Today I get to play with the Blog Carnival topic, “Pimp A Game”, which gives me a good chance to write about cool games. And who doesn’t like cool games…

“Free” is a good thing right? Many games are free in some way or another, like Facebook games, which make their money from those annoying “in game purchases”. But what about role-playing games? There are loads of free ones out there, and a quick look around will prove a universal truth: “Free isn’t always good for RPGs”. Generally, no income means no support and a poor production quality. Players are likely to disregard a game if they think it’s cheap, which impacts how many people even give the rules a spin. Thankfully, some games break that rule, and build a huge fan base around them which keeps it going and growing. Take the Pokéthulhu Adventure Game as an example. The game is possibly one of the simplest free games around, but its strong community of fans means the game is still available for download today. I got to play it at a convention a few years ago, and man, it was awesome. Hands down the best session I’ve played too.

I’m going to look at three games that got my attention recently. They’re all free. You don’t need to pay a cent, give your email address or pay for additional books to make the thing work.

I came across this great review yesterday while researching another blog post.

“Claustrophobia! – A bunch of mostly insane dwarf adventurers attempt to ride a home built nuclear powered ‘submarine’ through the earth to reach the core, while slowly (or not so slowly) going completely insane. This game seems like a hilariously fun time, and really encourages off the wall and ridiculous scenarios cropping up constantly. I will most certainly be hounding my gaming group to play this one some time. (Currently my favorite of the one’s I’ve read.)”

Now that’s a positive review!

You can download the game for free from 1KM1KT and visit the official Facebook Page to discuss it.

Wow, this is important. EN World was hacked last year and needs your help to rebuild.
 

You can find the Kickstarter here.

22 January 2013

This day will go down in the history of role-playing.

Wizards of the Coast (WotC) released most (if not all) of their past Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) print products as digital downloads via the popular RPG download site Drive Thru RPG. Yes, everything from the first ever edition of D&D, through AD&D, 3.5 and even 4th Edition is available for you to buy online, right now. That is if their site can handle all the traffic it’s getting at the moment from fans eager to get their hands on out-of-print books.

What do you think of dark elves, the drow? Are they the scary adversaries that frighten the pants off your players or just dungeon fodder? Do more drow enter your games as Chaotic Good rangers out to right the wrongs of the world? Or are they grotesque monsters, lurking in shadows, ready to swoop in for a kill?

To all our friends and fans, all our customers and colleagues, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I especially wish for you all peace and prosperity in the coming year.

As a gift to you I’m offering Lunatic Labyrinth at a special discount price of $1 from Drive Thru RPG. Get it here. The offer ends on the 1st of the new year. All proceeds go towards site hosting and domain registration.

The Year Ahead

2013 is sure to be interesting. I’ve been scheming since NaNoWriMo in November and have some fun things planned. Specifically, keep an eye on the Avernos campaign setting wiki, the Claustrophobia! Facebook page and the Rising Phoenix Games Facebook page.

See you all again in 2013!

NaNoWriMo is done and dusted (but you can still donate) and now it’s on to the next big thing. I’ve got a couple of ideas but I’d love to hear from you. What do you want to read about here on Rising Phoenix Game? Any games you’re interested in? Want more adventure hooks? NPC’s? Role-playing tips? Maps? Widgets? More Japan-Awesomeness? What do you want to talk about? Let me know and we’ll see what we can do.

“Here, Elf Boy!”

Why  do you play games? Do you play because it’s a reason to do something with friends? Is it because you love the challenge? Maybe it’s the pure escapism?

Personally I think it’s a little bit of everything for me, but mostly it’s the escapism. Yesterday I picked up a few Marvel HeroClix figures, including Spider-Man and Iron-Man. Today I played a quick battle by myself and just enjoyed imagining the action.

So I just saw the Amazing Spider-Man. Wow!

Now, I’m a little biased, because I’ve always loved Spider-Man. Spider-Man is fast, agile, confident and has always stood up for good ideals. Spider-Man doesn’t kill his enemies, he puts himself at greater risk to preserve all life. Spider-Man has always been my favorite super hero, I’d choose him over Wolverine, Captain-America, Iron-Man or any of the others.

Boden raised his holy symbol high above his head, calling down a searing beam of light into the valley below. The seething mass of living dead bodies recoiled, flailing their arms in an attempt to shield themselves from the holy light and backing away from their victims.
“Evil will not triumph this day!” Boden muttered under his breath.

Boden raised his holy symbol...

The story of the battle of good versus evil is as old as time yet as engaging and important as always. We love the hero and we want him or her to win, and in their victory we learn something of ourselves: heroism, humility, honour, whatever it may be. You see, the story of the battle of good versus evil is our own story. It is tied to our existence and as important as the air we breathe.

For good to exist, at least in a story, there must be the opposite force. In any good story there is evil. In real life there may be two parties with opposing views, neither one necessarily evil or good per say, just not agreeing with each other. In a story like Spider-Man, The Lord of the Rings, David and Goliath, Gladiator, and the Matrix, there is an evil that the hero must overcome, and by the darkness of evil we see the light of the “good” hero all the more brightly.

Because of the evil enemy, role-playing books are usually full of all types of monster, demon, devil and horror. They are the darkness that players want to defeat. Role-playing sometimes gets a bad rap from many religious organizations because of this evil content. It’s probably not surprising, even though there are Christian role-players out there, like myself. But in stories, we realize the need for that evil oppressor, the mad villain or the terrible dragon. Without Sauron, the Hobbits would have never left for Bree, Rohan would never have come to the defended of the White Tree and JRR Tolkien would not be as famous a story teller as he is today.

Edit: I came across a great post from Christian blogger Berin Kinsman that supports what I’m saying, so I’m plugging that in here:

Nearly everyone I know that’s involved in the roleplaying hobby, whether they play in fantasy settings, superheroes, horror, espionage, and any of the myriad styles and genres, typically engage in basic good-versus-evil stories. Even the folks I know who play games where they play monsters enjoy wrestling with and exploring the moral and ethical dilemmas and the angsts and drama. It is social, it is creative, but it is fiction. There is, on some level, a degree of redeeming social value to go along with the escapism.

The story of good versus evil teaches us a lot about our real selves. It teaches us, I think, that we want goodness and peace, we dislike oppression or unfairness, and we realize that peace doesn’t come from inaction but that often people had to die for freedom. As a South African it’s easy to think back on how activists like Mahatma Gandhi worked for freedom, through personal effort, suffering and hardship.

I think a wise GM looks at his campaign…

…and asks “what are we (the PC’s) fighting for?” It may, in a small part, be to defeat the tyrant, push back evil from the land or put the dead to rest, but what is the higher cause? Even if a new, more powerful set of armour motivates most of your players onto their next quest, I think you’ll find a deep hunger for the good to win out against evil. It’s part of what makes us human.