Robert J Kuntz Updated Bio and Future RT Interview
Oct 2, 2015 21:54:10 GMT -5
waysoftheearth and mormonyoyoman like this
Post by robkuntz on Oct 2, 2015 21:54:10 GMT -5
Due to a need to finally "get right" all of the "information and history" that makes up my Wikipedia article (expand, amend, subtract, clarify, dispel, debunk) I have started crafting a new one from the horse's mouth. I would like to state for the record that there is MUCH misinformation strewn about the 'net in such articles, and in actual published matter; and NOT ONLY about myself. I am afraid that I cannot even begin listing it all--assumptions about Don Kaye, Arneson, etc, and history that never happened, or is so skewed or time-misplaced, or has relations to it that never occurred.. and the list goes on and on and is dizzying. In sum, the history of TSR and its people who worked for it, especially those who were employed 1974-1978 in particular, is a mess, incomplete and riddled with errors from just about every source that I have studied over the years.
There is probably no way that one could right all of this information and set it straight, as many of the people who should have been asked such questions are no longer with us. It seems that "historians" have waited until their passing to start these many updates and works wherein much that comprises such after-matter is spoon fed, repeated stories that have no ability to be refuted or supported and thus must stand in for "fact."
Many true historians who are within my sphere have pressed me for the honest to goodness facts about what I know. I have literally spent hundreds of hours on the phone, in front of cameras (60 hours for 3 documentaries, all of which are still in hiatus or lost); and in answering thousands of emails and forum posts. I have conducted many interviews while attempting to steer the interview process away from such matter as "cogent" as "What color horse did Robilar prefer?" and onto more expansive horizons suitable for my many years in design and the history that has attended it.
A future huge round table interview of me is being organized to be published (it will take a year upon my arrival in France and has been planned for some time before now) and is being conducted by 6 people (publishers/historians/designers, et al). During that process I will also entertain outside questions from this board when the interview begins, or at some mid point in it. Nothing is certain about the time, but the process is set--we have a working structure and people behind it. It should be massive, IMO.
In front of that I am posting the first part of my bio (below). By itself it may paint a picture and inspire ideas or questions, however shy that it is for any depth as of yet. This is no attempt at an auto-biography, but only a clarification and update for now to root design/commercial history to a firm base--brought about by dual needs, both factual and historical; and which in many cases can inspire topical starting points for the interview questions themselves. I do not have more to add at this point for we are awaiting me settling in France; and that my wife, Nathalie, will be intimately involved in the organizing of it with me and the publisher who is championing the project to print. I will say that an expose of this sort is well past being needed, just for a recent fact alone that Dave Arneson goes virtually ignored in this industry, noth-with-standing the many fine attempts by those here or elsewhere to set right such matter, of which I am its greatest adherent in that regard, have no doubt about that. And yet there's more than Dave's history wrapped up in this... and that is what I am on about for the future. Thanks!
Robert J. Kuntz Biography
Board Game, Miniature Rules, RPG Playtesting:
Chainmail, play-tester
D&D Rules, primary play-tester (Original 1972-1974 play-test team)
Boot Hill, play-tester
Dunkirk board game, play-tester
Little Big Horn board game, play-tester
Alexander the Great board game, play-tester
Metamorphosis Alpha, play-tester
Dungeon! board game, play-tester
Divine Right board game, play-tester
Tractics, play-tester
Ancient Warfare, play-tester
Snits Revenge board game, play-tester
Awful Green Things from Outer Space board game, play-tester
Temple of Elemental Evil, play-tester
Tricolor, play-tester
Game Design/Development/Editing:
RPG (Rules)
Greyhawk, Supplement 1 to D&D, co-author
Blackmoor, Supplement 2 to D&D, developer/copy-editor
Gods Demigods & Heroes, Supplement 4 to D&D, co-author
Swords and Spells, developer credit
Empire of the Petal Throne, copy-editor
Monster Manual, editorial assistance w/ Mike Carr final proofs
Dungeon Masters Guide, non-credited contributor (as per major contributions updated from Greyhawk: Supplement #1 to Classic D&D)
Deities and Demigods, co-author
Board Games
Magus board game, designer
King of the Tabletop board game, co-designer
Lankhmar board game, co-design/development
Kings & Things board game (won 1986 Charles Roberts award), co-designer
RPG (Adventures/Resources)
Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, author
Temple of Tharizdun, significant contributor credit
Maze of Zayene series. author:
Prisoners of the Maze, Part 1, MoZ series
Dimensions of Flight, Part 2, MoZ series
Tower Chaos, author, Part 3, MoZ series
The Eight Kings, Part 4, MoZ series
Garden of the Plantmaster, author
Fate of Istus, co-author
The Stalk, author
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, co-design by major contributions
Daemonic & Arcane, author
El Raja Key’s Arcane Treasury, co-author
Cairn of the Skeleton King, author
Tower of Blood, co-author
The Living Room, author
Ice Grave, author
Premium Original Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game (2013), co-authorship
HackMaster:
Sir Robilar's City of Brass (2003), co-author
RPGA:
Journey to the City of Brass, author (Dragon Con 1 tournament adventure; final round adjudicated by Kuntz & Gygax)
Maure Castle series:
The Statuary (July 2004; Dungeon Magazine #112), author
Chambers of Antiquities (July 2005; Dungeon Magazine #124), author
The Greater Halls (Oct 2006; Dungeon Magazine #139), author
Castles & Crusades:
Castle Zagyg:
Dark Chateau (2005), author
Convention RPG Adventures:
The Sunken City, author
The Mad House (convention workshop dungeon), lead designer
Dungeon of Death, author
Fiction (authored):
Journey to the City of the Gods short story (with commentary by David L. Arneson)
Quest for the Vermillion Volume short story
Black Festival novella
Game Design Workshops, Seminars. Panel Discussions (by Convention, 1987-present):
GENCON; DRAGON CON; NORTH TEXAS RPG CON; GARY CON; LUCCA COMICS & GAMES
Award Nominations (3)
Kings & Things board game (won)
Sir Robilar’s City of Brass (lost)
Maure Castle, Dungeon Magazine #112 (won)
Publishers (1975-current):
TSR Hobbies
Paizo Publishing
West End Games
Different Worlds
Hobby Japan
Pegasus Spiel
Z-Man Games
Kenzer & Company
Necromancer Games
Pied Piper Publishing
Creations Unlimited
Troll Lord Games
Black Blade Publishing
Chaotic Henchmen Productions
Mondiversi Publishing
Wizards of the Coast
Magazine Contributions (1973-current, by periodical):
Dungeon Magazine
Dragon Magazine
Strategic Review
Campaign Magazine
AFS Magazine
Fight On!
Wargames
The General
Troll Magazine
Crusader Magazine
Gaming Frontiers
Oerth Journal
Isola Illyon
Conventions Chaired:
GENCON 8 & 9, Chairman
Winter Fantasy 1, Chairman
Game Industry/Hobby Distinctions/Notable Achievements: IFW member; LGTSA President; “King” Castle & Crusades Society; Editor, The Domesday Book; lead play-tester Dungeons & Dragons; TSR founding era employee; 3rd longest-standing Fantasy RPG world (World of Kalibruhn, designed top>down); first fiction published by TSR (Quest for the Vermillion Volume); TSR's content editor for Judges Guild licensed D&D products; President Creations Unlimited and Pied Piper Publishing; Charles Roberts Award winner; Golden Ennie Award winner; conceptualized, forwarded and instituted the first designer-received award for RPG design excellence in the industry (the Three Castles Award).
There is probably no way that one could right all of this information and set it straight, as many of the people who should have been asked such questions are no longer with us. It seems that "historians" have waited until their passing to start these many updates and works wherein much that comprises such after-matter is spoon fed, repeated stories that have no ability to be refuted or supported and thus must stand in for "fact."
Many true historians who are within my sphere have pressed me for the honest to goodness facts about what I know. I have literally spent hundreds of hours on the phone, in front of cameras (60 hours for 3 documentaries, all of which are still in hiatus or lost); and in answering thousands of emails and forum posts. I have conducted many interviews while attempting to steer the interview process away from such matter as "cogent" as "What color horse did Robilar prefer?" and onto more expansive horizons suitable for my many years in design and the history that has attended it.
A future huge round table interview of me is being organized to be published (it will take a year upon my arrival in France and has been planned for some time before now) and is being conducted by 6 people (publishers/historians/designers, et al). During that process I will also entertain outside questions from this board when the interview begins, or at some mid point in it. Nothing is certain about the time, but the process is set--we have a working structure and people behind it. It should be massive, IMO.
In front of that I am posting the first part of my bio (below). By itself it may paint a picture and inspire ideas or questions, however shy that it is for any depth as of yet. This is no attempt at an auto-biography, but only a clarification and update for now to root design/commercial history to a firm base--brought about by dual needs, both factual and historical; and which in many cases can inspire topical starting points for the interview questions themselves. I do not have more to add at this point for we are awaiting me settling in France; and that my wife, Nathalie, will be intimately involved in the organizing of it with me and the publisher who is championing the project to print. I will say that an expose of this sort is well past being needed, just for a recent fact alone that Dave Arneson goes virtually ignored in this industry, noth-with-standing the many fine attempts by those here or elsewhere to set right such matter, of which I am its greatest adherent in that regard, have no doubt about that. And yet there's more than Dave's history wrapped up in this... and that is what I am on about for the future. Thanks!
Robert J. Kuntz Biography
Board Game, Miniature Rules, RPG Playtesting:
Chainmail, play-tester
D&D Rules, primary play-tester (Original 1972-1974 play-test team)
Boot Hill, play-tester
Dunkirk board game, play-tester
Little Big Horn board game, play-tester
Alexander the Great board game, play-tester
Metamorphosis Alpha, play-tester
Dungeon! board game, play-tester
Divine Right board game, play-tester
Tractics, play-tester
Ancient Warfare, play-tester
Snits Revenge board game, play-tester
Awful Green Things from Outer Space board game, play-tester
Temple of Elemental Evil, play-tester
Tricolor, play-tester
Game Design/Development/Editing:
RPG (Rules)
Greyhawk, Supplement 1 to D&D, co-author
Blackmoor, Supplement 2 to D&D, developer/copy-editor
Gods Demigods & Heroes, Supplement 4 to D&D, co-author
Swords and Spells, developer credit
Empire of the Petal Throne, copy-editor
Monster Manual, editorial assistance w/ Mike Carr final proofs
Dungeon Masters Guide, non-credited contributor (as per major contributions updated from Greyhawk: Supplement #1 to Classic D&D)
Deities and Demigods, co-author
Board Games
Magus board game, designer
King of the Tabletop board game, co-designer
Lankhmar board game, co-design/development
Kings & Things board game (won 1986 Charles Roberts award), co-designer
RPG (Adventures/Resources)
Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, author
Temple of Tharizdun, significant contributor credit
Maze of Zayene series. author:
Prisoners of the Maze, Part 1, MoZ series
Dimensions of Flight, Part 2, MoZ series
Tower Chaos, author, Part 3, MoZ series
The Eight Kings, Part 4, MoZ series
Garden of the Plantmaster, author
Fate of Istus, co-author
The Stalk, author
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, co-design by major contributions
Daemonic & Arcane, author
El Raja Key’s Arcane Treasury, co-author
Cairn of the Skeleton King, author
Tower of Blood, co-author
The Living Room, author
Ice Grave, author
Premium Original Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game (2013), co-authorship
HackMaster:
Sir Robilar's City of Brass (2003), co-author
RPGA:
Journey to the City of Brass, author (Dragon Con 1 tournament adventure; final round adjudicated by Kuntz & Gygax)
Maure Castle series:
The Statuary (July 2004; Dungeon Magazine #112), author
Chambers of Antiquities (July 2005; Dungeon Magazine #124), author
The Greater Halls (Oct 2006; Dungeon Magazine #139), author
Castles & Crusades:
Castle Zagyg:
Dark Chateau (2005), author
Convention RPG Adventures:
The Sunken City, author
The Mad House (convention workshop dungeon), lead designer
Dungeon of Death, author
Fiction (authored):
Journey to the City of the Gods short story (with commentary by David L. Arneson)
Quest for the Vermillion Volume short story
Black Festival novella
Game Design Workshops, Seminars. Panel Discussions (by Convention, 1987-present):
GENCON; DRAGON CON; NORTH TEXAS RPG CON; GARY CON; LUCCA COMICS & GAMES
Award Nominations (3)
Kings & Things board game (won)
Sir Robilar’s City of Brass (lost)
Maure Castle, Dungeon Magazine #112 (won)
Publishers (1975-current):
TSR Hobbies
Paizo Publishing
West End Games
Different Worlds
Hobby Japan
Pegasus Spiel
Z-Man Games
Kenzer & Company
Necromancer Games
Pied Piper Publishing
Creations Unlimited
Troll Lord Games
Black Blade Publishing
Chaotic Henchmen Productions
Mondiversi Publishing
Wizards of the Coast
Magazine Contributions (1973-current, by periodical):
Dungeon Magazine
Dragon Magazine
Strategic Review
Campaign Magazine
AFS Magazine
Fight On!
Wargames
The General
Troll Magazine
Crusader Magazine
Gaming Frontiers
Oerth Journal
Isola Illyon
Conventions Chaired:
GENCON 8 & 9, Chairman
Winter Fantasy 1, Chairman
Game Industry/Hobby Distinctions/Notable Achievements: IFW member; LGTSA President; “King” Castle & Crusades Society; Editor, The Domesday Book; lead play-tester Dungeons & Dragons; TSR founding era employee; 3rd longest-standing Fantasy RPG world (World of Kalibruhn, designed top>down); first fiction published by TSR (Quest for the Vermillion Volume); TSR's content editor for Judges Guild licensed D&D products; President Creations Unlimited and Pied Piper Publishing; Charles Roberts Award winner; Golden Ennie Award winner; conceptualized, forwarded and instituted the first designer-received award for RPG design excellence in the industry (the Three Castles Award).