First Appearance : Game Jester #2 (June '96)
                                 Tales from the Vault (August '97 p49)

Bio :
Gary Jackson is fondly known as the "Gawdfather of Gaming" by millions of gaming enthusiasts around the world. His failing wargame company, Hard 8 Enterprises, was about to close its doors for good in 1977 when Gary tossed the dice on a hastily produced role-playing game, The HackMasters of EverKnightTM. The first print run was quickly snapped off the shelves and soon frantic distributors were calling Gary's three man shop with pleas of "More!" Gary has been riding Hackmaster spin-offs ever since. For those who want to know what 'hard eight' means, it refers to the game of craps where Cary has blown thousands of dollars of company money over the years on his frequent trips to Vegas.

Gary recently die from a plane crach!

First Appearance : Game Jester #2 (June '96)
                                 Tales from the Vault (August '97 p49)

Bio :
Edmund Finely was once Gary Jackson's paperboy. One morning he was coerced into filling an empty chair during a play-testing session of HackMaster and became ensnared in 'Gary's Game'. That was twenty years ago and Edmund has been on the Hard 8 team ever since (though he's only been on the payroll for the past four months). Edmund wears the proud title of "Director of Research and Development" and recently oversaw the production of his first written work, Abe, Babes and RollerBlades(TM), described as a "sexy, zany, time-travelling romp through history and fashion".

First Appearance : Familiar #9 (August '96)
                                Tales from the Vault (August '97 p51)

Bio :
Waco Bob is one of the original share holders of Hard 8. He really doesn't do much at the company other than agree with virtually every word that comes out of Gary's mouth. Waco has done well, financially, working with Gary and that seems to be enough to have earned his undying devotion. Waco does sit in on every playtesting session he can. But since he seems to love every game he plays, regardless of it's flaws, his value as a playtester leaves a lot to be desired. He invariably fills out his playtester evaluation forms with, "This game is the next HackMaster!!"

First Appearance : Familiar #9 (August '96)
                                Tales from the Vault (August '97 p51)

Bio :
Jo Jo is one of Gary Jackson's favorite, "yes-men". When he bought out Battle Cry Games in 1384, Jo Jo Zeke came as part of the deal. For years Jo Jo was considered the 'King ofHex-andCardboavd-Cozlnte;" wargames and has over forty-two titles under his belt. His most famous game design was 'The Pope's Panzers' a 'what-if' wargame simulation that rocked war gaming circles around the country. The sequel,'V-Rockets at the Vatican' earned him his first Gamers' Choice Award for best game design. Jo Jo is now responsible for writing much of the navor text for HackMaster adventures (something he has a knack for), and crunching rules. It is rumored he lives in his office at Hard Eight Enterprises.

First Appearance : Familiar #9 (August '96)
                                Tales from the Vault (August '97 p51)

Bio :
Pete has been with Gary Jackson since the beginning. In fact they met in college where they used to play epic sessions of MERC ARMOR and BLAZING GUNS. When Gary started his company, Pete came onboard as his first full-time game designer (working for shares in the beginning). In recent years the friendship has been strained as Gary's projects have repeatedly over-shadowed Pete's pet projects. In fact Gary usually targets Pete for his much publicized verbal abuse and ego-bruising. Still, Pete is loyal to Gary and Hard Eight Enterprises and rarely complains.

First Appearance : Familiar #8 (June '96)
                                Tales from the Vault (Août '97 p50)

Bio : 
Tuley isn't an employee at Hard Eight, nor is he considered an intern. He originally came to the company as part of a Summer Playtester program. He was tricked into running the company's customer service department by being led to believe it was a 'virtual corporation computer game' and that was earning points based on how well he 'played' the game which involved answering the phone and working out 'variable solutions' to each call. No one has mentioned the 'game' in quite some time and Tuley tent to live in his office, occasionally order out for pizza and man his station.

Update :
Tuley is now a full time employee of H8E. He is in fact the "Manager of Sales and Marketing". He have even suggest to cut 25% of his salary (along with the others) to bring back Waco Bob in the company.

Bio : 
Norman Bowzer is a role-player who made good and realized his dream. He started out as a freelancer and began to pump so much HackMaster material into the Hard 8 offices that he was eventually asked to come on board. A few years ago he replaced Earl Slackmozer as the editor of HackJournal magazine and has been doing a bang up job of scratching the 'hack-n-slash' itch for thousands of fans. Gary has become so comfortable with Norman's writing ability that he has sanctioned all of Norman's material as 'official' Hackmaster material (even though Gary rarely reads Norman's work as of late). Norman has a long standing rivalry with Bitter Stevil. Norman cut Stevil's column from HackJournal soon after taking the helm.

First Appearance : KODT #19 (May 1998 "A Time for Heroes")

Bio :
Eight year old Timmy Jackson is Gary's youngest son. He is also the newly installed chief developer for the SpackHack sci-fi roleplaying game. He had been responsible for development on the superhero frp Heroes and Zeroes, but was reassigned due to a rash of complaints following the release of H&Z's Background Tool Chest supplement. Gary, uncharacteristically emotional, feels terrible about this and has promised to make it up to Timmy by bringing his favorite TV hero, Xena the Warrior Princess, to the next HackCon.

Bio :
Very few people have ever seen the infamous Antignano Brothers. Those who have are usually reluctant to talk about it. It's known that Gary Jackson has kept them on the payroll for years. Their checks are usually annotated with the cryptic words, "for various services rendered". It is said that Vince and Tony Antignano wear grey, pinstripe suits with twenty-sider cuff links. A few years ago, Nitro Fergueson publicly insulted Gary Jackson at a convention. A few days later, he fedexed a letter of apology to Gary. It is rumored the Antignano Brothers paid him a 'visit'.

Bio :
This is the lawyer of Gary's wife, Ms. Heidi Jackson. A Corporate-Assassin!