Ken Whitman | |
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Occupation | Game designer |
Ken Whitman is an American game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games and writes and directs films under the name Whit Whitman.[ citation needed ]
Ken Whitman was a graphic designer from Kentucky who formed the company Whit Productions so that he could publish the post-apocalyptic role-playing game Mutazoids (1989) and get started in the role-playing game business. [1] : 262 Rick Swan in a review of Mutazoids in his book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games notes that "overall, designer Ken Whitman has done an impressive job of creating an attractively chaotic RPG environment." [2]
Whitman followed that effort by starting a second company, Whit Publications, which published two licensed games: Ralph Bakshi's Wizards (1992) by Edward Bolme and WWF Basic Adventure Game (1993) by David Clark. [1] : 262
After his investors took over Whit Publications in 1994, Whitman became the Gen Con Convention Coordinator for TSR. [1] : 262 Whitman had the goal of getting TSR a presence in 80 or more conventions in 1995. [3] Whitman worked for TSR from 1994 to 1995. [4] Whitman also worked on the Highlander role-playing game from Thunder Castle Games. [3]
Whitman used this game convention experience and made contacts including Marc Miller, with whom he co-founded Imperium Games in February 1996 to publish Traveller releases. [1] : 262 Whitman was president of the new company, and gathered several role-playing professionals to run it. [1] : 262–263 Whitman helped design the fourth edition of Traveller, and wrote the rules for psionics for the system. [1] : 263 Whitman was at the heart of financial disagreements between Imperium and its backer Sweetpea Entertainment, and eventually left because of these disagreements over money expenditures. [1] : 265 Fans became increasingly vocal online because the company continued to promise products that never appeared, to which Whitman responded: [1] : 265
I feel that others who like starting rumers are only showing their own insecurities and anger to the world. Just because you have failed several time in you life, dont belive everyone else is like you. [Sic] - Ken Whitman, "Imperium Games & Treveller," rec.games.frp.misc (1996) [1] : 265
Whitman ran Archangel Entertainment from 1997-1998. [1] : 270 While president of Archangel Entertainment, the company published Groo: The Game and the Zero and Dark Conspiracy role-playing games, and Whitman planned to distribute Archangel products in the United States through Chessex. [5] Marcelo Figueroa of Shadis reviewed Groo and said that Whitman got "a burst of inspiration, and decides to make a card game about" the Groo: The Wanderer comic by Sergio Aragones, which he felt was "one of the coolest cards games I've ever played." [6]
Whitman then[ when? ] ran Dynasties Productions, focusing on the new magazine Games Unplugged . [1] : 343 Dynasties Presentations lasted from 1998-2001. [1] : 270
Whitman then[ when? ] managed Elmore Production, the art company of Larry Elmore. [1] : 343 Whitman helped Elmore produce "The Complete Elmore Art Book" by funding it through Kickstarter. [4]
Whitman then created print companies first with Rapid POD which lasted from 2005-2007, and he then created Sidekick Printing in 2010. [1] : 270
Whitman later began doing business in late 2013 as D20 Entertainment on Kickstarter. [7] Whitman created and funded six projects on Kickstarter between December 8, 2013, and April 7, 2015, for three short movies and three gaming accessories.[ citation needed ] Whitman led d20 Entertainment into producing a Web series called "Brothers Barbarian." [4] Whitman and Tim Gooch created the series and starred in the cast as the two brothers Russ and Art respectively. [8] [9] [10]
Since 2021 Whitman is the CEO of Little Monster Entertainment, a film distributor that aims to connect independent film projects with streaming services. [11] [ non-primary source needed ] Their first film, Unnatural, was released on multiple streaming platforms on December 18, 2024.[ citation needed ]
Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos. The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium; it was first released in 1981 and is in its seventh edition, with licensed foreign language editions available as well. Its game system is based on Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing (BRP) with additions for the horror genre. These include special rules for sanity and luck.
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Timothy B. Brown is an American game designer, primarily of role-playing games. He has been a designer at Game Designers' Workshop, an editor at Challenge magazine, and the director of product development at TSR.
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Games Unplugged was an American magazine dedicated to the adventure tabletop gaming industry. The bimonthly magazine, headquartered in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, ran for 34 issues, from June 2000 until May 2004. The company also had a website, GamesUnplugged.com, which is now defunct.
A tabletop role-playing game, also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines, usually involving randomization. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise, and their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
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Groo: The Game is a card game published by Archangel Studios in 1997 that is based on the comic book Groo the Wanderer by Sergio Aragonés.
Ralph Bakshi's Wizards is a 1992 role-playing game published by Whit Publications.