Hogshead Publishing was a British game company that produced

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

s and game supplements.

History

In October 1994, James Wallis founded Hogshead Publishing, a company which specialised in

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

and

storytelling game A storytelling game is a game where multiple players collaborate on telling a story. Some games primarily feature spoken storytelling, while others primarily feature collaborative writing. In some storytelling games, such as many tabletop role-pla ...

s. Wallis based the company in the UK, and got a license from Phil Gallagher at

Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer (game), Warhammer'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake ...

to publish books for ''

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'' or ''Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play'' (abbreviated to ''WFRP'' or ''WHFRP'') is a role-playing game set in the ''Warhammer Fantasy (setting), Warhammer Fantasy'' setting, published by Games Workshop or its licensee ...

''. Wallis and Andrew Rilstone changed the name of the magazine ''Inter*action'' to '' Interactive Fantasy'' due to trademark concerns beginning with its second issue, which was also Hogshead's first publication; the magazine only lasted two more issues after that. ''Warhammer'' sold well, but Hogshead had problems with their distributor, and Wallis had to let go of all the company's staff. By the end of 1997, cashflow had improved so Wallis moved the company to an office, and hired Matthew Pook. Phil Masters contributed adventures to Hogshead Publishing's licensed version of ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'' in the mid-1990s. '' Shadows Over Bögenhafen'' (1995) was the first in a series reissuing GW's well-respected

The Enemy Within Campaign ''The Enemy Within'' campaign (abbreviated to TEW) is a series of adventures for ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'' where hidden powers of Chaos plot the destruction of the Empire. It was originally published by Games Workshop in the late 1980s. Prais ...

; Hogshead's updated Enemy Within campaign (1995-1999) was very well received. Wallis was able to publish his game '' The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' in 1998, the first of what would later be called the company's "New Style" RPGs.

John Scott Tynes John Scott Tynes (born 1971) is an American writer best known for his work on role-playing games such as ''Unknown Armies'', '' Delta Green'', '' Puppetland'', and for his company, Tynes Cowan Corporation. Under its imprint, Pagan Publishing, T ...

designed '' Puppetland'' (1999), the next New Style game. ''

Violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

'' (1999), by

Greg Costikyan Greg Costikyan (born July 22, 1959), sometimes known under the pseudonym Designer X, is an American game designer and science fiction writer. Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including: hex-based wargames, role-playing ...

(aka Designer X), was, according to Shannon Appelcline, "probably the least well-loved of the ''New Style'' games". Robin Laws designed '' Pantheon and Other Roleplaying Games'' (2000) as one of the company's "New Style" RPGs. '' De Profundis'' (2001), by Michael Oracz, was the last of the New Style role-playing games published by Hogshead Publishing. In 2002 Hogshead Publishing printed the second edition of '' Nobilis''. Hogshead Publishing published ''Realms of Sorcery'' (2001), which finally updated the rushed

magic system Magic systems in games are the rules, limitations, abilities, and characteristics that define magic in a game. Magic points A magic point, sometimes known as a mana point, often abbreviated to MP, is a unit of measure that indicates either or ...

in the original ''Warhammer'' rulebook.

Mike Mearls Michael Mearls is an American writer and designer of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction. Mearls worked for Wizards of the Coast from 2005 to 2023, holding various positions. He was the senior manager for the ''Dungeons & Drag ...

wrote the last product from Hogshead Publishing, a ''Warhammer'' adventure titled ''Fear the Worst'' (2002) that Hogshead released for free on the internet. On 26 November 2002, Wallis announced that he was ending Hogshead Publishing, and Mark Ricketts bought the company name in February 2003. In early 2003, after Wallis closed down Hogshead Publishing, the rights to ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'' reverted to Games Workshop. '' SLA Industries'' returned to Dave Allsop. Hogshead returned the rights of the New Style games to their creators.

References

{{reflist Role-playing game publishing companies