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''Blue Devil Games'' publishes
role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
and
games of strategy A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decision tree-style thinki ...
.


Description

The company is best known for ''
Dawning Star ''Dawning Star'' (abbreviated ''DS'') is a science fiction role-playing game by Blue Devil Games built on ''d20 Modern'' and powered by ''d20 Future'' by Wizards of the Coast. It is the first full-scale campaign setting using the ''d20 Future'' r ...
'', the first full-scale
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
campaign setting A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A ''campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and c ...
using the
d20 Future ''d20 Future'' is an accessory for the '' d20 Modern'' role-playing game written by Christopher Perkins, Rodney Thompson, and JD Wiker. It facilitates the playing of campaigns in the far future, using elements such as cybernetics, mecha, mut ...
rules from
Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidi ...
and ''Passages'', a role-playing game of literary adventure. They have also published ''Golem'', winner of the 2004 About.com Shared Pieces Design Competition. In addition, the company has produced supplements for ''
Arcana Evolved ''Arcana Unearthed'' (properly ''Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed'', ), first published in 2003, is a role-playing game created by Monte Cook. Described as a "variant player's handbook", the 256-page hardcover core rulebook bears many similariti ...
'' in its AEvolutions line. On March 21, 2008, the company announced that it had entered into a
license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
with
Barry Eisler Barry Mark Eisler (born 1964) is a best-selling American novelist. He is the author of two thriller series, the first featuring anti-hero John Rain, a half-Japanese, half-American former soldier turned freelance assassin, and a second featuring ...
to publish a role-playing game based on his
John Rain John Rain is a fictional character created by Barry Eisler. He appears in eight of Eisler's espionage novels as an assassin for hire who specializes in making his victims appear to have died of natural causes. Rain is a Vietnam War veteran who serv ...
novels.


History

Shannon Appelcline discussed how an important event changing the role-playing game industry occurred in 2004 "when Ed Cha and Brennan Taylor formed the Indie Press Revolution (IPR), a fulfillment house serving "independent" publishers by warehousing, selling, and shipping their books direct to consumers. By the end of the year they were working with seven companies: Adept Press, Anvilwerks, Blue Devil Games, Bob Goat Press, and NerdNYC — as well as Taylor's Galileo Games and Cha's Open World Press. By the end of 2005, they were working with 19. Key 20 Games Distribution also appeared late in 2005 with a mandate to distribute indie games into retail stores. Though they only survived a few years, for a time they were a nice complement to IPR." Appelcline explained that IPR was picky in what companies they worked with, since customers often had trouble finding good games: "IPR wanted to help customers with this problem, so membership was invite-only — ensuring that IPR was only selling the best of the best. The first four publishers selected for IPR were: Blue Devil Games, Bob Goat Press, Galileo Games, and Open World Press." Appelcline added that "The initial composition of IPR's member companies is interesting because it doesn't match most peoples' conception of what IPR is. Three of the publishers were d20 companies. That's all Open World ever published, while Galileo Games was at the time known for ''Bulldogs!''; similarly Blue Devil Games just kicked off their d20 production with ''Poisoncraft'' (2004). Another three were what were called "Forge" publishers: Adept Press, the publisher of ''Sorcerer'' (2001); Anvilwerks, the publisher of '' The Shadow of Yesterday'' (2004); and Bob Goat Press, the publisher of ''Conspiracy of Shadows'' (2004). NerdNYC was a t-shirt producer, which meant that IPR was evenly split between d20 and the Forge." Appelcline further noted the relationship between IPR and its member companies at game conventions: "You could also measure IPR's growth through its con presence. At
Origins Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...
'05 they were borrowing booth space from Key 20, and at
Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...
Indy 2005 they were hosted by Blue Devil. However, just a year later, IPR was in the thick of things. They had their own booth at Origins '06, and then at Gen Con Indy 2006 they were one of the primary sponsors of the Forge booth — alongside Adept Press, Burning Wheel,
Lumpley Games Lumpley Games is an American game company that produces role-playing games and game supplements. History Vincent Baker began using "lumpley" email addresses and URLs in ''kill puppies for satan'' (2002); he had used the name on various online syst ...
, and Timfire Publishing."


References


External links


Blue Devil GamesDawning Star Campaign SettingTokyo Rain
a forthcoming
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
about John Rain. Role-playing game publishing companies {{Rpg-stub