 Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) logo | |
| Founded | 1975; 47 years ago |
|---|---|
| Founder | Scott Bizar |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Jericho, New York |
| Fiction genres | Games |
| Official website | www |
Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) is a publishing house for tabletop and role-playing games. The company has no in-house design teams and relies on submitted material from outside talent. [1]
Founded in the summer of 1975 in Jericho, New York [2] by Scott Bizar, the company's first publications were the wargames Gladiators and Royal Armies of the Hyborean Age. Upon the appearance and popularity of Dungeons & Dragons from TSR, the company turned its attentions to role-playing games, seeking and producing systems from amateurs and freelancers, paying them 10% of the gross receipts. [3] FGU also copyrighted their games in the name of the designer so that the designer would receive any additional royalties for licensed figurines and other uses. [3] Rather than focusing on one line and supporting it with supplements, FGU produced a stream of new games. Because of the disparate authors, the rules systems were incompatible. FGU Incorporated published dozens of role-playing games.
Fantasy Games Unlimited won the All Time Best Ancient Medieval Rules for 1979 H.G. Wells Award at Origins 1980 for Chivalry & Sorcery . [4]
In 1991, Fantasy Games Unlimited Inc. was dissolved as a New York corporation. [2] Bizar continues to publish in Arizona as a sole proprietorship called Fantasy Games Unlimited.
A new FGU website appeared in July 2006 offering the company's back catalog. It said that new products would be "coming soon". New Aftermath! products appeared in 2008. By 2010, much of the company's back catalog was available. At that time, FGU sought submissions for new adventures for their existing titles, primarily Aftermath!, Space Opera, and Villains and Vigilantes. [5]
Villains and Vigilantes is a superhero-themed role-playing game which competed primarily with Champions and Superworld in the early to mid-1980s.
Space Opera is a science-fiction role-playing game created by Edward E. Simbalist, A. Mark Ratner, and Phil McGregor in 1980 for Fantasy Games Unlimited. While the system applies to the whole genre of science fiction, Space Opera has a default setting focused on creating space opera themed adventures.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 1975. For video games, see 1975 in video gaming.
Edward E. Simbalist was a role-playing game designer.
Robert N. Charrette is an American graphic artist, game designer, sculptor and author. Charrette has authored more than a dozen novels. His gaming materials have received many Origins Awards. Charrette was inducted in the Origins Hall of Fame in 2003. His work is known for a clean, realistic style that invokes themes from Feudal Japan and Chanbara films and in particular, historical and fantastic representations of Samurai culture. His early work in game design and miniature sculpting set the tone for depictions of Japanese mythology in American fantasy and science fiction. His 1979 role-playing game Bushido was one of the first role-playing games with a non-Western theme and remained in print for more than three decades. Charrette produced gaming products for Fantasy Games Unlimited, Grenadier Models Inc. and Ral Partha Enterprises, FASA and currently operates Parroom Enterprises, LLC, a boutique miniatures game company.
Swordbearer is a fantasy role-playing game. It was originally published by Heritage Games in 1982, and then republished by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1985. The game was written by B. Dennis Sustare with contributions from Arnold Hendrick. Illustrations are by Denis Loubet and David Helber. The Heritage edition cover art was by Helber; the FGU edition's cover art was by Bill Willingham.
A. Mark Ratner is an American game designer, notable for his work on Space Marines and Space Opera.
The following is a timeline of tabletop role-playing games. For computer role-playing games see here.
The Red Book is a trademark of Gamestuff Inc and an unauthorized edition of Chivalry & Sorcery (C&S) role playing game. Its name comes from the red cover of the official first edition. All successive Red Book editions took the same design. Editions of Red Book after the first are named in addition to numbered: Phoenix (2nd), Chimera (3rd), Gorgon (4th), Manticore (5th), Hydra (6th) and Minotaur (7th). Red Book preserves the cover and typeface of the first edition of C&S. C&S was originally created in 1977 by two Canadian game designers, Edward E. Simbalist and Wilf K. Backhaus, and first published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU), an American editor. The second edition was also published by FGU (1983), the third by Highlander Designs (1996), the fourth (2000) and the fifth (2020) by Britannia Game Designs, an English editor.
Wilfried Karl Backhaus was a role-playing game designer, business professor, and lawyer.
John Andrew Keith was an American author and games developer.
Year of the Phoenix is a role-playing game published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1986.
Scott B. Bizar is the founder of Fantasy Games Unlimited, a game publisher which contracts writers and artists that work primarily on role-playing games.
Jack Herman is an American game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Heritage Models was an American game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements.
Death Duel with the Destroyers is an adventure published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) in 1982 for the superhero role-playing game Villains and Vigilantes.
The Island of Doctor Apocalypse is an adventure published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) in 1982 for the superhero role-playing game Villains and Vigilantes.
FORCE is an adventure published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) in 1982 for the superhero role-playing game Villains and Vigilantes.
The Dragon Lord is a 1984 fantasy role-playing game adventure for beginning player characters published by Fantasy Games Unlimited for the Chivalry & Sorcery role-playing game.
Rapier & Dagger is a set of rules for a pencil-and-paper fencing duel or fencing using miniatures, published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) in 1978.