All posts by Rodney

Hi there, I'm Rodney. Writer, Game Designer, Editor, Kitbasher, Skateboarder, and Ork 'Ed Banga. But Nothing Without Christ!
General

Santa’s Spy—Holiday Games

Here’s a little game I play at home over the December holidays. I call it…

Santa’s Spy

Santa has a man on the inside, and it’s your job to coordinate his mission. A day or so after your Christmas tree goes up, he’ll deploy in the field, and just before it’s time to clean away the decorations, he’ll return to base with his valuable intel.

“They’ll never spot me behind these giant balls!”
Photo credit: TJ Holowaychuk

The Operative

I use a 12 inch action figure or, for smaller trees, plastic ninjas, like those plastic army men.

Deployment

One night, just after your tree goes up, and while the rest of the house is asleep, sneak over to the tree and hide your operative inside. The goal is for him to remain unseen, so hide him well.
And don’t tell anyone he’s there, because that would be like M saying, “hey everyone, James Bond is a spy.”

Winning

You win the game if you safely extract the operative before all the decorations get packed away and no one has spotted him.

Losing

“Daddy, daddy, there’s a ninja in the tree!” Sorry bud, you lose.

Bonus

Up the difficulty by hiding your operatives gear inside Christmas tree decorations. Do this some time after deployment and be sure to remove it when you extract your operative.

Have fun.

Do you have any games you play over the holidays? Let us know in the comments below.

General

Black Friday Specials

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals

Black Friday is practically here—depending on where in the world you are—and Cyber Monday isn’t very far off.
We’ve got some great specials for you.

All Products 17% – 30% off on Drive Thru RPG

 

Claustrophobia! — the hilarious game of suicidal garden gnomes on a mission to the depths of the earth.

Claustrophobia Cover

Field Guides — Never leave the tavern without a good guide. Compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Phoenixes | Griffins | Curiosities – All 30% OFF

All Products 17% – 30% off on Drive Thru RPG

Griffins - A Field Guide Chilling Curiosities - A Field Guide

Phoenixes | Griffins | Curiosities – All 30% OFF

Steel Forge Games

Steel Forge Games has a sexy new website, and they’re also offering their titles at 30% off!

Bullet | Might – Both 30% Off

Bullet | Might – Both 30% Off

Gamers for Graaains!

Christmas is coming, but for a lot of people around the world Christmas isn’t a time of happiness and presents. When you’re struggling to feed your family, Christmas is just another day.

But it doesn’t have to be.

This season, we’re calling on gamers to help us collect rice and upper-cut hunger in the face, at least for the season. Our goal is to collect 1 million grains of rice by Christmas, and we can only do it with your help.

To help, join us on FreeRice.com, answer some questions, and boom! You’ve made a difference.

All it takes is a little of your time, and you can leave the game running in a tab, for whenever you’ve got a free moment.

Till next time, Tell Thrilling Tales.
Have a great weekend and a happy Thanksgiving to our US friends.

Rodney Sloan
Rising Phoenix Games

Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly updates and visit us on our blog, our Facebook page and on Twitter.

Uncategorized

Halloween? Never heard of it.

Not much happens on this side of the planet in October. Halloween isn’t a big thing—or even a thing—here. Right now, I’m enjoying the warmer weather that comes with Spring in October in the Southern Hemisphere. Soon I’ll be planning my December trip to the beach!

That doesn’t mean we don’t have some amazing specials for your Halloween—however you choose to spend your October.

Dying Dead: A murder mystery adventure with a twist—the murder victims are the undead! This is a 1-on-1 adventure for a 5th–7th level character.

Dying Dead, a 1-on-1 adventure.

Chilling Curiosities—A Field Guide: A collection of new, horror themed creatures, compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Each monster is beautifully illustrated by Bob Storrar.

Chilling Curiosities

Death Queen and the Life Stone: The first solo and 1-on-1 adventure in our Choose Your Destiny campaign, this one has plenty of spooky encounters to keep you enthralled. The second adventure, Forest of Secrets, written by David N. Ross, is out now.

Death Queen and the Life Stone cover Forest of Secrets

Keep an eye out for the Wolf of Heaven, a new werewolf race compatible with the fifth edition SRD, coming soon.

Wolf of Heaven Cover

Tell Thrilling Tales

Rodney Sloan
Rising Phoenix Games

Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly updates and visit us on our blog, our Facebook page and on Twitter.

 

General

Google shows the human race with its fly down

Here’s a telling screen capture from a recent Google search.

Where does it snow in Africa?

If you’re wondering, it doesn’t snow in Africa.
Kilimanjaro, which is often cited as an example of something African with snow on top, is completely snow free. The mountain, which is probably in every picture of Africa, ever — even the pictures with the pyramids and the sphinx, if you squint hard enough — is toasty warm, year round.
The white, snow like stuff is made up of frozen water molecules trying very hard to look like snow.

Do they have snow in New Zealand?

No, New Zealand gets zero snowfall.
For the filming of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit they had to fly in boxes of Rice Krispies, bleach them, then grate them over the film’s many, many mountain locations. It took several orcs and the cast of Flight of the Conchords many days of back-breaking work to achieve the desired effect.

And if you don’t believe me, maybe try googling it.

Rodney Sloan
Rising Phoenix Games

Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly updates and visit us on our blog, our Facebook page and on Twitter.

General

2,500 Tons of Awesome

Greetings friend

Rising Phoenix Games has some new, exciting titles for you.

Climb into the Praetor or Vindicator Class Kaiju-Hunter mecha and take the battle to the stars.

Mecha—A Field Guide introduces two new mecha along with all the rules for operating, customizing, and combat with these iron giants, all fully compatible with the Starfinder Roleplaying Game. Three powered armor suits, new weapons, and armor upgrades expand your ironclad arsenal.

Forest of Secrets is the newest installment in the Choose Your Destiny series of solo and 1-on-1 adventures, compatible with fifth edition fantasy. Written by David N. Ross, it includes a useful forest generator for use in your games. Can you survive the Forest of Secrets?

Death Queen and the Life Stone kicks off the Choose Your Destiny series with an undead queen attempting to rise again. Can you escape her trapped temple and stop her, before it’s too late?

Death Queen and the Life Stone cover

Get the most out of Death Queen and Forest of Secrets with Welcome to Scarthey, your guide to the world of arcane studies.
Inside you’ll find details of the University of Scarthey, introductions to key NPCs, and plenty of player options.

Last up, Gear Heart is an encounter involving agents of the University of Scarthey attempting to uncover the secrets of a mysterious tower.
A short adventure for a party of 4 characters between level 1 and 5, compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Have a great adventure
Rodney Sloan
Rising Phoenix Games

Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly updates and visit us on our blog, our Facebook page and on Twitter.

Tips and Tricks, Write - Design - Program

Write – Design – Program: 1 Year in Games

July 25th, 2017, marked a year since I finished 5 years of teaching in Japan and began working full-time in the games industry. That’s 1 year in games! It’s been an up and down ride, but I’ve learned so much. Here are some of my reflections.

Write - Design - Program
Write – Design – Program

Once Upon a Career Crisis
In 2011 my wife and I left for Japan. I didn’t like the route my career was taking—working predominantly in web design. I felt I could do more elsewhere, and wanted out. Five years later I walked out of the classroom and into the games industry.

Go. Go Now
I started Rising Phoenix Games on the last day of 2010. Over the next five years, in my free moments, I worked hard to learn my craft and build the company. When I realized there was only so much I could learn on my own I started freelancing, which taught me loads more, but also brought new opportunities my way. None of that would have been possible without the five plus years of banging on my craft.

Starting and starting early was critical.

Incarnate Hybrid Class Cover

Build a Runway
Jake Birkett (Grey Alien Games) mentions this principle in his GDC talk, How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit. A runway—or savings—helps you weather the time between project launches. I’m not a big drinker, never smoked, and love a bargain, so was able to step away from my last job with enough money to see me through till sales came in. There were sleepless nights, but it really helped. I still relish the opportunity to save, and am busy installing a rain water tank to cut down on our utility bill.

More Money Saved = More Money for Game Dev.

Together
We had this slogan at the summer camp I worked at: “TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More.” Cheesy, but true. Partnering up has, in every instance, taken me further than I could have gone by myself.

Because of this, being a team player is important. Time is short, and people want to work with someone they know has their back and will deliver.

Together Everyone Achieves More.

Next?
I aim to stay in the games industry,  one, five, ten years and longer. Write – Design – Program is part of that, because this series is all about sharing insights. If you’re working in games, tell us what’s working for you.

Rodney Sloan is a game design, writer, and programmer at Rising Phoenix Games, a line developer for Steampunk Musha at Fat Goblin Games, and a freelancer. You can find him on Twitter.

General

Take on the Death Queen

No GM? No Problem!

From the creator of Lunatic Labyrinth comes a new solo adventure, the first in a series of solo adventures revolving around Scarthey, the University of the Arcane.

The Stone of Ashirai—said to contain power over life itself—is rumored to lie within the tomb of the goddess Ashirai, the Death Queen. Can you be the first to reach her tomb, find the stone, and survive to tell the tale?Death Queen and the Life Stone cover

Get Death Queen & the Life Stone on Drive Thru RPG

 

Character Class: Cleric or Fighter
Character Level: 1st
Play Mode: Solo / 1-on-1
System: fifth edition fantasy
Setting: Scarthey, the University of the Arcane


Till next time, Tell Thrilling Tales
Rodney Sloan and Bob Storrar
Rising Phoenix Games

Tips and Tricks, Write - Design - Program

Write – Design – Program: Rats With Reason

You pass the stone gateway into the dungeon. Rounding the first turn, you come face to snout with a giant rat.

In most RPGs, digital or table-top, an encounter with a giant rat or three is a pretty standard introduction to combat. Remember Fallout? I don’t have anything against giant rats, I’ve used them, but good design happens when there’s a why.

Fallout again. Those giant rats were the neon sign, reminding you why Vault 13 was such a great place to live through a nuclear holocaust.

One of my favorite movies is Hot Fuzz, written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Everything in the movie has a reason, everything is connected, and nothing is wasted. That’s great design.

Good adventure design, good game design, uses every opportunity to tell a bigger story.

Love game design? Subscribe for the latest tips and tricks from Write – Design – Program.

Rodney Sloan is a game design, writer, and programmer at Rising Phoenix Games, a line developer for Steampunk Musha at Fat Goblin Games, and a freelancer. You can find him on Twitter.

Write - Design - Program

Write – Design – Program: Lets Chat

Let’s talk about making games.

Specifically, writing for games, designing games, and game programming.

These are the three areas I’m excited about, thinking about, and working the hardest to improve on.

Let’s open up the conversation, talk about the journey, about learning new skills, grabbing opportunities, and making better stuff.

How?

Blogging makes the most sense to me. The medium has to allow for the conversation to happen.

Facebook also makes sense, because it’s where most of us lurk. Facebook can feed into the blog.

BUT! I don’t want to be another voice on the Internet claiming to know stuff.

I’ve met so many great people who are doing good work in the games industry, and it’s them, you, who would make this worthwhile.

I want to tap into the brains of better people and learn from them, grow, and be challenged. I’m calling you all out, because you’re doing good work and have something to share.