Shadis is an independent gaming magazine that was published in 1990–1998 by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG). It initially focused on role-playing games .
36-442: Shadis was conceived and started by Jolly Blackburn as an independent gaming fanzine in 1990. In 1993, Blackburn formed AEG to publish Shadis as a quality small-press magazine, and brought on John Zinser and David Seay as partners. Printing of the first three issues was paid for by Frank Van Hoose, a friend of Jolly's, who also wrote for the magazine. A year later, in late 1994, the magazine received its biggest success by including
72-509: A local con, Kenzer asked Blackburn to join his company. Blackburn decided that Kenzer had the sort of business sense and integrity that he was looking for in a partner, and he agreed to become a shareholder. Kenzer reprinted Issue 4 of Knights of the Dinner Table that the Blackburns had produced on their own. Starting with Issue 5 (February 1997), Knights of the Dinner Table was the work of
108-513: A one-off joke role-playing game called Hackmaster , based on the fictional role-playing game being played in Knights of the Dinner Table . However, Jim Kenzer urged him to wait, believing that it could become a serious product. In 2000, using Wizards of the Coast ' s Open Game License , Blackburn and Kenzer created Hackmaster , based on the rules for D&D . Several years later, Blackburn made
144-498: A random Magic: The Gathering card in each issue at a time when booster packs of the new card game were scarce; many players bought multiple copies of each issue hoping to find a rare or out-of-print card. Many readers were also drawn to a small comic strip, Knights of the Dinner Table , which was initially a filler , intended to fill a blank spot in the magazine, but later took on a life of its own. In 1995, Blackburn left AEG because he felt that Zinser and Seay were too focused on
180-400: A school bus carrying 18 children and threatened the driver at gunpoint. He instructed the driver to take him to the nearest town and that he did not want to hurt anyone. After a short while, Collazo became flustered with both the driver and children and allowed everyone to exit the bus unharmed. He then attempted to drive the bus himself but stopped after driving roughly a mile. He then abandoned
216-516: A significant economic impact on the local area. Annual expenditures by Fort Jackson exceed $ 716.9 million for salaries, utilities, contracts and other services. In addition, over 100,000 family members visit the Midlands area each year to attend basic training graduation activities, using local hotels, restaurants and shopping areas. In the 1994 film Renaissance Man , starring Danny DeVito , Mark Wahlberg , and Stacey Dash , basic training scenes from
252-459: Is an American publisher and cartoonist who is best known as the creator of the comic strip and identically titled magazine Knights of the Dinner Table . As a child, Jolly Blackburn enjoyed playing Monopoly , Life , Sorry and many other board games. At age 15, he was introduced to the Avalon Hill wargame Luftwaffe , and soon owned several other wargames. While perusing wargames at
288-563: Is named for Andrew Jackson , a United States Army general and the seventh president of the United States (1829–1837) who was born in the border region of North and South Carolina . Fort Jackson was created in 1917 at Camp Jackson as the U.S. entered World War I . At the conclusion of World War I, Camp Jackson was shut down and the Camp was abandoned 25 April 1922, pursuant to General Orders No. 33, War Department, 27 July 1921. Camp Jackson
324-481: Is no longer being published, and the industry is poorer for it. It was an incredible magazine, with the joy and wonder of role playing spilling off of every page. I'm glad we had it for as long as we did, and back issues are still available at various online outlets, including eBay." During its five-year existence, Shadis was the winner of the 1994, 1995, and 1996 Origins Awards for Best Professional Gaming Magazine Jolly Blackburn Jolly Randall Blackburn
360-522: Is provided by the 165th and 193rd Infantry Brigades Monday through Sunday for a ten-week period. The post has other missions as well. While some military installations have experienced downsizing and closure in past years, Fort Jackson has added several new schools and training institutions since 1995, including the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, the Department of Defense Chaplain Center and School, and
396-464: Is still functioning in the early 21st Century. Fort Jackson is the largest and most active initial entry training center in the U.S. Army, training 50 percent of all soldiers entering the Army each year. Providing the Army with new soldiers is the post's primary mission. 35,000 potential soldiers attend basic training and 8,000 advanced individual training soldiers train at Fort Jackson annually. The training
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#1732863234564432-671: The National Center for Credibility Assessment , part of the Defense Intelligence Agency . In 2007, the Army consolidated all of its training facilities for drill sergeants at Fort Jackson, and in 2009, Command Sergeant Major Teresa King became the first woman to head what is now the sole drill sergeant school for the U.S. Army. Fort Jackson encompasses more than 52,000 acres (210 km ) of land, including 100 ranges and field training sites and more than 1,000 buildings. Soldiers, civilians, retirees and family members make up
468-473: The "Alderac Anthology", since they were set in Blackburn's Alderac world. In the second issue, faced with a blank last page, Blackburn drew a roughly drawn comic strip titled Knights of the Dinner Table that featured a group of gamers seated at a table playing a fictional role-playing game called Hackmaster . As Blackburn told Allen Varney , "I had been a great fan of J.D. Webster's Finieous Fingers from
504-407: The "KoTD Development Team" which consisted of Jolly Blackburn, David Kenzer, Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson. Knights of the Dinner Table increased in popularity, and Blackburn was invited to be the guest of honor at several conventions, including U Con (November 1998), Key Con (April 2003) and Gencon (August 2004). In 2022, Knights of the Dinner Table published its 301st issue, becoming
540-402: The Dinner Table — and also sold Shadis after Issue 21. Blackburn believed that he could produce a monthly Knights of the Dinner Table magazine, and started up KODT Enteractive Facktory with that in mind. While he was working on getting that new company together, Blackburn received a call from the editor of TSR 's Dragon magazine, asking if the Knights of the Dinner Table strip
576-505: The Dinner Table , comic strips Fineous Fingers and Bright Future also proved to be very popular. In the August 1994 edition of Dragon (Issue 208), Lester Smith wrote a favourable review, saying "A truly independent publication, it covers a wide range of topics in the gaming hobby, and always entertains." In a retrospective review of Shadis #15 in Black Gate , John O'Neill said "it
612-690: The Fort Jackson community that continues to grow in numbers and facilities. An additional 10,000 soldiers attend courses at the Soldier Support Institute, Chaplain Center and School, and Drill Sergeant School annually. An estimated 3,500 active duty personnel and their 12,000 military family members make the Fort Jackson area their home with about one-third of that total population residing on-post. Close to 3,500 civilians are employed at Fort Jackson and 46,000-plus retirees and their families receive services from this base. On base, visitors can visit
648-641: The Married Couples program. Blackburn had always wanted to be a writer, and while he was posted in Fort Jackson , South Carolina, he and Barbara launched a gaming magazine titled Shadis . He also created Alderac Entertainment Group , named after his D&D campaign world. (Shadis was the name of one of the moons that circled Alderac.) Shadis was a black-and-white digest that featured gaming articles usually written by Blackburn, as well as several fictional works by Blackburn, collectively referred to as
684-589: The U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Museum, previously known as the Fort Jackson Museum when it opened in 1974. The museum helps visitors learn the history of Fort Jackson since it was created in 1917. Admission into the Basic Combat Training Museum is open Monday through Friday, except for federal holidays, and admission is free. Located in the heart of the Midlands of South Carolina , Fort Jackson
720-896: The aftermath of the incident, Collazo has attempted to escape jail twice. Once while at the Richland County Jail, and a second attempt at a hospital where he was recovering from his previous attempt. In addition, as of 14 May 2021, Fort Jackson has "paused weapons immersion training" for soldiers in training "unless they are needed for a specific training event" . As of December 2021 Residents are zoned to Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools for elementary school, and Richland County School District Two for secondary school. The DoDEA schools on-post are Pierce Terrace Elementary School (Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 1) and C.C. Pinckney Elementary School (grades 2–6). Students are zoned to Dent Middle School and Richland Northeast High School , which are operated by
756-503: The art isn't where this strip shines anyway. Jolly's true gifts are as a writer, and the writing in KoDT is top notch." Blackburn has received a number of awards for Knights of the Dinner Table , including: Fort Jackson (South Carolina) Fort Jackson is a United States Army installation, which TRADOC operates on for Basic Combat Training (BCT), and is located within the city of Columbia, South Carolina . This installation
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#1732863234564792-542: The bus, the rifle, and proceeded to try and make it on foot. He was apprehended by South Carolina police shortly after. Brigadier General Milford Beagle , the installation commander for Fort Jackson, later put out a statement saying that Collazo did not possess any ammunition for the M4 he was carrying, but both the bus driver and children on board would not be aware of that. Collazo is now facing multiple charges, including 19 federal counts of kidnapping, armed robbery, and carjacking. In
828-486: The cartoon for Issues 3 to 5, but in Issue 6, believing that his readers wanted better artwork and a more involved storyline, Blackburn replaced his own comic strip with more professional cartoon strips. However, his readers' outcry convinced him to immediately return to Knights of the Dinner Table in the very next issue. Blackburn had to put both Shadis and Knights of the Dinner Table on hold for 18 months in 1991–1992. He
864-456: The decision to break away from the D&;D game system and create an independent role-playing system for Hackmaster . This enabled him to include many items and ideas from the Knights of the Dinner Table comics. Writing for Black Gate , John O'Neill noted that the artwork is not what draws readers to Knights of the Dinner Table , commenting, "Jolly has never claimed to be an artist, and in truth
900-400: The early Dragon Magazine , and I wanted something similar. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone willing to do a strip. Finally I sat down and drew out a very crude cartoon showing a gamemaster and a player sitting around a table arguing over a rules call." Blackburn based the comic strip's players on his gamer friends, and the gamemaster B.A. Felton on himself. Blackburn continued to draw
936-441: The editor-in-chief of Kobold Quarterly , thought it was a mistake for Shadis to rely too heavily on content that was not focused on fantasy in general and Dungeons & Dragons in particular. Each issue contained a variety of articles covering many different aspects of role-playing game systems and genres . The series included game reviews, adventures, fiction, maps, gaming advice, and cartoons. In addition to Knights of
972-540: The fictional "Fort McClane" were filmed at Fort Jackson in 1993. In 2020, the reception battalion barracks were renovated. On 6 May 2021, 23-year-old Jovan Collazo who was three weeks into United States Army Basic Training , fled his basic training dorm in an attempt to make it back to his home state of New Jersey. Authorities would later say he slipped away after a morning exercise session had ended. While his fellow trainees were showering, he had taken his army-issued M4 carbine and fled. He eventually made his way onto
1008-408: The following year, Blackburn felt that his plans for the future had diverged from his partners John Zinser and David Seay — they wanted to expand Alderac and look for success in the collectible card game industry while Blackburn wanted to keep the company fun and small and focus on Knights of the Dinner Table . Blackburn sold his share of Alderac to his partners — keeping the rights to Knights of
1044-415: The local games shop, Blackburn was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons , and he eventually created his own campaign world called Alderac. Following high school, Blackburn entered Ball State University where he majored in anthropology, history, and classical cultures. Jolly married his wife, Barbara after college. After graduation, Blackburn enlisted in the Army, along with his wife, Barbara under
1080-467: The longest comic book series by a single creator (passing the 300 issues of Cerebus the Aardvark created by David Sim ). In 2023, Blackburn announced that Knights of the Dinner Table would be moving to an expanded format, but only once every two months, citing the short turnaround times for a monthly magazine and increased production costs. As early as 1995, Blackburn toyed with the idea of creating
1116-620: The new collectible card game (CCG) industry while he wanted to keep the company fun and small and focus on Knights of the Dinner Table . Blackburn departed with the rights to Knights of the Dinner Table and a few other properties. In a 2000 interview on the Gaming Outpost website, Zinser explained that he had wanted the in-debt company to grow at a faster pace than Blackburn was comfortable with, hence Blackburn's departure. In 1998, Shadis went "on hiatus" and publication ceased. In drawing lessons from this magazine's demise, Wolfgang Baur ,
Shadis - Misplaced Pages Continue
1152-644: Was incorporated into the city of Columbia in October 1968 and is midway between New York and Miami . Columbia has direct access to three interstate highways, I-20 , I-26 and I-77 , and indirect access to two additional interstates within 100 miles (160 km), I-95 and I-85 . Average temperatures in the region range from a high of 90+ °F (32 °C) in July to a low of 34 °F (1 °C) in January. Annual rainfall averages around 48 inches (1,200 mm). The fort has
1188-472: Was now available; although Blackburn originally planned to continue the strip in Shadis , he accepted the offer and Knights of the Dinner Table appeared Issue 226 of Dragon (February 1996). Blackburn's comic suddenly reached ten times the audience that it in Shadis , and Blackburn was surprised at the overwhelmingly positive response. He later recounted "I think that's when the light bulb went on over my head. I
1224-470: Was reactivated for World War II , where Franklin D. Roosevelt and George C. Marshall hosted a demonstration of the combat-readiness of several divisions for Winston Churchill and Alan Brooke in preparation of the abandoned Operation Roundup . At the conclusion of World War II, the post was to have been deactivated by 1950; however, the outbreak of the Korean War caused the post to remain active and it
1260-501: Was shocked by the interest and the apparent appetite for more." Knights of the Dinner Table would continue in Dragon until Issue 269 (March 2000), when it was replaced by an expanded Nodwick strip. After he and Barbara finally published Knights of the Dinner Table #4, Blackburn questioned whether they could make it work on their own. In November 1996 when David Kenzer and some of his Kenzer & Company staff of met Blackburn at
1296-446: Was still working as a sergeant in the army, and during Operation: Desert Storm , Blackburn was involved with activating reservists for remedial training prior to deployment, a job that required him to work working seven days a week for up to 16 hours a day. Following the end of the conflict, Blackburn returned to writing. In 1994, Alderac published a Knights of the Dinner Table comic book, and followed up with two more issues. But by
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