A Brief History of Tri Tac Games
Tri Tac Games had its humble beginnings in 1978 when role playing was a single boxed set of TSR books and hard-to-get polyhedral dice. First called “Tacky Tack Games”, the company produced the classic micro game, Geriatric Wars. Within three years, Rich Tucholka had created Fringeworthy® (the first RPG of interdimensional travel) and was hard at work on Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic® (the first late twentieth century horror RPG) and a space role playing game called FTL: 2448. The company name was changed to reflect the new and more serious products.
In the years prior to Richard’s passing from cancer (early in 2017), a concerted effort was begun to revise and modernize classic Tri Tac and expand Tri Tac’s range of products. What Rich wanted most of all was for Tri Tac to live on. Those of us who loved him are doing our best to ensure the survival of his legacy.
Who Was Richard Tucholka?
Richard Tucholka was an amazingly creative individual who traveled SF Conventions for more than thirty years. You can tell he was destined to be a SF and horror fan by his last name, which is a variant of the name of the Etruscan demon Tucholcka, the Ferryman of the Dead. Tucholka has been called “one of the unsung heroes of Role Playing” and “Michigan’s Gaming Guru”. Knights of the Dinner Table (KotDT) voted him “one of the top 20 RPG game designers, one of the good guys, and lucky to rub your dice on”.
You may know him more for his work in the creation of the Role Playing game Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic, voted Best Fantasy RPG of 1991 by the RPGA Network at Gencon. Classic RPGs designed by Tucholka include The Morrow Project*, Fringeworthy, FTL: 2448, Incursion, and Hardwired Hinterland. In his last years, he added Cloisters, Huradicator and Murderhoof to his body of work.
Modules include Invasion U.S., Rogue 417, Hellsnight, Haunts, Hearts, Bureau 13 Lost Files, Bureau 13 Special Edition, Bureau 13 Extreme, Bureau 13 Black Powder, Fringeworthy Portals I – IV, and the DM’s Book Of Nasty Tricks & Misfit Magic.