Erick Wujcik
This website is dedicated to Erick Wujcik, game designer, writer, artist, originator of ideas, thinker and kind soul. Friend to countless people and an inspiration to thousands upon thousands more.
He is one of my dearest friends, so it is with a heavy heart that I report Erick Wujcik, age 56, is dying of cancer.
Until a few weeks ago, Erick was healthy and doing fine. He was enjoying his work at Totally Games, a videogame company, when he thought he had come down with the flu. When he couldn’t shake it, he went to the doctors. The prognosis was unexpected, to say the least. Pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver. There was no advance warning. It was a shock. Erick presses forward with the willful exuberance he has exhibited all his life.
We thought about letting people know after Christmas, but Erick’s time is, all too quickly, running out.
We thought it would be wonderful to give the millions of people who have loved the man and enjoyed his games, the opportunity to express their appreciation for him and his work. I have no doubt your comments and remembrances will put a smile on Erick’s face and help his spirit soar.
While this is sad news that weighs heavily on our hearts, we’d like this website, and the comments posted on it, to be a celebration of Erick’s wonderful life.
Just as you did when Palladium announced its Crisis of Treachery, let Erick know how much you have enjoyed his games and ideas. How Ninja Turtles (or Amber or whatever) turned you on to gaming or opened up your mind to new possibilities, and similar commentaries, thoughts and regards. I know your kind words and warm remembrances will put a smile on his face and warm his soul.
We’ve chosen to go with a blog style. Post as often as you’d like. Share your recollections about encounters with Erick, the first time you heard him speak or met him at a convention, what he and his work have meant to you, funny convention stories, and whatever else feels right.
The Erick I know
I’ve often said two things about Erick Wujcik, 1) that he is a true game designing genius, and 2) that he is a true Bohemian.
The game design genius. I’ve known a great many people who have claimed to be a genius at game design or covet the title, but Erick really is a genius, at least when it comes to game design. He mastered the art of storytelling and understands the dynamics of game design better than anyone I’ve ever met. Erick has created more great games that have never been completed and published than most game designers dream about.
That drives me and others a little crazy, because Erick’s quick mind leaps from one great idea to the next with the exuberance of a child lunging from one present to the next on Christmas Day. Like that child, he is enthralled with his new toy – new idea – until something else catches his attention. Unfortunately, that sometimes means his great ideas are left unfinished, but boy, are they exciting, and I’ve had the privilege of hearing many of them.
That’s the other aspect of Erick’s genius, his enthusiasm and hunger for new ideas, and desire to stretch the boundaries of convention, is contagious. He can get you (certainly me) excited and going with an idea faster than anyone I know. To Erick, there are no limits or boundaries. “Why not” and “what if” and “how about” are essential parts of Erick’s vocabulary. If you float an idea or notion of any merit, he seizes it and starts to postulate on its premise and potential. “That’s cool, but what if . . .”
I cannot tell you how often Erick and I would feed on each other, throwing out ideas and building on suggestions and excitement until we both collapsed laughing and exhausted. Sometimes those idea sessions (often impromptu) went nowhere other than fun, playful mental exercises. Other times they’d lead to new perceptions, new realms of possibility, and published works or a personal epiphany.
Erick helped me fine-tune parts of the Palladium role-playing game universal game system way back when. Not at some office (heck, we were both working out of our homes), but at a laundromat on Michigan Avenue in southwest Detroit. I was second guessing myself and frustrated. Erick had to wash his clothes. So we met at a place near my house and chatted about character creation, the elements that made them fun, which attributes were necessary, were eight too many, etc., while waiting for his clothes to wash and folding his shirts. The people around us must have thought we were crazy. So did my ex-wife when Erick would “drop by for an hour” at 8:00 P.M. to talk about a new idea or something he read, and at midnight he and I would be still be going strong, excitedly talking about . . . god only knows till the wee hours of the morning. Awesome. By then we would have moved well beyond the original reason he stopped by. I love talking to Erick about anything and everything. From game and story ideas or new concepts, to the application of psychology or technology or theology, to personal thoughts, fears, dreams and aspirations.
Erick the Bohemian. I call Erick a true Bohemian, because I don’t think I know anybody who enjoys life more deeply than Erick. He loves meeting new people, visiting new places, exploring new ideas, tasting new food, and taking in everything and everyone around him. Furthermore, his personal circumstances are always secondary to his enjoyment of his surroundings and the people in them. Erick’s sense of wonder is endless. We’re similar in that regard, as we both love new ideas and quickly see the endless possibilities they represent. But Erick simply immerses himself in them and floats along just enjoying wherever they may take him. He’s not necessarily looking to figure out how to apply them or exploit them, at least not at that moment of discovery, he’s simply adrift in them and soaking in all they have to offer.
Money, fame and recognition are nice, and Erick isn’t going to turn any of them away, but they aren’t necessities. Rich or poor, Erick has never changed. Maybe he enjoys a little more luxury, but it’s the experience of interacting with people, the exchange of ideas and sheer pleasure of experiencing something new that brings Erick joy. That, and creating and inspiring others to push the envelope and imagine beyond the known limits.
Gosh, there are so many stories I could tell, but I’ll stop here, for now. While I’m smiling, ear to ear, in the warmth of my friendship.
On behalf of Erick Wujcik and his many friends and admirers,
– Kevin Siembieda – December 22, 2007
Publisher and owner of Palladium Books® Inc., game designer, writer, artist and lucky son of gun for having Erick Wujcik as one of my dearest friends for nearly 30 years. Your light will live on, Erick, in your published works and in the hearts and minds of the multitude of people whose souls you have touched and made better for it. Love ya.
Jack Kessler
Though I can count the times I’ve gamed with Erick on one hand, every time was memorable and I consider him one of the mentors I’ve had over the years.
We haven’t e-mailed much in the last few years, but during one of those periods, I’m glad I expressed my belief that interaction with him and his Amber Diceless game has had a major impact on how I game and think about gaming. So rather than rehashing that, I thought I’d share some memories.
My first direct contact with him was in preparation for my first Ambercon, back in…. ’93? Back in those days, Erick ran the con more or less himself, and I had volunteered to run a game to insure myself a spot at the con (sizes were limited in those days, I’m sure due to a number of factors, such as Erick’s sanity, the goodies Phage Press gave out each year, and the the fact that meals were provided, so you could game nearly continuously). He called before the con, asking questions about the scenario I intended to run, checking me out before he assigned players to it I suppose (we learned what we were playing (and where) that first night when Erick showed up with the game assignments). I was shocked – the author of the game was calling me! And nervous. I’d only played Amber Diceless online, and never GMed yet. But whatever I said, it must have been good enough, as I ‘passed’ and got on the list of games.
It took a couple of years to get into one of his games. It didn’t go well. Erick is a very demanding GM, and exacting as well. And I don’t think any of us were up to the challenge that first evening of whatever Ambercon it was. It ran VERY late, and we’d reduced the universe to a 20-yard region from which we seemed to be in no danger of expanding anytime soon. There was an answer, of course, but we were too tired and frustrated to think of it, and so the game was called. Erick isn’t one to give you a pas to keep the game moving – YOU need to solve the mystery, or come up with a way to make him solve it for you. We’d been Wuj’ed. That was probably my least favorite Amber game, and I learned a lesson on how I wanted to run my games that night, and I vowed never to game in one of his sessions again, as I didn’t have much fun. I’m glad I didn’t stick to that.
A few years later I tried again, and had a blast! Probably one of the best sessions. I learned a lot of things I wanted to try and capture in my own games that session. What was the difference? I couldn’t tell you, other than I’d played with many more GMs since then, remembered my past experience, and played to have fun, rather than solve the mystery. Maybe the outlook and intent was important – maybe we just ‘got’ it that time. Whatever it was, it made the con for me, and I was SOOO glad to have been there.
When Erick was working in Cincinnati, and I lived in Columbus, he invited my wife and I down to participate in one of his playtest-style games. It was different, fascinating, very challenging, and while we didn’t ‘solve’ it in the end, we had a great ride along the way. I would have liked to have had other opportunities, but it was not to be – Erick was moving on to his next gig before a repeat performance was arranged.
I had a chance to join into one of his regular con games some years back, but due to some miscommunication, I let the opportunity slip through my fingers. Given that I haven’t been to Ambercon in a few years, and GenCon has been hit or miss, I’m not sure how often I would have been able to show up, but I would have liked to have seen a glimpse of what he could do in a longer term game. And the idea of being in a Wujick Amber campaign would be an ego stroke as well. Alas, I thought there would be more opportunities in the future.
One of my favorite memories of Erick will always be his impromptu visits, wondering around and barging in unannounced at Ambercon during a game because he was genuinely interested in seeing what people were up to, what they were playing, and of course, to ask if they were using dice! 🙂 He would stay a few minutes, maybe watch a little, talk about experiences, or maybe relate an anecdote, and then he’d be gone again.
I miss that.
Joe Bergmans
Erick, I hardly knew you but recognize you to be a fine man and great human being. I remember at Gen Con 89, being so excited wanting to meet up with Kevin and waiting for him at the loading dock – that I missed him as he came in through the front, set up and left. But the neat thing about that was that I had the chance to chat with you for a moment as you happened to be looking for him as well. And, you remembered me from 88′, a testament to your sharp mind. I really respect and appreciate the way you treat everyone with a curious and open mind. I’m happy that you tenured with UbiSoft and then Totally Games, makers of the X-Wing series of games, some of the greatest games ever made. I know everyone will be looking forward to the products from them that you have had a hand in. I am sorry that we have not had a chance to do lunch in the Bay Area – a shame as we live so close here in California. I still have your card and had intended to call, but you more than most understand how busy lives can get. Thank you always for your honesty, candor and the good, positive impression you leave on me.
Shane
Eric,
The stuff you wrote gave my group so many sessions of fun I couldn’t count them if I tried. I can’t think of a better way to compliment your work.
Although I don’t know you personally, my thoughts are with you and yours.
Regards,
Shane Mclean
Josh Sinsapaugh
Hi Erick,
I met you for the first time at the Palladium Open House. Hearing you speak at the game design seminars, et cetera, and talking to you personally for a few precious moments, I at once realized that you are truly one of the most brilliant and energetic people I’ve ever met. Hearing you speak not only inspired me, but also truly made me think. The work you’ve done, both in game design and in the real world is nothing short of commendable. You’ve put a smile on my face many times, your work often acting as a blazing torch in the dark.
You’ve put smiles on a lot of faces over the years, and your work will continue to do so for years to come.
Cheers,
Josh Sinsapaugh
Omote
I’ve been lucky enough to meet you only once, but it was a memorable moment for me. In playing your games, Erick, for the better part of my gaming life, I can’t express how much joy and pure entertainment your games have given me and our various gaming groups over the years. Though you don’t know me, you are loved!
-Omote, dedicated martial artist of Wujcik.
Belinda
Hi Erick! I met you a few years ago when you came to Sydney, Australia, and showed up at Necronomicon.
A few days later, someone in my writing group at the time (now defunct, alas) invited me to a ‘special game’, run by you. Small world. I showed up at a house in Roselle, and then you fished a small, crumpled piece of paper out of your pocket and went through the list of games you wanted to run. All little quirky, concept scenarios. I was keen on Amber, but the rest of group was leaning towards hard SF, so overall we selected ‘Quantum Time.’ I liked how we all had a hand in designing the overall Quantum Universe, when you asked us a question each about what the world was like.
And then we began our game of exploring parallel universes, discovering that our own timeline had been ‘bootstrapped’ by people from the future and all of the implications that arose from that. And one of our players proved via a cunning diagram that we could go forward into a parallel, and you just blinked and ran with it. We were playing until 4AM in the morning.
It was a great game and brilliantly run. It’s one of those games I’ll always remember, and I’m wishing you the very best.
ManyFacesofDave
Hi Erick!
Palladium was the first game system I ever played, and I can go through so many of my books seeing your name mentioned. You’re a very creative soul, and the things you have helped create have given me and my friends hours, even years of enjoyment time and time again! I always like learning about the people that helped to make the games I enjoy, and I’m learning a lot about you now.
No matter the game, I always try to incorporate something from Ninjas & SuperSpies and Mystic China into them. When I heard that Rifts China was in the works, I HAD to have these books! I has 1 and 2, and was anxiously awaiting 3 when I heard it was indefinitely put on hold. Well, now I at least know it’s for a good reason. But that’s a legacy to be proud of. You’ve helped create worlds and characters to interact with in our mind’s eyes, and you’ve left us yearning for more. That’s the true mark of an artist. And you’re all that and more. I wish you all the best, you’ve earned it.
John Fiala
Hi there, Erick.
I never met you, and I never was touched by your games more than the usual – I loved/love TMNT / After the Bomb, I love Amber Diceless, and I generally have enjoyed your work on Palladium’s other properties. I’m so sad to hear about the cancer, and I’ll miss you.
Michael B.
I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Erick, but I have had a lot of pleasant memories given to me by Erick, from the games of TMNT that I ran in college, to the eye opening experience of Amber DRPG. The best gaming experiences I have had were the results of his creation of Amber.
You will be missed.
Gregor Hutton
Erick,
I just wanted to say that you gave me, and my friends, so many hours of happy gaming. It was at school that I first played TMNT and your influence on my own gaming has continued from that day onwards.
All the best from Scotland.
-Gregor
Matt Miller
I posted this on my game’s forums and will repost it here with more details:
Erick, if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be Lead Designer on City of Heroes. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t even have my son, or be married for that matter.
I can trace the genesis of all these events back in time to a single event at DunDraCon in San Ramon, CA. It was 2am, and I had nothing to do, but I ran into a guy I played a couple games of Mekton with off and on at this convention in the years previous.
We were telling stories of our past games (as gamers so often do), when he mentioned that his friend was starting an Amber RPG campaign. I told him my roommate (and myself) would be TOTALLY interested in doing that.
Getting into that campaign was the point where my life turned for the better. I met people there. One of which knew you very well, and played in your D&D game back in Michigan, as well as being one of the playtesters for Amber. I heard all the stories about your GM’ing, and John (the friend in question) and I quickly became great friends. John’s friendship led to Sean’s friendship, which led to Bruce, which led to his Maggi (Bruce’s girlfriend), which led to Diane (the roomate of Maggi) who I would eventually marry. Sean would eventually get me the interview which landed me the job at Cryptic Studios where I worked my way from Systems Designer to Lead Designer for City of Heroes.
I know it all sounds very complicated, but I have traced everything back to that one 2am conversation in San Ramon about a diceless RPG based on a series of novels I really liked. Had Amber not existed, and you not written a game about it, I can almost guarentee I would not be working on City of Heroes, muchless leading it.
Over the years I have had the pleasure of gaming with you a couple of times, and sitting in and listening to your games countless others. Lessons learned from watching you Game Master have been applied in what I have done in CoH/CoV, so everyone who plays CoH can trace their gaming lineage back to you as well.
——————–
Matt “Positron” Miller
Lead Designer, City of Heroes
Del Esau
Turtles man, the turtles. Amber, Ninja’s and Superstars. These are the things Erick Wujcik created. Not bombs or controversy or nonsense.
Me could all learn from the man. My best wishes to Erick in the coming days.
Del Esau
Black Powder Games
Christopher V. Brady
I said this on RPG.net, but I want to expand on it.
My first Palladium RPG that I owned was TMNT, and I loved it, despite never having read or seen TMNT until then. My second was Ninjas and Superspies, and that one sparked and cemented my love of martial arts and martial arts gaming.
And I may not have liked the Diceless ideal behind the Amber RPG, but I always loved the prose style, and it always sparks something in my head, stories one could tell using Erick’s vision of the world.
Honestly, I hate the Palladium system, it’s never worked for ME mechanically, I’ve always had issues with it, and yet, if anyone were to start a TMNT or N&S game in my area, I’d be there with bells on! And probably with more clothes too…
Thank you, Erick, for everything you’ve done to help enrich this gamer’s life. And I sincerely hope you can beat the odds and keep doing what you love to do.
However, and although we’ve never met personally, know that you will be missed, and your dreams and vision will be remembered fondly by those you’ve touched.
Godspeed, Mr. Wujcik.
Thomas B.
Hi from Switzerland Erick,
I don’t know you personally but TMNT and Amber are two of my fondest memories growing up as a French gamer.
I remember my first character creation at TMNT, in a summer camp, slowly deciphering the English-language rulebook and asking camp counselors for help with translating animal species. “Otter” was a very mysterious word to us at the time, and if I’m able to type this message in English today it’s partly thanks to you (and partly thanks to my then minmaxing obsession with finding the “best” species).
I remember a week-long Amber DRPG campaign at a friend’s house in the countryside. The auction system, the points for actually drawing drump cards, the diceless mechanics… We would play all day and most of the night, being kicked outside every now and then by our friend’s concerned parents, to get some fresh air. Years before the Forge, the Big Model and whatnot, you showed the world that things could be different and that badass novels deserved a badass system.
Since then, I’ve written RPG supplements, my English got better and I’ve not forgotten your work. We owe you, Erick.
Merci.
kultrshok
Like many others I have never had a chance to meet you in person, but I can say that you had a major influence on my life. The TMNT games were the first real game system my friends played, and continue to play to this day. You have given me thousands of hours of enjoyment. My heart goes out to you and yours. Thank you for all of the fantastic memories.
MADMANMIKE
Erick, it was an honor to meet you at the ’07 Palladium Open House. Star struck, I asked if I could speak to you for a moment and get some signatures. When we were through talking you told me I should write down what I had told you, and I haven’t forgotten.
I have Asperger’s Syndrome, a generally highly-function form of Autism. Punctuated with OCD, borderline Paranoid-Schizophrenia, and twenty percent more sensitivity in every physical sense, I was never what you’d call popular. Now? I’m a successful salesman for Schwan’s Home Service, selling and delivering fine frozen foods to nearly a thousand people on a two week cycle. How did I overcome my natural tendencies toward anti-social behavior and achieve such a high social presence?
Role-Playing Games. By channeling my obsessive compulsion into being the best at playing characters, I studied human behavior from every angle, analyzed probable outcomes of any given social interaction, and cataloged the appropriate behaviors for every encounter.
Today it functions on a subconsious level, giving me a facade of normalcy that I have grown quite accustomed to. And all because of that first supplement that caught my eye as I perused Clint’s Books and Comics at Metcalf South in Kansas City, Mutants Down Under.
From the bottom of my breaking heart, I thank you and Kevin for all that I am. You have been and will always remain an inspiration, and with good fortune and time will continue to be through the future works of those you have touched. Blessed Be.
-Mike <8[
erichenry
Erick
I am saddened that I will never get the opportunity to meet you. However, I do feel compelled to at least thank you for the years of enjoyment that ADRPG has given me.
I had tried reading Zealzny’s books but they had never gripped me particulary. Then a friend invited me to join an ADRPG game he was starting. I had my eyes opened to the endless possibilities that the setting provided. This then I have played in numerous campaigns and made friends all over the world through Amber pbem games.
In a year when my own mother has been battling bowel cancer, my heart goes out to you and yours. Know that you have touched countless lives, often in ways you will never have imagined. You will be missed, even by those of us who never met you in person.
Regards,
Eric.
Benjamin D. Hutchins
Back in high school, one of the many games my little gang and I played was Ninjas & Superspies (the first edition). Good times – and oddly formative, since it was from thumbing through that game manual about a million times that I developed an interest (as a writer, if not a practitioner) in things like kenjutsu. What’s more, the game’s bibliography (and as an aside, how cool is that? An RPG manual with a bibliography?) led me to Dave Lowry’s Autumn Lightning, which has been a favorite book ever since.
We played Erick’s more famous games too, and enjoyed them, but it was N&S that had the most memorable, longest-lasting impact. So thanks for that, Mr. Wujcik, above and beyond the thanks that are due for the fun times. It’s not many game designers who can say they’ve had an effect reaching so far beyond a gamer’s gaming life.
Philippe Tromeur
Erick, you’re the author of many masterpieces in my RPG collection : Revised RECON, Transdimensional TMNT, Amber & Shadow Knight, Mystic China… I enjoyed reading them, re-reading them, and of course playing them. Even when I was not directly playing them, your creations had an impact on all my gaming experiences. The advice in Amber was useful for all my games, Revised RECON gave me dozen ideas for modern warfare adventures, and you added so many cool things in the (already cool) Palladium Fantasy RPG…
You have a major impact on RPG’s, whether you were writing “silly” or “serious” stuff : teenage mutant platypuses or lords of dhaos, biker mammoths or ass-kicking immortals, you made them alive, you made them fun.
Best wishes. We’re with you.
Madald
Well, rats.
I have never met nor communicated with Erick and most likely I never would have done so if not for this turn of events. However Kevin’s idea of providing a tribute while your still around to appreciate it seems brilliant to me, so here goes.
I have enjoyed pretty well all you have produced and am sad that I missed the Amberzines. My involvement in the wonderfull world of Palladium goes all the way back to the first stuff printed & continues to this day & beyond, I hope.
I refuse to carry on like an RPG tragic about my wonderful times in the Amber universe but a sincere thankyou for the opportunity to have them. Ninjas & Superspies was fun & I certainly have put in some time in Rifts China.
Thanks a bunch Mate.
On a nonsecterian note don’t let your situation get you down & let your friends stay around. I have been close to death so many times I feel like Rincewind but without his urge to panic 😉 To me Death is an ol’ mate & I have trouble understanding why others have problems with him, though I do see the effects when he taps someone on the shoulder so unexpectedly like this. So, enjoy yourself while you can & ensure all your loved ones can have the happiest memories possible. On a practical note make sure you get a good palliative care service (I’m also a nurse when not gaming). It really can make all the difference to how you spend the rest of your time hereabouts. Goodluck and best wishes to you & all your family & friends.
Paul Record
Has anyone read this article yet?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22249551/
Oncologist devised her own treatment plan and beat the odds on pancreatic cancer.
Greg Smith
Me, my brother and friends had endless fun playing TMNT and Ninjas and Superspies as teenagers. Thanks you.
Jay
I’m having a hard time collecting my thoughts. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting you Erick, but because of your incredible talent, you, have led me on fantastic adventures too numerous to list! I’ve always been amazed with the way you made real martial arts work in N&SS and Mystic China, and the way you turned the concept of CHI into a tangible energy source like ISP or PPE, with powers to go with it.
Thank you doesn’t seem to cut it when trying to express my gratitude for your work sir.
As sad as I am right now writing this after hearing the news my heart goes out to your family and those who are previleged to call you friend.
Godspeed Mr. Wujcik. And thank you again
Dark Ether
This is rough news to hear.
I really look up to youm Erick, for your accomplishments.
I’m especially a huge fan of Amber RPG, and through that, met many very nice people. That is something money can’t buy. The Amberzines were great, and a regular source of inspiration in my RPGing, which was reinvigorated via the Amber RPG.
Thank you, Erick, for everything.
Fox
Never met you but played your games for a long while. I’m not into all the mushy stuff. Cancer has hit my family several times. Yeah the odds might not be good but dying is different from being dead. What ever time you’ve got left spend them living.
CamBanks
Others have said this, too, but allow me to join the chorus. I would not have been the GM I am today, nor would I have met the woman who I fell in love with and later married (with two young boys joining us later) were it not for Amber Diceless RPG. I often tell people that Jim Butcher, another of my friends who later became his own kind of famous, introduced my wife to me, and this is true. I also tell people that Roger Zelazny, whose books inspired the game that lead to my wife and me meeting each other, was responsible. But, truly, you were the catalyst. Thank you, and thank you, and thank you.
Cam Banks
Formerly Martin and Jurt @AmberMUSH
Locke
I am really at a loss for words. Its hard for me to gather my thoughts, seeing I have never met you, never seen you. But I feel as if I do know you, your style, your ideas, your talent! All of these things that you have poured into your work, has been something which (like many others i am sure have said) has been a true blessing for us all.
I will keep this short, but I really would like for you to know.. that you are a true inspiration to me.
You are truly wonderful and talented person… and for that, I thank you.
My prayers go out..
JCL
pantang
Beeing not american or english, but french, i’m sorry for the lack of vocabulary. I can tell that Eric’s games where fully available in France, and you can alway’s find them in stores with an heavy selection on french ebay too.
We know TMNT and Amber.
For the first, it remeber me a game convention near geneva, 20 years ago, where i’ve played first TMNT of my life. It was a crazy story of a weasel killer who try to throw pianos on the victims, so we used the whole night to watch up in every situation to avoid the falling unexpected piano…
I’ve buyed the game after and played with frends in the university, but we do not have th comics and cartoon in France, so we were thinking about the stories without many informations.
For Amber, i was just reading the books and buyed the game wich was one of the few RPG to be loved by female players. I remember somes stranges scenarii and events, and i must confess that we create somes rules with dices in order to convince olr D&D players to create caracters and play with us.
In france, the name of Erick Wujcik is connected strongly with original RPG, the games who are not the sames than others, the games that will give you something more. I just see the name many many times in RPG press and on the covers of games in the few frenchs shops in Lyon and Grenoble, my city.
But you will rest the creator of Amber for the majority of french players, and i’m quite sure that when you listen carrefully, watch around you, you have the feeling that one of the Nine is looking at you, walking from a mysterious path who arrive just in front of you, opening a gate from the Amber power. A way of flowers, eternity and fantasy magic.
A way of gametime, funtime, eternal youth, just for you and for all the roleplayers you helped like me to dream for decades!
Michael Schwartz
Erick,
Seven years ago, when my marriage collapsed abruptly and I faced homelessness, you heard of my trouble through friends of friends of friends and contacted me out of the blue to offer me several hundred dollars I needed to keep a roof over my head for a critical few months. At that point in my life, I’d met you a number of times but never gotten to know you as well as others in my social circle had. My life since then has been a struggle due to chronic back pain, and another abrupt change in my life has left me with a roof over my head due only to the kindness once again of people who were near strangers to me. I don’t know that I ever expressed to you how very grateful I was for the aid you gave me, not beyond the embarrassed thank-you spoken when you gave this near stranger that money out of your own pocket.
Thank you, Erick. Yours is a soul filled with kindness, generosity and gentle humor. Being on the fringes of your expansive network of friends, I never had opportunity to play in one of your games. I still fondly recall several games I ran at the Detroit Gaming Center which you began, and numerous AMBER games I have played, with friends and at Ambercon, Gen Con and U-Con. Twice I’ve had opportunity, thanks to convention games, to make you laugh out loud. Small repayment for such generosity as yours, but I’ll have to settle for those brief moments of mirth. They still give me a chuckle to this day when I think of them, more for the unabashed way in which you voiced your merriment and approval than anything I did. Perhaps in recalling them, they may bring a merry twinkle to your eye and a broad smile to your lips once again.
The first was at U-Con, the game John Schippers ran that mentioned in the Q&A column of Amberzine #2, peopled by many of Ann Arbor’s finest roleplayers. John invited me to join the game as a GM plant and gave me the role of the Norse trickster god, Loki. I was ultimately a red herring, a distraction to keep the PCs off-balance. Armed with no more than Shapeshift and a bevy of spells reminiscent of the repertoire of cheesy gags and practical jokes of a vaudeville comedian, I proceeded to distract with a vengeance and incidentally made poor John laugh so hard he was in tears. When Loki reappeared, buck-naked and soaking wet from being shoved overboard while tied to the ship’s anchor with a PC’s missing Trump (which he’d snatched earlier in the game) wedged between his ass cheeks, the players began to worry that they’d roughed up the wrong dwarf. Truly a priceless moment.
The second was at Gen Con, you’d just finished running three straight days of AMBER events in the connecting walkway between MECCA and the Arena. You were exhausted and finally showing signs of it, when a former friend and I approached with an AMBER joke for you. At our most cartoonish, we cried out in unison “Amber Twin powers, activate!” My friend followed with “Shape of a Logrus Tendril!”, to which I replied “Form of a Pattern Lens!” We then punched our fists together in imitation of that cheesy cartoon duo, and thereby initiated the punch line… we proceeded to twitch and spasm as if we’d each touched a live high-tension electrical wire. You laughed so hard you fell out of your chair, but eventually regained your seat grinning ear to ear. The laughter seemed to re-invigorate you, and you were already plotting your next game when we left you.
I want to close with the story of my mother, who at the age of 42 was diagnosed with terminal non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The doctors gave her no more than six months to live, such was the progress of the cancer when it was discovered. My mother refused to just surrender and die. She vowed to see her three children grown and hold the first of her grandchildren before she died. She went into chemotherapy, which in the mid-1970s was extremely harsh and debilitating. Six months later, she was still alive. Ten years later the cancer went into remission. Ten years after that, when the cancer returned to claim her life at last, she not only had seen her children grown, she had held all ten of her grandchildren and achieved a life-long dream of visiting Europe.
Give yourself a long-term goal to fight for, a reason to go on living, and you may be able to achieve a similar miracle. From the outpouring of affection in these comments, I see more to live for than my mother ever had. You have touched more lives, in more positive ways, than she could ever have dreamed possible. She achieved her dream, and you can do the same should you desire. Whatever you decide, Erick, know that yours has been truly a hero’s life and we whom you have touched shall always honor and cherish your memory. As Roger’s novels awoke in us an appreciation for archetypal heroes and apocalyptic plots, so too have your games stirred a desire for challenge, conflict and grand theatre on a scale we previously never imagined possible.
Thank you, Erick, for all you’ve given us both collectively and individually. You have our assurance that it will continue to enrich our lives, and the lives of those whose paths we cross, for as long as there is breath in our lungs and strength in our limbs. Until we meet again, princely friend: goodbye and hello, as always.
Michael Schwartz
SteveD
After reading my review of TMNT&OS on RPGnet, Erick got in contact with me, and we started talking. Soon enough, he agreed to do an interview for PTGPTB. Next, he agreed to come out to SteveCon, where he ran game after game. We stayed in contact over the years, and he was always keen to talk and offer support and advice.
Very early on in our friendship, he found my old, old website, where I discussed my first adolescent crush on Megan Follows, the star of Anne of Green Gables. A few months later, without any prompting, Erick sent me a programme from a play he’d seen (Hay Fever, by Noel Coward), starring Megan and many others of her dramatically-inclined family.
Neither I nor any of my friends and family could really fathom why someone on the other side of the world would think to do that for little old me. As our friendship went on, this attitude continued, in every thing he did – and I could never quite figure out why Erick went out of his way to so persistently and passionately stay in touch and offer such great support and friendship.
Only now, reading these testimonoials, do I realise that it wasn’t just me, it was everyone. And that that was just how Erick was.
There’s an old saw about love being abundant – that the more you give, the more you have to give, to an infinite supply. Erick was living proof of that. He gave and gave and gave. He spread happiness like some Lovecraftian monster of joy, encircling the globe and working his way into the lives and dreams of people a million miles away, undeterred by any force known to man.
And beyond those he never personally touched, he changed millions of lives with his games which were equally full of love, and joy, and giving. He had that creative spark in his work that emboldened and inspired the reader. He never said, here are my ideas, go make them rock. He said here are your ideas, and they cannot be stopped from rocking.
To lose Erick is to lose a blazing light of goodness, in the roleplaying industry, in the creative world, and in the universe of humanity’s hearts. I have never, ever known a bigger, warmer hearted man, and I am so grateful that I was priveliged to do so. And I miss him already.
Thank you Erick, and god bless you, in whatever comes.
Allensh
In 1986, I went to a gaming convention in Lansing where I attended a seminar on gamemastering by Erick. It made a profound impression on me, especially a story about a 1st level paladin in a high level party, a demon, and three natural 20’s. Sadly, I have never played any of Erick’s games, but I have read other articles by him and I definitley knew who he is.
Erick, God bless you. I don’t know what your personal beliefs are, but I know that there’s a whole lot of love for you out there, and that’s gotta count for something. You have brought a lot of people fun and inspiration. That’s a very worthy thing.
Allen
Sean
Well, I have to admit … I haven’t played many of the games Eric wrote. Nonetheless, I still recall *reading* them, avidly, for hours at a time in the university gaming club while waiting for folks to show up for one or another weekly session … or just to pass the time. And even if I didn’t play the game in question, several of the ideas in those books found their way into my own campaigns anyway. As a result, the name Eric Wujcik is one of those I will always recognise as “one of the guys who made my geeky hobby possible”.
So, Eric: fight the good fight, and … heck, haul out the LOADED dice for your next saving throw, yes?
Sean
bloodshadows
TMNT was and is one of my all-time favorite games. I remember playing that game everywhere. Literally. We played it outside on the porch, on a picnic bench, in a tent, in a van, in kitchens, in living rooms, in bedrooms…
It was our first sampling of a comic book game set in the Iron Age. Those are some great and fond memories. I owe Eric for that. I remember seeing his name on the cover and wondering about the man who had given my favorite comic life as a RPG. I began looking for that name in my FLGS. Eric’s work has given me a lot of very fond memories.
Eric, I only wish I could know that man behind the prose. Regardless, seeing your name on a book brings a smile to my face. It brings memories of easier, simpler times. I wish you all the luck in the world, my friend.
Mike
George R Gitari III
Erick,
I can think of few other people whom could inspire me enough to post any comment, let alone this one (usually I would lurk, reading other’s regards). As it is, I must say:
Stop being sick and get better. Try REALLY hard… No seriously, try harder.
Okay, easier said than done, but I find the alternative unacceptable.
Jason Vey
Wow, that’s heartbreaking. I only met Erick once, at Origins what seems like an eternity ago, and you were very busy at the time, so we didn’t get to chat much. But TMNT was bar none my favorite game when I was in high school, and it wasn’t long before Ninjas and Superspies was added in. You leave a great legacy, Erick, and your loss is deeply painful to legions of gamers. Thanks for everything.
RonEdens
Me and my freinds would spend hours playing TMNT&OS, Palladium, Paranoia, and Robotech, Rifts, and more. There are even more games that I enjoyed reading, if not playing. One of my fondest gaming experiences was playing a Mongolian Demon Hunter in Ninja’s and Superspies. Thank you Mr. Wujcik, for hours of fun.
Justin Alexander
Erick doesn’t know me. I’ve never had the honor of meeting him. But Erick’s games transformed my gaming and, by extension, my life and the lives of many of my friends. My heart goes out to Erick and all those who care for him. If to live well is to touch the lives of others and leave them better than you found them, then Erick has lived greatly. And hopefully, against whatever the doctors and the odds may say, that is a greatness which will continue to bless all of us.
Daniel Stoker
I never got the chance to meet Erick, though I did talk to him in a few PM’s when he was going to be out in Cali a few years back. I loved his books, and TMNT was one of the first games I learned to play and fell in love with. I know my friends and I had debates on wheither Amber was the neatest idea, or the craziest… but he always inspired us with his writings.
Doyle Tavener
I have never met Erick Wujcik; I have never played any of his games. I was too old for TMNT, I wouldn’t be caught dead playing Palladium Games, and when I first heard about Amber, the thought of competitive role playing frightened me, because I associated it with dysfunctional groups who tried to kill each other’s character.
The first time I went to Gencon, to run a tournament with a group of friends, two of our number bailed on us. We literally didn’t see them until the last day. When we did see them, I was pissed, as were the rest of us, and as casually as our anger would let us, we asked where they had been.
“We’ve been playing Amber.”
“What? The whole weekend?”
“Yeah. It was absolutely fantastic! It was the best of table top, LARPing and having a party at the same time. Blah, blah, babble, babble.”
Much to our annoyance, they yakked about it the entire 23 hour drive back to Texas. Yakking which was filled with terms the rest of us didn’t understand, and so felt even more alienated from. It suddenly felt like the old days, when I attempted to explain role playing and got that glazed look in my listener’s eyes, except now I was on the other side.
In retrospect, it was obvious what had happened; my friends had their eyes peeled, as I have heard it phrased elsewhere; they had experienced an epiphany about what role playing could be, not what it had been.
That was nearly 15 years ago. I now know what they were yakking about; I now understand that competition and role playing are not thesis and antithesis, and that competition can be a form of cooperation. I now understand that dice are not needed for an RPG, that bidding and elements from other kinds of games can be used in RPGs to great effect, and, most importantly, I now understand that there are no limits to our form. None.
All, in large part, due to Amber, and thus due to Erick Wujcik.
If our only immortality can be had in the memory of others and the influence we have had on those around us, then it can be justly said that Erick Wujcik has attained that immortality. He has contributed to and helped expand permanently an art form that will last, I believe, as long as we last, and you can see for yourselves in the posts above how he has touched the lives of others directly. In the end, it may be the latter that matters most; none of us knows the end of our lives in others, because those others live on after we have passed, and the part of us that lives in them continues, and never dies.
Thank you Mr. Wujcik, for your life, and what you have done with it. I am sorry that I never got to meet you directly. Maybe some day I will.
gamera_spinning
Mr. Wujcik,
I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with you on a Sunday morning back in September of 2001 at DragonCon in Atlanta, half an hour before your panel started. I brought “Mystic China” and the Amber Diceless books for you to sign, and you talked about your trip to China, visiting family and working abroad, and how you looking forward to going back. I remember trying hard not to gush, not to sound like an idiot, but I remember how friendly and conversational you were, gracious and approachable. We talked a little bit about Amber, and I could tell how very proud you were of it.
Your work has had a profound effect on my views of storytelling, and has opened my eyes to the wonders of Asian Culture and history. I can’t begin to express how much that means to me. Thank you so very much for everything!
Mike Walker
Dear Erick,
Your work is such an important part of my life, and a constant inspiration. It has been for over half my life. It has helped me make many new friends, even when I moved from Australia to the US for a while. Your writing and your ideas have made me a stronger GM.
At age 16, reading the adventures in the back of the TMNT main rulebook, I was struck with a fevered idea. What would it be like to be in a world where potential adventures would be reported on in the newspapers before the PCs encountered them? And with that germ of an idea, my first roleplaying campaign was born. It bought much fun for me, and my senior high friends.
Years later, lightning struck twice. I discovered the Amber Diceless RPG. Again it opened doors in my mind, revealing the potential behind Zelazny’s universe. Again a campaign was born, a game that has run for nine years, has taken a three year break, but will run for another three. .I took the insightful words of advice to the GM in the Shadow Knight supplement to heart. Your advice influenced everything I did, and made me a stronger and more versatile GM. I listened to my players, gave them what they think they wanted, and then showed them just how horrible it could all turn out to be. I think you would be proud.
Amber is a versatile system, lending itself to many different ideas. I’ve played Amber with PC Elders, with PC Muppets, and a campaign where Brand ruled over Amber. I’ve run dark campaigns, cathartic campaigns, solo campaigns, a LARP, and even an internet campaign. I’ve run the well designed adventure Battleground on Shadow Earth many times, to introduce new players to the game, and to roleplaying in general.
I was even able to setup a campaign so that a seven year old, who really wanted to be doing this roleplaying thing her parents were doing, could join in too. I told the players, adults, child, and teenage brother to create and play five year olds in Amber. And that has been a wonderful learning experience for all of us.
Your words have inspired in me so many ideas. Right now, I have ideas for another ten years of Amber gaming, and I’m sure after that time, I will have another ten years worth. Your games will live on in me, and within a huge number of other people too, I am sure.
You have entered our hearts and minds, and made a difference. You have made the world a happier and wiser place.
Thank you.
Mike Walker
Ilan
TMNT was the first RPG I’d ever played. It opened my mind.
Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was something even more than that. It snuck into my brain and got me thinking about twists, cycles, digital technology, dinosaurs, futuristic earths and evolution. It taught me new ways to dream.
Thank you for sharing your gifts, Erick.
Ilan Muskat
ApocalypseZero
Damn.
I feel the little pieces of knowledge I had gleaned from various open chats at the Open House 07 have given me something to improve myself in GMing. Thank you for the knowledge and the games you’ve helped create and inspire.
When the fire is extinguished, may the soul still burn………..
I remember a story Kevin told me once about you buying people’s souls at a convention. Time to cash in? 🙂
whateley23
Mr. Wujcik: i’ve never met you, but your games and writings have been inspirations to me. Amber is the one game which most changed the way i thought of the relationships between the various participant functions in roleplaying.
whatever. i can’t say enough how much i believe that you mean to the hobby, both as a writer and as a person. since that’s my point of contact with you, that’s all i can speak to. thank you, sir.
Mike Taylor
Dear Erick,
Thanks so very much for leaving your mark on our hobby. You are appreciated more than you’ll ever know.
— Mike Taylor
Xavier Spinat
Hi Erick!
You don’t know my name since I am just one of your many fans, and I never had the chance to meet you.
Of the many RPG books I bought along the years, I kept very few with me when I moced from place to place. Amber Diceless RPG is one the them. The good ideas in this book were one of the reason why I began writing RPG books and scenarii not just for my friends, but professionnally. After a few years, I learned via internet that you worked in game-design for videao games, in Shanghai, which sort of seemed like a coincidence since at that time, I became a game-designer too.
Since then, I followed what you were doing thanks to his blog, and I was amazed by the capacity you had to share your passion and skills to create games, universes, rules. I konw for sure that many people, in the US, in Asia and around the world (I live in France) have been touched by your work, and enlightened by it.
It’s not just about “your contribution” as a pile of books that will be remembered. I rather think about the effect it had on the life of those who read you, who somehow met you…
Thanks for sharing your creativity and energy with us all!
Big Red
Erick,
This is truly devestating news, and not what I was hoping to read Christmas Eve morning. Although D&D was the first RPG I ever purchased, TMNT is what truly drew me into gaming. It has had a profound influence on every aspect of my gaming, from the characters I created, to the style of games I ran, to the writing I’ve done (and will hopefully get published eventually). To this day, mutant animals are my favorite type of characters. You added an amazing amount of depth to the Palladium Megaverse, and provided a system that offers truly infinite possibilities. Your other work ranks among my favorites, but nothing else comes close to TMNT.
I sold off almost my entire Palladium collection back in college, but kept my ragged, dog-eared copy of TMNT and all the supplements. I just couldn’t part with those (or Ninjas & Superspies). I still remember the excitement I’d feel, the way the hairs on the back of my neck would raise, every time they’d get in a new supplement at Troll & Unicorn. I’d rush home and spend hours with each new book, first flipping through it several times, skimming over the contents and marvelling at what you’d created, then painstaking poring over each word countless times. They’re all in pretty rough shape now, and while I’ve considered buying new copies, I could never part with the originals.
Mutants Down Under and Transdimensional TMNT are still my two favorite RPG supplements of all time, and have given me more enjoyment and inspiration than probably anything else over the years. They represent the gold-standard in gaming to me. They’re the kind of book that, when I want to show someone the best Palladium has to offer, or what brings me the most entertainment, I reach for them first. Whenever I hear RPG’s or Palladium mentioned, the images that instantly pop into my head are the covers for Mutants Down Under, Transdimensional TMNT, TMNT & Other Strangeness, right along with the original Rifts, Atlantis and Phase World. Thinking about that, I never realized before now how the second three parallel the first. The parallels between the core books are pretty obvious (especially with the iconic images on the covers of each), but it’s how the supplements and their status in my eyes mirror one another that just now struck me. Mutants Down Under and Atlantis presented an isolated, exotic environment filled with wondrous creatures unlike anything else yet seen. Transdimensional and Phase World opened up entire new worlds and dimensions to explore, while providing fascinating new characters and templates, exotic locales and amazing levels of depth to their respective systems. I think each book represents the best of what their respective gaming system has to offer.
I’m still somewhat numb from the news. Just looking around my desk, at my stack of Palladium reference books (the ones I look to and enjoy most), I can’t get over how many times I see your name. From Mystic China, to my TMNT collection, to After the Bomb, Ninjas & Superspies, even the copy of Spacegamer #79 which I bought a few months ago so I could complete my collection of Wujcik-written TMNT material. I’ve always been fully aware of just how much your work has meant to me, but seeing how much I still rely on it to provide me with inspiration puts a whole new perspective on it all. I’ve never met you, but you’ve been a wonderful, positive influence on me. You’ve given me untold hours of entertainment, inspiration and wonder. You provided me with another avenue to use to connect with my son (even my six-year-old daughter enjoys gaming, playing a mutant animal character, of course), who just recently learned about BIO-E, growth steps, and to dread the name Doc Feral. You have my sincerest, deepest gratitude and appreciation.
Sincerely,
Scott Leopold
Pierre Rosenthal
When you work and live upon and with fantasy worlds and artists you just can’t believe people are really going “out”.
You still have their works, books, arts, to make them stay.
But still then there is a burning hole somehere in your chest that claims its hunger.
Some years ago I mourned George Alec Effinger and his “When Gravity Fails”.
You always think life is cheating when a “long lasting disease” is just “burning out” in a few weeks. Is it better? Is it worse? Suffering is always bad.
When I think of cancer I always remember of an old short story by Norman Spinrad: Carcimona Angels. (http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/spinrad/spinrad1.html)
Sometimes you wish SF and Fantasy were for real (or not).
Eric I met you only once a long time ago. Forgive my bad English.
Pierre Rosenthal, France, ex French RPG magazine editor.
fetket
For TMNT and other strangeness, for ADRPG and the years I have been playing and still am, for my players and those that have just enjoyed listening to the scheming in the background, I thank you.
abm
Erick, I wish you to get well. But more then anything else I wish for you a laugh.
When 5 years ago I was told by a docter that I had cancer, laughin was what helped me most.
Laughing with the other cancer patients when we where getting our infusions, laughing together when we stuck our hairless heads together.
I know that people will ask you how you feel, but how can someone explain how to feel in this situation. Angry, betrayed, helpless, sick, afraid. And in the eyes of those around you the pleas for the answer that all will be fine again. Laugh for them and for you.
I wish for you a laugh and I will think of you and laugh knowing that my laugh will help you.