Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:23 am**

Just catching up on the news, but apparently Rick Loomis died a few weeks ago at the age of 72:

The U.S. Army veteran and Scottsdale, Arizona, resident created the wargame Nuclear Destruction, was a founding member and past president of the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and founder of Flying Buffalo, the publisher of Ken St. Andre’s Tunnels & Trolls roleplaying game.

As a kid, I knew of Flying Buffalo mainly for their D&D supplements (city source books) and of course Grimtooth's Tricks and Traps.

I found this interesting:

Appelcline noted that with the closure of original Dungeons & Dragons publisher TSR in 1997, Flying Buffalo became the world’s oldest publisher of pen-and-paper RPGs.

Maybe not worth an entire topic of discussion, but Rick indirectly influenced my gaming life and I figured I'd share for anyone else that didn't know. RIP

Posted: **Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:24 am**

And linked in that article is a "What happens now":

Is Flying Buffalo going to keep publishing?

“Down the road there will also be new products for T&T (Tunnels & Trolls), MSPE, Nuclear War, and Catalyst books like new Traps and Citybooks. They may not come as quickly as we’d like right now, as there is a lot to do in regards to taking care of Rick’s estate and Flying Buffalo. But rest assured, we are soldiering onward. That’s what Rick wanted us to do – and we plan to do just that. We have numerous projects in various stages of completion and we will find a way to bring those forward.”

Posted: **Tue Sep 03, 2019 12:01 pm**

I remember one glorious week of summer camp (1982, I believe...my last year as a scout) where I and two other older scouts played Tunnels and Trolls all week long. We were old enough that there were no Merit Badges to work on, so we spent the week doing T&T as well as building scoutcraft projects (including building a giant loom to make hammocks and lounge chairs.)

Never played it again after that, but it’s a very fond memory.

Posted: **Tue Sep 03, 2019 2:08 pm**

Rick was an institution with a permanent booth at Origins Game Fair. I had a few good conversations with him about Nuclear War, T&T and their app.

Posted: **Wed Sep 04, 2019 10:34 am**

Bundle of Holding is (and has been) offering a Flying Buffalo PDF bundle and they're giving 10% of the proceeds to the Loomis family to help pay whatever medical bills remain.

Starter Collection - $7.95

CityBooks I-III
Grimtooth's Traps 1-2
Treasure Vault

Bonus Collection - $23.29 (currently)

CityBooks IV-VII
Grimtooth's Traps 3-4
City of the Gods Map Pack
Mercenaries, Spies, & Private Eyes
Mugshots - Pacific Clipper

Posted: **Wed Sep 04, 2019 2:36 pm**

Many moons ago I had his Ace of Aces game and an add on or two. It was quite the thing for the solo gamer before computers,

Posted: **Thu Sep 05, 2019 9:26 pm**

Yikes, this has been a bad summer for game design luminaries, with Rick Loomis and Richard Berg dying. Very sad.

Octopus Overlords

[RIP] Rick Loomis (Flying Buffalo)

[RIP] Rick Loomis (Flying Buffalo)

Re: [RIP] Rick Loomis (Flying Buffalo)

Re: [RIP] Rick Loomis (Flying Buffalo)

Re: [RIP] Rick Loomis (Flying Buffalo)

Re: [RIP] Rick Loomis (Flying Buffalo)

Re: [RIP] Rick Loomis (Flying Buffalo)

Re: [RIP] Rick Loomis (Flying Buffalo)