Erick Wujcik

Infobox Writer


imagesize =
name = Erick Wujcik
caption =
pseudonym =
birthname =
birthdate = birth date|1951|01|26
birthplace =
deathdate = death date and age|2008|06|7|1951|01|26|mf=y
deathplace = California
occupation = Game designer, programmer, graphic artist, editor
nationality = USA
period = 1979–2007
genre = Science Fiction, Fantasy
subject = Programming
movement =
notableworks = "Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game" "Rifts"
influences = Roger Zelazny
influenced =


website = http://www.47rpg.com

Erick Wujcik (January 26, 1951 – June 7, 2008) was an American designer of both role-playing games and computer role-playing games, and co-founder of Palladium Books.

Gaming career

Wujcik started off as head of the gaming society at Wayne State University, and then as a computer columnist for "The Detroit News" from 1979 to 1981, where he wrote their weekly "Computer Column". That served to be a springboard for him to co-found Palladium Books and work on developing numerous role-playing games and supplements for such gaming settings as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness", "Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game", "Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game", "Paranoia", "Robotech", "Rifts", and many others.

Wujcik was also the director of the Detroit Gaming Center, and founder of the gaming conventions known as Ambercon. In 1997 he went to work for Sierra Studios, and was lead game designer on the game "Return to Krondor". He also served as a game designer at Outrage Entertainment for the game "Alter Echo".

Wujcik served as Chief Editor of "Amberzine", a fanzine for the "Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game", which has published the work of such notables as Ray Bradbury, Henry Kuttner, and Roger Zelazny, and which published its last issue in 2005. He has also been an editorial contractor for the Detroit Historical Museum, and gives seminars on a wide range of topics related to the writing, design and development of role-playing games.

From 2004 to 2006, Wujcik was Game Design Studio Manager for UbiSoft China, in Shanghai.

Until his death, in June 2008, Wujcik was Senior Game Designer / Writer for Totally Games, north of San Francisco.

Illness and Death

In 2007 it was announced that Wujcik was dying of cancer. As of December 22, 2007, Kevin Siembieda has set up the website [http://www.erickwujcik.com ErickWujcik.com] for well-wishers to leave Wujcik messages:

"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 diagnosis 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."

In the last months Wujcik's illness prevented him from regular updating of his blog, and as of April 14, 2008, chemotherapy treatments had failed to eradicate the cancer and were halted. He entered hospice care in his home in San Rafael.Fact|date=April 2008

On June 6, 2008, Kevin Siembieda released an update on Erick's condition:

"I’m sorry to report that Erick is quite ill now and suffering from the consequences of a failing liver. His deteriorating condition is not a surprise, but it is unwelcomed. Erick has beat the odds and fooled the doctors – fooled everyone – by lasting as long as he has, but then Erick has always been full of surprises and magic. But even the power of the “Wuj” has its limits, and I fear it won’t be long now."

On June 7, 2008 it was announced that he had died.

Awards

On August 15th, 2008, Eric was posthumously awarded an ENnie (Gen Con EN World RPG Awards) for Lifetime Achievement. Eric was presented with the award in January 2008 by Kevin Siembieda in front of family and friends before he passed away.

External links

* [http://www.47rpg.com Erick Wujcik's Personal Homepage]
* [http://www.erickwujcik.com Erick Wujcik Tribute Page]
* [http://www.47rpg.com/resume/Publications.html Erick Wujcik's Publications List]
* [http://www.47rpg.com/OutrageBio/outragebio.html Biography] Outrage Entertainment, 2002
* [http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=344 Role-Playing Game Credits] at pen-paper.net
* [http://www.roliste.com/bio.jsp?id=1011 Biography & Profile] roliste.com (in French)Amber RPG
* [http://www.phagepress.com Phage Press] , publisher of "Amberzine"
* [http://www.ambercon.com/ Ambercon] Interviews
* [http://ptgptb.org/0025/interview.html Interview] Places to Go, People to Be
* [http://insider.ign.com/articles/706/706990p1.html?RSSwhen2006-05-10_085700&RSSid=706990 Interview] with IGN April 2006
* [http://www.cgchannel.com/news/viewfeature.jsp?newsid=3539&pageid=3 Interview] on living in Shanghai

References

* [http://www.mic.polyu.edu.hk/staff/staff.php?page=../common/managementbios-erick Multimedia Innovation center: Erick Wujcik Bio]
* [http://forums.palladium-megaverse.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=90336 June 6, 2008 statement on Erick's health]
* [http://www.palladiumbooks.com/press/erickwujcik.html June 8, 2008 press release from Palladium Books on Eric's death]