David Kenzer | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Game designer |
David S. Kenzer is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Career
David Kenzer started the game company Kenzer & Company with friends Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson, and their initial project was The Kingdom of Kalamar (1994), a systemless fantasy setting.[1]: 309 Kenzer was a lawyer who knew how trademark law worked, and had "suitable for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons on the back cover, and included the disclaimer text "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is a registered trademark of TSR Hobbies, Inc. Use of this trademark is NOT sanctioned by the holder."[1]: 309 Following the publication of The Kingdom of Kalamar, Kenzer had formed a casual relationship with AEG, who was then putting out Shadis magazine, edited by Jolly Blackburn.[1]: 309 When Blackburn left AEG, Kenzer and the staff of Kenzer & Company wanted to get Blackburn to join their company, and the turning point came in November 1996 when David Kenzer and others were visiting Blackburn over the course of a local con, during which Blackburn became convinced that Kenzer had the sort of business sense and integrity that he was looking for in a partner.[1]: 309 Kenzer & Company began publishing Blackburn's Knights of the Dinner Table comic books, and starting with issue #5 (February 1997) it was not just the work of one person but instead of the "KoDT Development Team" which consisted of Blackburn, Kenzer, Jelke and Johansson.[1]: 310 Kenzer acquired the license to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons from Wizards of the Coast that allowed the company to release HackMaster (2001) as a satire of AD&D.[1]: 311 When Wizards released 4th edition D&D in 2008, Kenzer was unwilling to sign the Game System License that Wizards was offering, and he thus published a 501-page PDF of Kingdoms of Kalamar (2008) without authorization from Wizards.[1]: 312