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HackMaster
HackMaster is a fantasy role-playing game produced by Kenzer & Company. It began as a fictional game, a parody of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' played by the characters of the ''Knights of the Dinner Table'' comic strip by Jolly R. Blackburn. The characters in the comic began playing fictional ''HackMaster 3rd Edition'', which was updated and published in 2001 as a numerously revised 4th edition. It has been hinted the name of the game was originally changed for copyright reasons. The current 5th edition has removed most of the parody aspects, and contains game mechanics written from scratch in order to avoid any intellectual property problems. Publication history Kenzer & Company received many requests from fans of the comic to produce an actual ''HackMaster'' game, but initially they thought that licensing ''Dungeons & Dragons'' would be impossible. In 1999 the ''Dragon Magazine Archive'' software was published where Wizards of the Coast failed to get permission to reprint many ...
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Knights Of The Dinner Table
''Knights of the Dinner Table'' (''KoDT'') is a comic book/strip created by Jolly R. Blackburn and published by Kenzer & Company. It primarily focuses on a group of role playing gamers and their actions at the gaming table, which often result in unfortunate, but humorous consequences in the game. The name is a parody of King Arthur's Round Table reinforced by the truism that roleplaying aficionados often end up sitting round their host's dinner table as it is the only one large enough to accommodate the party (4 to 8 people typically). The comic The panels are written by Blackburn, and given that he had no formal art training, the characters are drawn in simple caricatures which are scanned onto a computer and are continuously reused. Many of the stories presented in ''KoDT'' are based on actual in-game experiences of the developers or readers, who are encouraged to submit story ideas. Part of the comic's popularity stems from the reader's ability to relate to the characters and ...
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Kingdoms Of Kalamar
The Kingdoms of Kalamar is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting created by Kenzer and Company, originally released in 1994. In 2000, shortly after Wizards of the Coast announced the 3rd edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', Wizards and Kenzer jointly announced that Kenzer had acquired a rights to produce the Kalamar setting as a ''Dungeons & Dragons'' official licensed product. The setting has a loyal following and has received praise for its consistency and realism. Kenzer and Company has also made the Kingdoms of Kalamar the official setting of its own role-playing fantasy game, ''HackMaster''. History 1990s The original ''The Kingdoms of Kalamar'' material was clearly intended for use with ''Dungeons & Dragons'', while carefully avoiding any direct trademark or copyright infringement. The setting appeared in two books, "''Kingdoms of Kalamar, Vol 1: Sourcebook of the Sovereign Lands''", and "''Vol 2: Mythos of the Divine and Worldly''", both in 1994. While distribu ...
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Kenzer & Company
Kenzer & Company (KenzerCo) is a Waukegan, Illinois based publisher of comic books, role-playing games, board games, card games, and miniature games. They are known for the '' Kingdoms of Kalamar'' campaign setting and for their own '' HackMaster'' and '' Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier'' role-playing games (RPGs). Perhaps their best known product is the ''Knights of the Dinner Table'' (''KoDT'') magazine, which is a monthly publication that is part comic book and part RPG magazine. KenzerCo's line of comics now includes spinoffs such as ''Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated'' and ''Spacehack'', licensed comics in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' line, and the fantasy literature magazine ''Black Gate''. Other products include the ''Fairy Meat'' miniatures game, the ''Fuzzy Knights'' web strips, the '' Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' card game and board games such as ''Dwarven Dig'', ''Elemental'', and ''The Great Space Race''. Notable employees * Barbara Blackburn - Assistan ...
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David Kenzer
David S. Kenzer is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career David Kenzer started the game company Kenzer & Company with friends Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson, and their initial project was '' The Kingdom of Kalamar'' (1994), a systemless fantasy setting. Kenzer was a lawyer who knew how trademark law worked, and had "suitable for use with ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' on the back cover, and included the disclaimer text "''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' is a registered trademark of TSR Hobbies, Inc. Use of this trademark is NOT sanctioned by the holder." Following the publication of ''The Kingdom of Kalamar'', Kenzer had formed a casual relationship with AEG, who was then putting out ''Shadis'' magazine, edited by Jolly Blackburn. When Blackburn left AEG, Kenzer and the staff of Kenzer & Company wanted to get Blackburn to join their company, and the turning point came in November 1996 when David Kenzer and others were visiting Blackburn over th ...
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Fictional Games
Fictional games are games which were specifically created for works of fiction, or which otherwise originated in fiction. Many fictional games have been translated into real games by fans or ludophiles by creating pieces and rules to fit the descriptions given in the source work. For example, unofficial versions of Fizzbin can be found in reality, and Mornington Crescent is widely played in online forums. Billiards games * Dom-Jot - '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', a game similar to bumper pool played on an irregularly-shaped table Board games * Azad - a tactical game featured in the novel ''The Player of Games'' by Iain M. Banks *Cyvasse - a strategy game in George R.R. Martin's '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' series, which appears to be a combination of ''Chess'' and '' Battleship'' * Dejarik or Holochess - a variant of chess played in the '' Star Wars'' setting *Gatlopp - a drinking game from the film '' Gatlopp: Hell of a Game'' *Gungi - a strategy game in the Hunter à ...
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List Of Fictional Games
Fictional games are games which were specifically created for works of fiction, or which otherwise originated in fiction. Many fictional games have been translated into real games by fans or ludophiles by creating pieces and rules to fit the descriptions given in the source work. For example, unofficial versions of Fizzbin can be found in reality, and Mornington Crescent is widely played in online forums. Billiards games * Dom-Jot - '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', a game similar to bumper pool played on an irregularly-shaped table Board games * Azad - a tactical game featured in the novel '' The Player of Games'' by Iain M. Banks *Cyvasse - a strategy game in George R.R. Martin's ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series, which appears to be a combination of ''Chess'' and ''Battleship'' * Dejarik or Holochess - a variant of chess played in the ''Star Wars'' setting *Gatlopp - a drinking game from the film '' Gatlopp: Hell of a Game'' *Gungi - a strategy game in the Hunter × Hun ...
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Jolly Blackburn
Jolly Randall Blackburn is best known as the creator of the comic strip ''Knights of the Dinner Table''. Biography Jolly Blackburn went to Ball State University. Jolly Blackburn majored in anthropology, history, and classical cultures in college. Blackburn later joined the Army, and launched both the gaming magazine ''Shadis'' and his company Alderac Entertainment Group (named after his ''AD&D'' campaign world) while still in the Army. The original ''Shadis'' was a black-and-white digest featured gaming articles largely written by Blackburn, and each issue featured several pieces of fiction collectively called the "Alderac Anthonology" which detailed Blackburn's world of Alderac (one of Alderac's moons was Shadis, from which the magazine borrowed its name). He conceived of having a comic strip that became ''Knights of the Dinner Table'' (''KoDT'') in 1990 as part of ''Shadis'': "I had been a great fan of J.D. Webster's '' Finieous Fingers'' from the early '' Dragon Magazine'', ...
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Steve Jackson (American Game Designer)
Steve Jackson (born c. 1953) is an American game designer whose creations include the role-playing game ''GURPS'' and the card game ''Munchkin''. Education Steve Jackson is a 1974 graduate of Rice University, where he was a resident of Baker College before moving to Sid Richardson College when it opened in 1971. Jackson briefly attended the UT Law School, but left to pursue a career in game design. Career 1970s: Metagaming Concepts While working at Metagaming Concepts, Jackson developed ''Monsters! Monsters!'' (''ca.'' 1976) based on a design by Ken St. Andre related to his ''Tunnels & Trolls'' role-playing game, and ''Godsfire'' (1976), a 3D space conquest game designed by Lynn Willis. Jackson's first design for the company was ''Ogre'' (1977), followed by '' G.E.V.'' (1978), which were set in the same futuristic universe that Jackson created. Jackson became interested in ''Dungeons & Dragons'', but found the various-sized dice irritating and the combat rules confusing an ...
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Origins Award Winners
Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' comic book series * Origins (''Judge Dredd'' story), a major ''Judge Dredd'' storyline running from 2006 through 2007 * ''Origin'' (manga), a 2016 manga by Boichi * '' Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin'', a 2002 manga by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko * '' Wolverine: Origins'', a Marvel Comics series Films and television * ''Origin'' (TV series), 2018 science-fiction TV series * "Origin" (''Angel''), a fifth-season episode of ''Angel'' * '' Origin: Spirits of the Past'', a 2006 anime movie also known as ''Gin-iro no Kami no Agito'' * Origin (''Stargate''), the religion of the Ori * "Origin" (''Stargate SG-1''), a ninth-season episode of ''Stargate SG-1'' * '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'', a 2009 superhero film, prequel to the ''X-Men'' film tr ...
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Fantasy Role-playing Games
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century, it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animations and video games. Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the respective absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these genres overlap. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient myths and legends to many recent and popular works. Traits Most fantasy uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Magic, magic practitioners ...
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Comedy Role-playing Games
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing '' agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses wh ...
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Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the creation of '' Dungeons & Dragons'', SJ Games created several role-playing and strategy games with science fiction themes. SJ Games' early titles were microgames initially sold in 4×7 inch ziploc bags, and later in the similarly sized Pocket Box. Games such as '' Ogre'', ''Car Wars'', and ''G.E.V'' (an ''Ogre'' spin-off) were popular during SJ Games' early years. Game designers such as Loren Wiseman and Jonathan Leistiko have worked for Steve Jackson Games. Today SJ Games publishes a variety of games, such as card games, board games, strategy games, and in different genres, such as fantasy, sci-fi, and gothic horror. They also published the book '' Principia Discordia'', the sacred text of the Discordian religion. Raid by th ...
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