Q&A with Tim Kask

Gnarley Bones · Post by **Gnarley Bones** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:45 am

Hi all:

Tim Kask has graciously offered to open a Q & A Thread and field questions. Fire away!

Rhuvein · Post by **Rhuvein** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 1:08 am

Welcome Tim. Glad to have you with us and thanks for answering some questions.

So here's one that I copied over from Frank's thread:

Was your focus as editor to bring interesting D&D content to the magazine when it started or rather to concentrate on the proper organization, editing and professional presentation of a printed publication?

Thanks,

Rhu.

ExTSR · Post by **ExTSR** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 2:32 am

Tim, did you also produce the Strategic PREview, and did it start with issue #3? (Nobody's ever found a #1 or #2...)

-- Frank

(another transplant from my adjacent heap of manure...)

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:08 am

Did you know any of the TSR staff before you became the editor of the Strategic Review?

\

Was your focus as editor to bring interesting D&D content to the magazine when it started or rather to concentrate on the proper organization, editing and professional presentation of a printed publication?

Tim, did you also produce the Strategic PREview, and did it start with issue #3? (Nobody's ever found a #1 or #2...) -- F

Anyway my questions are, was Tom Wham as humerous in person as his games and columns were, and did he ever play D&D?

What are your thoughts on the demise of Dragon magazine. Why do you think they pulled the plug? When you were doing Dragon, was anyone ever concerned about the issue of selling ad space to TSR's competitors?

1. Yes. Tom Wham and I went to Southern Illinois University at the same time; so did Gary Jaquet (aka Jake.) Additionally, Gary Gygax and I were phone acquaintances (another story another time perhaps); out of that acquaintance I went to my first GenCon in '74 and went to work as their first full-time employee in '75 at the princely stipend of $100 per week. (That is what all three of us, Gary, Brian and myself, were paid. They, however, also got royalties.) Also, I believe it was Rob Kuntz that DM'd the first D&D adventure I experienced in '74; I subsequently bought my first brown-box set and a set of dice which I then took back to college and infected my game club.

2. I tried to do a mixture of both. Gary and I shared the opinion that one of the things that kept D&D from spreading any more rapidly was the lack of imaginative DMs. The influences that Gary has most often cited are Jack Vance's Dying Earth, Poul Anderson's Three Hearts & Three Lions, Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser and some of the writings of L. Sprague DeCamp, a little of REH's Conan, a touch (only a touch) of JRRT and various sword & sandal movies from the 50's and 60's. Accordingly, we touted those as necesary to understand how D&D was meant to be played by Gary. (DA's input on the published game was minuscle.)
At the same time, we wanted to put out a first rate, professional magazine. This was during the heyday of fanzines and vanity press; we wanted to go in the other, higher caliber direction, complete with advertising, (More on that later.) Further, we shared the vision that the whole industry had tremendous potential for growth; make the pie bigger and everybody's piece will be bigger.

3. I have to think about that one, Frank. From the day I came on board, I had a hand in editing virtually everything we put out, and did so for some time. After all, the reason I was a good fit was that I had been playing wargames since 1961, minored in military history, and had degrees in English and Communications, as well as newspaper experience in college. I am sure that I saw the PREview, but Gary might have had it typeset before I got there. (Sorry, man. It was 30+ years ago, not to mention a whole lot of perception-altering indulgences...hehehe) IF there were #'s 1&2, they were probably single sheet broadsides stuffed into orders; but that is a very fuzzy if.

4. From the first time I met Tom, at SIU, I thought he had one of the most subtle, wry and ever-so-slightly-twisted senses of humor (humour for you UK readers) I had ever met. I seem to recall that we hit it off right away. (If not, I'm sure Tom will set me straight.) Tom played in a few of my D&D campaign adventures, along with the Hobbit, Werebear, Neil, Hogbait and Deathless Bob. And I know that he came to my house a few times; my wife liked him a lot and I think we played MahJongh a few times. And maybe some miniatures in the basement on my 5 X 8 sand-table.

5. I felt about DRAGON as a parent would feel about an offspring that had gone it's own way after growing up in a manner you weren't too fond of.
My creation has died, but it has not been anything like what I created since about #50 or #60, or thereabouts. I loved dearly what it was, but not what it had become. (Excerpted from the other thread.)
I have a few ideas (or suspicions) about why the Wizboys pulled the plug. (Some day I'll tell you what I thought about the whole card crap.)
5a. To reference my earlier response, we felt that any growing the hobby did as a whole would benefit us all. Also, I was adamantly opposed to putting out a house-organ like The General (which I liked a lot for what it was) or Strategy & Tactics by SPI (which I also liked a lot.) Plus, we gladly took the other companies' money. Bigger pie meant bigger pieces. And we were growing GAMERS.

Mr. Reaper · Post by **Mr. Reaper** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:53 am

kaskoid wrote: 1. Yes. Tom Wham and I went to Southern Illinois University at the same time; so did Gary Jaquet (aka Jake.)
...
I subsequently bought my first brown-box set and a set of dice which I then took back to college and infected my game club.

Oooo.... Did your game club have a name?
Did it have anything to do with (or perhaps would later become) the SIU Strategic Games Society?

http://sgs.egyptiancampaign.com/

I think they've been around since 1980 or so....

I used to go to SIU (in the 90s though).
But back in the 80's I once sat in on a game with a SGS group. Me and a friend played Marvel Super Heroes with them.... We'd gone there looking for a D&D game, and they referred to us as "Hack & Slash gamers," heh.

Crimhthan_The_Great · Post by **Crimhthan_The_Great** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 4:41 pm

Welcome to DF Tim!

kaskoid wrote:(DA's input on the published game was minuscle.)

There has always been the question of how much did he really contribute. We have all heard about the 16 pages of notes. I have always heard that levels/advancement and a number of other things originated with him. I have heard everything from zip to about 1/4 of the basic rules, so I would love to hear you expand on this.

I have also heard that he was a top notch ref, and I would like to see your comments on that and also on Gary as a ref.

Rhuvein · Post by **Rhuvein** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:31 pm

Thanks Tim. I love hearing stuff about the early days and your experiences and such.

Sieg · Post by **Sieg** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 8:03 pm

Welcome to DF, Mr. Kask!

Do you still game (Wargames, Minis, RPGs) and if so, what are your preferred systems?

Also, not to sound fanboyish but your edited issues of TD & Dragon were IMO the best of the series! No offense to Kim M., but after the 60s or so (IMO) Dragon just started feeling....well, a little too corporate. Sort of like AH's General but still giving an occasional article/ad to another co. I like General too, but we kinda know what to expect when one picks up an issue. Dragon....well, it was a noticeable sea change.

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:18 pm

Oooo.... Did your game club have a name?
Did it have anything to do with (or perhaps would later become) the SIU Strategic Games Society?

I think they've been around since 1980 or so....

I used to go to SIU (in the 90s though).
But back in the 80's I once sat in on a game with a SGS group. Me and a friend played Marvel Super Heroes with them.... We'd gone there looking for a D&D game, and they referred to us as "Hack & Slash gamers," heh.

Mr. Reaper:
Uhh, I named it the SIU SGS. It had been a handful of fringe-ish gamers (as we all were back then) with a History professor that also played as a sponsor. You had to have a sponsor to get a free room in the Center.

After I got there and started playing with them, I had the idea to advertise at an Activity Fair that the college had every so often for new students looking for things to do, so we had to have a name. I even roughed out the logo that I see they are still using so that we could make a poster. We got a table and set up a 7 Yrs War miniatures game and just about doubled our membership from that Fair.

I arrived at SIU in the summer of '73 and the club was already active that Fall. Tom Wham might have a better idea when it actually began...

That is the group that I infected; the names I mentioned were all original players in my first campaign. BTW, I auctioned all of my campaign materials on the Aceum site with the proceeds going to a service group that I have been very active in for the last 11 years. ( They went to Grodog who had the high bid.)

http://www.fhnbcinti.com/index.html

Someday I will tell you all about Deathless Bob...

"Hack & Slash", huh? Hehehehe--that's a term we popularized in the Review and DRAGON. Go figure...

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:27 pm

There has always been the question of how much did he really contribute. We have all heard about the 16 pages of notes. I have always heard that levels/advancement and a number of other things originated with him. I have heard everything from zip to about 1/4 of the basic rules, so I would love to hear you expand on this.

I have also heard that he was a top notch ref, and I would like to see your comments on that and also on Gary as a ref.

This one deserves an in-depth answer; I am up to my eyeballs in stuff right now but maybe can give this the time it needs in a day or two. If the Malignant Toad reads this forum or this site, it could very well start a thermonuclear flame war.

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:45 pm

Do you still game (Wargames, Minis, RPGs) and if so, what are your preferred systems?

Also, not to sound fanboyish ...sea change.

I mostly computer game, mostly Turn Based Strategy.
I still have a gargantuan collection of micro-armor (over 4400 pcs), but it has been put up for many years now.
You see, that was my dirty little secret; I was an avid WWII armor player and mostly preferred historical minis (Ancients and Medievals), plus I was way into historical boardgames. It was through CHAINMAIL that I got to know Gary.
I haven't RPGed since I left the industry in '83 or '84. I have however, created a teaching tool that I have used with some success that relies on a limited form of RPG.
Many thanks for your kind words about my tenure as Editor. At Cons, I used to get asked frequently if I got a "power rush" from doing the magazine and influencing how people played. I always responded that I didn't care in the least if the readers did what the articles said or instructed; my "rush" was the thought that with every issue I was figuratively reaching into thousands and thousands of heads and massaging the grey matter. I was just as happy if a reader replied "Hell NO! I won't do it that way" or "I'm not gonna change my game" as long as they could articulate WHY. If they could, then I had made them think. THAT is a "power rush", a huge one. And probably why I am a teacher today...

Sieg · Post by **Sieg** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 11:13 pm

Thanks for the info...teacher? Cool; might I ask in what field? I'm currently looking for employment as a Hist. teacher; College preferably.

Mr. Reaper · Post by **Mr. Reaper** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 1:04 am

kaskoid wrote:Uhh, I named it the SIU SGS.

...

Ahh, very cool info.

I still have a flier for the SGS I snagged from a bulletin board at SIU back in the 80s:

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 1:29 am

Most cool...

Post by **ScottyG** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 1:34 am

Tim, were you a regular player in Frank's campaign, or Gary's?
Did you have a primary PC?

Scott

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 1:47 am

Sieg wrote:

...teacher? Cool; might I ask in what field? I'm currently looking for employment as a Hist. teacher; College preferably.

Well, according to the State of Ohio, I am qualified to teach: Sociology, Psychology, Economics, Anthropology, Geography, Government and History, to grades 7-12. In other words, Secondary Social Studies.
I went back to college at age 53 and got a Master of Education from Xavier University a year ago last Dec. Since, then I have unsuccessfully sought full time employment. Since I went back to school, accruing $14 K in debts, 5 out of every 7 School levies have failed in this area. I am now subbing in three different districts locally, teaching everything but Math to everything from first graders to HS Seniors. I teach a lot of Language Arts because of my degrees in English and Communications; but I do whatever they call me for.
With all the teachers that have been laid off and trimmed, college jobs are mighty scarce. Just my friggin' luck; when I went back to school there were jobs going unfilled... Hope you have better luck. Given my druthers, I would most like to teach World History to 7th, 8h and 9th graders along with some US History. I would also love to teach Psych and Soc on a HS level. BTW, when teaching about Medieval times, I use the jousting matrix out of CHAINMAIL and the class has a "Faire". I find the girls get just as into it as the boys, and win the tourneys as often as not. I also devised a limited role-playing exercise that I have had great success with in teaching WWs I & II as well as ACW. I have let several other teachers test it; all that have, liked it. My next step is to turn it into a "How-TO' that I can sell to other teachers...

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 2:01 am

ScottyG:

Time, were you a regular player in Frank's campaign, or Gary's?
Did you have a primary PC?

Time?
Frank and I were not contemporaries; more's the pity. He was just getting in as I was leaving.

I did not play in GREYHAWK very often. Grodog has my old PC sheets. In the Village of Hommlet I was Tim the Lusty Druid, and they made bawdy songs about me. (Druid of the Grove? IIRC)

Most of the playing I did was when we were testing Con tourney games and modules. It interfered with my miniatures playing. Tramp and I had several marathon (12 hour) miniatures battles in my basement on my old sandtable. I also played a lot of boardgames, and did a good chunk of boardgame analysis and development for the company. And I was busy as hell editing all the supplements from BLACKMOOR on.

ExTSR · Post by **ExTSR** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 3:00 am

Time [sic], actually Timme, but the one that doesn't get killed in South Park, and you hate that name so I won't bring it up again, Timme.

Can we entice you to come up to Lake Geneva on the weekend of June 15-17, for the Troll Lords' convention (with Jim Ward and me and Gary and many others)? Or are you speaking at a Commencement or something?

http://www.lggc.net/

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 5:44 am

Frank wrote:

Can we entice you to come up to Lake Geneva on the weekend of June 15-17, for the Troll Lords' convention (with Jim Ward and me and Gary and many others)? Or are you speaking at a Commencement or something?

Gee, Frankie, I don't know. (OK, no more of that; that was just payback). I thought Gary was going to try to get to GenCon; that's one of the main reasons I considered returning. And seeing your smiling phiz... And doing some more auctioning, which I rather enjoy. And getting some more cinnamon treats...

A lot will depend on my $$$ situation. I'm not sure what I will be doing this summer; it probably won't be teaching, and even if I land a contract, I won't start collecting on that until school starts. Any chance Rob and Terry might be there? And Tom?

It would be a hoot to see Lake Geneva after all these years...
I certainly don't envision speaking at any commencements...ROTFLMAO.

gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 5:51 am

Gary is going to Gen Con.

The Lake Geneva event is more of an informal affair with just a small gathering of folks.

So you really dont have to do much of anything but hang out and chat with whomever shows up.

A fair few of the original TSR gang have stopped in the last two events.

Even had a Gygax and Perrin Chainmail game last year. ^_~`

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 6:02 am

A fair few of the original TSR gang have stopped in the last two events.

Which fair few would have a huge bearing; I'm fine with Gary, Rob, Jim, Tom, Frank (not original, I know--though certainly unique!), Mike Carr, Ernie, Terry...
If I never saw either of the Blumes again, I would consider it fortunate. And then there is the Malignant Toad... And Larry...

But I will admit that a reunion of the really old/original TSRers has an appeal. Ahh, the <expletive deleted> stories we could tell.

Even had a Gygax and Perrin Chainmail game last year.

That would be way cool; haven't played CM in ages.

gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 3:01 pm

kaskoid wrote:
A fair few of the original TSR gang have stopped in the last two events.
Which fair few would have a huge bearing; I'm fine with Gary, Rob, Jim, Tom, Frank (not original, I know--though certainly unique!), Mike Carr, Ernie, Terry...

Well, except for Terry, you pretty well covered the line up that appeard in the first year. ^_^

But I will admit that a reunion of the really old/original TSRers has an appeal. Ahh, the <expletive deleted> stories we could tell.

Thats the main point of the convention. Good BS stories. ^_^

Even had a Gygax and Perrin Chainmail game last year.
That would be way cool; haven't played CM in ages.

*chuckles* Nether had the above two apparently. It seems that neither of them could remember the rules all that well after some 30 odd years. ^_~`

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 3:22 pm

Nether had the above two apparently. It seems that neither of them could remember the rules all that well after some 30 odd years.

Gettin' older really sucks! Can't remember rules, can't remember where you put the keys, can't remember if you fed the cat and don't really give a damn, not all of your parts work like they used to, your warranty has expired, you don't see so good if the light isn't perfect and your hearing starts to go and people start treating you like some sort of relic from the far distant past. (Well, that last one wouldn't be so bad with a few changes... like picking up bar tabs, meal checks and listening to all your old stories like they really mattered in the Grand Scheme of things.)

gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 3:45 pm

kaskoid wrote:
Nether had the above two apparently. It seems that neither of them could remember the rules all that well after some 30 odd years.
Gettin' older really sucks!

Dont feel bad mate. The other day I was attempting to unlock my front door of my house, from the inside, with my car door unlocking remote. Took me 5 minutes to figure out why it wasnt working. ^_^

gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 3:58 pm

kaskoid wrote:I also devised a limited role-playing exercise that I have had great success with in teaching WWs I & II as well as ACW. I have let several other teachers test it; all that have, liked it. My next step is to turn it into a "How-TO' that I can sell to other teachers...

Wouldn't mind having a look at this myself.

I'm not a teacher per say, but I've been involved in reenacting and living history for some 30 odd years. Teaching the public about history by what is in effect a live action rp is a hobby of mine. ^_^

grodog · Post by **grodog** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 4:17 pm

kaskoid wrote:Any chance Rob and Terry might be there? And Tom?

Gary and Rob will be at LGGC, Terry isn't coming so far as I know. Tom will be there.

On the GenCon front, Gary and Rob will both be attending, though I don't know which other folks from LGGC will be there.

grodog · Post by **grodog** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 6:16 pm

kaskoid wrote:I did not play in GREYHAWK very often. Grodog has my old PC sheets. In the Village of Hommlet I was Tim the Lusty Druid, and they made bawdy songs about me. (Druid of the Grove? IIRC)

Hmmm, I'll have to look through the Satchel box again, I didn't recall those PCs being there. I'll double-check, but did you perhaps sell them as part of a different lot, Tim?

kaskoid · Post by **kaskoid** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:33 pm

No, they would be in there somewhere--not the druid but Khajook, Kwalish and maybe another. I never kept tester PCs.

I was much more a DM than a player; its how I learned the game infecting my club at school. I was the only DM the first year, so I became much more DM oriented than PC oriented. Worked out well going to work for TSR...

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:21 am

Hmm, so you had Kwalish. I never knew who was responsible for that thing. Thanks!

Fid · Post by **Fid** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:25 pm

Would you consider joining the DF team as an editor for any of the all-volunteer, fan-based publications and modules?

No money but lots of glory!