Jaded Gamer - Rest in Peace Terry Amthor

 

It was announced by Iron Crown Enterprises that Terry Amthor had passed away. Now first off we are not related to each other. But our names are very much connected. First let's go with the kind words that were put up on the ICE website about Terry. After that I get to tell a story about my contact with him many years ago. 

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"The cause and circumstances of his death are still under investigation, so we cannot provide any details on this and will defer to his family on what they choose to disclose in due course.

Terry was a founding member of the original ICE and a co-creator of Rolemaster and Spacemaster, writing and contributing to many of its most iconic products, and to some of the most exceptional 1st edition Middle-earth modules. Most of all, he has shaped our imaginations with his masterful Shadow World epic fantasy setting. He continued to develop Kulthea through his own Eidolon Studio company, before joining forces with Guild Companion Publications to create new sourcebooks and adventures bringing ever more of Shadow World to life, and working as our layout guru for most of our other products.

Author, designer, world builder, and friend, Terry’s genius has enriched our lives for decades. His creations will continue to inspire us all for years to come."

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I would also like to add that he was responsible for the founding of Metropolis Ltd which brought the controversial game Kult to English speaking audiences. Which he told me in our brief email exchanges (I'll get to that in a bit) that he was really wanting to do but ICE didn't want to touch the property. Kult ended up being my gaming obsession for many, many years. More than any other game out there if I were to count actual hours I've put into it. I became heavily involved in the fan forums and listservs online, really falling into the community.

This is when Terry emailed me. You see he was wondering about my the name I used. Peter Amthor. Thinking Amthor isn't a common name and we may be related somehow. Which I got to tell him the story I am about to repeat here. I got my name from him, just in a different way than most do. 

Back in the early ninties I was also a Rolemaster and Spacemaster fan. The critical hit charts being one of my favorite things at the time. So I had bought up a lot of books and supplements for both games. Usually carrying around whichever books I was reading when I would go gaming. So one night we sat down and made characters for a friend homebrew horror game and I couldn't think of a name at all. Reaching into my backpack I pulled out the Spacemaster 2nd edition core rulebook and flipped it open to the credits for inspiration. And there it was. 

Right at the end of each line. So I threw that name down as my characters name and off we went. That character is still alive and ready to be pulled out and dusted off. He's completely off his rocker, very dangerous and holds Chicago from falling into hell using his soul... but that's another story. Anyways from game one I was having a blast with this character. 

Also about that same time I was getting online more and more beyond local BBS set ups. Trying to have an identity online of some sort other than my real name because it's boring as hell and because I was an early adopter of "Give the data scrapers nothing to work with" idea of thought. But I also didn't want any sort of cheap handle like 'ChromeDude007'. So I looked at my gaming bag and thought of the character I have enjoyed playing the most lately... and that was Peter Amthor. So I started using that. 

Fast forward a few years. More people know me by that name than my actual name. Which is fine, not a fan of my actual name. I'm hip deep in the Kult community, making up all sorts of my own stuff for it and sharing it with others. That's when I get the email. 

Terry Amthor emails me asking about my name as I said above. That's when I told him the story of where it came from. I was worried he was going to ask me not to use it or get angry thinking I was simply trying to raise myself up on his name. Because if he said stop, I would have done so in an instant, I respected the man that much.

He took it as a compliment. Apparently he got a kick out of the idea and gave me his blessing in continuing on with it. Only thing he asked was for me to tell others we weren't related if I was asked about it. Which I have always done. We exchanged a few more emails, mainly me asking details about Kult and his hand in the game. After a bit we just stopped. Sadly those emails were lost when go dot com decided to restructure everything and they dumped their email service. 

So that's my story of Terry Amthor. An awesome creator, writer and just a great person over all. If there is an 'other side' I'm sure he's in good company and living his best afterlife.