Fred Hicks

Last updated
Fred Hicks
Nationality American
Occupation Game designer

Fred Hicks is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He was one of the founders of Evil Hat Productions. [1]

Contents

Career

1999-2010

Fred Hicks discovered the Fudge role-playing game system through the internet and used it for his games based on The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. [2] : 421  Hicks had also been running LARPs at AmberCon NorthWest with his friends Lydia Leong, Rob Donoghue, and others starting in 1999, and they came up with the name Evil Hat for themselves. [2] : 421  Hicks and Donoghue developed a new game based on a conversation on a trip to Lake Tahoe about running an Amber game after fixing some issues with Fudge; the result was Fate which Hicks and Donoghue published under the name Evil Hat. [2] : 421  Donoghue and Hicks published a full first-edition of Fate in January 2003 through Yahoo! Groups, and then polished the technical writing and game system for a more comprehensive second edition published in August 2003. [2] : 421 

Hicks and Donoghue began work on the licensed The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game in 2004, but publication was delayed because Hicks decided to use Spirit of the Century to introduce the Fate 3.0 system instead. [2] : 423  Hicks worked on the indie role-playing game Don't Rest Your Head (2006) as a side-project while working on these other games, which became the first published game from Evil Hat. [2] : 423 

Hicks and Donoghue joined with Chris Hanrahan and Justin D. Jacobson to form the company One Bad Egg in 2008 to publish PDFs for Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition. [2] : 425  Brennan Taylor of Indie Press Revolution hired Hicks as a part-time member of the staff; Ron Edwards felt that this move made IPR less friendly to small press publishers it was intended to serve, so Edwards left IPR. [2] : 410  Hicks provided layout work on Starblazer Adventures (2008) for Cubicle 7, as well as much editorial work. [2] : 426, 428  Hicks also did layouts for the sixth edition of Hero System (2009). [2] : 154  Hicks announced in September 2009 that One Bad Egg was closing down. [2] : 425 

The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game was finally released in 2010. [2] : 425  Hicks identified the science-fiction game Diaspora (2009) from VSCA Publishing as one of his favorites, and then reprinted the game through Evil Hat in 2010 with wider distribution. [2] : 426 

2010-Present

In 2024, Hicks began development on a Tomb Raider tabletop role-playing game for Evil Hat. In an interview with Charlie Hall for Polygon, Hicks compared the game to Evil Hat's previous licensed products:

We have this really curious thing at Evil Hat where generally anything licensed that we’ve done [...] the licensors have sought us out [...] This was true with The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game that was the inception of the company in the first place. Crystal Dynamics emailed us one day, and [...] when an opportunity like that comes knocking you take it seriously. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Generic role-playing game system</span> Role-playing game system designed to be independent of setting and genre

A generic or universalrole-playing game system is a role-playing game system designed to be independent of campaign setting and genre. Its rules should, in theory, work the same way for any setting, world, environment or genre.

Open gaming is a movement within the tabletop role-playing game (RPG) industry with superficial similarities to the open source software movement. The key aspect is that copyright holders license their works under public copyright licenses that permit others to make copies or create derivative works of the game.

<i>Fate</i> (role-playing game system) Tabletop role-playing game system

Fate is a generic role-playing game system based on the Fudge gaming system. It has no fixed setting, traits, or genre and is customizable. It is designed to offer minimal obstruction to role-playing by assuming players want to make fewer dice rolls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">System Reference Document</span> Set or subset of role-playing mechanics available under an open license

In the open gaming movement, a System Reference Document (SRD) is a reference for a role-playing game's mechanics licensed under a public copyright license to allow other publishers to make material compatible with that game. In 2000, Wizards of the Coast pioneered this by releasing a SRD for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition under their Open Game License (OGL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Butcher</span> American fantasy author (born 1971)

Jim Butcher is an American author. He has written the contemporary fantasy The Dresden Files, Codex Alera, and Cinder Spires book series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spirit of the Century</span> Tabletop role-playing game in the pulp genre

Spirit of the Century is a pulp role-playing game published by Evil Hat Productions, and based on Evil Hat's FATE system. It is billed as a 'pick-up' game that can be played quickly, with little preparation.

Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. They are best known for the free indie RPG system Fate, Blades in the Dark, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians, all of which have won multiple awards.

<i>The Dresden Files</i> Roleplaying Game Tabletop role-playing game

The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game is a licensed role-playing game based on The Dresden Files and using the Fate system. It was released in late 2010 in two hardcover volumes: Your Story with the rules information and Our World with setting information, and won numerous awards at all of the Origins Awards, the ENnies, and the Golden Geek Awards.

The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, Storm Front—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books.

Monster of the Week (MOTW) is an urban fantasy-horror tabletop role-playing game developed by Michael Sands. It was first published in 2012, and a revised edition was published by Evil Hat Productions in 2015, who have since published the game and its supplemental materials. The game was inspired by villain of the week television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, and The X-Files.

Justin D. Jacobson is an attorney and professional game designer.

Rob Donoghue is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Together with Fred Hicks he created the Fate system and has been designer or lead designer of numerous award-winning role playing games. He was a lead designer of the role-playing games Spirit of the Century and a designer of The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game, and has also worked closely with Cam Banks on the Cortex Plus games, a lead designer for Leverage: The Roleplaying Game, and as a designer for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. He has also contributed to Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition publications.

<i>Leverage: The Roleplaying Game</i>

Leverage: The Roleplaying Game is a tabletop role-playing game based on the Leverage television series. It is designed for running a team of con artists who are trying to steal things back from the rich and powerful. It was designed by a team including Cam Banks, Rob Donoghue, and Clark Valentine, and uses the Cortex Plus system. Leverage is known for its innovative use of flashbacks to reproduce the con or heist genre and was nominated for the 2010 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game.

<i>Diaspora</i> (role-playing game)

Diaspora is a "Hard" Sci-fi role-playing game based on the FATE engine from Evil Hat Productions.

<i>Dont Rest Your Head</i>

Don't Rest Your Head is a role-playing game published by Evil Hat Productions in 2006.

<i>Happy Birthday, Robot!</i>

Happy Birthday, Robot! is a role-playing game published by Evil Hat Productions in 2010.

Angus Abranson is a game designer, publisher and poet who has worked primarily on role-playing games.

Chad Underkoffler is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.

References

  1. ↑ Schwartz, John (September 23, 2011). "A Game That Honed the Skills of Writers". New York Times.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN   978-1-907702-58-7.
  3. ↑ Hall, Charlie (2024-02-22). "Tomb Raider RPG knocks the dust off soon with an open playtest". Polygon. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.