Watch the live show tonight at 8 P.M. EDT with Chris Spivey, Mike Pondsmith, Robin D Laws, Kenneth Hite, and Misha Bushyager on the Gen Con Live Twitch Channel.
Bid on our eBay auctions! Search ENNIES on eBay.com.
Want to follow along tonight? Here is the order of the show!
THE ENNIE Awards are pleased to announce the hosts for the 2020 ENNIE Awards includes Misha Bushyager, Ken Hite, Robin D. Laws, Mike Pondsmith and Chris Spivey!
The awards will take place on Friday, July 31st at 8 P.M. EST and will be presented to the public live via the Gen Con Online Twitch channel or via YouTube. Details coming soon.
Misha Bushyager is a longtime gamer and designer working on making sure the next generation of geeks sees themselves represented. She’s a panelist, writer, editor, proofreader, and sensitivity editor for tabletop RPGs and larps. She’s one of the founders of New Agenda Publishing and a curator for More Seats at the Table.
She worked on Orun, #Feminism, Fate of Cthulhu, Lovecraftesque, Dead Scare, Misspent Youth:Sell Out With Me, Masks:Unbound, and the as yet unpublished larp Nightingales.
You can find her on Twitter as BGGameworks or on her website blackgirlgameworks.com.
Kenneth Hite comprises the American half of the ENnie-winning podcast Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff. He has designed, written, or co-authored more than 70 roleplaying games and supplements, including the Star Trek Roleplaying Game, GURPS Infinite Worlds, Day After Ragnarok, Trail Of Cthulhu, and Night’s Black Agents.
Outside gaming, his works include Tour de Lovecraft: the Tales, Cthulhu 101, Zombies 101, Where the Deep Ones Are, and the graphic illustrated version of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to U.S. History. He writes the “Lost in Lovecraft” column for Weird Tales magazine, and his essays and criticism have also appeared in Dragon Magazine, Games Quarterly Magazine, National Review, Amazing Stories, and in anthologies from Greenwood Press, Ben Bella Press, and MIT Press. He lives in Chicago with his wife Sheila, two cats, and many, many books.
Writer and game designer Robin D. Laws comprises the Canadian half of the ENnie-winning podcast Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff. He designed such roleplaying games as The Yellow King Roleplaying Game, Hillfolk, Feng Shui, and The Esoterrorists and is the author of nine novels.
Appearing as a Mild Mannered Game Designer, Mike Pondsmith is in reality a Time Lord from the Far Future, here to warn all of us of a reality involving Giant Robots, cyber-enhanced Boostergangers, and an Invasion of Teenagers From Outer Space. When not involved in his day job of Saving The Future of Humanity, he can also be found in the nearest gravel pit, digging up million year old dead things with waaaay too many teeth and claws. He calls this relaxation.
Chris Spivey is a veteran, writer, game designer, and developer who has a decades-old love of gaming, horror, and history, and a mission to create a more inclusive gaming world. His groundbreaking and critically acclaimed game Harlem Unbound won 3 Gold ENnie Awards and the IGDN Groundbreaker Award. Some of his other contributions can be found in Chicago By Night (Vampire: the Masquerade 5th Edition), Cthulhu Confidential, 7th Sea: Land of Fire and Gold, Geist 2nd Edition, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, Scion Second Edition, and Thousand Years of Night. He is currently the Line Developer for Onyx Path’s Masks of the Mythos and his next self-published project; Haunted West, a weird western game highlighting the forgotten and diverse voices of the Old West.
The ENnie Awards believes that Black Lives Matter. Inclusivity is important. The gaming industry is richer for it. Racial injustice and discrimination have no place in a civil society or in the hobby we love and seek to elevate.
Below are opportunities to support racial justice within the gaming industry and some educational resources to help facilitate anti-racist conversations.
Donate directly to various programs that support racial justice and equality:
National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Children
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Bail Fund Network lists a number of bail funds by state, in case you want to support locally.
Black Trans Femmes in the Arts is partnering with Black Trans Travel Fund to raise money for emergency resources to assist those protesting.
Opportunities within the gaming industry via gaming bundles:
Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality – Running until June 16th. All proceeds will be donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund split 50/50.
Black Lives Matter Support Bundle – Running until June 17th. All proceeds will be donated to Black Lives Matter and the National Bail Fund Network.
DriveThruRPG has several bundles – Running until June 22nd. They are also spotlighting black creators.
Dungeon Masters Guild has a few bundles – Running until June 22nd. They are also spotlighting black creators.
Here are additional resources that provide education to promote anti-racism:
Letters for Black Lives provides multi-lingual, culturally aware resources aimed at creating a space for open and honest conversations.
Justice in June is a Google Doc resource that provides learning resources and a plan to become a more informed, active ally.
Anti-Racism Collection provides a round-up of resources to aid in undoing racism.
How to Be An Antiracist by Ibran X. Kendi
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
