Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: When was Knights of the Dinner Table first published?
In Shadis #2 (March/April 1990), Jolly Blackburn began to run a comic that he had written called Knights of the Dinner Table, which depicted the humorous interactions of a gaming group. When Blackburn published that first Knights strip, he thought that he was just filling a blank page but when he tried to replace it with more professional strips beginning with Shadis #6, there was an outcry; because of that outcry Knights soon returned.[3]:262 Blackburn also published Knights of the Dinner Table as a comic book, the first three issues of which appeared from his company Alderac Entertainment Games over the next year (1994-1995).[3]:263 As a result of diverging interests with his partners, Blackburn left Alderac in 1995, with Shadis #21 (December 1995) being his final issue; he kept the rights to Knights of the Dinner Table.[3]:263 Blackburn formed a new company called KODT Enteractive Facktory, which was to publish the Knights of the Dinner Table comic monthly.[3]:309 While he was working on getting that new company together, Blackburn received a call from the editor of TSR's Dragon magazine, asking if the Knights of the Dinner Table strip was now available; although Blackburn originally planned to continue the strip in Shadis, he accepted the offer and Knights of the Dinner Table thus began appearing beginning in Dragon #226 (February, 1996).[3]:309 While working on Knights of the Dinner Table #4 (1996), Blackburn concluded that he really did not want to go it alone, and David Kenzer and the staff of Kenzer & Company wanted to get Blackburn to join their company.[3]:309 In November 1996 when David Kenzer and others were visiting Blackburn over the course of a local con, and Blackburn decided that Kenzer had the sort of business sense and integrity that he was looking for in a partner.[3]:309 Starting with issue #5 (February 1997) Knights of the Dinner Table was the work of the "KoTD Development Team" which consisted of Jolly Blackburn, David Kenzer, Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson.[3]:310
In addition to fiction, "Black Gate" also featured reviews of fantasy novels, graphic novels, and role playing game products. This was supplemented by columns and articles reflecting on fantasy literature's past as well as the occasional interview. Every issue contained the comic "Knights of the Dinner Table: Java Joint" by Kenzer & Company of Knights of the Dinner Table fame.
Thompson first submitted the idea to Tokyopop's "Rising Stars of Manga" contest in 2004, and was inspired by "Hikaru no Go" and "Knights of the Dinner Table".
The first online strip appeared on Noah's personal website on December 8, 2002. Not long after, it was given a print strip within the Knights of the Dinner Table magazine itself, starting with issue 75. The Fuzzy Knights Online strips moved to the Kenzer & Company website on April 8, 2003 with updates twice a week.
Knights of the Round Table is a 1953 British-American historical Eastmancolor film made by MGM in England and Ireland. Directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman, it was the first film in CinemaScope made by that studio. The screenplay was by Talbot Jennings, and Noel Langley from Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur", first published in 1485 by William Caxton.
The first monthly issue was published in June 2000.
Kenzer & Company received many requests from fans of the comic to produce an actual "HackMaster" game, but initially they thought that licensing "Dungeons & Dragons" would be impossible. In 1999 the "Dragon Magazine Archive" software was published where Wizards of the Coast failed to get permission to reprint many of the original articles such as the "Knights of the Dinner Table" comic in the electronic media archive. A lawsuit was filed and settled out of court, they reached an agreement about creating a derivative work, that led to K&C's publication of "HackMaster 4th Edition" in 2001. As a nod to the fictional version from the comic, this first edition of "Hackmaster" was published as the 4th Edition.
The main group of characters are the members of a gaming group known as "The Knights of the Dinner Table" in a fictionalized version of Muncie, Indiana. The players' best-known and most often-used characters are the HackMaster characters known as the "Untouchable Trio (Plus One)" (abbreviated as "UT+1"). They consist of:
In 2000, a monthly spin-off comic was created, titled Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated, AKA K.ILL. The comic depicts many of the adventures described within KotDT; however, K.ILL shows the player characters' actions rather than those of the players behind them.
Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated (a.k.a. "K.ILL") is a comic book created by Jolly R. Blackburn and is published by Kenzer & Company. It portrays many of the same stories as Knights of the Dinner Table (KODT) but from the point of view of the player characters themselves.
In 1999 a compilation of the first 250 issues was released in PDF format with a special viewer including an article and keyword search on a CD-ROM package. Also included were the 7 issues of "The Strategic Review". This compilation is known as the software title "Dragon Magazine Archive". Because of issues raised with the 2001 ruling in "Greenberg v. National Geographic" regarding the reprint rights of various comic scripts (such as "Wormy", " What's New with Phil & Dixie", "Snarf Quest", and "Knights of the Dinner Table" which had been covered in TSR's own statement in the first issue that "All material published herein becomes the exclusive property of the publisher unless special arrangements to the contrary are made.") that had been printed in "Dragon" over the years and Paizo Publishing's policy that creators of comics retain their copyright, the "Dragon Magazine Archive" is out of print and very hard to find.
Characters who are not part of a gaming group.
The obscure knight Sir Patrise is poisoned at a dinner party given by Queen Guenevere in Camelot, and Sir Mador, the dead knight's cousin, accuses the Queen of the murder. Her fate is to be determined through trial by combat. If the champion fighting on her behalf wins she will be declared innocent; if not, she will be burned at the stake. Unfortunately for her, the best Knights of the Round Table were all present at the dinner, which disqualifies them from championing her, and the mightiest of all, her secret lover Sir Lancelot, has gone missing.
Blackburn joined Kenzer in December 1996, and Kenzer published his comic book monthly beginning with a reprint of issue #4. The "KoDT" comic strip moved to "Dragon" in issue #226, becoming very popular. "Over the years I've often wondered just what it is that causes all the fuss... I'm the first to look at the typical strip and say, 'It's not "all" that!'" In 2001, Kenzer published the "HackMaster" role-playing game, which was based on the fictional game played by the characters in the "Knights of the Dinner Table" comic strip.
In 1992, Jolly Blackburn added John Zinser and David Seay as partners in Alderac Entertainment Group. In 1994, Zinser was working on an original CCG, "Legend of the Five Rings", which began as an idea from a conversation between Zinser and Seay discussing the 1980 RPG "Bushido". Blackburn left Alderac in 1995 because he felt that Zinser and Seay were looking for success in the CCG industry while he wanted to keep the company fun and small and focus on "Knights of the Dinner Table". According to Zinser, he wanted the in debt company to grow at a faster pace than Blackburn was comfortable with. so, a split was agreed upon, with Blackburn leaving with the rights to "Knights of the Dinner Table" and a few other properties. In 1996 Five Rings Publishing Group was formed, with Robert Abramowitz as the President of the new company, Ryan Dancey becoming VP of Product Development and Zinser becoming VP of Sales. Zinser was listed as providing advice on Pinnacle Entertainment Group's RPG "" (1998).
Fuzzy Knights was an online comic created by Noah J.D. Chinn and published by Kenzer & Company. It starred stuffed animals who enjoy role-playing games such as "HackMaster" and "Dungeons & Dragons". What started out as a simple one-shot tribute to the Kenzer gamer comic series, Knights of the Dinner Table, turned into a cult hit that continues to gain new fans. Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, was an admitted fan of the Fuzzy Knights and wrote a promo for the trade-paperbacks (see below).
Knights of the Dinner Table (KoDT) is a comic book/strip created by Jolly R. Blackburn[1][2] and published by Kenzer & Company. It primarily focuses on a group of role playing gamers and their actions at the gaming table, which often result in unfortunate, but humorous consequences in the game. The name is a parody of King Arthur's round table reinforced by the truism that roleplaying aficionados often end up sitting round their host's dinner table as it is the only one large enough to accommodate the party (4 to 8 people typically).
TV tray tables became popular in the 1950s as a way to hold food and beverage items while watching TV, the iconic item being a TV dinner. National advertising for TV tray tables first appeared in 1952, a full year before Swanson introduced the TV dinner in October 1953. A set of four TV tables were sometimes sold mounted on a small rack where they could be hung when not in use. This rack was popularly placed in a corner of the living room.
Queen Guinevere found herself facing accusations of treason several times over the course of recorded Arthurian legend. In Malory's Le Morte d’Arthur, she is accused first in the "Poisoned Apple" episode, when at a dinner she holds for some of the knights of the Round Table, one of the knights, Sir Patrise, dies from eating a poisoned apple intended for Gawain. The real culprit is Sir Pinell, but Guinevere is the accused because it she who gathered the knights for the dinner. Guinevere is accused of treason because, as Malory writes, "the custome was at that tyme that all manner of shameful deth was called treson." The death is defined as treason because "Guinevere's alleged murder of Patryse is a crime against the fellowship, and therefore against Arthur as well." Similarly, in "The Knight of the Cart" episode, Guinevere is accused of treason by the knight Meliagaunt when he discovers blood on her sheets and assumes that she has spent the night with one of her knights who was captured with her. Meligaunt accuses her of being unfaithful to Arthur and even of "hyghe treson." For the French however, the act of adultery would not necessarily have been considered such under the law. In both the case of "the Poisoned Apple" and the "Knight of the Cart," Guinevere is acquitted of the crime through Lancelot dueling to defend her innocence. This trial by combat is used in lieu of an actual refined judicial proceedings, and Lancelot's ability to fight in place of an actual judicial process undermines the legal procedures of the day. It is Lancelot's strength as a knight and not the strength of Arthur's courtly judicial system that ultimately saves Guinevere.
While ascending the tower, Shovel Knight unwittingly falls into the midst of the members of the Order of No Quarter as they eat dinner. They demand a rematch, and Shovel Knight duels each knight one by one atop the banqueting table. Emerging victorious over them once again, Shovel Knight may help them up, reeling in the chain onto which the defeated knights are clinging.
Several games based on the comic have been published:
Since the comic centers around a community of role-playing gamers, the characters are seen playing many games that are analogues of real-world games (some of which were then published as real-world games). They include:
The Knights themselves have encountered several recurring non-player characters in their (various) roleplaying campaigns. Among these are:
KoDT first started in the second issue of Shadis magazine in March 1990 when then editor Jolly R. Blackburn decided to draw a simple strip of his own to put on the last page which he called Knights of the Dinner Table. The first comic only contained B.A. and Bob. Over the next three issues Blackburn continued to draw his own comics (adding in Dave and Brian), but by the sixth issue he had acquired other comics and replaced KoDT with them. Readers, however, demanded the return of the Knights strip. It was brought back in the eighth issue and lasted into the 21st.
Also in 1996, KoDT began publication in a monthly comic book, Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine, which is still in publication. Initially produced by Blackburn himself, the series was later picked up by game publishers Kenzer & Company,[2] who began publication with a second printing of issue four after an error made by Blackburn rendered the first printing nearly unreadable. Blackburn also joined KenzerCo as a vice president and continued to produce KoDT stories. Several of the other executives and game designers at KenzerCo began contributing ideas and collaborating with Blackburn on the strips, eventually becoming collectively known as the KoDT Development Team (or simply "the D-Team"). KoDT has since arguably become the flagship property of Kenzer & Company, with the magazine having evolved into a (often KenzerCo-themed) all-around gaming publication, rivaling Dragon's former prominence in the industry (before the latter began to focus exclusively on TSR/Wizards of the Coast products). Several games produced by KenzerCo since the acquisition have been derived from ideas presented in KoDT strips, such as Fairy Meat; conversely, references to KenzerCo-produced games, such as Kingdoms of Kalamar, appear from time to time in KoDT.