The RPG Consortium
Mark Plemmons of Kenzer & Company
Written by Rebecca Donovan-Tifft
No gamer worth their salt can pass up reading a strip of 'Knights of the Dinner Table,' a fixation that no doubt pleases the people at Kenzer & Company. We were lucky enough to speak to an insider at the company, Mark Plemmons, who kindly took us on a wild ride through Kenzer and its products.
First off, we had to know whom we were talking to: Mark is the Comic Book Manager of Kenzer & Company. At 27, Mark holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina. He is a gamer of about three years playing such games as: D&D, Cyberpunk, Rifts, Alternity, and Vampire. After trying his hand at Gming Deadlands for an evening, his players insisted on more, so he ran games for almost two years.
He also talked to us a little about his favorite role playing games. "Well, in general, my top favorite of all time would have to be Deadlands: the Weird West. The whole "alternate history / western / horror / steampunk" flavor really appeals to me. Funny thing is, I never even liked Westerns until I started looking at the Deadlands books. And then there's the timeline that ties into the futuristic Hell On Earth and the upcoming Lost Colony setting. I love being able to play a western, or post-apocalyptic, or sci-fi game all in the same universe."
"My favorite fantasy game would be D&D 3rd edition. I started out on 2nd, and thought it was okay, but I think the revised three new core books really make the game something special. I can't wait until our Kingdoms of Kalamar setting comes out, because then I can play the world's best fantasy setting with the best fantasy rules (and that's not my employee side talking - that's a FAN!)"
His favorite character, though is a necromancer name Vrillam. "I took him all the way to 8th level, until my Dungeon Master decided to transport the entire party to Ravenloft. Word of advice - don't run a necromancer character in Ravenloft. And if a voice in your head asks you if you want ultimate power, don't say 'yes.' *laughs*"
"So when he got turned into a lich, my DM said I could keep playing him until the end of the night. Of course, that lasted about ten minutes until a fellow party member blew up the furnace on the magically-powered ship that Vrillam was on. The running joke among my former group was that, even a year later, you could still see Vrillam hurtling through the air, screaming."
Though his work is pressing, Mark enjoys comics, role-playing games, reading, writing, hanging out with my friends, and partying. His comic interests includes all of the KenzerCo line (obviously) and extends to: Authority, Blue Monday, Desperadoes, Hellblazer, JSA, Midnight Nation, Planetary, Queen & Country, Rising Stars, Starman, and several others. Mark refrains, however, from picking a favorite hero or villain, though he says that 'Shade' from Starman would probably qualify.
Considering that work that takes up so much of his time, we asked Mark just what his responsibilities are. "Well, our bimonthly comic book titles include: Dungeons and Dragons: In the Shadow of Dragons, Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated, HackMasters of EverKnight, and Travelers (affectionately known as D&D, KILL, HoE, and Trav, respectively). While our flagship periodical, the Knights of the Dinner Table, is comic-sized, it's technically a magazine and so doesn't fall into my responsibilities," Mark says.
He goes on to talk about each of the comic products:
The Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine is a celebration of gaming, and gamers. The comic-sized magazine contains hilarious strips about a group of gamers known as the Knights of the Dinner Table (B.A, Bob, Dave, Sara, and Brian), and their gaming friends (and enemies). It also contains reviews, gaming ideas, fan art, an open opinion reader forum, and much more.
Dungeons and Dragons: In the Shadow of Dragons is our first full-color comic, and focuses on a band of heroes trying to save their lands from destruction by three vicious and powerful dragons.
Fans of the current Dungeons and Dragons comic can also look forward to a new mini-series beginning December 2000. This 4-issue monthly series will be our first mini-series from well-known professionals in the comic book field. The series will be written by Sean Smith (JLA: Black Baptism), illustrated by Mike Lilly (Nightwing), inked by Bob Wiacek (a DC/Marvel veteran), and colored by Mickey Clausen (of Acclaim and Image fame).
Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated is based on strips from the main Knights book, but with a twist. The stories are now about the game characters themselves, not the players. You can now read the stories from a whole new perspective.
HackMasters of EverKnight is a wild and crazy parody of a band of unruly adventurers, set in Garweeze World, the same world that the Knights play their games in. Every issue is filled with more humor and pop culture references than you can shake a stick at.
Travelers is another great fantasy humor book about a band of adventurers, but much more serious than HoE, and without all of the modern pop culture parodies.
"Now, as for what I do," he continues, "in a nutshell, I make sure that the comics get published on time. In general, when work comes in, either from an artist or a writer, it comes to me. I note any changes that I think need to be made, then pass the work along to other editors or the art director, to make sure that I didn't miss anything. The work is then sent back to the freelancer with comments and requested changes, if necessary. The changes are made, and the freelancer proceeds to work on a revised version. Once we've approved the revised version, the freelancer can proceed to the final stage."
"There are some exceptions to this, though. One is Tony DiGerolamo's 'Travelers.' Because this is a creator-owned comic, my only real responsibility is to check over it for errors, either in print or art.
Fortunately for me, Tony is so professional that I don't really need to do anything. The second exception to the rule is KILL. Because the book is based on strips from KoDT, it's written and edited in-house before going out to the artists. And finally, the third exception is the D&D comic. As well as being approved by us, all of the story and art must also be approved by Wizards of the Coast. So, that's an extra step in that process."
We were even able to get some tidbits of news. . .
"The current series of the Dungeons & Dragons comic, In the Shadow of Dragons, will be an 8-issue mini-series."
"We'd love to do comics set in the other D&D worlds - especially our Kingdoms of Kalamar world. . .At present, though, we'll be focusing on Greyhawk."
"I'll let you in on a little secret here. . . beginning with issue seven, I'll be taking over the writing responsibilities on KILL. Now, readers can expect a huge amount of new material in every issue, as the plots are rewritten and woven together into one long and cohesive storyline."
Kenzer & Company was formed in 1993 to produce and sell great games and gaming related products. As gamers, the founders of the company were unhappy with the quality of products being releases at the time. We knew we could do better. So we took it into our own hands to form a company and set the foundation for what would become a long commitment to the hobby game market and the quest for quality games.
The company's first product, The Kingdoms of Kalamar fantasy campaign setting debuted at ORIGINS 1994. Currently, the company employs 13 people and works with numerous freelance writers and artists.
Kenzer & Company has lots of new projects you should know about. Our Kingdoms of Kalamar line of adventures, sourcebooks and supplements is an officially licensed D&D product that includes the D&D logo on product covers with all elements of design reviewed and approved by Wizards of the Coast.
We will be releasing the long-awaited HackMaster RPG this year. Based on the RPG described in the Knights of the Dinner Table (KODT) magazine, HackMaster will be a fun, over-the-top game. It is also a fully playable RPG based on 1st and second Edition AD&D (under license). Millions of players already know the basics.
Our world of the Fairy Meat miniatures game will continue to expand with the release of Clockwork Stomp, a book about Gnomes and their penchant for killing fairies and Sugar and Vice, an expansion about the fashionable Moon Fairies and their rock-n-roll lifestyle.
We'll be expanding our miniatures line with new figures for the Fairy Meat game, more characters from the KODT universe and eventually HackMaster monsters and characters.
KenzerCo is also accepting submissions. "In particular, we need artists for our Kingdoms of Kalamar supplements and modules. Artists should have a love of fantasy, and be familiar with the art in the D&D 3rd edition core books and modules. As this is an official license, these illustrations must meet both KenzerCo and WotC 3e approval standards. The art will be included in the Image Quest section of the modules. (The Image Quest Adventure Illustrator is designed for use by the GameMaster during play. The GM will display the appropriate graphic to the players as they reach each encounter. The adventure text prompts the GM as to the precise time that each picture should be displayed.) The artist should illustrate the image as if it were seen through the players' eyes. Any interested artists should contact Mark Plemmons mark@kenzerco.com or Bob Burke bob@kenzerco.com."
"Any writers or artists interested in working on a D&D comic should also contact me, with professional-looking plotlines, scripts, or art. As with the Kalamar books, the story and art must meet both KenzerCo and WotC 3e approval standards. Former comic experience is a definite plus."
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