Bios

Dennis J. Parizek - Mastercrafter & Designer of EVERYVERSE RPG

Dennis J. Parizek, was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, IA, and is a graduate of Jefferson High School. He graduated with a BA in Mathematics from Coe College in Cedar Rapids. 

By the time he was in college, he had played nearly all of the role-playing games on the market, taught his younger brother to play, formed gaming groups then got his wife hooked on playing.

His gaming group included players of different experience levels and a gamemaster (GM) with multi-level scenarios planned.  We needed a gaming system that was easy to use for the newbies, flexible enough for those scenarios we wanted to play and had more meaningful, realistic character stats.

This situation prompted Dennis to design and develop a role-playing gaming system — EVERYVERSE RPG — that offered ease of play so no one’s nose need be stuck in a rule book, flexibility in scenario generation and more realistic character stats plus one action, The Attempt, to resolve all outcomes. His group loved the system. For many, it is the only system they will use to this day.

Then, tragedy struck during play testing… Dennis contracted cancer. He fought through the first round of chemo and surgery. During his recovery, he gamemastered the play testing, all the while hoping for publication. For nine months after surgery, Dennis appeared to be fine, cancer-free, until follow-up blood tests indicated possible recurrence. Later, tests revealed metastasis. The cancer had spread to his spine and lungs.

The last time his gaming group met, Dennis, the GM with the big ideas, had none. All members knew it was serious, that Dennis would likely not be meeting with them to game again. Dennis died one year to the day after his initial surgery, dream of publishing his role-playing gaming system unrealized. As surviving spouse, Debra inherited Dennis’ work — a manual of the basic game rules plus supplements on Paranormality, High-Tech Equipment and Future History information and adventures (10 Eras of human expansion and colonization).  

Debra Hoenig Parizek - CEO of ParDen Us Gaming and Guardian

Hello, all, I’m Debra Hoenig Parizek, aka Sihaya Tai’i, CEO of ParDen Us Gaming and Guardian. I started role-playing gaming in the mid-1980s, joining Dennis and our friends. Jim (now, Chief Play Officer), Duane, and Rich (Senior Playtesters) in their adventures… and what adventures we had. From lowly spacers to Guardians of Right and Wrong.

One thing that never happened in our adventures was “no matter what the players do, they end up here.”

As wife of the designer, I watched Dennis work countless hours on EVERYVERSE RPG and those adventures. We dreamt of publication but Dennis contracted cancer and passed away before we could bring that dream to fruition.

Several years passed while I recovered from Dennis’ death. I still wanted to publish his work. After a gaming reunion with our group, it hit me (I think it was Dennis inspired) that I had a viable product. The timing could not have been more perfect. I had the opportunity to learn about online marketing in the past couple of years and I was laid off from my corporate job, which has afforded me the time to focus on producing EVERYVERSE RPG in several formats. Self-publication is much easier now with greater access to print and digital formats

I have been feeling a mix of emotions as I work on this project. — happy to be realizing this dream we shared while Dennis was still alive, excited that I am finally able to keep my unspoken promise to him of publishing his work posthumously, and honored to bring his hard work for sale to the public.

We here at ParDen Us Gaming look forward to having you join us in using EVERYVERSE RPG and bringing more content to you.

Jim Poland - Chief Play Officer of ParDen Us Gaming and Guardian, Brighton

Hello fellow RPG'ers! I'm Brighton, er Jim, and I'm honored to serve ParDen Us Gaming as the Chief Play Officer. I've been involved with role playing games since the late 1970s when I started playing the original version of D&D. Shortly thereafter, I met Dennis Parizek when we both worked part-time in the college computer lab. He invited a friend and me (another EVERYVERSE RPG play tester) to game with him and right off the bat, everything was different. We started a science fiction campaign based on the Traveller RPG in the college planetarium – no tabletop, no dice, just our imaginations and characters we'd generated. Through the years, we'd pick up other game systems to see what they had to offer.

Den was easily one of the most intelligent people I'd ever met, with a unique approach to gaming that emphasized adventuring, challenging player's assumptions, and not burdening players with rules. He read voluminously, incorporating and extrapolating ideas from many different genres. I can't tell you how many times as players we looked at each other to either say “we're so screwed” or “we have no idea what is going on.” This is exactly where Den liked to keep us so that when we did figure out how to get our predicaments, we'd be all the more amazed.

We often talked about weaknesses in game systems and as the years when by, we fleshed out and playtested various aspects of what we affectionately called “the system”. We dreamt of the possibility of publishing the system he'd crafted. By then, his wife, Deb, and others were gaming with us. But, back then, print was everything and neither of us had the resources to make that dream a reality. Thankfully, Deb didn't give up and now you have the opportunity to experience the very special gaming system we enjoyed for many years with Den as our GM. With your support and interest, I hope we can share more of his ideas and content.