Frank Mentzer

• 1. Folk Music In The White House Gardens

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  Jacob Franklin Mentzer III stood in the White House gardens on a spring day in 1972. He played his guitar for inner-city children while Pat Nixon watched from the sidelines. National news crews recorded the moment, and that evening, television broadcasts showed him singing If I Had a Hammer. This performance came after he had already played at the Liberty Bell Visitors Center opening when he was just sixteen years old. His father worked for the National Park Service, which helped arrange concerts at various government sites across Maryland. Mentzer enrolled at West Virginia Wesleyan College but prioritized his music career over immediate academic focus. He later studied mathematics and physics at Northeastern University before returning to Philadelphia. During the 1970s, he managed a pinball arcade while continuing to perform folk music professionally.

• 2. Winning The DM Invitational Contest

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  Gen Con 1980 marked the announcement of Frank Mentzer as the winner of TSR's first DM Invitational contest. Other contestants included Len Lakofka and Erol Otus, but Mentzer took home both a silver cup and a gold dragon chain of office. This victory led directly to an invitation from Mike Carr to create what became the Role Playing Game Association. Mentzer developed a scoring system where dungeon masters and players voted together on who performed best role-playing during convention events. He wrote four tournament adventures set in Aquaria, his own campaign world running since 1976. These modules appeared as R1 through R4 under the RPGA banner. Ken Rolston later praised Mentzer as clever and original, noting how his scenarios made protagonists behave like characters following actual physics laws rather than arbitrary game rules.

• 3. Creating The BECMI Ruleset Series

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  Mentzer launched the third edition of the D&D Basic Set in 1983 with strict instructions to exclude Advanced Dungeons & Dragons material. This decision created five distinct boxed sets that allowed characters to advance from level one all the way to godhood status. The Expert box arrived in 1984 followed by Companion, Master, and Immortals editions released through 1986. Collectively known as BECMI, these products translated into eleven languages and sold millions of copies worldwide. Mentzer also designed IM-1 The Immortal Storm for release in 1986 alongside I-11 Needle appearing in 1987. He contributed an adventure module based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel 2001: A Space Odyssey for TSR's Star Frontiers line. His work on hobby gaming auctions led him to co-author The Game Buyers Price Guide 1986 with James Ward and Jean Black before leaving TSR ended further annual editions.

• 4. Expanding Hommlet Into Temple Of Evil

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  Frank Mentzer worked closely with Gary Gygax to transform the Village of Hommlet adventure into T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil. Released in 1985, this squarebound supplement measured between 96 and 128 pages, offering significantly more space than previous formats. The project represented a new direction for TSR product design while maintaining deep connections to existing lore. Mentzer collaborated directly with Gygax on both this module and The Book of Marvelous Magic published that same year. Their partnership produced content that expanded the original village setting into a major dungeon complex. This expansion became one of the most influential adventures in D&D history despite later legal complications surrounding its publication rights.

• 5. New Infinities And Legal Battles

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  Gary Gygax formed New Infinities Productions Inc. immediately after his ousting from TSR at the end of 1985. Frank Mentzer joined as Design Executive alongside Kim Mohan to form a Creative Committee. Their first product appeared in 1987 as Cyborg Commando, a science fiction game designed primarily by Mentzer using notes from Gygax. A second adventure called The Convert faced an injunction from TSR because written permission was never secured despite verbal approval. The third project Dangerous Journeys triggered a lawsuit when Game Designers Workshop released it under threat of trademark infringement claims. TSR eventually bought all rights to the system and permanently shelved the entire project. These legal defeats led to the collapse of New Infinities and forced Mentzer out of the gaming industry entirely.

• 6. Managing Bakeries In Wisconsin

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  Mentzer and his wife Debbie moved to Minocqua, Wisconsin in 2000 to open their first bakery operation. She handled baking duties while he managed daily business operations across three separate locations. Running these establishments consumed significant time and energy throughout the early 2000s. By 2008, other life demands prompted them to close all bakeries and relocate to Rockford, Illinois. During this period, Mentzer wrote Kam's Cooking Without Fire with Paul Kamikawa in 1992. He also contributed Trust at the Gaming Table to Origins Award-winning Game Master Secrets Vol II published by Grey Ghost Press in 2003. His expertise in hobby games grew as he became a collector and auction expert during these years away from game design.