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.
skorous
What to say. Erick has been directly responsible for so many, many hours of entertainment and some of the happiest times of my life. He’s responsible in part for my meeting my best friend of 20 years and several other life long friends. We spent many sleepless weekends playing TMNT, Ninjas and Superspies, and Mechanoids. When we eventually moved in to Rifts we integrated those books into our world ( before any official conversion manual was written ). And I remember meeting Erick for the first time back in the early 90’s at the Oakland University gaming convention ( I forget the name but I remember him ). I must’ve looked like a complete tool standing there stumbling over myself talking to someone who I thought was soooo cool but he was so wonderful about it. I’ve happened to bump in to him three or four times since then and each time that I’ve met him he’s always been just as genuine and friendly. Erick, I can’t begin to detail how much you’ve given me. You will be missed.
Psyscape
I would like to wish you the best wishes Mr. Erick, You where one of the leading reasons I started pen and paper gaming, My first game was TMNT and I fell in love with it. I then picked up Ninjas and Superspies and still cherish that book to this day because it was the first book I ever bought on my own. I wish you the best and peace.
goblin-jack
Dear Erick,
I was first inspired to really try in school when I took an interest in your writing and your ideas from TMNT and Other Strangeness. Before I came across that work, I was really failing in school and had no interest in really learning. That wonderful role playing game, gave me a reason to actually learn as it was so interesting to me I found the motivation to pick up a dictionary, encyclopedia volumes and zoo books and actually research and study something! For me, that was the beginning to real interest in life again. That lead to me learning about Ninjas and Superspies, which helped me really discover my passion in life.
Quite simply, I would not have the happiness and contentment in life today, were it not for me coming across your intriguing, creative and dynamic writing and ideas. Thank you so much for inspiring me to learn.
Lastly, thank you so much for being so approachable! You’re the first and only writer that I’ve e-mailed in the past who actually responded to my e-mails let alone responded directly to what I contacted them about! I still enjoy reading the 1963 edition of “Asiatic Mythology” that you used for background info on the Yama Kings!
I only hope that in Heaven’s public library and gaming center, I can have the honor of sharing a chat with you about Asian mythology and Chinese history.
God speed, Erick.
“Wujcik Rules!!”
–John K (aka Goblin-Jack)
kragshot
Erick, I’m not going to talk about you as if you are gone, because you are not gone yet. So, we’ll call this a “going away party.” If this is the part where I relate meeting you for the other readers, I’ll do so.
For everyone else reading, I’m Beryl Turner. I live in Chicago and I’ve been organizing conventions for more than twenty years. I’ve been a fan of Erick’s work for many, many, years; like everyone else I got turned on to his genius via his work with the Palladium Books mob. While I enjoyed most of the products, I made it a point to get my hands on the stuff that Erick wrote.
I met Erick in the flesh at ChiCon 2000. I was running their gaming track, when he came by to see what was going on. We met and began talking about the hobby and theory of gaming. He began talking about Amber Diceless and got my attention. The item of point was how he pulled off the “dollar auction.” He was explaining the “attribute auction” from the Amber system and out of skepticism, I challenged him to prove his concepts of competitive behavior. So, Erick, another friend, and I walked into a room and he began to ask the room for change for a dollar so he could use the phone. Sure as standing, it ended twenty minutes later with him walking out of the room with $1.45 in change for a dollar bill. He of course waited outside for the guy to get the joke and run out. He promptly returned the guy’s money and apologized for using him to make a point. As I knew the sucker…I mean subject, there was no harm or foul. It was a heck of a time.
I later invited him to a gaming convention that I ran in the Chicago area over Thanksgiving weekend (Chicagoland Gamer’s Conclave), and he arrived and I am happy to say that stole the convention. Everyone had a great time with him that weekend and it stands as one of the key points of time in my life.
Erick: we didn’t get to become as tight as I would have liked, but life does that. You meet remarkable people and they come in and go out of your life with no warning. The last time we saw each other was at a GenCon and this was just before you were leaving to work for Ubisoft in China. I guess that I won’t be running into you again, anytime soon but I know that we’ll hook up again; I’m positive.
But allow me to say that your work and your work ethic has been an inspiration to me and the things that I have done since. Your games have taken people to worlds that would have been beyond imagining, save for the texture that you gave them. I’ve been all over Asia, especially the China of the past, present, and the future. I’ve see the city in which all other cities are but “shadows,” and many other places, through your eyes and imagination. In turn, I’ve created worlds and realms of my own; nearly all of them inspired by your work. Thank you for that gift, Erick.
So you take care of yourself, guy and if by the grace of God, you end up in or near Chicago somehow, let me know; I’ll make it my business to see you.
Go with God, my friend. Next time we meet, I expect that you will have a seat saved for me at the gaming table, okay?
Beryl J. Turner III
Chicago, IL
Wronghead
TMNT and Other Strangeness was my first RPG. I’m holding the book in my lap. It still has the first character that I ever made written on the character sheet in pen (it was a mutant rabbit named Kronan… Kronan? Jeeze…) I believe that it is officially the book that I have owned the longest; sitting in a library of over 400 books, it has the distinction of being the very first book that I bought with my own money at the ripe old age of 10.
Trans-dimensional TMNT and Ninjas and Super Spies still stand as two of the finest RPG source books ever produced. It sounds like you not only touched many of us through your work, but more importantly, you touched those around you through your words and deeds.
You did it.
You left your mark while making the world a better place than when you found it.
If life is a game: you won.
Thank you!
–Joe
Knightofwhiteroses
Hello Erick,
I was first introduced to your work in high school when my friends and I started playing Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles. It was the second roleplaying game I had ever played. My first experience with roleplaying games was Robotech based off of one of my favorite cartoon series. In no time my friends and I had mastered the Palladium gaming system and were having many adventures playing mutant animals with lots of guns and martial arts weapons. I am a big lover of wolves so one of the characters that I made was a mutant black wolf. Soon we added your other game Ninjas and Superspies to our list of role playing games. I remember that book well for it added a great number of martial arts systems to the list of combat styles our characters could use and being students of the martial arts ourselves, this was really exiting. That book also was a great resource for my Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying campaign. Characters such as Kung Lao and Scorpio No Dachi soon were played by my brother and I. It also added some interesting twists to our Beyond the Supernatural and TMNT games. For years now, that book has sat well protected at my parent’s home. I recently brought it to my home where it has an honored place on my bookshelf, but it is easily accessible for my next adventure.
Of course my appreciation of your work does not end there. As lovers of Palladium books and your works, when my friends and I were in high school we soon started playing Advanced Recon. This was an exiting time. We were all in HSROTC with dreams of joining the military. So we found it fun playing this military style RPG. Most of our fathers were Vietnam Veterans, so this was exiting being able to play characters running around in the jungles of The ‘Nam. NPC’s with interesting Vietnamese names soon were commonplace. We loved this game so much that one of our group soon was inspired to create a military game using some modified version of the Recon rules. We had lot’s of fun. I have lots of fond memories of that time thanks to your books and ideas. I thank you for that.
As a gamer, I naturally introduced those close to me to the joys of roleplaying games. Family, friends and lovers soon joined me in my games spanning from the Palladium FRPG, BTS, Robotech, Ninjas and Superspies to Rifts and others. And as is often the case, I soon tried other games and RPG systems outside of the Palladium Universe, but those early experiences with your works and the other Palladium books were responsible for the start of all that. In fact over the years, I was inspired many times to read and even buy a role playing book or supplement just because your name appeared in the credits. Your name is up there with the other great writers of RPG books and materials. In fact, hearing about Palladium’s troubles and your sudden news is the catalyst that brought me home to Palladium after years of playing the 2nd Edition of that other great fantasy roleplaying game and other RPG games. I am happy to say that one of most beloved presents I received this past Christmas was a whole bundle of After the Bomb books and TMNT! I cannot wait to start playing a whole new campaign.
It saddens me to hear that you are ill Erick. I pray that God gives you many more years on this earth. The world is a better place because of your spirit and your contributions to the gaming industry. In a year that has seen the “father of roleplaying” taken from us, I cannot imagine a world without you in it. Your works have given me an outlet from which I can channel my creativity and imagination. So many of my most cherished roleplaying memories created over the past sixteen years are because of your rpg books and other gaming works. You have touched the lives of so many Erick. Know that your life’s work has inspired the work and experiences of others in so many positive ways. As new gamers are born, know also that those of us who help mold these new gamers do so with ideas inspired from your creations.
Thank you Erick,
Richard T. Moreno
j0lt
It was 1989, I was sitting down with a school friend at lunch time during grade 6. He had a strange looking book with some of our favourite cartoon characters on it. He said it was a game. I had never heard of a game that was played with a book before, and his dice were strangely shaped and colourful – not like the dice I had at home.
By the end of that lunch hour, my mutant Raccoon had infiltrated an elementary school and survived his first battle against a group of mutant Pigs who had taken the students and teachers hostage.
Now, almost 20 years later, I’ve played in, run, and written more adventures, campaigns, and systems than I can remember, but it all goes back to that sunny afternoon in elementary school with a couple friends and a copy of TMNT and Other Strangeness.
Thanks Erick,
Erik Bailey
mutant dingo
Eric, godspeed to you, good sir, in whatever new beginning awaits you.
I started gaming in middle school. My first game: TMNT. My interest in the comic was tertiary, at best, it was the GAME that got me drawing and scheming. I may not be professionally illustrating game art yet, but it is still a goal I set myself to, because I want to be a part of this wonderfully positive, creative community that you help forge.
Thanks for doing what you do, and for inspiring me in my youth.
Take care,
-Jason Reynolds
jgkane
I never met you Erick, although I collected many of your RPGs. They gave me great pleasure, and I am sure many, many others too.
As you tentatively approach that great curve in the road of life, slow down a wee bit, on the look out for any warning signs on the other side. ( Perhaps the traffic police are ‘helpful’ on the other side .. ;o) )
Your life will change, but in Christian hope, it will not end. I suspect that you will meet with more surprise, awe and wonder than you ever encountered in this world.
May you be assured that your Father loves you greatly, and did so even before you were born. He wants you to spend Eternity in His creation, after all the ‘work’ you carried out, expanding what Tolkien called the ‘sub-creations’ of others.
May any fear or reluctance you have, about your future, be melted in your heavenly Father’s sure love for you. Trust your Great Creator and comfort, peace and security will enter your heart.
God bless and keep you Erick, and may your family, friends and colleagues be comforted too. Thanks for all you gave to the gaming community, and those who came to know and love you, over all the years.
John Kane
salanthorn
Erick,
It has been a long time since we first met at Emerson School! You took your share of grief from our classmates, but you were ever a very kind and gentle person. If people knew then what an incredible person you would become, your life may have turned out very differently. Nancy sent me to your blog to see what you have been doing these past many years. Your life sounds like it has been an unbelievable run. How wonderful that you have been able to have such a rich, full life that has been peppered with so many friends, admirers, fun, excitement and adventure. Reading through all the comments you have received….you have obviously given so much to so many. I won’t even pretend to understand about gaming, TNMT, Palladium books, etc. but you have obviously given much to the population that does understand and enjoy such things. Good for you! The son of a friend of mine is considering taking gaming in college and he was totally impressed that I knew who you were. I wish I could invite you to Houston to meet him. I was very saddened to hear that you are fighting cancer. If thoughts and prayers will help….you have mine. I wish you and your family peace.
Sue Anne (Goodman) Lanthorn
Hbrika
Erick used to drop by the Windsor Gaming society years ago and hang out
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game provided us many weeks of clean fun entertainment. Wacky entertainment at it’s finest.
The Amber books are a pleasure to read and look at, they don’t even have to be played but the game itself is definitely one of the best if not the best that I have had the pleasure of experiencing.
Thank you for letting us visit those worlds of wonder Erick!
joshuaoman
My twelfth birthday sucked. I had been in a huge fight with my mother’s favorite sister, for which I had been grounded and sent to my room. My brother and cousins ate MY birthday cake and played with MY toys! I couldn’t believe it! Of all the indignity, sent to my room for my own birthday.
My only consolation was my cunning; I had managed to sneak one gift into my room with me: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES AND OTHER STRANGENESS by Erick Wujcik (how in the world do you pronounce that?).
There, in my darkened room, in my solitude, amidst the joy happening in the world around me, I settled into my first reading (of thousands…literally!) in that book. My imagination took off! Not since Star Wars had I been so engrossed in a universe. The gritty underworld of mutant animals in a world of humans; the TERROR of the Terror Bears, the subtle wicked genius of Doc Feral and ALL THOSE ANIMALS!
I read for hours. Even when invited later, I didn’t leave my room. I JUST KEPT READING! I felt so sneaky, so sly, so clever. They wanted my birthday to suck, but I had a treasure. At one point, when my aunt came to my room, I stuffed the book under my pillow so fast that I irreversibly creased the back cover.
No matter though. My journey had begun:
My first character was a mutant porcupine (still the best bang-for-buck in the book!), followed by a mercenary polar bear, a tracker dog, a ninja chicken, a gun-running opossum and hundred’s more. I never, NOT ONCE, played ANY of the characters I made though; I was the Game Master. All those brothers, cousins and friends (who ate MY BIRTHDAY CAKE), played thousands of hours of games that I ran.
When I heard a couple of years later, that the author, the creator, the MAN, Erick Wujcik was coming to Intermountain Gaming Connection in the South Towne Mall, I had to be there. My signed copy of TMNT remains one of my greatest possessions. I shook his hand and chatted for a brief moment with one of the authors, not just of a book, but of MY IMAGINATION.
I have never stopped playing. I’ve introduced the Palladium Megaverse to another generation (my youngest brother and his friends) and intend on carrying the tradition on with my own children (only an 18 month daughter so far, but there are only so many princesses in her future).
I am a business professional, and while most of my time is spent on the phone with international bankers and investors, my mind constantly races with dreams of mutants, ninjas, superspies and superheroes.
I pulled out my old copy of TMNT the other day. I flipped through the pages, now yellow with age, stained with pencil marks, root-beer, candy and blood (you’d think I was kidding…I’m not – there is a blood stain on the Prowl Skill Description). I flipped to the front and looked at Erick’s signature.
Then I flipped to the back and ran my fingers over that pillow-caused-crease.
And I thanked Erick Wujick for the best birthday I ever had.
Much Love,
Joshua Oman
Aramanthus
Erick,
Thank you for everything you have given us. I’m not really sure what to say other than our prayers our with you and your family in your time of need!
Respectfully,
Aramanthus
Jherico
I started gaming back in the mid-late 80’s, I started out with D&D and one of my buddies brothers picked up a “new game” called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, at the time I had started to fall out of love with gaming and this new game rejuvenated my love of RPG’s it was a wonderful new experience I immediately saved all the money a 10 yr old could and I did extra chores around the house cut lawns walked dogs, you name it I did whatever I could to save up and buy my own copy of this game I had to have it. Later on in live with I hit my teens I had moved a few times and finally found a bunch of guys in high school who gamed as well and we all had the same love for TMNT and other Palladium titles. Erick I thank you for your creative genious thank you for rejuvenating my love of RPG’s. Its hard to believe that the Role Playing Game industry will loose 2 giants(giants in my mind anyways). I only wish I had gotten a chance to have met you, sadly I can’t think of anytime there has been a GenCon or anything of the sort where I live where we’ve had someone of your magnitude Erick.
You will truly be Missed
Kyle Maitland
Andrew Gillespie
It goes without question that you will be missed. But I have no doubt we will all be together again, at the game tables of Heaven.
We will never forget you, Erick.
Cthulhus Advocate
Erick, I have never known your games well, much less you personally, though now I wish I had. You have gladdened many hearts in your time, and known the joy of creation, and there are no greater joys than that. My best wishes to you and yours.
Xar
Erick,
I’ve tried for months to think of something to say. I met you once last year, and I appreciate the time you spent with me. I think that’s the lesson here, really. We should appreciate the time we spend with people, whether they are famous, or not. You embody that idea. I wish you peace, sir.
Tiberous
My GMing style was weak when I ran my first game. My world of Rifts had a flat, lifeless sense to it, and the PC’s had no understanding, much less drive, of the world that I tried to craft for them.
Erick, I found your advice all throughout the Megaverse, and within time, I incorporated the lessons you taught into my gaming style. Now, when I take my friends through the old ruins of Madhaven, they FEEL the insanity seeping into them. When I show them my fledgling city-state of Jordan, they can sense the corruption lying just underneath the seemingly Utopian home.
Since your advice, my games are interesting, fun, and are usually played to a happy conclusion.
Gygaxx may have been an inspiration to the gaming world, but you were MY inspiration. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Well wishes to you and yours. Though we’ve never met, I’m honored to have had the chance of seeing your art and work.
Writers Block
I have never met Erick personally, but when I heard of his illness I was deeply pained. He is one of the men who, without having met, has given my friends and I so much enjoyment and entertainment that I cannot begin to express proper gratitude for. There are few people in the world of RPGs that I truly credit with having spearheaded my longest running hobby and he is one of them. The worlds and characters he has helped bring to life are a testament to an imagination and creativity we have all been honored with.
This is my small attempt to express to all of you, and to Erick especially, just how much his being apart of the RPG community has meant to me.
First off there is all his works. From his efforts with Palladium to the Amber books; I have played in the Castle and foiled the “good” Doctor. For countless adventures and the forging of our gaming histories, Erick cannot be thanked enough.
Then he served as a motivator. He and I exchanged a few emails a long, long time ago; back before I was first considering writing anything for a RPG. I had not even decided what to write or even who to try and be published by. While that first effort did not go so well, his kind words helped make up my mind then and I will be forever grateful for that. If I hadn’t tried, and failed, I would be still living with never having tried. Now, as I write this, I prepare to try again.
I wish you all the best brother. Know that I, and I’m sure many others, are sending you all our most positive hopes, thoughts, and wishes. I have prayed for you and your family. God be with you and your’s Erick. It is my truest hope you will continue to fight this illness and emerge from your battle the victor. As you can see here you have reached a great many lives in your time with us, and all of those lives are sending you their best. Use that energy to fight, and know we all wish we could be there at your side, an adventuring army, to slay this demon with you.
colelong
TMNT and Other Strangeness was one of the first games I playes, and it was one of the first lessons I had in the heavy application of OTher Strangeness in my games from then on. Furthermore without the Amber RPG, I may not have discovered the works of Roger Zelazny, nor gotten the same grasp of maybes, what ifs, and dirty politics. Thanks for everything, Erick.
RockJock
Dear Erick and friends,
I just wanted to thank you for allowing us all to share a spark of your imagination for all these years. You were there, in one form or another, the first time I play Turtles, and will still be there when my children learn to enjoy thinking out of the box. You will never know how many lives you have touched, and how much wider the world is from you taking the time to share.
Thanks Erick,
Andy Gammons
rc_brooks
Erick,
I wanted to express my thanks for all the work you have done, in a hobby that formed who I am today. In a youth fraught with difficulties, your work (along with others) helped me escape and find light in the darkness. The world seems to be closing minds with ever increasing quickness. Inspiration from you and others like you urges me today to seek to inspire others and pass on and nurture that creative spark.
With great sincerity I thank you,
Chris Brooks.
geoff.combs
Erick & Family,
Thank you so much for your contributions to my hobby of 25 years. From middle school days of playing TMNT to HS and Amber, and AtB in grad school, you’ve given me and mine many, many hours of enjoyment. If you manage to get there before the rest of us, be sure to take the head of the great gaming table from Mr. Gygax, so that we can have some enjoyable gaming awaiting for us, ok?
Good luck and Godspeed.
Geoff Combs
Bill_Soucy_AKA_Thorn
Wow. Erick doesn’t know me from Adam. We’ve never met. I’ve never seen him at a Con or anything like that. Never sent him an email.
I feel I know him. I feel like he is a trusted advisor…a mentor…a good friend.
You see, I’ve been in an Amber game since 1995. It was because of the Amber game that I met some of my best friends…a group of gamers that has seen (I believe) four marriages and five children. I have only ever had two characters in Amber, one was a brief blaze of glory that created something that threatened the campaign long after his demise. The other is now the troubled (and troubling) King of Amber…Thorn, son of Eric.
This might sound stupid, but even when I didn’t have a game to play, Erick’s books were comforting. They were there for me. He was there for me. Our group has split up and now we are in three different states at least…we get together to play once or twice a year. But I can certainly tell you, Erick, that you have touched my life greatly, and I care about you and your work. You’ve given me treasures that i can never, ever repay…even if I had access to infinate Shadow, The Courts or Amber itself.
I wish I could do something, other than thinking good thoughts and offering prayers. I hope that my small missive will bring you a modicum of comfort. Thank you, Prince. With good thoughts and wishes of comfort and ease, rest (or travel!) and heal.
cannylite
I heard a while ago about this and all i can say is that my heart became heavy within my chest and i was filled with tremendous sadness, but then I remembered all of the fun my friends and I had playing teenage mutant ninja turtles.. and all of the hours of joy we had being together and laughing and thorwing dice at each other and all of the really bad puns and werid names we came up with and all of the heroic mutant animals we created and just hanging out with your best buddies.. I think that is probably the greatest legacy of Erick.. he brought unbridled joy to an introverted teenage boy who had just lost his mom to cancer. I escaped into a world of wonder and amazement and fun and my friends came with me and together we saved the world on countless occasions and brought a sad teenager out of his shell in the process and allowed me to heal.
Erick thank you so much.
Misfit KotLD
The prayers and wishes of Juli and I are with you. I want to thank you for Ninjas and Superspies. I was introduced to it in ’94 and I’ve been addicted to Kung Fu Palladium characters ever since. I regret not catching you at Open House last year, but did geek out when I saw you.
sparf
It is always tough to lose one of your own. I grew up on Palladium RPGs, so I heard the name Erick Wujick more than once in conversation. Just know that you will always be held in the hearts of your friends, your family, and those friends whom you have never met, but who still call you such. Those of us who throw the dice (or, sometimes, those of us who don’t), will always remember your contributions.
May all your hits be crits.
Kimba Nevil
I have not had the pleasure of meeting you Erick, if I may be so personal without a formal introduction, but I have had the pleasure of reading and playing almost all of your published games. They have kept me and my friends entertained for hours on end. After nearly 30 years of playing RPGs I still find that your games are the ones I always come back to. Let it be known that the sweat and love that you put into your games has inspired myself and countless others to take a chance and write games and adventures for our friends to enjoy.
Peace be with you and my we meet on the other side.
Jeff Stanford
MadCat1118
I’ve never met Erick, but his games have been wonderful to me. I was introduced to role playing with the Ninja Turtles, and many years later I enjoy playing Rifts. You will be missed here. I hope your next adventure is as fulfilling as the first. Take care.
JPH
AzraelRC
I never got to meet Erik but his work is a part of my life and I am better for it. His fictional cultures and philosophies have had a very real impact on my personal values and I can only say thank you Erik for everything. You have definately touched my life.
IkeXSantos
Erick, I know a lot of people have already said this, but I was lucky enough to meet you at the 2007 Palladium Open House. We spoke for ten minutes about your experiences in China (and you told me some eye-opening things about Chinese women!). I wish I could have spoken with you for a bit longer; you seem like a really worldly and interesting person. I’ve derived great enjoyment from your games over the years, so to meet you in person was an honor. Though I only met you for a brief moment, the news of your condition felt like a punch to the gut. As I’m justing starting out with Palladium Books, I truly regret not having the opportunity to work alongside you and get to know you better. Words don’t seem to do justice to how I feel about this, so I’ll just say that my gaming group and I dedicate the book we’re writing to you. My thoughts are with you and your loved ones, my friend. You’ll be missed.
Isaac Xavier-Santos
gmartin
Erick,
I was fortunate enough to meet you twice. Gen Con and AmberCon IX. Ken Alves had gotten me into Amber and on a goof I brought an Amberite character into those stupid freeform gaming rooms on AOL. The two highlights:
A trio of goblins jumped me, and started asking what “dice” I used. Of course I told them I’m a diceless character. So I checked into their skill level, they told me they were the best their world had to offer. My character had a decent warfare. In true Amberite fashion I dissed them, calling them mere Shadow-dwellers, then proceded to slay them handily.
On a better, and happier note, one of the women who played in the White Wolf rooms ended up leaving to start an online Amber game with me. A few years later she attended AmberCon NW and met her future husband there. She still says she will name her first daughter after one of my NPCs.
So thank you for bringing Amber to us, in a playable fashion, (kudos to Roger of course for writing the books) to bringing at least two people together, and for ridding the world of a few dice-wielding goblins.
Praying for a miracle…
George Martin
inpassingonce
Erick,
Like many others, I first met you at GenCon at an Amber RPG session you were running. The detail you put into the characters and the design of that one session was amazing. I adapted some of the ideas you showed me that day into new characters in my own RPG and a friend of mine’s. I was fortuante enough to meet you once more in a later GenCon at the Amberzine table. It was fun trading stories back and forth with you about the games, the books, and of course a few personal things.
Thank you for taking the time to chat and share your stories, your ideas, and character ideas that will be shared in many future stories and games to come.
Kevin D.
ylemalchemist
Erick,
I believe that I am among those great many who have never been fortunate enough to meet you in person, but who have known you through your work. Over the years I have found the books you have written to be remarkable, engaging, and, above all, FUN. From work on TMNT through Ninjas and Superspies all the way to my personal favourite, Mystic China (the Antiquarian may be one of my all-time favourites in any game, in any system), you have contributed so much, enriching the field. On a metaphysical note, your idea of the Enlightened Immortals amazed me because because it closely mirrored mine: the first step is memory. As long as what has been done is remembered, the path behind as well as ahead can be learned.
I think that sums it, though never all. Creation builds on what has been made before, and what’s invented new. You’ve contributed so much, and for many of those who find inspiration in your work as well as in your being, thank you.
Scott
csbone
I have never met you but your stuff created my internal world.
Thank you.
S
feney
My wife and I both had the pleasure of meeting and talking with you at the Palladium Books 2007 Open House. We have enjoyed and will surely enjoy the rest of your creative works. You are an inspiration and creative genius, you will be greatly missed.
Shawn and Melissa Millard
jbatchelor
Erick,
I never had the pleasure of meeting you in person. Like many others in this list, I immersed myself in worlds that you helped bring to life, through your creativity and love for the storytelling arts that we call “role-playing.” Amber Diceless was a fresh breeze, and it inspired a fairly long (as things go in my life) campaign that kept me and my buddies going for hours on end, blithely ignoring the call of homework at MSU. You introduced me to an author who would quickly become one of my all time favorites.
While you may not remember this, you also took the time to reply to a letter which I sent, in which I called out criticisms of some material in the Amber Diceless book. I believe I still have that letter somewhere in my archives, and value it not only for the time you took to write me, but the kindness with which you very gently told me to grow up (if not in so many words). You opened my eyes to another way of looking at art and the creative process, and you did so in a way that was not demeaning or humiliating. I was stretching my neck out, and in that sophomoric way that often accompanies inexperienced youth, was trying to place my talents above another’s by tearing the other down.
You could very easily have told me to take a long walk off a short pier, or demanded that I prove how I should be valued above a trusted associate, but you did neither. You simple, carefully, and diplomatically taught me that talents of all sorts can be shared without attacking one’s competition. The lesson spoke volumes to me, and I would be remiss if I did not take a final opportunity to thank you for that lesson.
Sincerely,
Jason M. Batchelor
Dr. Shiny
I’ll drop the life story, it’s not that interesting. I’ve just got one thing to say.
Few people can promise “Other Strangeness” and really deliver.
Thank you Erick Wujcik for the Ninjas, Mutants and Superspies. Thank you for Fast Cars, Homemade Gadgets, Pleasure Bunnies and a solid helping of everything good in life! No matter what or how, may you always find new strangeness to brighten your days.
Kyle Bentley
Thank you for everything Eric, know that you have changed many lives through your creations and we thank you every time someone plays After the Bomb, Ninjas and Superspies or uses any material from one of the many books you have written. I wish you the best, whatever the future holds, and you and your family are in my prayers.
Thank you for everything Eric,
Kyle Bentley
loki5
I am sorry to lose you, even though we’ve never met. Thank you for your work. I will keep you and your loved ones in my prayers.
Lord Voragon
I didn’t know what to say since the news was such a shock. I couldn’t face it. But I think I know what to say now. I have enjoyed many of your books with Palladium. I am fascinated with Asian cultures, and through Ninjas and Superspies and the Rifts China books you gave me an interesting perspective on the people of that part of the world. I also have all of your After the Bomb books. You made mutant animals as heroes and villians exciting and fun. I also need to say that your books have gotten me through some of the toughest times of my life. I’m partially autistic, so life has never been easy for me. Your worlds and characters have been a welcome distraction. Now you will be in the presence of the Celestial Court, receiving the blessings of The Jade Emperor. Thank you for your work, my friend. And may you be in heaven an hour before the Yama Kings know you’re dead.
ajnin
In a world where we are short on heroes… yours is truly a loss.
Your name and work will always be remembered and cherished by those whom turn your pages. You truly have made a impact in millions of souls.
You are a hero, and damn this existence for taking you.
I am crying….
Ryuto
I remember when I first got my hands on the RIFTS China books. The amount of detail and interest that obviously went into those books floored me. When Mystic China came out for Ninja’s and Superspies I was concerned with if that would be translated into RIFTS. The China books by Eric fufilled my expectations and then some. The idea of bringing the Hells of Chinese Mythology to Earth and having these incredible individual feelings to each of them and the actual contracts and rules of Chinese Mystic Beuracracy controlling them floored me. The Geofront hidden for years planning the salvation of China, the First Emperor and his Terra-Cotta Army, the Demon Hunters, just everything. RIFTS China has rapidly become my favorite RIFTS World Book and I owe it all to Eric, the man is nothing less than a genius.
James Heller
A large portion of my twenties were spent hanging out with my buddies playing Ninjas and Superspies/Mystic China, and I can’t say how different my life would have been without Erick. Sir, may your remaining time be filled with as much good as this world has to offer. As much good as you have given all of us.
wolfgray
Erick,
Thank you for introducing me to the world of diceless games and also to the world
of Amber through your game.
May your remaining time be full of friends and family.
htherrin
Erick,
Thank you so much for providing so many ways for me to spend my childhood. I will fondly recall all my years spent portraying my PCs in all those Palladium games.
-H
AngryLittleAsianBoy
Erick, you were one of my favorite authors of RPG sourcebooks when I was growing up. At a time when so many game companies cashed in on the popularity of Martial Arts with no care given to the cultures and backgrounds, your books were wonderful because they showed that someone cared enough to actually research and write about the philosophies, the people, the culture, and the history and mythic tales. I bought the Mythic China books for Ninjas and Super Spies along with the Rifts China books. Your writing made me feel proud and good about being an Asian kid and gamer, and gave me the opportunity to share with my gaming friends everything that was cool about being Chinese. I want to say thank you for all that you’ve done, and it’s my hope that you are able to recover, even in what may seem the darkest hour.
With great affection and fondness…
M.M.
Phil
Hi Erick,
I played a few games of Palladium RPG as a young man. I want to thank you for all the work you did. I remember looking at the TMNT books, especially the section for designing cars and other types of mutants.
I am sure this time is a strange one for any individual, but I hope the realization that you impacted the lives of many people will give you some solace.
Best wishes,
Phil
cahlash
Erick: TMNT, Ninjas and Superspies, and Mystic China were some of the most influential books I read and played with as a young man. They helped shape my approach to role-playing games as a player and a GM and even influenced my personal everyday philosophies by exposing me to concepts I probably wouldn’t have caught on to otherwise. Thank you.
-Tyler
MichaelG1973
hello I’ve loved Playing in the Palladium Worlds that you have taken part in fcreating and as a Cancer survivor of the last 8 years now i just wanted to offer my regrets and my thanks for the joys that your work has given me in times that i felt i had no real reason to feel any… many a day while taking Chemotherapy my Friends would attempt to take my mind off things by Imursing ourselves in a world of yours and Kevin Sembiada’s and Kevin Longs and many others creation… I just wanted to let you know that you have made a difference in mine and a good number of my friends live’s through your books… when i was first Diagnosed with cancer i was told that i didn’t have much of a chance of living.. my body was already trashed and malnourished due to the damage that had been done to my intestine’s… i woke up after surgery to here the doctor telling my mother that i likely would not be leaving the hospital… that was eight years ago… i don’t know what the doctors have told you… and i know you are likely in more pain than you have ever previously experienced… don’t lose heart and know that I will be Praying for you… You Will Be Remembered Fondly here though we have never met… Danilo Raphael Regis Syrtis Mickail Ardais Gerrald