06/11/2003 (Cleveland, Ohio): Cleveland-based publisher Key 20 Publishing, creators of the award-winning role-playing game "Little Fears," announced the release of a brand new edition of the fan-favorite role-playing game "Justifiers." JUSTIFIERS: OMEGA EDITION is slated for release in Summer 2004.

"'Justifiers' was the very first role-playing game I ever played," said Jason L Blair, Editor-in-Chief of Key 20 Publishing. "It's what started it all for me. I am very excited about the opportunity to release 'Justifiers' to a new audience. 'Justifiers' is an amazing property and it feels good knowing that it's coming back."

"When I created Justifiers (almost 15 years ago now), I had no idea that it would inspire the loyalty and community amongst its players that it has," said Clifford VanMeter, creator, principle illustrator and publisher of the original Justifiers. "I couldn't be happier that Justifiers is going to be made available to a whole new generation of gamers-and Jason and his team are the absolute best people to do that."

JUSTIFIERS: OMEGA EDITION will be the flagship product for Key 20's "Sphere Engine," their new action-oriented, customizable game system.

"The 'Sphere Engine' has been in development for a while," Blair said. "Originally, we were going to release our project '2ND' as the first 'Sphere Engine' product. But the game system just fit 'Justifiers' too well not to let it shine first. It's a perfect marriage."

"I've always felt if Justifiers was lacking in any aspect, it was the game mechanics-which were deliberately created to be 'loose,'" continued VanMeter. "This is a weakness completely lacking in the new edition. With its conversion to the 'Sphere Engine,' Key 20 has made the game both more complete, and more approachable."

These days an award-winning illustrator, VanMeter has created an all-new fully-painted cover for the Key 20 edition. "It's the first fully painted piece I've done in several years-and probably one of my best."

JUSTIFIERS: OMEGA EDITION will be released at the 2004 Origins Game Expo in Columbus, Ohio. For more information, please visit http://www.key20.com/justifiers.

"Justifiers" is © 2000 Clifford VanMeter, under license to Key 20 Publishing, LLC. "Little Fears" is © 2001 Jason L Blair. All rights reserved. "Sphere Engine" is a trademark of Key 20 Publishing, LLC.

We've put a little teaser up at http://www.key20.com for our Summer 2004 release, JUSTIFIERS: OMEGA EDITION.

Expect bits of JUSTIFIERS: OMEGA EDITION to leak out every month until release. Each will reveal a little bit more about the game.

I'm really looking forward to learning more about this game. I have one question and two comments...

Comment: I'm vaugely happy this isn't a D20 product, but I can't defend the feeling.

Comment: The book sounds really big,unlike the original.

Question: Where can I find out more about the Sphere system?

I will be releasing information about the Sphere Engine but not until the end of the year. There's still some playtesting to do and I want to release a fully-usable PDF of the Sphere Engine for free so people can check it out and decide if they like it.

Yes, the book will be big and chock full of Justifiers' goodness.

Could you tell us anything? Anything at all? Is it a dice pool? Roll under? Roll over target? What kinds of dice? Anything at all?