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Make Something Beautiful Together

Posted on February 12, 2024 by

A creative outlet in any form seeks to make something that evokes emotion. Game design, much like any creative outlet, wants to evoke those same emotions. That said, the methods to achieve them are a bit different from other more “traditional” art. It vicariously rides the lines between inspiration and execution, as both are imperative to game design.

A game mechanic is much like a seed, planting an idea or story in the player’s mind so that it may grow into something more. This sprout takes shape within the player’s mind, often as a character, creature, or specific scene of action.

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My 2023 Publications in Review

Posted on December 28, 2023 by

I’m extraordinarily proud of the releases I had in 2023. These games and books are affiliate-linked to pages where you can purchase or find out more information about them. Yep, affiliate links. Because I am an artist and I enjoy food. Hah! 2023 didn’t yield a ton of publications for me, but that’s okay! I’m […]

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Building and Running The Cursed Citadel DnD 5th Edition

Posted on October 24, 2023 by

To celebrate GameHole Con’s 10-year anniversary, I opted to run a collaborative DnD 5E scenario. I ran the scenario four times, and by the fourth time I ran it–thanks to over 20 players’ feedback–it turned into something that I’m proud to share with you to celebrate Halloween. The conceit behind The Cursed Citadel is simple: […]

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Odysseys & Overlords 2nd Edition is on Kickstarter now!

Posted on August 24, 2023 by

Odysseys & Overlords is an old-school fantasy inspired setting. Most of the gods died in a divine Schism 1000 years ago. Only two gods remain. Chandra, Goddess of the Moon, Justice, Nature, and Life empowers her clerics to work good miracles in her name. Ragnar, God of War, Cold, Death, and the Sea demands his clerics march forth spreading the influence of his domains throughout the world. Both divine beings remain cloistered in their respective seats of power, bound from direct interference with mortal affairs by the terms of their truce.

Odysseys & Overlords Second Edition brings this setting to the popular Savage Worlds Adventure Edition. The Kickstarter has recently launched!

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Yay! Vote Now! Celebrating an ENnie Award Nomination

Posted on July 17, 2023 by

The 2023 nominees for the ENnie Awards have just been announced, and I’m proud to mention I’m a finalist for the 2022 Level 1 Anthology from 9th Level Games along with a slate of fantastic folks! The full contributor list for the ENnie Award-nominated 2022 Level 1 Anthology is: Gabrielle Rabinowitz, Evlyn Moreau, Dustin Winter, […]

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Joining the Pacific Rim Adventure Team

Posted on June 13, 2023 by

Did you know I’m writing a cinematic adventure set in the world of Pacific Rim for Evil Genius Games? One of the reasons why I love Pacific Rim is because, at its core, it sends a strong message that in order to defeat a mysterious and world-ending threat, human beings need to overcome our differences […]

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Tarot of the Divine Review

Posted on January 25, 2023 by

The Tarot of the Divine is a rare treasure illustrated and designed by California-based artist Yoshi Yoshitani. Each card is illustrated in vibrant colors and line art to depict scenes from fairy tales, folklore, and myths found all over the world. Vasilisa the Beautiful inspired the Nine of Wands, for example, and its illustration is […]

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Ten Picks from DriveThruComics’s New Year, New Hero Sale!

Posted on January 13, 2023 by

DriveThruComics, a part of DriveThruRPG’s network of online shops that focuses on digital comics, graphic novels, and related content just launched their annual New Year, New Hero Sale. There are 375 digital titles 25% Off for a limited time. The goal is introduce you to new characters and new publishers and try some new comics!

While many of those are focused on superheroes, there are also a number of excellent Horror and Dark Fantasy graphic novels. We’ve made a short list of a few of our favorites here at Flames Rising!

Check them out and let us know what your favorite comics and graphic novels are!

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My 2022 Game Release List

Posted on December 30, 2022 by

Hello, Flames Rising readers! On Saturday, January 7th, I’ll be teaching a new class called Emotional Self-Care for Creatives. Also in January, I’ve got an essay about the witch hysteria in Apex Magazine along with a new project I’ll announce via BooksOfM on Patreon. This year, I taught a lot of gaming-related classes through the […]

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Ten Picks from WarGameVault’s Winter Fantasy Sale!

Posted on December 23, 2022 by

WarGameVault, a part of DriveThruRPG’s network of online shops that focuses on war gaming, miniatures, and related content just launched their annual Winter Offensive Sale. There are more than 12,000 digital titles 25% Off for a limited time.

While many of those are focused on military skirmish style play, such as WWII and Civil War battle scenarios, there are also a number of excellent Horror and Dark Fantasy games. We’ve made a short list of a few of our favorites here at Flames Rising!

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Narrative Taxes by Gabriel Hatcher

Posted on December 6, 2022 by

With the recent release of Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen the Dragonlance campaign setting was unlocked for community content creators over at DMsGuild.com. Community content creators have already launched some really great supplements helping D&D fans around the world explore Krynn and all of its mysteries.

Gabriel Hatcher, author of Astinus’ Ledger of Unknowns, stopped by to tell us a bit about what it is like writing a new Dragonlance supplement and bit about the thought process that went into this new project.

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Designing One Night in the Catacombs

Posted on March 14, 2022 by

One Night in the Catacombs is a party game for three or more Guests (or players). The game begins with your invitation to a fancy party that takes place in Naples, Italy. You and your friends are influencers invited to explore a newly-discovered section of the Catacombe di San Gennaro at midnight. You are all […]

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Saying Good-Bye to Author Anne Rice

Posted on December 12, 2021 by

The year is 1976. A novel debuts: Interview With a Vampire by Anne Rice. A book written about a man named Louis from New Orleans who became a vampire–thanks to Lestat, a complicated antihero who both loathes and revels in his own vampirism and place within vampire society. Challenging social norms in any era is […]

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The tales themselves are eclectic, and so are all of us. Michael Aronovitz on writing Dancing with Tombstones

Posted on December 9, 2021 by

With Dancing with Tombstones, Michael Aronovitz, the author of Alice Walks and The Sculptor takes us deep inside the haunt of our most secret repressions. Today, Michael stopped by to talk to us about using horror to fill the empty spaces in genre fiction and how this new collection of tales was created during a […]

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Women are Werewolves: On Designing Queer Games

Posted on November 23, 2021 by

Women are Werewolves is a card-based story game where players take on the roles of nonbinary characters who belong to a family that believes only women transform into werewolves. Throughout the game, characters explore their relationships to gendered spaces and family traditions. They also explore their relationships with their queer and non-queer family members. The game asks you to navigate the various gendered traditions your family engages in and deal with the awkward questions, misguided assumptions, and occasional microaggressions that come with it. At its heart, Women are Werewolves is a game about discovering your boundaries and whether you can find, or make, a space for your authentic self within a family that might not understand you.

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Writing Victoria Ash in the War of Ages

Posted on October 17, 2021 by

Mind’s Eye Theatre Vampire: The Masquerade – War of Ages is a Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition (“V5”) live-action setting book from By Night Studios and is on Kickstarter now. This new live-action supplement features game designer Juhana Pettersson of the award-nominated Vampire: The Masquerade Nordic-style Larp End of the Line, as well as the Vampire: The Masquerade Anarch V5 book.

Juhana stopped by for a bit to tell us about working on this project and give us an insight into that process.

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Opening the Eyes of Spiragos for Scarred Lands

Posted on August 5, 2021 by

In the opening section of Eyes of Spiragos, my new Scarred Lands adventure for the Slarecian Vault, I explained that: “Eyes of Spiragos is an adventure for optimized 3rd level characters as a follow-up to Gauntlet of Spiragos. The events in Eyes of Spiragos are designed to occur before the second adventure in this series, […]

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Design Diary: Tales of the Changing Breeds

Posted on April 3, 2021 by

When I was first approached about writing a story for an anthology covering the Changing Breeds, I was intrigued by the possibilities. Changing Breeds refers to White Wolf’s Werewolf: the Apocalypse game: more specifically, Changing Breeds are all the other were-creatures besides wolves: tigers, foxes, panthers, crows, bears, and many more. Werewolves are by far the most numerous of the werecreatures in White Wolf’s World of Darkness, but the others still exist, and most are still fighting the good fight against the Wyrm’s agents.

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Join Author Monica Valentinelli on Patreon for a Month of Poetry

Posted on January 21, 2021 by

Earlier this month, author Monica Valentinelli announced she’s drawing on her anxiety and personal fears to write poetry every day in February. In her #28DaysofPoetry challenge, she’ll post a poem each day for her patrons on Patreon. Patrons can back this project, dubbed Into Shadow: An Exploration of Personal Fears, for $2. They’ll get exclusive […]

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The Hobgoblin of Consistency

Posted on December 18, 2020 by

Frances Stewart writes and edits across various mediums, including for several games. Most recently, she contributed to Onyx Path’s Dead Man’s Rust, a mega-adventure that’s on Kickstarter right now! In this article, she talks about writing when you’re trying to clean up and maintain a complex continuity, while still being original and also modern and also entertaining.

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