Hogshead Publishing was a British game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements.

History

In October 1994, James Wallis founded Hogshead Publishing,[1]: 305  a company which specialised in role-playing and storytelling games.[2] Wallis based the company in the UK, and got a license from Phil Gallagher at Games Workshop to publish books for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.[1]: 305  Wallis and Andrew Rilstone changed the name of the magazine Inter*action to Interactive Fantasy due to trademark concerns beginning with its second issue, which was also Hogshead's first publication; the magazine only lasted two more issues after that.[1]: 305  Warhammer sold well, but Hogshead had problems with their distributor, and Wallis had to let go of all the company's staff.[1]: 305  By the end of 1997, cashflow had improved so Wallis moved the company to an office, and hired Matthew Pook.[1]: 306  Phil Masters contributed adventures to Hogshead Publishing's licensed version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in the mid-1990s.[1]: 305  Shadows Over Bögenhafen (1995) was the first in a series reissuing GW's well-respected The Enemy Within Campaign; Hogshead's updated Enemy Within campaign (1995-1999) was very well received.[1]: 305 

Wallis was able to publish his game The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen in 1998, the first of what would later be called the company's "New Style" RPGs.[1]: 306  John Scott Tynes designed Puppetland (1999), the next New Style game.[1]: 306  Violence (1999), by Greg Costikyan (aka Designer X), was, according to Shannon Appelcline, "probably the least well-loved of the New Style games".[1]: 306  Robin Laws designed Pantheon and Other Roleplaying Games (2000) as one of the company's "New Style" RPGs.[1]: 306  De Profundis (2001), by Michael Oracz, was the last of the New Style role-playing games published by Hogshead Publishing.[1]: 306  In 2002 Hogshead Publishing printed the second edition of Nobilis.[3]

Hogshead Publishing published Realms of Sorcery (2001), which finally updated the rushed magic system in the original Warhammer rulebook.[1]: 305  Mike Mearls wrote the last product from Hogshead Publishing, a Warhammer adventure titled Fear the Worst (2002) that Hogshead released for free on the internet.[1]: 307  On 26 November 2002, Wallis announced that he was ending Hogshead Publishing, and Mark Ricketts bought the company name in February 2003.[1]: 307  In early 2003, after Wallis closed down Hogshead Publishing, the rights to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay reverted to Games Workshop.[1]: 51  SLA Industries returned to Dave Allsop.[1]: 427  Hogshead returned the rights of the New Style games to their creators.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Appelcline, Shannon (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  2. ↑ Sugarbaker, Allan (2002). "Interviews: James Wallis". OgreCave.com. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  3. ↑ Borgstrom, R. Sean (2002). Nobilis : the game of sovereign powers. London: Nobilis. ISBN 1-899749-30-6. OCLC 85257420.
  4. ↑ Sugarbaker, Allan (2002). "Interviews: James Wallis" (http). OgreCave.com. Retrieved January 12, 2006.
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