Kenzer & Company

Kenzer & Company, often known as KenzerCo, is a privately held tabletop-games and comics publisher based in Waukegan, Illinois. The company is associated with role-playing games, fantasy settings, comic publications, magazines, board games, collectible card games, and miniature games. Its best-known properties include the Kingdoms of Kalamar fantasy campaign setting, the HackMaster role-playing game, the western-themed Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier, and Knights of the Dinner Table, a periodical that combines comic storytelling with material aimed at role-playing-game enthusiasts. The company was formed in the spring of 1993 by a group of role-playing gamers led by David Kenzer. Kenzer was studying law and regularly played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons with friends including Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson. The group initially intended to publish adventures. The name Kenzer & Company began as a temporary name used for incorporation paperwork, but no alternative was agreed upon before the filing deadline, so the provisional name became permanent. Kenzer & Company’s first major publishing effort was The Kingdom of Kalamar, an adventure and setting product designed for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Although the early product was not licensed by TSR, it used a trademark disclaimer and avoided presenting itself as an official TSR publication. The company was not subjected to the legal action that had affected some other publishers of compatible game material. Kalamar subsequently became the foundation of a broader campaign setting and one of KenzerCo’s central product lines. The company expanded beyond adventure publishing during the 1990s. In 1996 it released a licensed collectible card game based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which the company describes in historical accounts as a bestseller. KenzerCo also developed a relationship with Jolly Blackburn, who had worked on the role-playing magazine Shadis. Beginning in 1997, Kenzer & Company published Blackburn’s Knights of the Dinner Table comic books and helped develop the property through a team that included Blackburn, Kenzer, Jelke, and Johansson. Knights of the Dinner Table became a defining part of the company’s identity and grew into a wider publishing line. The publisher later added role-playing, comic, literary, and game products connected to its own properties and licensed entertainment brands. Its catalog has included Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated, Spacehack, licensed Dungeons & Dragons comics, the fantasy-fiction magazine Black Gate, the Fairy Meat miniatures game, and games such as Dwarven Dig, Elemental, and The Great Space Race. KenzerCo is particularly notable for serving a specialist hobby audience rather than operating as a mass-market entertainment publisher. Kenzer & Company also became known for its relationship with Dungeons & Dragons intellectual property and licensing policy. After the introduction of the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons and the Open Game License, Wizards of the Coast and KenzerCo jointly announced a license allowing Kenzer to publish official Dungeons & Dragons material using the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting. Separately, KenzerCo acquired rights that enabled it to publish HackMaster, a satirical role-playing game based on conventions associated with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. When Wizards of the Coast introduced the more restrictive Game System License for fourth-edition Dungeons & Dragons in 2008, Kenzer & Company chose not to sign it. Instead, it issued a large PDF edition of Kingdoms of Kalamar that was compatible with the fourth-edition rules but was presented as an unlicensed, nominative-use supplement. This decision reflected the company’s willingness to publish compatible material while taking a distinct legal and strategic position on licensing. Kenzer & Company’s continuing profile rests on its combination of original game systems, licensed properties, humor-oriented gaming media, and a long-running relationship with the tabletop role-playing community.

Kenzer & Company was formed in Waukegan, Illinois, in the spring of 1993 by David Kenzer and fellow role-playing gamers including Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson. Kenzer was studying law and played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons with a regular group. The group decided to create a publishing company for adventures and initially treated Kenzer and Company as a temporary incorporation name. Because the participants never reached agreement on a replacement, the provisional name became the permanent corporate identity. The company's first project was The Kingdom of Kalamar, an adventure compatible with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. It was released without a TSR license and used a trademark disclaimer stating that the trademark holder had not sanctioned the product. Despite TSR's history of challenging some publishers of compatible gaming supplements, KenzerCo was not threatened with legal action over the publication. Kalamar later developed into a substantial fantasy campaign setting and became one of the company's signature properties. Kenzer & Company broadened its business in 1996 with a licensed collectible card game based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The product was described as a bestseller in accounts of the company's history. Around the same period, the publisher developed ties with Jolly Blackburn, who had previously worked on the magazine Shadis. After leaving Alderac Entertainment Group, Blackburn joined KenzerCo's creative orbit, and the company began publishing his Knights of the Dinner Table comic books. From issue five in February 1997, the property was credited to a development team involving Blackburn, Kenzer, Jelke, and Johansson. The comic's mixture of gaming humor and tabletop culture became central to KenzerCo's publishing identity. The company subsequently issued spin-offs and related publications, including Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated and Spacehack. Its broader catalog included licensed Dungeons & Dragons comics, the fantasy literature magazine Black Gate, the Fairy Meat miniatures game, the Fuzzy Knights web strips, and board and card games such as Dwarven Dig, Elemental, The Great Space Race, and the Monty Python title. KenzerCo's role-playing business was closely connected to changing intellectual-property and licensing practices in the hobby-game industry. With the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Wizards of the Coast introduced the Open Game License and related d20 licensing arrangements. Wizards and Kenzer & Company jointly announced a license permitting official Dungeons & Dragons material using the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting. Kenzer also obtained rights that enabled the publication of HackMaster in 2001, a satirical game drawing on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons conventions. The relationship changed when Wizards of the Coast introduced the Game System License alongside fourth-edition Dungeons & Dragons in 2008. Kenzer & Company declined to sign the new license, viewing it as substantially more restrictive than the earlier open licensing model. Rather than submit Kingdoms of Kalamar for authorization under the new terms, the company published a 501-page PDF compatible with fourth-edition rules as an unlicensed supplement. The product used the Dungeons & Dragons name in a nominative-use context, a position informed in part by David Kenzer's legal background. Kenzer & Company has remained a specialist publisher whose work spans role-playing games, campaign settings, comics, magazines, board games, card games, and miniatures. Its most enduring recognition comes from the Kingdoms of Kalamar and HackMaster game lines, the Aces & Eights western role-playing game, and the long-running Knights of the Dinner Table publication.

• 2008

  Fourth-edition-compatible Kalamar publication

  [1]Kenzer & Companyen.wikipedia.org

  After declining the fourth-edition Game System License, KenzerCo published a large Kingdoms of Kalamar PDF outside that licensing program.

• 2007

  Aces & Eights wins industry awards

  [1]Kenzer & Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier received the Origins Award for Roleplaying Game of the Year and a Silver ENnie for Best Game.

• 2001

  HackMaster is released

  [1]Kenzer & Companyen.wikipedia.org

  KenzerCo published HackMaster, a satirical role-playing game connected to the company's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons licensing history.

• 1997

  Knights of the Dinner Table publication begins

  [1]Kenzer & Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Kenzer & Company began publishing Knights of the Dinner Table from issue five, helping establish the property as a core company publication.

• 1996

  Monty Python collectible card game released

  [1]Kenzer & Companyen.wikipedia.org

  KenzerCo entered licensed collectible card-game publishing with a Monty Python and the Holy Grail product.

• 1994

  The Kingdom of Kalamar is published

  [1]Kenzer & Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The company released its first noted project, an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons-compatible adventure published without a TSR license.

• 1993

  Company founded

  [1]Kenzer & Companyen.wikipedia.org

  David Kenzer and fellow role-playing gamers established Kenzer & Company to publish adventures and other tabletop-game material.

A specialist hobby-game publisher combining role-playing systems, fantasy settings, humor-driven comics, and enthusiast-oriented tabletop games.

• Role-playing campaign setting · 1994

  Kingdoms of Kalamar

  Kenzer & Company's principal fantasy campaign setting began with an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons-compatible adventure and expanded into a broader world for role-playing campaigns. It has appeared in both licensed and unlicensed forms tied to different editions and licensing arrangements.

• Role-playing game · 2001

  HackMaster

  HackMaster is KenzerCo's satirical fantasy role-playing game, developed through rights connected to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. It uses humor and exaggeration to engage with conventions associated with traditional dungeon-crawling games.

• Role-playing game · 2007

  Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier

  Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier is a western-themed role-playing game co-authored by David Kenzer, Jolly Blackburn, Brian Jelke, Steve Johansson, Jennifer Kenzer, and Mark Plemmons. The game received major hobby-industry recognition in 2007.

• Comic and role-playing magazine · 1997

  Knights of the Dinner Table

  Knights of the Dinner Table is a monthly comic publication centered on tabletop role-playing culture. Kenzer & Company began publishing the series in 1997 and expanded the property with related publications and spin-offs.

• Collectible card game · 1996

  Monty Python and the Holy Grail

  This licensed collectible card game was released by Kenzer & Company in 1996 and marked an early expansion of the publisher beyond role-playing adventures. Historical accounts identify it as a bestseller for the company.

• Miniature game

  Fairy Meat

  Fairy Meat is a miniature-game property in KenzerCo's catalog, representing the company's activity in small-scale tabletop combat and hobby gaming beyond role-playing products.

• Board game

  Dwarven Dig

  Dwarven Dig is a board game published among Kenzer & Company's broader selection of fantasy and hobby-oriented tabletop titles.

• Board game

  Elemental

  Elemental is a KenzerCo board-game title included in the company's catalog of standalone tabletop games.

• Board game

  The Great Space Race

  The Great Space Race is a board game published by Kenzer & Company as part of its range of non-role-playing tabletop products.

• 2008

  Declining the fourth-edition Game System LicenseStrategy

  Background

  Wizards of the Coast introduced a Game System License for fourth-edition Dungeons & Dragons that was more restrictive than the earlier Open Game License framework.

  Action taken

  Kenzer & Company chose not to sign the license and instead published a 501-page Kingdoms of Kalamar PDF compatible with the fourth-edition rules as an unlicensed supplement.

  Aftermath

  The decision reinforced KenzerCo's distinctive position on compatible publishing and nominative use of the Dungeons & Dragons trademark.

  Source

1. 1Kenzer & Companyen.wikipedia.org