Kevin Siembieda

Kevin Siembieda
Kevin Siembieda at Gen Con 2014
Born
Kevin Henry Siembieda

(1956-04-02) April 2, 1956 (age 68)
Detroit, Michigan, US
EducationCollege for Creative Studies
Occupations
  • Author
  • designer
  • illustrator
  • publisher of role-playing games at Palladium Books
Years active1979–current
Notable workHeroes Unlimited
The Mechanoid Invasion
Palladium Fantasy RPG
Rifts
SpouseMaryann Donald (1985–2004)

Kevin Siembieda (born April 2, 1956) is an American artist, writer, designer and publisher of role-playing games.

Career

Siembieda is a third-generation Polish American.[1] He attended the College for Creative Studies in Detroit from 1974 to 1977.[2]: 155  He wanted to work as a comic book artist, but found the industry difficult to break into and published a small-press comic (A+ Plus, 1977-1978) with his company, Megaton Publications.[2]: 155  In 1979 Siembieda discovered the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rulebook and joined a role-playing group, the Wayne Street Weregamers, which met at Wayne State University in Detroit (where he befriended Erick Wujcik, who ran the group).[2]: 155  Siembieda ran a game for the group, the Palladium of Desires, a combination of AD&D and his house rules.[2]: 155  By 1980 the Weregamers became the Detroit Gaming Centre, with Siembieda its assistant director and Wujcik its director.[2]: 155  Siembieda tried to interest gaming companies in his RPG with little interest; only Judges Guild made him an offer, but he accepted an employment offer from them instead.[2]: 155–156  He worked as an artist for Judges Guild for four months before working as a freelance artist for other publishers and trying to sell his RPG to them.[2]: 156 

Siembieda is the co-founder and president of Palladium Books.[3] He founded the company in April 1981 to publish his fantasy role-playing game, but had insufficient funds to publish any books; the mother of his friend Bill Loebs loaned Siembieda $1,500 to publish his first RPG book, The Mechanoid Invasion (1981).[2]: 156  By 1983 the company was successful enough for Siembieda to rent warehouse space and release his fantasy RPG, the Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game[2]: 157  with a loan of $10,000 from his friend Thom Bartold who had also loaned him funds to print the other two books in the Mechanoid Trilogy, Journey and Homeworld in 1982.[citation needed] These were not just loans, but investments, and Siembieda established a system of paying royalties not just to the writers and artists, but also to those who lent him the capital needed to print the books: his investors.[citation needed] The following year, he branched the Palladium system to the superhero genre with Heroes Unlimited.[2]: 157  A freelancer contacted Siembieda about producing a licensed role-playing game based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book, so Siembieda obtained the rights, but was dissatisfied with the supplement the freelancer produced; Erick Wujcik redesigned the game in five weeks, and it was published in 1985 as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness.[2]: 158  Siembieda next obtained the license to publish a game based on the Robotech anime series, so he designed the Robotech role-playing game and published in 1986.[2]: 158–159 

Siembieda wrote the RPG Rifts (1990) as a trade paperback in a two-column format which he laid out by hand.[2]: 160  He supported Wujcik in founding his own company, Phage Press.[2]: 160  In 1992, Siembieda sued Wizards of the Coast over its first RPG book, The Primal Order; GAMA president Mike Pondsmith helped the parties reach a compromise in March 1993.[2]: 161  Siembieda also disagreed with White Wolf magazine and GDW over the coverage in their magazines regarding Palladium games.[2]: 161  He demanded that websites devoted to Rifts and Palladium be taken down, believing that they violated his intellectual property, but eventually softened his stance in 2004.[2]: 161  Siembieda fired Bill Coffin over editorial differences and dissatisfaction with the Rifts Coalition Wars that Siembieda and Coffin co-authored.[2]: 162  He announced on April 19, 2006 that Palladium Books was approaching bankruptcy, due to a former employee who had embezzled from the company.[2]: 162  Siembieda filed a lawsuit on May 7, 2010 against Trion Worlds for its MMORPG Rift: Planes of Telara, and a settlement was reached in October 2010.[2]: 163  Role-playing games Siembieda has created include Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game (1983), Heroes Unlimited (1984), Robotech (1986), and Rifts (1990).[4]

He is also an artist, and has occasionally illustrated Palladium Books products. Siembieda contributed art and cartography to several early Judges Guild products for the Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest and Traveller lines.[5]

In 2015, he was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame.

Early illustration credits

Judges Guild

Dungeons & Dragons

  • Nevins, Paul & Faust, Bill (October 1979). Verbosh. Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 108]. - Front cover, interior art; maps (with B. Faust)
  • Mayeau, Michael E. (1979). Operation Ogre. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 109]. - Front cover; interior art (with Gerald Busby and Ed L. Perry)
  • Hinnen, Bryan (1979). The Mines of Custalcon. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 111]. - Front cover (with Ken Simpson and Rick Houser)
  • Karczag, Paul (November 1979). The Maltese Clue. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D). [JG 114]. - Interior art.
  • Emigh, Dave (1980). The Sword of Hope. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 118]. - Interior art (with Aaron Arocho, Michael D. Reagan and Jennell Jaquays)
  • Emigh, D. (1980). Tower of Ulission. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 119]. - Interior art (with A. Arocho, Bob Bingham and P. Jaquays)
  • Pruehs, Allen V. & Pruehs, Ree Moorhead (1980). Escape from Astigar's Lair. AD&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 124]. - Front cover; interior art (with P. Jaquays)
  • Bledsaw, Bob & Hippenhammer, Creighton (1980). City State of the World Emperor. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 150]. - Interior art (with P. Jaquays)
  • Bledsaw, B.; Hippenhammer, C.; Kraft, Rudy & Miner, Clayton (1980). City State of the World Emperor—Book I: Map Guide. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 155]. - Interior art (with P. Jaquays)
  • Bledsaw, B.; Hippenhammer, C.; Kraft, R.; Miner, C. & Holmer, Mark (1980). City State of the World Emperor—Book II: Shops. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 156]. - Interior art
  • Bledsaw, B.; Hippenhammer, C.; Kraft, R.; Miner, C.; Holmer, M. & Hinnen, B. (1980). City State of the World Emperor—Book III: City. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 157]. - Interior art (with P. Jaquays)
  • Dale, Geoffrey O. (March 1980). The Treasure Vaults of Lindoran. AD&D. [JG 190]. - Front cover (with Bill Hadley); interior art (with P. Jaquays).[6]
  • Kraft, R. (1980). Portals of Torsh. AD&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 260]. - Interior art (with Brian Wagner, David Allen, Robert Bledsaw, Jr., and Carol Lind).
  • Hinnen, B. (1980). Spies of Lightelf. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 270]. - Interior art (with P. Jaquays)
  • Jaquays, P. (1980). Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches. D&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 300]. - Interior art (with P. Jaquays)
  • Bledsaw, B. & Adams, Gary (1980). Modron. D&D (5th printing, 2nd ed.). Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 34]. - Interior art (with Pixie Bledsaw, E. L. Perry, and K. Simpson)
  • Mayeau, M. E. (1980). The Dragon Crown. D&D (2nd printing, 1st ed.). Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 76]. - Interior art (with P. Jaquays)
  • Blake, R. J. (1980). Of Skulls and Scrapfaggot Green. D&D (4th printing, 2nd ed.). Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 80]. - Interior art (with P. Jaquays)
  • Kraft, R. (1981). Portals of Irontooth. AD&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 560]. - Interior art (with K. Simpson, Erin McKee, A. Arocho and E. L. Perry)
  • Mattson, John (1981). House on Hangman's Hill. AD&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 670]. - Front cover; interior art (with E. McKee, E. L. Perry and K. Simpson)
  • Kraft, R. (1981). Portals of Twilight. AD&D. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 770]. - Interior art (with E. McKee, R. Houser, K. Simpson, Paul W. Vinton and the Sorceror's Guild)

RuneQuest

  • Kraft, R. (1979). Broken Tree Inn. RuneQuest. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 107]. - Interior art (with P. Jaquays and A. Arocho)
  • Nevins, P. & Faust, B. (1980). City of Lei Tabor. RuneQuest. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 310]. - Front cover; interior art (with A. Arocho and B. Faust)
  • Kraft, R. (1980). Duck Pond. RuneQuest. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 380]. - Front cover

Traveller

  • Nevins, P. & Faust, B. (1979). Dra'k'ne Station. Traveller. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 105]. - Front cover; interior art (with P. Jaquays)
  • Sering, Dave (1980). Tancred. Traveller. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 330]. - Interior art (with A. Arocho and Peter Jenkins)
  • Harm, Ray; Reagan, M. D. & Hauffe, Dan (1980). Darthanon Queen. Traveller. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 340]. - Interior art (with P. Jenkins)

Universal Fantasy

  • Wilson, Charles M. (1981). Masters of Mind. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 690]. - Interior art (with K. Simpson and E. L. Perry)
  • Mortimer, Edward R. G.; Mortimer, Diane & Mortimer, John (1982). Prey of Darkness. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 840]. - Front cover; interior art (with R. Houser, P. Jaquays and J. Mortimer)
  • Hinnen, B. (1982). Shield Maidens of Sea Rune. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 1010]. - Interior art (with K. Simpson, J. Mortimer and P. W. Vinton)
  • Hinnen, B. & Hauffe, D. (1982). Pirates of Hagrost. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 1030]. - Back cover

Judges Guild Journal

  • Anshell, Charles; Gooding, Penny, eds. (August–September 1979). "Judges Guild Journal". Judges Guild Journal. No. 16. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 103]
  • Anshell, C.; Gooding, P., eds. (October–November 1979). "Judges Guild Journal". Judges Guild Journal. No. 17. [JG 110] - Front cover, interior art.
  • Anshell, C.; Gooding, P., eds. (December 1979 – January 1980). "Judges Guild Journal". Judges Guild Journal. No. 18. [JG 121] - Interior art
  • Anshell, C.; Gooding, P., eds. (February–March 1980). "Judges Guild Journal". Judges Guild Journal. No. 19. [JG 160] - Front cover, interior art
  • Anshell, C.; Bledsaw, Bob, eds. (April–May 1980). "Judges Guild Journal". Judges Guild Journal. No. 20. [JG 200] - Interior art

Dungeoneer Journal

  • Anshell, C.; Reagan, Michael D., eds. (October–November 1980). "Dungeoneer Journal". Dungeoneer Journal. No. 23. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 390] - Interior art.
  • Anshell, C.; Reagan, M. D., eds. (December 1980 – January 1981). "Dungeoneer Journal". Dungeoneer Journal. No. 24. [JG 450] - Front cover, interior art
  • Anshell, C.; Reagan, M. D., eds. (February–March 1981). "Dungeoneer Journal". Dungeoneer Journal. No. 25. [JG 470] - Front cover, interior art

Pegasus

  • Reagan, M. D.; Anshell, C., eds. (June–July 1981). "Pegasus". Pegasus. No. 2. Decatur, IL: Judges Guild. [JG 610] - Interior art
  • Reagan, M. D.; Anshell, C., eds. (August–September 1981). "Pegasus". Pegasus. No. 3. [JG 620] - Interior art
  • Vinton, Paul W.; Mortimer, Edward R. G., eds. (February–March 1982). "Pegasus". Pegasus. No. 6. [JG 870] - Interior art
  • Homer, Mark S., ed. (December 1982 – January 1983). "Pegasus". Pegasus. No. 11. [JG 1190] - Interior art
  • Maddin, Mike, ed. (February–March 1983). "Pegasus". Pegasus. No. 12. [JG 1210] - Interior art

FASA

TSR

Palladium role-playing games

References

  1. ^ "Likewise, though I am of Polish descent, I am third generation American and can speak virtually none of the Polish language and know little about "traditional" Polish customs." Kevin Siembieda, Rifts Conversion Book, 1991.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  3. ^ "Palladium Books Personalities: In-House Staff". Westland, MI: Palladium Books. 4 December 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  4. ^ Houghton, Z. (July 13, 2009). "Mega-Interview with Kevin Siembieda". RPG Blog II. Mountain View, CA: Google / Blogger. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  5. ^ "Judges Guild Booty List". The Acaeum. Chicago, IL: HostForWeb. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  6. ^ Fawcett, W. (December 1980). Jacquet, J (ed.). "The Dragon's Augury: Here Comes the Judges Guild". Dragon. No. 44. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR. p. 75. ISSN 0279-6848. The art by Kevin Siembieda is excellent and adds to the text in several places