David Kenzer
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 was a lawyer who started the game company Kenzer & Company with his friends Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson, and their first project was The Kingdom of Kalamar (1994), a fantasy setting without a game system.[1]: 309 Kenzer understood trademark law, and had "suitable for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons printed 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 Kenzer began a casual relationship with Alderac Entertainment Group after releasing The Kingdom of Kalamar, as that young company was then publishing Shadis magazine with Jolly Blackburn as editor.[1]: 309 Kenzer and his staff wanted Blackburn to join Kenzer & Company after he left AEG in 1995, and David Kenzer and others visited him in November 1996 during a local convention, during which Blackburn became convinced that Kenzer had the business sense and integrity he wanted in a partner.[1]: 309 Kenzer & Company began publishing the Knights of the Dinner Table comic books by Blackburn, and beginning with issue #5 (February 1997) it became the work of the "KoDT Development Team" made up 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 Kenzer was not willing to sign the Game System License that Wizards offered when they released 4th edition D&D in 2008, and he instead published a 501-page PDF for Kingdoms of Kalamar (2008) and did not reach out to Wizards for authorization.[1]: 312