Brian Blume
| Brian J. Blume | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 12, 1950 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Occupation | Writer, game designer |
| Nationality | United States |
| Genre | Role-playing games, fantasy, wargames |
Brian J. Blume (born January 12, 1950) was a business partner of Gary Gygax in TSR, Inc., producers of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
Brian Blume was born January 12, 1950, in Chicago, Illinois. Blume began playing chess at age seven, and Gettysburg at age nine. He was fascinated by history in junior high school and was involved in miniature wargaming in high school. Blume married, but later divorced. He worked as a tool and die maker's apprentice for his father's company for five years.
Blume met Gary Gygax at the Gen Con game convention in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and later became a partner, with Gygax and Donald R. Kaye, in Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). Blume's father, Melvin Blume, providing the funding to publish the original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set. Blume received a blind mailing in 1975 of the first issue of the monthly newsletter Owl and Weasel from Games Workshop, and he sent Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson a copy of Dungeons & Dragons in return. Livingstone and Jackson felt that this game was more imaginative than anything being produced in the UK at the time, so they worked out an arrangement with Blume for a three-year exclusive deal to sell D&D in Europe. After Kaye's death 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. After encountering financial difficulties, Gygax sold TSR Hobbies to Brian Blume and his brother Kevin, whom Brian got nominated to TSR's board. Gygax originally held 60% ownership of the new TSR, but as part of the reorganization, the new partners had to buy out Kaye's widow and pay other fees; as Gygax was unable to contribute a fair share of these costs, his ownership eventually dropped to 30% of the company, leaving him a minority stockholder.
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