.

Spycraft Copyright 2002, Alderac Entertainment Group.

Swords of Our Fathers Copyright 2003, The Game Mechanics.

Mutants and Masterminds Copyright 2002, Green Ronin Publishing.

Unearthed Arcana Copyright 2004, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Andy Collins, Jesse Decker, David Noonan, Rich Redman.

Ultramodern Firearms d20, Copyright 2002, Charles McManus Ryan.

Modern Player’s Companion, Copyright 2003, The Game Mechanics, Inc.; Author: Stan!

Challenging Challenge Ratings: Immortals Handbook, Copyright 2003, Craig Cochrane.

Encountering Encounter Levels: Immortals Handbook, Copyright 2003, Craig Cochrane.

Design Parameters: Immortals Handbook, Copyright 2003, Craig Cochrane.

A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe Copyright 2003, Expeditious Retreat Press; authors Suzi Yee and Joseph Browning.

Monster’s Handbook Copyright 2002, Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc.

Monte Cook’s Arcana Unearthed, Copyright 2003, Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.

Possessors: Children of the Outer Gods Copyright 2003, Philip Reed and Christopher Shy, www.philipjreed.com and www.studioronin.com.

Vilstrak from the Tome of Horrors, Copyright 2002, Necromancer Games., Inc.; Author Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.

Grim Tales, Spellcasting game mechanics; Copyright 2003, Benjamin R. Durbin, published by Bad Axe Games, LLC.

Grim Tales, Horror game mechanics; Copyright 2003, Benjamin R. Durbin, published by Bad Axe Games, LLC.

Grim Tales, Firearms game mechanics; Copyright 2003, Benjamin R. Durbin, published by Bad Axe Games, LLC.

Grim Tales, Vehicle game mechanics; Copyright 2003, Benjamin R. Durbin, published by Bad Axe Games, LLC.

Grim Tales, Cyberware game mechanics; Copyright 2003, Benjamin R. Durbin, published by Bad Axe Games, LLC.

Grim Tales, Copyright 2004, Benjamin R. Durbin, published by Bad Axe Games, LLC.

Visit the Grim Tales product page for more information.

Grim Tales is the high adventure, low magic campaign sourcebook for fantastic roleplaying in your favorite pulp genres, from the dawn of Atlantis to the apocalyptic future of a dying planet. Players will enjoy near limitless combinations of classes, feats, skills, and talents to create their characters, while GMs can pick and choose from a wide variety of design mechanics, variant rules, and campaign trappings to create exactly the setting he wants to challenge and entertain his players. Grim Tales is a complete toolkit, designed to be completely compatible with your existing library of d20 products, allowing you to use characters, equipment, spells, monsters, and even entire settings from nearly any source.

Visit the Grim Tales product page for more information.