COMIC STRIPS ® KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE

12 Grinding Sausage PUBLISHER Kenzer and Company 14 Eat, Drink and Shop EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jolly R. Blackburn • [email protected] 18 Spree Strategy ASSISTANT EDITOR 24 Quick Huddle Barbara Blackburn • [email protected] KODT DEVELOPMENT TEAM Swag Tsunami 25 Jolly R. Blackburn • Steve Johansson 27 Overload David S. Kenzer • Brian Jelke • Barbara Blackburn (+1) HACKMASTER EDITOR Steve Johansson • [email protected] 28 An Intervention KODT STRIP ART Jolly R. Blackburn 30 The Good Stuff COVER ART Bonnie Svitavsky 31 Did You Hear Something? CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Brendon Fraim • Brian Fraim 33 Fair Game Larry Elmore • Paul Shiner Bill “Indy” Cavalier • Jolly Blackburn 63 One-Two Punches Cheesepawz • Carolyn Stogdill CONTRIBUTING WRITERS OTHER TOONS Kenneth Newquist • Noah Chinn • Jim Davenport Barbara Blackburn • Jeremy Meister 61 SnarfQuest™ Jolly R. Blackburn • Larry Elmore Larry Elmore J.L. Duncan • Alan Hume • Andy Miller 64 Additional Cartoons SALES/MARKETING/ADVERTISING Steve Johansson • [email protected] • 847-858-6847 Bill “Indy” Cavalier, Paul Shiner, Jolly Blackburn, Cheesepawz, Carolyn SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES [email protected] Stogdill CHARMED PERSONS Sample file Kevin Vance • Jack Grayson • Craig Zipse

PRINTED IN U.S.A. ABOUT Postmaster: Send address changes to: THE COVER Knights of the Dinner Table This colorful cover was a 1659 N CLAREMONT AVE, CHICAGO, IL 60647 finalist in our KODT Cover E-Mail: [email protected] • Phone: 847.662.6600 Contest a few years ago World Wide Web: www.kenzerco.com by Bonnie Svitavsky. Submissions: We accept submissions for strip ideas, jokes, cartoons, etc. We are interested in running anything that other gamers and fans Somehow it got lost and would enjoy. Check out our website for writer’s guidelines. then found again. We’re Subscriptions: A standard 12-issue monthly subscription is only glad it showed up. $77.99 (or $65.99 for slower bulk mail shipping). [US $92.99 for Canada or US $117.99 for other foreign locations.] 6- and 24-issue subscriptions are also available. To subscribe, order by credit card at our online store at HTTP://WWW.KENZERCO.COM or send a check or money order (made payable to Kenzer and Company) to: NIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE™ was accidentally created by Jolly R. Blackburn Kway back in 1990 as ‘filler’ for his small press magazine, . It was Kenzer & Company KODT Subscriptions, something of a ‘creative burp’ and Jolly really didn’t give it much thought. 1659 N Claremont Ave, Chicago, IL 60647 Perhaps that’s why he was just as surprised as anyone that soon KODT was overshadowing everything else he’d ever done and that the created was now Back Issues: Older issues and other KODT merchandise are avail- able for direct purchase on our website at HTTP://WWW.KENZERCO.COM controlling the creator. The Knights have gone far beyond anything Jolly or the D-Team (, Brian Jelke, Steve Johansson and Barbara Blackburn) ever imagined. In 2006, Jolly was ATTENTION RETAILERS: If you are having difficulty getting our inducted into the Hall of Fame. Now, with over 244 issues and over 74 trade paper backs under product (including back issues and RPGs) please call or e-mail us. their belts, it’s been a wild ride and we look forward to seeing where the Knights take us next.

Knights of the Dinner Table® #244 3 SUMMER TIME FUN... elcome to another issue of But also — I just recently added two more Knights of the Dinner Table. It’s guest appearances for 2017 that might not be W usually three or four weeks from on your radar. the time I pen this page until the issue hits the street so there’s a good chance many of the Let’s Play Events in Appleton, WI was kind things, I share here have already transpired or enough to invite me to come up and hangout is old news. with attendees. That one is June 30 to July 2. Be that as it may, as I write this our Aces and For more information you go here; Eights: Reloaded kickstarter is in full swing. http://tinyurl.com/kmvbaq7 We were delighted when it achieved funding in less than six hours. Many thanks to every- I’ll also be returning to Con on the Cob for one reading this who backed the project. And my third guest appearance (will they NEVER if you didn’t? Even if you missed the kick- learn?). This fun gathering is November 9 to starter you should still be able to take advan- 12 in Ohio and you can get more information tage of some of the product offers. Check here; http://cononthecob.com www.kenzerco.com for details. Well, summer is quickly approaching and If you’re at any of the events above be sure with it our busiest time of the year. A chance to come look us up, say hi and armwrestle us. for us to mingle with fans of our product, toss And with that, I’ll turn you over to the issue dice and celebrate gaming. in hand. I hope you enjoy it. We’ll be at the big two of course (GenCon and Origins) but also several smallerSample cons. Game file on, folks! Nexus in Milwaukee (which will be over by the time your read this most likely), Gamehole in .Jolly Blackburn November — which is growing by leaps and bounds. April 19, 2017

Twenty Years Ago This Month: A rescued princess is expected to pull her weight in the party on the trip back to her father.— from KODT# 7. May 1997 4 Knights of the Dinner Table® #244 that’s a SHAME, son. it REALLY is. the ALARM TRAP blows off BOTH your hands at the WRISTS — leaving you with two useless and splintered STUBS. geezus...

damn — what good is a that’s “alarm THIEF with NO hands..? WICKED. trap”...? j

forget THAT hoss. \ can render don’t worry, b.a. a MERCY KILLIN’ — jess STOVE \ have MASTER yer HEAD in for the E-PEES. FIRST AID...

\ can cauterize those stubs.

He’s not as bad as Tim Kask (The TPK’ster) Yes, that’s what I would have said twelve but he had us on our heels from the start. years ago. I was ignorant. Years ago my Like B.A. we bumbled and over looked nephew, who is one helluva kid, made some mistakes. EDITOR’S NOTE: The mail just some small detail that Gary must have had never seems to stop. While we penciled in and highlighted as being of He took up with a bad crowd, a poor make every effort to read each and utmost importance. choice for a girlfriend and screwed up. He every letter, it is not always possible I got carried down the corridor after that was all of 19 and some friends convinced to give a personal reply. Even if your letter encounter in a cloth sack only to be used him they could make a some quick cash if doesn’t happen to bepublished or if you don’t later as bait, to lure a troll our of hiding. they bought some drugs and flipped it. get a direct response, rest assured you are Great fun. He was caught and busted. Those ‘friends’ being heard. Looking forward to the next issue, sir. of his...? They testified against him and he Remember, KODT is an interactive took the brunt of the blame because it was . magazine. We want you, the reader, to be Tom Lynn his car and he was driving. He deserved to do involved. So keep your suggestions, thoughts some time. While incarcerated his mother and opinions (constructive and otherwise) GAMERS BEHIND BARS (my sister) died tragically. It nearly coming. Opinions expressed by readers are ReallySample enjoyed issue 243. fileCan’t wait to see destroyed him. not necessarily shared by the editor or Kenzer how Gary’s game of HackMaster turns out. To his credit he took courses while in lock and Company. Please be aware that due to B.A., sigh. The guy just can’t gt a break. up and learned a vocation. He got some reli- space considerations, some letters have been I’m actually writing because of the very gion too. Not the “I’m going to impress the edited and/or trimmed. — Jolly interesting guest editorial by the gentleman parole board” kind but the real soul search- who is incarcerated and advocating gaming ing and transfiguring kind. The kid turned KODT 242 in the penitentiary system. around his way of thinking and owned what he did and set out to make the same Just wanted to share my thoughts on the Good lord, I belly laughed at this issue. mistakes again. I will never tire of watching these characters matter. Please bear with me. One of his mentors in prison was a kindly sit the table and roll dice. Twelve years ago I would have told this middle aged man who wrote some bad guy, TOUGH. You did the crime and now you Gary Jackson running HackMaster for the checks. He introduced Jeff to gaming and are doing the time. This isn’t summer camp Gold Ticket group was a lot of fun. Reminds got some much needed distraction from all kiddo so pull up your big boy pants. me of a game, Gary Gygax ran for my the bad choices behind bars one can be buddies and myself years ago at PentaCon.. You don’t deserve Wii time or Xbox. Nor exposed to. Drugs, black marketing, that I’m not going to call him a killer GM but do you deserve lay about time watching TV, sort of thing. And trust me, you don’t go unforgiving...? Yes. listening to tunes and playing games. looking for such things in the pen.

HOW TO CONTACT US ^: Via ONLINE FORUM — Just pop over to www.kenzerco.com and visit our discussion forums 7: via E-MAIL — Send your strip ideas, reader mail, back room fodder and questions to [email protected] . via SNAIL MAIL — Or write to us at KODT c/o KenzerCo, 309 S Dilger Ave, Waukegan, IL 60085 z: via TWITTER — jollybgood FB: via Facebook — Jolly Blackburn

Knights of the Dinner Table® #244 5 his was the ninth year for Gary Con and KenzerCo was there as Tusual — running demos of HackMaster and Aces & Eights: Reloaded, rolling dice with our fellow nerds and rubbing elbows. This year was bigger and better than ever with attendance over 1,700k. With it being the second year at the new venue (the former Lake Geneva Playboy Club) this was the best organized Gary Con to date. We highly recommend this con. If you have any desire to make GaryCon X you should start making plans now. Hope to see you there. — Jolly

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A COMPLETE STAND ALONE STORY¡¡ They come looking for you. gamers as a contributor to Stardate then The kid, (I still call him kid even though StarDrive magazines but soon was making he’s nearly 30 now) got a job when he got his own mark in the industry. out. More importantly he found a gaming Richard was best known for The Morrow group. A group of people who accept him for Project (with Kevin Dockery), a science who he is even though they know his past. fiction/military RPG where characters were He gets a lot of support and camaraderie buried in frozen bunkers to rebuild mankind from those boys and girls. Those old after a nuclear holocaust. friends...? They’re not around any more. One In the Cold War era, the game caught on is in the state pen. The girlfriend? She was on quickly and still today has a cult following. the lam for awhile, did some time and The combat damage system is still one of the moved elsewhere. most realistic one's ever created to simulate My point to all this is we’re human. We someone being shot. The Empty Chair make mistakes. Something my nephew Richard went on to design such stupidly did at 19 shouldn’t ruin his life. underground hits as Bureau 13: Stalking Eulogy for a Gamer Had he not had the opportunity to game the Night Fantastic, about a secret while incarcerated who knows how he government agency that investigated the There is an empty chair, would have come out? He spent hours with paranormal. His promotion campaign at the table this day. intelligent, creative people that mentally included giving out Bureau 13 FBI badges stimulated him and gave him some positivity at GenCon which resulted in a 1994 FBI raid A hallowed place where, he could build on. on the Tri Tac offices. a friend once played. I’ll close this by adding that I’m an Ex-con Richard always treated that raid as a stripe The roll of his dice, myself. I made a mistake too. Difference of honor as a game designer. At the time it my ears long to hear. between me and my nephew? My pen time was big news and for a day or two, Tri Tac was harsh and the system believed in was big news. Or perhaps it would suffice, punishment as opposed to reform. I came if he should suddenly appear. out hardened and educated in all the wrong ways. The result was more bad choices and With character sheet in hand, more prison time. and a bag of I’m not blaming the system mind you. Cheeze-doodles to share. I had the control. But I really wish when All his friends would stand, I was 22 and those doors first closed behind me thatSample I had had something file positive to look as he sat in the empty chair. forward to kill the time. I spent my time I hear his voice a-callin’, snaking pills, getting jail house tats and and it ties my heart in a knot. making bad friends. So easy to judge and just say, “Let them suffer!” For he cries, Thanks for running that piece. I hope the “Though a comrade has fallen, writer finds peace and happiness when it FTL 2448 was a complex space opera RPG You must play for those who cannot.” eventually gets out. system of his designs as well, one of the first Name Withheld by Request. ^ We conquered worlds on the run, produced in the industry. One of his biggest he and I in the name of fun. hits was Fringeworthy about a series of giant EMPTY CHAIR: circular gates that opened pathways to other And as others may come and go, RICHARD TUCHOLKA worlds. I make both friend and foe. Richard would later claim that the X Files But what I long for most, Contemporary gamers probably don't ripped off his Bureau 13 concept and that know the name Richard Tucholka, but those is our past now long a ghost. Stargate stole his concepts from who graduated from the Old School knew Fringeworthy. While it was easy to scoff at him well. those claims, when you go to his games, Richard lived in Michigan and was a there are more similarities than differences Adam Keller pioneer in the RPG industry during its early with these franchises. He was that far out in Stephen L. Lortz years - and never lost that connection with terms of vision. Rich Tucholka his Tri Tac Games. He first emerged with April 2017 Knights of the Dinner Table® #244 9 Richard's games harkened back to the FAREWELL TO days when game companies started in base- ments or garages. His products were often A GAME MASTER bound with old-school plastic bindings and Richard Tucholka was my friend. He was filled with artwork that was sometimes one of my best and oldest friends. I met him drawn by him as well. when I was 16. I bought the first edition of Physically they were the kind of products I was destined to a lifetime of fandom, Fringeworthy (still one of my all-time that were typed on an IBM Selectric (that's a sci-fi, gaming and assorted geekery. But typewriter for you kids), photocopied and favorite RPGs) and talked to him at the more important, I learned from him to be thrown together in small batches when booth. enough orders came in. Yet when they came myself. That if I want to get all interested Soon after that he was running a game at out, they were considered bleeding edge and excited over something that everybody a local gaming center and I started playing. products in terms of game mechanics. Say else finds boring, that was okay. what you will about their physical quality, One night they decided to quit early because Richard did the same thing. He showed Richard was often breaking ground in genres he had his telescope set up and they were that were virgin territory in the 80's. me that it’s important to keep a sense of going to look at Saturn. Richard never gave into commercialism wonder in all things. When I started to lean As they left, Richard looks and say “Hey! and Tri Tac in recent years was a fading towards studying art in school and college, memory for many gamers. You want to come?” and so I did. Soon I was he encouraged me. When I would write He still sold CD's of his past games scanned gaming at his house, helping with his booths something or create something, he always to PDF format. Secretly we all hoped in this and even helping with ideas for his games. era of Kickstarters rekindling and refreshing did me the favor of honest criticism. To an awkward gaming kid in high school, it old designs and systems that Tri Tac's I realized recently that if I had never met was nerd paradise. products would leap into the 21st century. him, I may not have ever met most of the When you stopped by his booth at a But it was more than that. I was not the people I have as friends today. That includes convention, Richard would talk your ears off only one. Richard had a way of finding about his games, the history of the industry, YOU, Jolly. people like me and making us feel special anything you wanted. Richard taught me how to be a game- and like we belonged. His voice, stories, and memories will be master. Not just the rules, but how to go missed but his contribution to the early years He took me to my first science-fiction with the flow when your players throw you a of the RPG industry will not be forgotten. convention (Capricon 5 in Chicago). He Salute! curve. How you wing it when you have a introduced me to his friend, Phil Foglio… situation not covered by rules, and when to Blane Lee Pardoe 7 Sample file yes…THAT Phil Foglio) and that was it. just “let the dice fall where they may.” We

Richard Tucholka: February 9, 1954 – April 27, 2017 Creator of: The Morrow Project, Fringeworthy, FTL:2448, Bureau 13, Cloisters, Rogue 417, Monster Squash, and many, many more.

10 Knights of the Dinner Table® #244