COMIC STRIPS ® KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE PUBLISHER Kenzer and Company 9 Perspectives EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 12 A Dime Short... Jolly R. Blackburn • [email protected] ASSISTANT EDITOR 16 Moving Barbara Blackburn • [email protected] Violations KODT DEVELOPMENT TEAM 21 The Sting Jolly R. Blackburn • Steve Johansson David S. Kenzer • Brian Jelke • Barbara Blackburn (+1) 25 Moving Bodies HACKMASTER EDITOR Steve Johansson • [email protected] Hypothetically 30 KODT STRIP ART Jolly R. Blackburn Speaking... COVER ART Fraim Brothers 32 Spectators CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Brendon Fraim • Brian Fraim One-Two Punches 63 Larry Elmore • Carolyn Stogdill Bill “Indy” Cavalier • Jolly Blackburn CONTRIBUTING WRITERS OTHER TOONS Kenneth Newquist • Tarquin Murnane • Martin Buinicki Noah Chinn • Barbara Blackburn • Jim Davenport 61 SnarfQuest™ Jolly R. Blackburn • Larry Elmore • Benjamin Lomax Larry Elmore J.L. Duncan • Alan Hume SALES/MARKETING/ADVERTISING 64 Additional Cartoons Steve Johansson • [email protected] • (847) 858-6847 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES [email protected] CHARMED PERSONS Bill “Indy” Cavalier, Carolyn Stogdill, Jolly BlackburnSample file Kevin Vance • Jack Grayson • Craig Zipse PRINTED IN U.S.A. Postmaster: Send address changes to: ABOUT Knights of the Dinner Table THE COVER 1659 N CLAREMONT AVE, CHICAGO, IL 60647 E-Mail: [email protected] • Phone: 847.858.6847 This month’s cover by World Wide Web: www.kenzerco.com the Fraim Brothers is a Submissions: We accept submissions for strip ideas, jokes, cartoons, parody of Frank etc. We are interested in running anything that other gamers and fans Frazetta’s classic would enjoy. Check out our website for writer’s guidelines. John Carter of Mars Subscriptions: A standard 12-issue monthly subscription is only piece, Dawn Attack. $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 241 issues and over 72 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® #241 3 YIPPEE KI-YAY — RIDE ‘EM COWBOY! e’re back — and we have some exciting news to If you’ve been following the ads or my posts on social media, convey. Over ten years ago, Kenzer and Company you now that not only is the Cattle Punk Chronicles: Outlaw Wreleased its alternative history old west role-playing game, Aces and Eights: Shattered Frontier. The game proved to Trail paperback available but the follow up, Cattle Punk be a big hit for the company. Not only did we sell through two Chronicles: The Four Herdsmen of the Apocalypse (featuring print runs of the leathered hard back (as well as the soft bounds) the Black Hands) is now available (both in full color pdf format but the game took the Origins Awards coveted category of “Best RPG of the Year” and traditional print format). As one of our best supported product lines, the game quickly But hold on to your hats. This spring the epic KODT trade paper- became a favorite for many gamers with copies of the out of print leathered core rule book fetching premium prices on eBay and back, Men that Hack: Tales from the Hack Files will hit both the Amazon. stands and our webstore. Over 140 pages of globe-trotting Unfortunately, because of the way the gaming industry distribu- mayhem as the Knights take on the world of espionage. tion system is set up, reprinting the core rule book once it sold out was cost prohibitive for a lower print run so new players have had And of course we have new volumes of Bundles of Trouble on to settle for the pdf version. the way, HackMaster adventures and the monthly magazine. So here’s the good news. Saddle up, partner. We’ve been quietly We’re excited about 2017 and the new product lines. After so working on a 2nd Edition of Aces and Eights for quite some time and it’s ready to saddle up once again. much hard work, it feels like the dam is about to burst. We’ve chosen to use kickstarter to fund this new edition Before turning you over to the issue in hand, a reminder that because it provides us an opportunity offer a wealth of supporting we’ll be appearing at several conventions in the coming months. material and tools for both the players and the gamemaster with out the usual restraints associated with a niche genre like the old I encourage you to seek us out. We’ll be running demos, (including west. As I write this the date for launch isn’t set in stone but this is Learn to Hacks and CharGen sessions) as well as adventures, your heads up to be on the look out for it. Be sure to follow us on seminars other events. We look forward to tossing dice with you. twitter, Facebook, Google+ or our online forums to get the latest information. Until next time, Game on! And may all your hits be crits!!! On other fronts, Hacklopedia Volume II is moving toward com- pletion. I’ve seen some sneak peeks for the dragon sectionSample as well file as some other critters the team has been keeping a lid on and it’s pretty PC-harrowing stuff. Remember, you dont’ have to wait for the printed hard bound tome to see and enjoy many of these new Jolly Blackburn monsters. You can pre-order the book now and immediately download the updated pdf and use them in your game today. January 20, 2016 But wait — there’s more. Twenty Years Ago This Month: This strip appeared in the now defunct gaming magazine, TROLL. The Knights confront a troll guarding a bridge and fail. 4 Knights of the Dinner Table® #241 Sample file NINE ROLLS LATER... alright, DOOR STOP... GAWDAMN SIMIAN LUCK!!! you think how the \ HELL are this is OVER...? you STILL standing...? \’m CASHING in NOBODY ROLLS THAT MANY CARDS next turn.. CONSECUTIVE BOX CARS¡¡ \ will DESTROY your ASS!!! hrro! hroo!! don’t SMIRK at me! Thanks, Matt. It’s worth pointing out that the Glad you enjoyed the issue, Linda. I do plan on new trade paperbacks are also designed to be stand giving the Brian as GM arc the trade paperback alone and complete stories. With 27 years and over treatment at some point, but I’d like to give the EDITOR’S NOTE: The mail just never 240 issues under our belts, we realize a lot of new western genre a break for a bit. The next TPB will be seems to stop. While we make every potential readers can be a bit lost as to where to a HackNoia edition. Look for it this spring. — Jolly jump in — especially with the ongoing episodic effort to read each and every letter, it is SPACE HACK not always possible to give a personal nature of KODT. reply. Even if your letter doesn’t happen to be Bag Wurld Saga, Java Joint and the two Big fan of Knights of the Dinner Table. I published or if you don’t get a direct response, rest Cattle Punk Chronicles make excellent books to have been reading for years. Some of my favorite assured you are being heard. jump into the fray (and they also make GREAT gifts. strips were the old Space Hack strips. Seems to Remember, KODT is an interactive hint hint.). — Jolly me it’s been a good long while since any of the magazine. We want you, the reader, to be involved. groups have played it. Seeing how you are So keep your suggestions, thoughts and opinions KODT 239 approaching the big 250th issue later this year, I’d (constructive and otherwise) coming. Opinions Good selection of strips. The big match with like to propose you do some Space Hack material. expressed by readers are not necessarily shared by Hard Eight appears to be close and the BlackHands Been enjoying the Black Hand strips in the the editor or Kenzer and Company. Please be aware have a tempSample player. file you forget how to SHAVE...? that due to space considerations, some letters have I love how Cody is playing an been edited and/or trimmed. — Jolly under cover character. The out come it’s a LOOK - what’s the big deal...? should be very entertaining. yeah — it’s a “LOOK” alright. goes CATTLE PUNK CHRONICLES: And oh my god, poor Bob.