BLACK BLADE TO PUBLISH ROB KUNTZ'S LAKE GENEVA CASTLE & CAMPAIGNâ„¢ PRODUCT LINE

Press Release

08 OCTOBER 2010
WICHITA, KANSAS

Black Blade Publishing is proud to announce an agreement with Robert J. Kuntz to publish his Lake Geneva Castle & Campaignâ„¢ (LGCC) dungeon levels. Jon Hershberger, President of Black Blade, said, "It is a privilege to publish these Lake Geneva Castle and Campaignâ„¢ dungeon levels in partnership with Rob Kuntz. Their historical value dating back to the origins of the RPG hobby is significant. Rob's distinctive adventure modules are very creative and serve as both challenging settings for veteran gamers and as inspiration for future game designers."

The agreement includes the publication and distribution of:

   * Six original Lake Geneva Castle dungeon levels, including The Machine Level, The Boreal Level, and four additional levels that feature such famous and infamous encounters as the Giants Pool Hall, the prototypical set-piece encounter for The Garden of the Plantmaster, and connections to several other planes of existence for off-world adventuring. Each dungeon level will be published upon completion by Mr. Kuntz, beginning this winter with The Machine Level, which will be 32 to 36 pages in length.

   * .PDF editions of Kuntz's out-of-print adventure modules CAS1 Cairn of the Skeleton King and CAS2 Tower of Blood, with additional titles to follow as their print runs sell through (including RJK1 Bottle City).

   * The .pdf edition of the adventure module Ice Grave (originally published in Troll Magazine #1 in 1997), the proceeds from which Kuntz will use as a special fund to be awarded on a recurring basis to excellent up-and-coming RPG game designers.

Future publications will release the full scope of Kuntz's massive original manuscript collection that spans the history of the development of the first fantasy role-playing game, as played in the Lake Geneva campaigns. These publications will primarily be issued in .pdf format, with select titles also targeted for in-print releases.

Robert J. Kuntz said, "Black Blade was my first choice as a publishing partner due to their commitment to producing high-quality, printed books. I can trust them to reproduce my manuscripts with the respect, fidelity and attention to detail that reflects their historical value and context." Allan Grohe, co-founder, project manager and editor for Black Blade, will manage the Lake Geneva Castle & Campaignâ„¢ product line. Grohe said, "Rob Kuntz's designs stand out across the history of RPG publishing for their originality in design and challenge to player skill. It's a pleasure to continue my long-standing publishing relationship with Rob under the auspices of Black Blade."

About Robert J. Kuntz

One of the founding fathers of the RPG industry, Robert J. Kuntz helped to design, playtest, and expand the original Dungeons & Dragons game with Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson from 1972 to 1975. Mr. Kuntz co-authored Greyhawk: Supplement I, created Kalibruhn—the third RPG campaign setting, and one of the first RPG worlds created from the top down—and co-DM'd the famous Greyhawk campaign with Gary Gygax for many years. He also co-wrote the classic Gods, Demigods & Heroes with Jim Ward, which was later revised and expanded as Deities & Demigods in 1980. His game designs have been published through 12 companies world wide, including TSR, Paizo Publishing and Hobby Japan. His articles, interviews and fiction have appeared in 10 magazines, including Dragon and Dungeon.

Mr. Kuntz founded Creations Unlimited in 1986 to publish the "Maze of Zayene" series and Garden of the Plantmaster. Mr. Kuntz has republished and updated his classic Creations Unlimited adventures, and has also designed several board games, including King of the Table Top, Magus, and Kings & Things (which won the Charles Roberts Award for Best Fantasy/Science Fiction Game of 1986; and re-released 2010 through Z-Man Games). Mr. Kuntz was honored with the 2005 Gold ENnie Award for his design of the super-adventure "Maure Castle" (published in Dungeon Magazine's 30th Anniversary Celebration issue #112 by Paizo Publishing). In 2006 he founded Pied Piper Publishing which has to date printed 10 titles, including his recently released novella, "Black Festival". His creative interests extend to writing novels, short stories, screenplays, non-fiction essays and his personal memoirs about the founding of the RPG industry.

Neat.

Great news!  Any chance we'll ever see this?

http://lordofthegreendragons.blogspot.c ... a-key.html

Something like this might be fun.  



I can wish can't I?  Regardless of anything else, I'll be at the front of the line for the LGCC Dungeon Levels.  

Congrats I will be in line for that for sure.

I hope we can order directly from Black Blade and bypass Noble Knight (which supposeldy has an exclusive to sell Rob's stuff)

Well, I'm in for printed copies and PDFs of anything that you put up for sale.

lokiwookie wrote:I definitely hope they will be published in printed version

Our plans for the LGCC castle levels are indeed for them to be published in print first. At some point down the road, probably after the print copies have sold out, we'll make the pdf versions available through Black Blade.

mbassoc2003 wrote:Well, I'm in for printed copies and PDFs of anything that you put up for sale.

Thank you, mbassoc2003, and everyone else, for the support!  

FormCritic wrote:Hopefully, we'll see hard copies of most everything in this line.  PDF files are cool and useful additions to a real, printed work.

In my opinion, a product that only exists as a PDF does not really exist at all.

Yes, I couldn't agree more. I much prefer the printed versions of game books and adventures to the digital versions, tho I use digital versioins for printing working copies, player handouts, and extra map pages.

Blackmoor wrote:Congrats I will be in line for that for sure.

I hope we can order directly from Black Blade and bypass Noble Knight (which supposeldy has an exclusive to sell Rob's stuff)

Yes, that is our plan, Jeff: the LGCC dungeon levels will be available directly through Black Blade.  These releases may be available through Noble Knight Games and Troll & Toad; we honestly haven't crossed those bridges yet.

grodog wrote:Black Blade Publishing is proud to announce an agreement with Robert J. Kuntz to publish his Lake Geneva Castle & Campaignâ„¢ (LGCC) dungeon levels. Jon Hershberger, President of Black Blade, said, "It is a privilege to publish these Lake Geneva Castle and Campaignâ„¢ dungeon levels in partnership with Rob Kuntz. Their historical value dating back to the origins of the RPG hobby is significant. Rob's distinctive adventure modules are very creative and serve as both challenging settings for veteran gamers and as inspiration for future game designers."
.

Is it tailored toward OD&D and/or 1E?

MetamorphosisSigma wrote:How is this possible in light of the announcement of the exclusive NKG/PPP deal less than a year ago?

Pied Piper isn't the publisher, Black Blade is.  Aaron's been a regular customer for us, so I imagine that he'll also be carrying the books.

Keith the Thief wrote:Is it tailored toward OD&D and/or 1E?

Stats will be aimed at 1e.

ashmire13 wrote:I'd agree on the .pdf vs hardcopy option, but I'd only be on the .pdf buying right now, due to initial costs and shipping.
Ultimately, I'd like to buy HC when I could

funds tight here, and i havent bought much in a while, but i would sort something to get this - one of the few items i would like to acquire for sure.

good work guys !

keep us posted on developments.

Al

ps. oh yes and i won't buy through NK or T&T, so if they are the only avenues of purchasing, i won't be getting it....so an alternative avenue would be most appreciated.....specially one i can properly trust.