Designer of RPGs and Board Games, Fiction & Non-Fiction Author,
D&D Historian, Game & Play Theorist
Robert J. Kuntz was born in 1955 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. In 1968 he met and became friends with Gary Gygax and his family. Besides mentoring him in writing and design Gary considered adopting him (at age 16).
In November, 1972 Gygax and Kuntz and several other LGTSA (Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association) members were on hand for Dave Arneson’s demonstration of his new “fantasy game,” Blackmoor, that he and his group in the Twin Cities had been playing since 1971. This meeting soon blossomed into what is known as the first commercial RPG, Dungeons & Dragons®. This started a blitz in creativity initially centered upon TSR Hobbies in Lake Geneva that has since continued unabated into the present.
Over his creative career, Robert Kuntz has accumulated many awards and accolades for his multi-faceted works. He has over 100 publishing credits to date. His works have been read worldwide by millions and published in 20 languages.
In 2020 he announced his retirement from the print publication RPG industry to pursue other media projects including a contracted novel about, and film adaptation for, “Lake Geneva Days”.
Due to his unwavering commitment to his fans he licensed part of his RPG properties to Legends of Role Playing and TLB Games. He has reorganized his IP holdings under the RJK Estate umbrella, this in order to concentrate on a wide variety of projects for feature films, documentaries, CRPG ventures, fiction/non-fiction and 5E D&D ventures.
Robert Kuntz resides in Corsica, France with his charming wife Nathalie Hachet-Kuntz.
Contact the RJK Estate: rjk.estate@orange.fr
Dungeons & Dragons is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast.
Board Game, Miniature Rules,
RPG Play-testing:
- Chainmail, play-tester
- D&D Rules, primary play-tester (Original 1972-1974 play-test team)
- Boot Hill, play-tester
- Dunkirk board game, play-tester
- Little Big Horn board game, play-tester
- Alexander the Great board game, play-tester
- Metamorphosis Alpha, play-tester
- Dungeon! board game, play-tester
- Divine Right board game, play-tester
- Tractics, play-tester
- Ancient Warfare, play-tester
- Snits Revenge board game, play-tester
- Awful Green Things from Outer Space board game, play-tester
- Temple of Elemental Evil, play-tester
- Tricolor, play-tester
Game Design/Development/Editing:
RPG (Rules):
- Greyhawk, Supplement #1 to D&D, co-author
- Blackmoor, Supplement #2 to D&D, developer/copy-editor
- Gods, Demigods & Heroes, Supplement 4 to D&D, co-author
- Swords and Spells, developer credit
- Empire of the Petal Throne, copy-editor
- Monster Manual, editorial assistance w/ Mike Carr final proofs
- Dungeon Masters Guide, non-credited contributor (as per major contributions updated from Greyhawk: Supplement #1 to Classic D&D)
- Deities and Demigods, co-author
- Premium Original Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game (2013), co-authorship
Board Games:
-
Magus board game, designer
- King of the Tabletop board game, co-designer
- Lankhmar board game, co-design/development
- Kings & Things board game (won 1986 Charles Roberts award), co-designer
RPG Adventures/Resources:
- Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, author
- Temple of Tharizdun, significant contributor credit
Three Little Books Adventures:
Maze of Zayene series, author:
- Prisoners of the Maze, Part 1, MoZ series
- Dimensions of Flight, Part 2, MoZ series
- Tower Chaos, author, Part 3, MoZ series
- The Eight Kings, Part 4, MoZ series
- Garden of the Plantmaster, author
- Fate of Istus, co-author
- The Stalk, author
- Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, co-design by major contributions
- Daemonic & Arcane, author
- The Bottle City, author
- El Raja Key's Arcane Treasury, co-author
- Cairn of the Skeleton King, author
- Tower of Blood, co-author
- The Living Room, author
- Ice Grave, author
- Dark Druids, author
HackMaster:
- Sir Robilar's City of Brass, co-author
RPGA:
- Journey to the City of Brass, (Dragon Con 1 tournament adventure; final round adjudicated by Kuntz & Gygax), author
Maure Castle series:
- The Statuary (July 2004; Dungeon Magazine #112), author
- Chambers of Antiquities (July 2005; Dungeon Magazine #124), author
- The Greater Halls (Oct 2006; Dungeon Magazine #139), author
Castles & Crusades:
Castle Zagyg:
- Dark Chateau, author
Convention RPG Adventures:
- The Sunken City, GenCon VIII, author
- The Mad House (convention workshop dungeon), NTRPG Con, lead designer
- Dungeon of Death, NTRPG Con, author
- Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, Origins II, co-designer
- The Lake Level (Castle El Raja Key), AthensCon 2017, author
- Warlock's Walk adventure module, GenCon 40 UK
Electronic media:
Non-fiction:
Columns:
- The Beginning: 1968 and Meeting Gary Gygax and the Gygax Family
- Greyhawk Theatrics, Comments and Quips in Play: Snippets, Funny Lines and Outbursts from the Lake Geneva Gamers
- Gary's Immersion in Castle El Raja Key: The Four-Way Footsteps
- Gencon IX: When Many Sought Adventure
- Burmania! Part 1: Check Your Sanity at the Door
- Burmania! Part 2: "Keep on Going!"
Fiction (authored):
- Journey to the City of the Gods short story (with commentary by David L. Arneson)
- Quest for the Vermillion Volume short story
- Black Festival novella
ERKA Poster Maps:
- The Original Bottle City
- The Dungeon of the Mad Wizard Krazor
- Castle El Raja Key Megadungeon
- The Sewers & Catacombs
- World of Kalibruhn™ - Lands of the Sunken City
- Dark Druids
Filmography:
Game Design Workshops, Seminars, Panel Discussions
(by Convention, 1987-present):
● GENCON ● DRAGON CON ● NORTH TEXAS RPG CON ●
● GARY CON ● LUCCA COMICS & GAMES ● ATHENSCON ●
Award Nominations (3):
- Kings & Things board game (won)
- Sir Robilar's City of Brass (lost)
- Maure Castle, Dungeon Magazine #112 (won)
Publishers (1975-current):
- TSR Hobbies
- Paizo Publishing
- West End Games
- Different Worlds
- Hobby Japan
- Pegasus Spiele
- Z-Man Games
- Kenzer & Company
- Necromancer Games
- Pied Piper Publishing
Magazine Contributions
(1973-current, by periodical):
- Dungeon Magazine
- Dragon Magazine
- Strategic Review
- Campaign Magazine
- AFS Magazine
- Fight On!
- Wargames
- The General
- Troll Magazine
- Crusader Magazine
- Gaming Frontiers
- Oerth Journal
- Isola Illyon
- Multiverse
- La Gazette du Donjon, via Retroclone
- The RPG Pundit
- Kotaku
- SyFy Wire
Conventions Chaired:
- GENCON 8 & 9, Chairman
- Winter Fantasy 1, Chairman
Game Industry/Hobby Distinctions/Notable Achievements:
IFW member; LGTSA President; "King" Castle & Crusades Society; Editor, The Domesday Book; lead play-tester Dungeons & Dragons; TSR founding era employee; 3rd longest-standing Fantasy RPG world (World of Kalibruhn, designed top>down); first fiction published by TSR (Quest for the Vermillion Volume); TSR's content editor for Judges Guild licensed D&D products; President Creations Unlimited and Pied Piper Publishing; Charles Roberts Award winner; Golden Ennie Award winner; conceptualized, forwarded and instituted the first designer-received award for RPG design excellence in the industry (the Three Castles Award).
Select Online Interviews:
- The Kyngdoms Interview by Eric Noah
- Isola Illyon Interview by Luca Scelza
- Radio Improntadigitale Radio interview and Lucca Games interview, both at Lucca Comics & Games 2015
- Hill Cantons Interview by Chris Kutalik
- Grognard Games Video interview by Martin Brown
- Secrets of Blackmoor Feature documentary: Rob Kuntz appeared in the documentary, was interviewed and also wrote a special preface.
- Multiverse, a Blog from TSR®, Inc. Interview by Timothy Connolly
- La Gazette du Donjon Interview by Antoine Poncin. English interview available here
- The RPG Pundit Three-part interview by Kasimir Urbanski
- Kotaku Interview by Cecilia D'Anastasio
- Syfy Wire Interview by Matt Bassil.
Select Online Resources: