COMIC STRIPS ® KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE PUBLISHER Kenzer and Company 10 Not Playin’ Around EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 14 Full Disclosure Jolly R. Blackburn • [email protected] ASSISTANT EDITOR 21 After Report Barbara Blackburn • [email protected] 23 Feed the Worm KODT DEVELOPMENT TEAM Jolly R. Blackburn • Steve Johansson 26 Awkward David S. Kenzer • Brian Jelke • Barbara Blackburn (+1) 29 Birthright HACKMASTER EDITOR Steve Johansson • [email protected] 63 One-Two Punches KODT STRIP ART Jolly R. Blackburn COVER ART Luke Ahearn CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Brendon Fraim • Brian Fraim Larry Elmore • Carolyn Stogdill Bill “Indy” Cavalier • Ken Harrison • Cheesepaws OTHER TOONS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 61 SnarfQuest™ Kenneth Newquist • Scott R. Krol Larry Elmore Noah Chinn • Barbara Blackburn • Benjamin Lomax Jolly R. Blackburn • Larry Elmore • 64 Additional Cartoons J.L. Duncan • Alan Hume SALES/MARKETING/ADVERTISING Bill “Indy” Cavalier, Carolyn Stogdill, Steve Johansson • [email protected] • 847-858-6847 Cheesepaws, Ken Harrison SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES [email protected] CHARMED PERSONS Sample file Kevin Vance • Jack Grayson • Craig Zipse PRINTED IN U.S.A. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Knights of the Dinner Table ABOUT 1659 N CLAREMONT AVE, CHICAGO, IL 60647 THE COVER E-Mail: [email protected] • Phone: 847.662.6600 World Wide Web: www.kenzerco.com Luke Ahearn turned Submissions: We accept submissions for strip ideas, jokes, cartoons, in this Star Wars: etc. We are interested in running anything that other gamers and fans Rogue One parody. would enjoy. Check out our website for writer’s guidelines. Subscriptions: A standard 12-issue monthly subscription is only $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, Shadis. 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 (David Kenzer, 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 239 issues and over 71 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® #239 3 LET ME PUT MY PIMPIN’ CAP ON... tend to talk about KODT, the characters and stories within when turning my attention to this page. I like to do the editori- Ial last. The stress is largely gone from chasin’ the deadline rab- bit. And there’s the warm glow of satisfaction of having wrestled another issue into its cage. This issue however — I want to blantantly pimp a cool line of new products that have been popping up on our webstore (www.kenzerco.com). For as long as I’ve been role-playing, one thing I’ve always been on the search for are good casualty/death minis. As both a GM and a Player, I find it satisfying putting dead bodies out on the table as the PC’s (or the Monsters) cut a swath of death and mayhem across the battle mat. In addition to Casualty Counters we also have a new product for helping the GM to simulate faceless crowds as well as indvidu- als in the distance or shadows who haven’t been fully identified by players. These are stand up silhouettes (currently 25 unique figures) on bases. I used these in a game recently and they were very effective in giving players a sense of being on a crowded street. If a particular ‘faceless figure’ attracts attention and a player indicates he/she is taking a closer look...? The GM replaces the the silhouette with an I found quite a few over the years, but they were relatively actual mini. pricey, didn’t always fit the theme of the game we were playing Again, it’s the sort of thing you have to see in play to fully and well — hard to gather in sufficent quantities toSample cover the appreciate. file amount of carnage often seen at our table. I wanted to devote some time on this page this issue to point Simply tipping over minis as characters/monsters isn’t particu- out these new products. If you are interested in learning more, hop larly good for the their paint jobs, but also they present obstacles on over to our webstore where we have full color photos and that other minis can’t stand or move through easily. I don’t want to other information. overstate the problem like they do in those infomercials, but I think it’s been a hassle for many of us for a long time. Okay, pimp hat is off. Especially in games like HackMaster where opponents can fight I hope you enjoy the issue in hand. And as always — may all on top of dead bodies during melee (suffering negative modifiers your hits be crits. to attack/defense and movment). A little awkward standing a mini on that bugbear mini that was just flipped over. We’ve used coins, markers and other items as death markers Jolly Blackburn over the years. And those work — but don’t make much of an impression visually. Enter Kenzerco’s Casualty Counters. November 20, 2016 These flat plastic, handpainted pieces come in a varitety of sizes (small, medium, large, etc). Inspired by murder scene chalk line drawings they are abstract silohuettes of wounded, dead and dying individuals. One side is splattered with red ‘blood’. The other side is blank. During play, the GM places the casualty counter blank side up — indicating that the actual status of that character is unknown. Once checked, coup-de-graced or searched for loot — the GM flips it over bloodied side up to indicate known status. Being flat, with a low profile allows other minis to easily stand on ‘the bodies’. They also have the advantage of being relatively cheap and store easily in a bag. 4 Knights of the Dinner Table® #239 OH NICE TRY — bob’s roll STANDS. oh - but the FINE PRINT does the LAST seat for the clearly states, it...? GOLDEN TICKET is his. “must be played z z “BEFORE THE DICE are rolled.” my bad. oh no — SORRY. just HAND it back it’s been down then. PLAYED... RIP¡¡ NO LONGER VALID. Pete and Stevil seem to be more allies of posed to be in the Guess game and not under- convenience and Gordo... standing why people were laughing at him. Gordo seems to like all of them but I don't get Oh my God, I’ll never be able to look at him the feeling that Newt and Stevil like him at all. again without laughing and thinking, “me-me- me-me...” Right up there with Patty’s “Mommy, EDITOR’S NOTE: The mail just never Patty's commanding moment on page 21 was a Mommy, I wet myself....” ringtone. seems to stop. While we make every lot of fun. effort to read each and every letter, it is Sky Tower 7 Keep up the good work. not always possible to give a personal Janis J. 7 reply. Even if your letter doesn’t happen to be published or if you don’t get a direct response, rest ISSUE 237 assured you are being heard. I got my issue today, and I really enjoyed the Remember, KODT is an interactive stories. (The Walking Dead cover coincided nice- magazine. We want you, the reader, to be involved. ly with the show's latest season premiere.) Who So keep your suggestions, thoughts and opinions knew that Bob would have some real-life thieves’ (constructive and otherwise) coming. Opinions skills? expressed by readers are not necessarily shared by I was surprised that Sara was the one who'd be the editor or Kenzer and Company. Please be aware Sample file watching Brian's back as his "social bodyguard" to that due to space considerations, some letters have SEPERATED AT BIRTH...? get him to rejoin the world of gaming. In the past, been edited and/or trimmed. — Jolly Issue 237 had me laughing myself silly. So it's almost always been the "Untouchable Trio" of many great moments. Good to see the Black Bob, Dave, and Brian working together, with 237 Hands tossing dice. Sara's objections being overruled or completely ignored. Just got mine today and I loved the editorial on The match is approaching. The Golden Ticket friendship. I have to wonder though where some- trip is looming. Goodness it’s been a great arc — Then again, Sara is the member of the Knights one like Newt falls? Or Stevil for that matter. stretching all the way back to the Pwn Brian the most aware of the real world, so it makes sense she'd be the one best equipped to warn While the Knights do really like each other, I've Express.