We have the Hot RPG Sale, with massive deals, coming all July long! Remember, newsletter subscribers get to hear about special offers first.
Remember also to check out the RPG Blog Carnival, Here Be Dragons, which we’re hosting this month. It’s full of great dragon-inspired content and ideas for your next campaign.
30%-Off Coupons
All of these titles are 30% off, this July only. Click on the title to apply the coupon to your order on Drive-Thru RPG or the DM’s Guild:
Space… the final planar frontier. In space, no one can hear you cast fireball. To boldly go where no gnome has gone before. Yes, Spelljammer: Adventures in Space is coming, and we thought we’d cast off, into the big black, and explore some of the possibilities of adventures in space. Three, two, one… teleport!
What is Spelljammer: Adventures in Space
To answer that question, we have a neat little promo video from Dungeons & Dragons’ own Trystan Falcone and Chris Perkins. But first, here’s the announcement trailer:
Got that? It’s basically Guardians of the Galaxy, with magic and ships instead of lasers and starships. Spelljammer is the name of one such ship, not some kind of arcane hacker (which would be an awesome character class, by the way).
Space is fascinating, and, when you add a touch of magic, anything is possible. Let’s get you ready for your own magical adventures in space — in the world of Spelljammer, Starfinder, or any other system or campaign setting.
All through May we’ll be hosting the RPG Blog Carnival with the theme “Magic Adventures in Space”. RPG bloggers from across the realms will bring ideas, stories, experiences, and mechanics, then post them in the comments below. At the end of the month, I’ll do a roundup of the articles, so you’ll have a meteor storm of ideas for when Spelljammer finally… ahem… launches.
Here are some ideas of things we might see, or you can use them to inspire your own homebrew campaign:
Magic Mechs. The world can never have enough clockwork creatures, especially ridable ones.
Space Pirates. Guardians of the Galaxy but with magic. They’re outlaws who do good, or maybe they’re mercenaries just out to make a few space credits to repair their ship. These NPCs (or pregenerated characters) could be valuable allies or irritating foes.
Space Faring Ships. We’ve already got rules for ship movement and combat, but we could always use more unique vessels. How about The Flying Duchman in space, a space snail with a helm built into its shell, 6-man boarding torpedoes for breaching ships, an ooze space vessel made of more gooey ooze, or a sentient clockwork ship?
Sci-Fantasy Weapons. Stun guns, laser swords, cannons that fire miniature black holes, EMP magic that stuns clockwork creatures… Sci-Fi is full of unique equipment that could get a fresh take if magic replaced science.
New Races and Monsters. I’m hoping we’ll see some unique creations, or some re-imaginings of creatures we know and love from other Sci-Fi properties. A playable Genestealer, anyone?
Be sure to check back here, throughout May, to see what new content has been posted, in the comments.
Star Foxes – New Spelljammer Race
Star Foxes are lithe creatures with incredible cunning. They are an opportunistic race that has crossed the stars in search of wealth and personal glory. They are expert manipulators and slippery adversaries.
Star Fox Traits
Your star fox character is nimble and cunning, yet frail.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Wisdom and Charisma score increases by 1.
Ability Score Penalty. Your Constitution score decreases by 2.
Age. Star Foxes mature a few years before humans. They live to about 80 years of age.
Alignment. Most star foxes are neutral, though their motivation to survive and thrive at all costs often drives them towards evil and chaos.
Size. Star foxes are smaller than gnomes, seldom topping 4 feet. They average around 40 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. Your race has voyaged across the stars and through the darkness of space, and as such you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Cowering Survivalist. You can take the Dodge action as a reaction to a melee attack from a creature you can see, but you have disadvantage on your own melee attacks until the end of your next turn when you do so.
Deep Cunning. You can add your Wisdom bonus to Charisma checks you make to influence other humanoids. You don’t gain this bonus if the creature is hostile towards you.
Safe in Shadow. You have advantage on Stealth checks. You lose this ability in areas of bright light unless you have advantage from some other trait, feature, or effect.
Trumpets. Red carpets. Fireworks. It’s an auspicious occasion! Not only is it Rising Phoenix Games’ birthday (yay!), but it’s also time for the December RPG Blog Carnival roundup, just as we ring in the new year! Here’s a look back at December 2021, where our topic was “Fun for One”.
Gaming is Good for your Brain
Kim Frandsen of Beyond the Horizon Games, who should be no stranger to regular readers, provided insights into how game designers gain inspiration from their experiences, including their experiences of other people. This includes gaming, which he says is good for you — and that’s something we certainly agree with.
Antony Brotherton of Dragons Keep Roleplay Club talked about that one player we can’t do without, the GM. Antony offers five great tips for new GMs, but experienced GMs will surely be taking notes and nodding their heads too.
Here at Rising Phoenix Games we looked at getting into solo games of Pathfinder Second Edition. I’m sure it’s a topic we’ll be revisiting throughout 2022 and beyond.
Tabletop roleplaying games are a unique beast, and Game Masters, players, and RPG designers are faced with many unique challenges in their quest to deliver the most entertaining and meaningful gaming experience possible. The key though is that everyone adds their bit to the mix, so the whole is always better than its parts. And, when everything comes together, it’s an amazing experience that is unique to tabletop roleplaying.
So here’s to 2022 and all the adventures we’ll have, the hardships we’ll overcome, and the tales we’ll have to tell.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Rising Phoenix Games!
Blackmore’s Night is one of our favorite bands, and their cover of ‘Here We Come a Caroling’ couldn’t be closer to our wishes for you and your family this season. Please, enjoy their cover, below.
God bless!
Rodney and the Rising Phoenix Games Team
Other ideas include minis, dice, a hand-stitched dice bag, art of a character, special snacks for game time, or just letting them know that you enjoy their game. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Keep an eye out for the Wolf of Heaven, a new werewolf race compatible with the fifth edition SRD, coming soon.
ICON 2017
South Africa’s longest running comics and games convention, ICON, celebrated it’s 25th year this year. We were there running demo games of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, as well as to attend workshops by Paizo’s own James L Sutter, who spoke about the industry and, most importantly, Starfinder.
Our Starfinder Plans
We’re not saying much just yet, but we have some cool stuff in the works that will be Starfinder compatible. Watch this space.
New Product — Bullet
Bullet is a faced paced, rules light special forces game by Basil Koufos. If you’ve ever thought playing CS the RPG might be a cool idea, then this game is for you.
New Product — Gear Heart
Gear Heart is an adventure short—an adventure setup, map, and encounter—compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and set in Scarthey, the University of the Arcane. The party is called in to investigate a mysterious tower which appears once every three years on the night of the winter solstice.
In The Works
Besides our Starfinder offering, we’ve begun work on Secrets of Scarthey, our follow up book to Welcome to Scarthey, aimed at GMs. We’ve also got several more adventures in the works, which all tie in with the setting. All of our adventures will either be compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, or the fifth edition SRD, and our setting books will be available in both flavors.
To all our fans, friends and family in roleplaying, a very Merry Christmas!
2016 has been quite a year, and 2017 promises to be even better. We couldn’t have done it without you, so to say thank you, here’s a copy of Baleful Strix, a beautiful Field Guide illustrated by Bob Greyvenstein and written by Rodney Sloan.
Congratulations to Taylor, our lucky “guess the monster” winner. Taylor wins a free copy of Dying Dead, our newest 1-on-1 adventure.
Want a free book for yourself? If you subscribe now you’ll get a copy of Baleful Strix—A Free Field Guide. (Please note that your book will arrive by e-mail within one week of subscribing).
We’d like to wish all our US and Canadian customers a very special Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not a custom where I’m from, but I’m blessed to have joined my American friends in Japan to celebrate this special holiday before.
Personally, I’m thankful that I’m running Rising Phoenix Games full-time now, and that wouldn’t be possible without your support. Some of our customers have come back again and again, some have written sterling reviews on Drive Thru RPG, and many have picked up one of our products and enjoyed them with friends, and at the end of the day, that’s a big part of what this hobby is all about.
Our newest line is our Field Guide series of monster books, which includes Griffins—A Field Guide and Phoenixes—A Field Guide. The series is illustrated by the talented Mr. Bob Greyvenstein and written by myself. We have several more Field Guides in the works, covering fantasy staples as well as new creatures and races. Now, if you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll receive a copy of Baleful Strix—A Free Field Guide.
We’ve also put out a new 1-on-1 adventure, Dying Dead, which is compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. We’re offering you a chance to win a copy by guessing what monsters we’ll be covering next in our Field Guide series. More details on the blog. But hurry, the contest ends on the 30th of November.