#01 How did you come up with the name, "Knights of the Dinner Table"?

#02 The strip is set in Muncie, Indiana. Are all the places mentioned in the strip real?

#03 I hear KODT have begun in others publications. Which ones?

#04 Is there going to be a Tales from the Vault V.4?

#05 Why have you stop publishing strip in Dragons and Rifters?

#06 Why the game "Fairy Meat" is so costly? 

#07 Is HackMaster a real game? If not, are you planning on developing it?

#08 Is there such a drink as Bohemian Lemonade?

#01 How did you come up with the name, "Knights of the Dinner Table"?

A: I'm surprised how many people ask this question since it's an obvious play on the title, "knights of the round table". There is a bit of history behind the name though. I attended a rather large high school and the cafeteria was HUGE! The student body was so large that after you grabbed your tray of food you could spend several minutes looking for a familiar face to sit with and eat your lunch. To make things easier, various circles of friends would choose their own regular-table to sit and eat at each day. My friends and I dubbed ourselves Knights of the Round Table because we had chosen the only round table in the cafeteria (strategically located next to the jukebox which endlessly played Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple). Eventually the name evolved to Knights of the Cafeteria, Knights of the Lunch Table, etc.

#02 The strip is set in Muncie, Indiana. Are all the places mentioned in the strip real?

A: The strip is set in Muncie because that's where I attended college (Ball State University). It's where I was introduced to roleplaying and where I did most of my gaming. Since the strip was originally written to amuse my old gaming buddies and to poke fun at them, it was only natural to center the strip in Muncie. All of the places mentioned in KODT are real or were inspired by real places but the names are always changed. (With the exception of Ball State University itself). I have a lot of fun spoofing the places I used to stomp around. However, I think the Knights would be comfortable wandering around any gaming circle.

#03 I hear KODT have begun in others publications. Which ones?

A: KODT first appeared in Shadis Magazine. You can find KODT strips in Issues 2 to 21 (1990 to 1995) of Shadis if you can find any back issues. KODT has appeared in Dragon issue #226 to #269. The Gary Jackson Files debuted in the magazine Familiar and ran for four issues before the magazine folded. All of the aforementioned strips can be found, as well as many others that have appeared in various small press publications no longer available, in Tales From the Vault. 

KODT also appeared in issue 1 and 4 of Troll Magazine. More recently strips have appeared in Palladium Book's "RIFTERS", Kenzer's Book "Hackmaster of Everknight", "Avelon" and "Travelers".

#04 Is there going to be a Tales from the Vault V.4?

A: I wouldn't count on seeing any new VAULTS in a while -- the reason being, there are no NEW full sized strips being produced month to month since we yanked KODT from both Dragon and Rifters.

#05 Why have you stop publishing strip in Dragons and Rifters?

A:  Since so many of you have been asking, we pulled KODT from Dragon because the publishers wanted to work out 'new' terms. Nothing sinister, mind you, they simply wanted to work a better deal than the one we already had. However, KenzerCo was inclined to reject the new proposal. (Again, nothing sinister -- we just didn't find them acceptable.) OF course the deal we had was thrown into limbo as we prepared to sort it all out. As far as I know the ball is still in Dragon's court with both companies unwilling to budge. Such is business, I suppose. So the reason I dodged the issue as to "why isn't KODT in Dragon anymore" the past year was that I didn't want to muddy up the negotiation process. And I certainly didn't want to paint a picture of the folks at Dragon being the bad guys. Nothing could be further from the truth. And if it sounds like I'm not saying the door is closed as far as KODT returning to Dragon, I'm not. -- it's just not on our list of priorities at the moment given the tremendous work load we're under. To be honest, being out from underneath one of just many monthly deadlines has been something of a blessing.

Rifters is another story. I've been friends with the Palladium folks for years (even went on a pleasure cruise with Kevin and the gang a few years ago) and I really love working with them -- even if it was in a limited capactiy by having KODT appear in Rifters a few times a year.. But with so many projects piling up on my desk it was getting harder, and harder to justify the time I was putting into strips to my partners. If things ease up after the HackMaster core books are finished KODT may pop up again in Rifters. Anyway, that's why there probably won't be any new volumes of Vaults in the short term. I apologize to those of you who miss additional KODT material that served to scratch that itch between issues of KODT.

#06 Why the game "Fairy Meat" is so costly? 

A:  Fairy Meat was a strange beast. I don't think ANY of us here expected it to be a runaway hit and sell out so quickly. Part of that 'high price' you mentioned was due to the need for the full color cardstock insert. Now that there are Fairy Meat miniatures the need for that insert isn't really crucial to the game. When we do the next reprint we're thinking of removing the cardstock insert which of course bring the price down a bit. While I'm on the subject of minis a lot of fans asked for the KODT and BLACKHAND figures to be packaged invidually.We heard you. We've had them blister packed as indivdual figures and I believe they start shipping next month.

#07 Is HackMaster a real game? If not, are you planning on developing it?

A: We've been amazed at the demand for a HackMaster RPG. A few years back I had announced that HackMaster was coming out but then we went monthly with the comic book and it took a back seat. But in KODT issue #50, the dream come true. "Kenzer and Company" and "Hard Eight Enterprises" have announced the release of HACKMASTER 4TH Edition for Spring 2001. Here's what the Press release say :

#08 Since we saw the Knights drinking it at a biker bar, we were wondering if there is such a drink as Bohemian Lemonade, and if so, how is it made. I figured it was similar to Lynchburg Lemonade, just renamed for a LARP. Don't worry, I am over 21 and drink responsibly when driving. (When not driving can be a different story though).

A: Well, I pulled Bohemeian Lemonade from an old short story I wrote called "Confessions of a Drunk". According to the story the hero, (Joe) invented the drink and jealously guards the recipe. It's made from "Strawberry Slimfast mix, YooHoo Chocolate Soda, Old Grand Dad, Root Bear Snapps, Lemon squeezings and Pudding Skins"

After drinking it for the first time, Joe renamed the drink, Bohemian Vaccum because "it gave me the strange sensation that my brain was being sucked through a soda straw and dispersed over foreign soil."

That's the background for the drink - to my knowledge no one has ACTUALLY mixed up a batch. Let me know if you do.