Wilfried Karl Backhaus (7 November 1946 – 14 October 2009) was a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

designer, business professor, and lawyer.

Career

Wilf K. Backhaus and Edward E. Simbalist designed a role-playing game called ''Chevalier'', which they brought to

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 ...

IX in 1976 with hopes to sell it to TSR; after witnessing

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...

berate a staff member, Simbalist decided not to approach Gygax about the game. At the convention, they met

Scott Bizar Scott B. Bizar is the founder of Fantasy Games Unlimited, a game publisher which contracts writers and artists that work primarily on role-playing games. Career Scott Bizar, dissatisfied with TSR's ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1974) and '' Warriors ...

Fantasy Games Unlimited Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) is a publishing house for tabletop and role-playing games. The company has no in-house design teams and relies on submitted material from outside talent. History Founded in the summer of 1975 in Jericho, New York b ...

, who was interested in the game and helped to get it published over the next year as ''

Chivalry & Sorcery ''Chivalry & Sorcery'' is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 1977 by Fantasy Games Unlimited. Created by Edward E. Simbalist and Wilf K. Backhaus in 1977, ''Chivalry & Sorcery'' (''C&S'') was an early competitor to ''Dungeons & Dr ...

'', the first role-playing game from Fantasy Games Unlimited. Published in 1977, ''Chivalry & Sorcery'' (C&S) was an early competitor to ''

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

''. Backhaus and Simbalist also authored '' The Chivalry & Sorcery Sourcebook'' (1978), and ''Chivalry & Sorcery'', 2nd edition (1984). Backhaus founded the "Loyal Order of Chivalry & Sorcery" (Locs) and was a baron in the

SCA SCA may refer to: Biology and health * Sickle cell disease, also known as sickle cell anaemia * Spinocerebellar ataxia, a neurological condition * Statistical coupling analysis, a method to identify covarying pairs of amino acids in protein mult ...

. He was also a published philosopher. Most recently he moderated a panel during a conference at

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

and was a special guest at the Calgary Games Convention ( CalCon).

Death

On 14 October 2009 Backhaus died following a two-year battle with cancer.

Publications

Academic

*1996 "Hume's Touchstone and the Politics of Meaningful Discourse" Dialogue, XXXV (1996), pages 651-676. Reprinted in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 LC 157 page 223 *1994 "Shaking the Pillars: Quality and Unspoken Bioethical Values in a Pluralistic Society" Quality Culture: Quality for Turbulent Times. Camrose: J. Ross Enterprises Ltd. pages 100-105. *1994 "Hume's Fork and Analytic/Trifling Propositions" Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Volume 8, Number 2 (1994), pages 79–96. *1993 "Advantageous Falsehood: The Person Moved By Faith Strikes Back" Philosophy & Theology, Volume 7, Number 3. (Spring, 1993) ages, pages 289-310. *1992 "La teoria humeana de las propiedades no sensoriales" Cuadernos de Filosofia, (Translated by Professor M. Costa) Volume 23, Number 38 (November 1992) pages 3–18 *1992 "Hume and the Politics of Reason" Dialogue, XXXI (1992) pages 65–69. *1991 "Is Hume a Neutral Monist?" South West Philosophy Review, Volume 7, Number 2, July, 1991, pages 1–15.

Game related

*''Chevalier'', co-author, self-published (1976) - an alternate D&D *''

'' 1st edition, co-author,

(1977) *'' Chivalry & Sorcery Sourcebook'', co-author,

(1978) *'' Rapier & Dagger'', author, Fantasy Games Unlimited (1979) *'' Middle Sea'' (a strategic board game), co-designer, Fantasy Games Unlimited (1979) *'' Archaeron'', author, Archaeron Games Ltd (1980) *''

Mage Mage most commonly refers to: * Mage (paranormal) or magician, a practitioner of magic derived from supernatural or occult sources * Mage (fantasy) or magician, a type of character in mythology, folklore, and fiction *Mage, a character class in s ...

'', author, Archaeron Games Ltd, (1980) *''Warrior'', author, Archaeron Games Ltd (1981) *''Chivalry & Sorcery'' 2nd edition, co-author, Fantasy Games Unlimited (1983) *''Chivalry & Sorcery'' 3rd edition, co-author, Highlander Designs (1996) *''Chivalry & Sorcery Light'', co-author Britannia Game Designs Ltd (1999) *''Chivalry & Sorcery Red Book'', co-author, GameStuff Inc. (2000)Gamestuff Inc. company
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Backhaus, Wilf K. 1946 births 2009 deaths Board game designers Canadian game designers People from Calgary Role-playing game designers