Frank Mentzer
Encyclopedia
Jacob Franklin "Frank" Mentzer III (born in 1950), is an American fantasy
author
and game designer best known for his work on early materials for the Dungeons & Dragons
(D&D) fantasy role-playing game
. He was a performing folk musician from 1968 to 1975, and played one concert at the White House
during the administration of Richard Nixon
. He was an employee of TSR, Inc.
from 1980–1986, part of that time as Creative Advisor to the Chairman of the Board, Gary Gygax
. He also founded the Role-Playing Games Association
(RPGA) during his time with TSR. He has been closely involved with the world's largest game auction at the Gen Con
game convention since 1983, and is an expert on (and a major collector of) family boardgames and role-playing games. After Gygax was ousted from TSR at the end of 1985, Mentzer left TSR as well and helped Gygax to start New Infinities Productions Inc. (NIPI). When this venture failed, Mentzer left the gaming industry, eventually becoming the manager of a bakery. In 2008, he closed down this business, and two years later, announced he was returning to the gaming industry as a founding partner of a new publishing company, Eldritch Enterprises.
). In high school, he started to play folk music
, and at age sixteen, he played his first paid folk music concert at the opening of the Visitors' Center for the Liberty Bell
and Independence Hall
in downtown Philadelphia. Immediately after Mentzer graduated from high school, his father, who worked for the National Park Service
(NPS), moved the family to Maryland
in order to work at Catoctin Mountain Park
. Mentzer was interested in furthering his folk music career, and with his father's advice on who in the NPS to contact, Mentzer was able to arrange to play concerts in at various NPS sites. In 1972, he was hired by NPS to play a public concert in the White House
gardens for inner-city children. At one point in the concert Pat Nixon
, followed by national news crews, came to listen, and a clip of Mentzer singing "If I Had a Hammer
" subsequently appeared on national newscasts that evening. Mentzer moved back to the Philadelphia area, and for a short time during the 1970s, he worked as the manager of a pinball
arcade.
Dungeons & Dragons
, and he became part of a group of eight to twelve players who played several times a week. In 1979, TSR
, the company that published D&D, advertised for a designer and an editor. Although Mentzer was initially uninterested since he had no editorial or design experience, fellow player David Axler—who would go on to write an article for the December 1981 issue of Dragon magazine
about how to determine the weather in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting—urged him to apply, and Mentzer finally relented. After a phone interview with TSR, Mentzer was hired for the editorial position—Tom Moldvay
was hired as the new designer—and in January 1980, Mentzer moved to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
.
Soon after joining TSR, he was invited to participate in TSR's first "DM Invitational", a contest to choose D&D's best overall dungeon master
. (Other contestants included Len Lakofka and Erol Otus
.) At Gen Con
1980, Mentzer was announced as the winner, and was awarded a silver cup and a gold dragon chain of office. Mike Carr of TSR had been contemplating starting a TSR-sponsored D&D fan club. Shortly after Mentzer won the DM Invitational, Carr approached him about taking on that task. Mentzer agreed to form some sort of group, but rather than a simple "fan club", he was interested in promoting better quality roleplaying, especially during scored D&D events at conventions. Mentzer felt that the system as it stood rewarded those players that stayed quiet at the table, in effect punishing good roleplayers. He came up with a scoring system where the dungeon master and the players all voted on who had been the best roleplayer at the table. With this in place, Mentzer formed the RPGA
, an organization that would promote quality roleplaying and allow fans of roleplaying games to meet and play games with each other. Mentzer wrote four RPGA tournament adventures taken from his home campaign setting of "Aquaria" (published by TSR as the first four of the R-series modules: R1 To the Aid of Falx
, R2 The Investigation of Hydell
, R3 The Egg of the Phoenix
, and R4 Doc's Island
). Mentzer envisioned them as becoming a part of Gary Gygax's World of Greyhawk setting, the first part of a new "Aqua-Oeridian" campaign set somewhere on Oerth
outside of the Flanaess
. (The connection between Aquaria and Greyhawk was never made, but these four modules were later revised by Mentzer and Paul Jacquays and re-published as the "super-module" I12 Egg of the Phoenix
in 1989.)
In his review of Egg of the Phoenix, Ken Rolston
called Mentzer "a clever and original designer", and that of all of the better-known adventure designers of the time he "comes closest to creating scenarios in which the protagonists behave as if the game's rule books were physics texts describing the laws governing the workings of the universe".
Mentzer became involved with the auction of hobby gaming materials at Gen Con in 1983, and has been involved with what is now called the world's largest game auction every year since then.
Mentzer was soon promoted to Creative Director at TSR, and one of the tasks he was given was to collate and revise the various rules sets for Basic D&D in such a way as to not borrow any rules, monsters or other material that had been developed specifically for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D). This resulted in the Basic
(1983), Expert
(1984), Companion
(1984), Master
(1985), and Immortals
(1986) boxed sets of D&D rules (collectively known as BECMI). These were eventually translated into 11 languages, and millions were sold worldwide.
Other work by Mentzer included IM-1 The Immortal Storm
(1986), I-11 Needle (1987), and an adventure module for TSR's Star Frontiers
game based on Arthur C. Clarke
's novel 2001: A Space Odyssey. Because of his work with the Gen Con game auction, Mentzer had become interested in the game memorabilia market, resulting in The Game Buyers' Price Guide 1986, which summarized current market prices for hobby games. (Further annual editions were planned, but when Mentzer left TSR, this project was shelved.)
He also worked closely with Gary Gygax
, and co-wrote the adventure module
T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil
(1985), and the accessory The Book of Marvelous Magic (1985).
vied for control of TSR, which eventually resulted in Gygax's ouster. Mentzer, who had worked closely with Gygax for six years and shared his vision of the direction for D&D, was unwilling to work for Williams, and left TSR in 1986.
Gygax quickly formed New Infinities Productions, Inc. (NIPI) to create new products for the role-playing game market, and Mentzer joined as Design Executive. Mentzer, together with Gygax and Kim Mohan
, formed the Creative Committee.
The company's first product was the science fiction
-themed Cyborg Commando
, co-written by Mentzer and Gygax, and published in 1987. The next project a was a new fantasy role-playing game spanning multiple genres called Dangerous Journeys
. (It was originally to have been called Dangerous Dimensions, but the name was changed to Dangerous Journeys in response to a threat of a lawsuit from TSR, Inc.
that the DD abbreviation would be too similar to "D&D.") When the product was released by Game Designers' Workshop
, TSR immediately sued for copyright infringement. The suit was eventually settled out of court, with TSR buying the complete rights to the Dangerous Journeys system from New Infinities and then permanently shelving the entire project. This led to the demise of NIPI, and Mentzer decided to leave the game industry.
-winning Game Master Secrets Vol. II (Grey Ghost Press, 2003). He also became a collector of hobby games, and an expert on their worth at auction.
In 2000, he and his second wife Debbie moved to Minocqua, Wisconsin
and opened a bakery, his wife becoming the baker while Mentzer acted as manager. This operation eventually expanded to include three bakeries. However, running the bakeries was time-consuming, and by 2008, faced with other demands on their lives, the Mentzers decided to shut down their bakeries and move to Rockford, Illinois
.
announced at the KC Game Fair that he, Frank Mentzer, Jim Ward
and Chris Clark had formed Eldritch Enterprises in order to publish a variety of general works as well as new creations for roleplaying games written by the partners.
Eldritch Enterprises (an Ohio LLC) was incorporated on April 1, 2011. The principal owner is Frank Mentzer, and the other partners are Tim Kask, James M. Ward, and Christopher Clark. Eldritch Ent. plans to publish for both the mass and hobby game markets. Current projects include a childrens' book series, a work on baking techniques, recipes, and anecdotes (penned by Mentzer's wife Debbie, based on their time at The Baker's House), and a series of religious studies by Mentzer's late father (Rev. Frank Mentzer II, a Methodist minister). The hobby line includes various works for the "Old School Renaissance" movement ("OSR") as well as Mr. Ward's seminal Science Fantasy game Metamorphosis Alpha
.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and game designer best known for his work on early materials for the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
(D&D) fantasy role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
. He was a performing folk musician from 1968 to 1975, and played one concert at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
during the administration of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. He was an employee of TSR, Inc.
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
from 1980–1986, part of that time as Creative Advisor to the Chairman of the Board, Gary Gygax
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
. He also founded the Role-Playing Games Association
RPGA
The RPGA , is part of the organized play arm of Wizards of the Coast that organizes and sanctions role-playing games worldwide, principally under the d20 system...
(RPGA) during his time with TSR. He has been closely involved with the world's largest game auction at the Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
game convention since 1983, and is an expert on (and a major collector of) family boardgames and role-playing games. After Gygax was ousted from TSR at the end of 1985, Mentzer left TSR as well and helped Gygax to start New Infinities Productions Inc. (NIPI). When this venture failed, Mentzer left the gaming industry, eventually becoming the manager of a bakery. In 2008, he closed down this business, and two years later, announced he was returning to the gaming industry as a founding partner of a new publishing company, Eldritch Enterprises.
Early life
Frank Mentzer was born in a suburb of Philadelphia, the older of two children (his sibling is Susanne MentzerSusanne Mentzer
Susanne Mentzer is an operatic mezzo-soprano. She is best known for singing trouser roles, such as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo, Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier and the composer in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as other music of...
). In high school, he started to play folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and at age sixteen, he played his first paid folk music concert at the opening of the Visitors' Center for the Liberty Bell
Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American Independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House , the bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack in 1752, and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY...
and Independence Hall
Independence Hall
Independence Hall is the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets...
in downtown Philadelphia. Immediately after Mentzer graduated from high school, his father, who worked for the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
(NPS), moved the family to Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
in order to work at Catoctin Mountain Park
Catoctin Mountain Park
Catoctin Mountain Park, located in north-central Maryland, is part of the forested Catoctin Mountain ridge that forms the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains...
. Mentzer was interested in furthering his folk music career, and with his father's advice on who in the NPS to contact, Mentzer was able to arrange to play concerts in at various NPS sites. In 1972, he was hired by NPS to play a public concert in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
gardens for inner-city children. At one point in the concert Pat Nixon
Pat Nixon
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. She was commonly known as Patricia or Pat Nixon.Born in Nevada, Pat Ryan grew up in Los Angeles, California...
, followed by national news crews, came to listen, and a clip of Mentzer singing "If I Had a Hammer
If I Had a Hammer
"If I Had a Hammer " is a song written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays. It was written in 1949 in support of the progressive movement, and was first recorded by The Weavers, a folk music quartet composed of Seeger, Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, and then by Peter, Paul and Mary.- Early...
" subsequently appeared on national newscasts that evening. Mentzer moved back to the Philadelphia area, and for a short time during the 1970s, he worked as the manager of a pinball
Pinball
Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...
arcade.
TSR, Inc.
In the mid-1970s, Mentzer and a friend taught themselves how to play the new role-playing gameRole-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
, and he became part of a group of eight to twelve players who played several times a week. In 1979, TSR
TSR
The Three-letter abbreviation TSR has a variety of meanings, depending on context:-Science and technology:* Terminate and Stay Resident, utility programs used in MS-DOS* Thermo Sulfate Reduction, relevant to the Kraft process...
, the company that published D&D, advertised for a designer and an editor. Although Mentzer was initially uninterested since he had no editorial or design experience, fellow player David Axler—who would go on to write an article for the December 1981 issue of Dragon magazine
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
about how to determine the weather in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting—urged him to apply, and Mentzer finally relented. After a phone interview with TSR, Mentzer was hired for the editorial position—Tom Moldvay
Tom Moldvay
Tom Moldvay was a game designer and author most notable for his work on early materials for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons .-Career:...
was hired as the new designer—and in January 1980, Mentzer moved to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,148 at the 2000 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is southwest of Milwaukee and popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.-History:...
.
Soon after joining TSR, he was invited to participate in TSR's first "DM Invitational", a contest to choose D&D's best overall dungeon master
Dungeon Master
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Dungeon Master is the game organizer and participant in charge of creating the details and challenges of a given adventure, while maintaining a realistic continuity of events...
. (Other contestants included Len Lakofka and Erol Otus
Erol Otus
Erol Otus is an American artist and game designer, known internationally for his contributions to the fantasy RPG genre, most notably for the early Dungeons & Dragons franchise...
.) At Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
1980, Mentzer was announced as the winner, and was awarded a silver cup and a gold dragon chain of office. Mike Carr of TSR had been contemplating starting a TSR-sponsored D&D fan club. Shortly after Mentzer won the DM Invitational, Carr approached him about taking on that task. Mentzer agreed to form some sort of group, but rather than a simple "fan club", he was interested in promoting better quality roleplaying, especially during scored D&D events at conventions. Mentzer felt that the system as it stood rewarded those players that stayed quiet at the table, in effect punishing good roleplayers. He came up with a scoring system where the dungeon master and the players all voted on who had been the best roleplayer at the table. With this in place, Mentzer formed the RPGA
RPGA
The RPGA , is part of the organized play arm of Wizards of the Coast that organizes and sanctions role-playing games worldwide, principally under the d20 system...
, an organization that would promote quality roleplaying and allow fans of roleplaying games to meet and play games with each other. Mentzer wrote four RPGA tournament adventures taken from his home campaign setting of "Aquaria" (published by TSR as the first four of the R-series modules: R1 To the Aid of Falx
To the Aid of Falx
To the Aid of Falx is an adventure module published in 1982 for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
, R2 The Investigation of Hydell
The Investigation of Hydell
The Investigation of Hydell is an adventure module published in 1982 for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:In The Investigation of Hydell, the player characters investigate an organization that sells slaves....
, R3 The Egg of the Phoenix
The Egg of the Phoenix
The Egg of the Phoenix is an adventure module published in 1982 for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
, and R4 Doc's Island
Doc's Island
Doc's Island is an adventure module published in 1983 for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:In Doc's Island, the player characters must deliver the Egg of the Phoenix to the mysterious Doc's Island....
). Mentzer envisioned them as becoming a part of Gary Gygax's World of Greyhawk setting, the first part of a new "Aqua-Oeridian" campaign set somewhere on Oerth
Oerth
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Oerth, pronounced as "Orth" or "oyth", is the name of the fictional planet on which one of the earliest campaign settings, the World of Greyhawk, is located...
outside of the Flanaess
Flanaess
The Flanaess is the eastern part of the continent of Oerik, one of the four continents of the fictional world of Oerth in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. The Flanaess has been the setting of dozens of adventures published between the 1970s...
. (The connection between Aquaria and Greyhawk was never made, but these four modules were later revised by Mentzer and Paul Jacquays and re-published as the "super-module" I12 Egg of the Phoenix
Egg of the Phoenix
Egg of the Phoenix is an adventure module published in 1987 for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
in 1989.)
In his review of Egg of the Phoenix, Ken Rolston
Ken Rolston
Ken Rolston is an American computer game and board game designer best known for his work with West End Games and the hit computer game series The Elder Scrolls...
called Mentzer "a clever and original designer", and that of all of the better-known adventure designers of the time he "comes closest to creating scenarios in which the protagonists behave as if the game's rule books were physics texts describing the laws governing the workings of the universe".
Mentzer became involved with the auction of hobby gaming materials at Gen Con in 1983, and has been involved with what is now called the world's largest game auction every year since then.
Mentzer was soon promoted to Creative Director at TSR, and one of the tasks he was given was to collate and revise the various rules sets for Basic D&D in such a way as to not borrow any rules, monsters or other material that had been developed specifically for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D). This resulted in the Basic
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set
The original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set boxed set was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1977, and comprised a separate edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, distinct from the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, which was initially published in the same...
(1983), Expert
Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set
The Expert Set is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1981 as an expansion to the Basic Set.-1981 printing:The D&D Basic Set saw a major revision in 1981 by Tom Moldvay...
(1984), Companion
Dungeons & Dragons Companion Set
The Companion Set is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1984 as an expansion to the Basic Set.-Publication history:...
(1984), Master
Dungeons & Dragons Master Rules
Dungeons & Dragons Master Rules is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1985 as an expansion to the Basic Set.-Publication history:...
(1985), and Immortals
Dungeons & Dragons Immortals Rules
Dungeons & Dragons Immortals Rules is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1986 as an expansion to the Basic Set.-Publication history:...
(1986) boxed sets of D&D rules (collectively known as BECMI). These were eventually translated into 11 languages, and millions were sold worldwide.
Other work by Mentzer included IM-1 The Immortal Storm
The Immortal Storm (module)
The Immortal Storm is a 1986 adventure module for the Immortals Rules expansion to the Basic Rules of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
(1986), I-11 Needle (1987), and an adventure module for TSR's Star Frontiers
Star Frontiers
Star Frontiers is a science fiction role-playing game produced by TSR beginning in 1982. The game offered a space-opera action-adventure setting.- Setting :...
game based on Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
's novel 2001: A Space Odyssey. Because of his work with the Gen Con game auction, Mentzer had become interested in the game memorabilia market, resulting in The Game Buyers' Price Guide 1986, which summarized current market prices for hobby games. (Further annual editions were planned, but when Mentzer left TSR, this project was shelved.)
He also worked closely with Gary Gygax
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
, and co-wrote the adventure module
Adventure (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, an adventure or module is a pre-packaged book or box set that helps the Dungeon Master manage the plot or story of a game...
T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil
The Temple of Elemental Evil
The Temple of Elemental Evil is an adventure module for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module was published by TSR, Inc. in 1985 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules...
(1985), and the accessory The Book of Marvelous Magic (1985).
New Infinities Productions, Inc.
In late 1985, Gary Gygax and Lorraine WilliamsLorraine Williams
Lorraine Dille Williams is an American businesswoman who was in charge of the gaming company TSR, Inc. from 1986 to 1997. Williams was hired as TSR's manager by company co-founder Gary Gygax in 1984. She gained control of TSR the following year when the Blume brothers sold her their controlling...
vied for control of TSR, which eventually resulted in Gygax's ouster. Mentzer, who had worked closely with Gygax for six years and shared his vision of the direction for D&D, was unwilling to work for Williams, and left TSR in 1986.
Gygax quickly formed New Infinities Productions, Inc. (NIPI) to create new products for the role-playing game market, and Mentzer joined as Design Executive. Mentzer, together with Gygax and Kim Mohan
Kim Mohan
Kim Mohan is an American author and editor.-Biography:Kim Mohan was born in Chicago, Illinois, and moved to Williams Bay, Wisconsin when he was five. He became an avid science-fiction and fantasy reader and occasional wargamer, and graduated third in his high school class...
, formed the Creative Committee.
The company's first product was the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-themed Cyborg Commando
Cyborg Commando
Cyborg Commando is a science fiction role-playing game published by New Infinities Productions, Inc in 1987 and designed by Kim Mohan and Frank Mentzer based on an outline by Gary Gygax, the creator of the original Dungeons & Dragons system....
, co-written by Mentzer and Gygax, and published in 1987. The next project a was a new fantasy role-playing game spanning multiple genres called Dangerous Journeys
Dangerous Journeys
Dangerous Journeys is a roleplaying game created by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the original Dungeons & Dragons system. The game was originally announced as Dangerous Dimensions but was changed to Dangerous Journeys in response to a threat of a lawsuit from TSR, Inc., the publishers of Dungeons...
. (It was originally to have been called Dangerous Dimensions, but the name was changed to Dangerous Journeys in response to a threat of a lawsuit from TSR, Inc.
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
that the DD abbreviation would be too similar to "D&D.") When the product was released by Game Designers' Workshop
Game Designers' Workshop
Game Designers' Workshop was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.-History:Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973...
, TSR immediately sued for copyright infringement. The suit was eventually settled out of court, with TSR buying the complete rights to the Dangerous Journeys system from New Infinities and then permanently shelving the entire project. This led to the demise of NIPI, and Mentzer decided to leave the game industry.
Life after game design
For some years afterwards, Mentzer did a bit of writing, including Cooking Without Fire with Paul Kamikawa (1992), and "Trust at the Gaming Table", part of the Origins AwardOrigins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
-winning Game Master Secrets Vol. II (Grey Ghost Press, 2003). He also became a collector of hobby games, and an expert on their worth at auction.
In 2000, he and his second wife Debbie moved to Minocqua, Wisconsin
Minocqua, Wisconsin
Minocqua is a town in north-western Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,385 at the 2010 census. The census-designated place of Minocqua is located in the town. The unincorporated community of Rantz is also located in the town. Minocqua is commonly referred to as "The...
and opened a bakery, his wife becoming the baker while Mentzer acted as manager. This operation eventually expanded to include three bakeries. However, running the bakeries was time-consuming, and by 2008, faced with other demands on their lives, the Mentzers decided to shut down their bakeries and move to Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
.
Re-entering the game design market
In November 2010, Tim KaskTim Kask
Timothy James Kask is an American editor and writer in the role-playing game industry. Kask became interested in board games in his childhood, and later turned to miniatures wargames...
announced at the KC Game Fair that he, Frank Mentzer, Jim Ward
Jim Ward (game designer)
James M. Ward , is an American game designer and fantasy author. He is most famous for his game development and writing work for TSR, Inc., where he worked for more than 20 years. In 1989 he was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Hall of Fame...
and Chris Clark had formed Eldritch Enterprises in order to publish a variety of general works as well as new creations for roleplaying games written by the partners.
Eldritch Enterprises (an Ohio LLC) was incorporated on April 1, 2011. The principal owner is Frank Mentzer, and the other partners are Tim Kask, James M. Ward, and Christopher Clark. Eldritch Ent. plans to publish for both the mass and hobby game markets. Current projects include a childrens' book series, a work on baking techniques, recipes, and anecdotes (penned by Mentzer's wife Debbie, based on their time at The Baker's House), and a series of religious studies by Mentzer's late father (Rev. Frank Mentzer II, a Methodist minister). The hobby line includes various works for the "Old School Renaissance" movement ("OSR") as well as Mr. Ward's seminal Science Fantasy game Metamorphosis Alpha
Metamorphosis Alpha
Metamorphosis Alpha is a science fiction role-playing game. It was created by James M. Ward and originally produced by TSR, the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons...
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