Pacesetter was formed in 1983 or 1984 by former employees of TSR. Headquartered in Delavan, Wisconsin, the founders included John Ricketts, Troy Denning, and Mark Acres. Former TSR Vice President Will Niebling handled sales through his company, Niebling & Associates. Pacesetter went only 3 years before winding down to one full time employee, Ricketts. Their last release was in 1986. The inventory was sold off to a liquidator and their best-selling game, Chill, was bought by Mayfair Games.
The company turned out a lot of finished product given their small staff, four role-playing games and three board games.
Chill (Pacesetter Edition) (1984)
Star Ace (1984)
TIMEMASTER (1984)
Sandman (1985)
Chill: Black Morn Manor (1985)
Wabbit Wampage (1985)
Wabbit's Wevenge (1986)
Some Pacesetter games can still be purchased here, http://www.orphyte.com/catalog/index.html, from the company that purchased Pacesetter's inventory as the company shut down.
Troy Denning went on to become a best-selling author and the best known of the Pacesetter alumni.
Interestingly, top flight game designer Matt Forbeck lived near Pacesetter's office and often did playtesting there while he was still in high school. Martin A. Stever also did a lot of playtesting for the company and helped out on the sales side while interning for Niebling & Associates.
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