Brian J. Blume is noted for being a business partner of
Gary GygaxErnest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
in
TSR, Inc.Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
, producers of the
fantasyFantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
role-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
,
Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
.
Biography
Brian Blume was born January 12, 1950 in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
,
IllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Blume began playing chess at age seven, and
GettysburgGettysburg is a board wargame produced by Avalon Hill which re-enacts the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg. It was originally published in 1958, and was the first board wargame based on a historical battle....
from
Avalon HillAvalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
in 1959. He was fascinated by history in junior high school, and got involved in
miniature wargamingMiniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...
in high school. Blume was married, but later divorced. He worked as a
tool and die makerTool and die makers are workers in the manufacturing industry who make jigs, fixtures, dies, molds, machine tools, cutting tools , gauges, and other tools used in manufacturing processes...
's apprentice.
Blume met
Gary GygaxErnest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
at the
Gen ConGen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
game convention in
Lake GenevaLake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
,
WisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, and later partnered with Gygax and Don Kaye in the TSR enterprise in 1974, with his father Melvin Blume providing the funding to publish the
original Dungeons & Dragons boxed setThe original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson was published by TSR, Inc. in 1974. It initially included the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
. After the death of Kaye in 1976, his widow sold her shares to Gygax. Gygax, now controlling the whole of Tactical Studies Rules, created TSR Hobbies, Inc. with himself as company president. Gygax, coming into financial troubles soon after, sold TSR Hobbies to Brian Blume and his brother Kevin, whom Brian got nominated to TSR's board. The Blume family would own roughly two-thirds of TSR Hobbies by late 1976.
Blume authored the
Dungeons & Dragons supplement
Eldritch WizardryEldritch Wizardry is a supplementary rulebook by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume, written for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, which included a number of significant additions to the core game.-Contents:...
with Gygax in 1976, naming the character
VecnaIn the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Vecna was a powerful wizard who became a lich. He was eventually destroyed, and his left hand and left eye were the only parts of his body to survive...
as an anagram of
Jack VanceJohn Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
, and also worked on the supplement
Swords & SpellsSwords & Spells is a supplementary rulebook by Gary Gygax for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Swords & Spells was a supplement of miniature rules, for use with the original D&D set....
with Gygax. Blume also worked on
The Rogues GalleryThe Rogues Gallery is an accessory for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:The Rogues Gallery was a supplement listing hundreds of pre-generated non-player characters for use by the Dungeon Master, including characters from all the standard first edition AD&D character...
. With Gygax, Blume also co-authored the
Warriors of MarsWarriors of Mars is a miniatures wargame written by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume in 1974, designed for simulating skirmishes on Barsoom, the world of John Carter as originally imagined by Edgar Rice Burroughs....
miniatures wargame adaptation in 1974, and the
Boot HillBoot Hill is a western role-playing game designed by Brian Blume and Gary Gygax. First published in 1975, Boot Hill was TSR's third role-playing game, not long after Dungeons and Dragons and Empire of the Petal Throne.-System:...
role-playing game in 1975. Blume also authored the
Panzer WarfareA set of rules for 1:285 scale miniature wargaming battles set in World War II. Written by Brian Blume and published by TSR, Inc. in 1975. This was one of the early games intended for use with micro armour....
miniatures wargame in 1975.
The Blumes brought in three outside directors from the
AMAThe American Management Association , based in New York City, is a corporate training and consulting group that provides a variety of educational and management development services to businesses, government agencies and individuals. The non-profit membership organization offers business courses in...
to increase the Board of Directors to six: a lawyer from a large Milwaukee firm, a personnel officer from a Milwaukee area company, and an owner of a company that made medical equipment, none of whom knew anything about gaming but always voted with the Blumes.
While Gygax was involved in the making of the
Dungeons & Dragons animated television showDungeons & Dragons is an American fantasy animated television series based on TSR's Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A co-production of Marvel Productions and TSR, the show originally ran from 1985 through 1987 for three seasons on CBS for a total of twenty seven episodes.The show focused on a...
and exploring the possibility of a film adaptation of the game, he left the day-to-day operations of TSR to his fellow board members, Kevin and Brian Blume. By the time he came back to Wisconsin, the company was $1.5 million in debt. In response, Gygax persuaded the board of directors to fire Kevin Blume. Gygax persuaded
Lorraine WilliamsLorraine Dille Williams is an American businesswoman who was in charge of the gaming company TSR, Inc. from 1986 to 1997. Williams was hired as TSR's manager by company co-founder Gary Gygax in 1984. She gained control of TSR the following year when the Blume brothers sold her their controlling...
to invest in TSR, and hired her to manage the company. Williams dismissed the three outside directors, who had been in place for about two years by that time. The Blumes soon sold their stock to Williams, removing Gygax's controlling stake in the company. Brian Blume left TSR after a bitter struggle with Gary Gygax. Gygax sold his remaining stock and left TSR in 1985.
Blume later worked as a cartographer, mostly on numerous
White WolfWhite Wolf Publishing is an American gaming and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant and White Wolf Magazine, and was initially led by Mark Rein·Hagen of the former and Steve and Stewart Wieck of the latter. Since White Wolf Publishing, Inc. merged with...
supplements.
External links