Rob Boyle | |
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Nationality | American |
Occupation | Game designer |
Robert Boyle is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Rob Boyle was working as an editor for FASA as the company was closing, and chose not to move to WizKids when that company was created, since that they were not going to be working on the role-playing lines of FASA. [1] : 434 Boyle wanted to get the license for Shadowrun , but Fantasy Productions expressed an interest in Shadowrun first and their founder Werner Fuchs invited Boyle to visit him in Germany, and Boyle soon set up and ran the new corporation FanPro LLC, created by two Fantasy Productions principals and Boyle. [1] : 434 Fantasy Productions created FanPro LLC as a subsidiary in the USA to hold the FASA game line rights. [1] : 433 FanPro licensed Shadowrun in early 2001 with Boyle as Line Editor. [1] : 434 FanPro got Shadowrun back in development right away, and Boyle focused on continuing the metaplot of the game. [1] : 434 Boyle tried out a new approach with the downloadable "Shadowrun Missions" adventures, which Rich Osterhout oversaw for their first season. [1] : 434 Boyle began work on a new Shadowrun edition around 2003, with the intention to provide much needed simplification, and this was published as Shadowrun, Fourth Edition (2005). [1] : 434
Boyle and Randall N. Bills attempted to purchase FanPro LLC from Fantasy Productions in 2007 but when that failed they threatened to leave and bid for the WizKids licenses when they came up for renewal; WizKids came to mediate and while they would not allow Boyle and Bills to start a new company, they did grant the licenses to InMediaRes. [1] : 435 InMediaRes added Boyle and Bills on as regular staff per the agreement with WizKids, once they gained the rights to Shadowrun and Battletech ; Boyle continued as the Shadowrun Line Editor for a few more years, while Bills was made a Managing Director of InMediaRes. [1] : 435 Boyle created the game design studio Posthuman Studios with Shadowrun writer Brian Cross, and graphic designer Adam Jury, and the new studio produced Eclipse Phase (2009), the fourth role-playing game from Catalyst Game Labs. [1] : 437 Boyle was thinking about the idea for Eclipse Phase since coming from FanPro, and once the game was published Boyle ended his role as Shadowrun developer. [1] : 437 Boyle was unable to release any Eclipse Phase supplements before he ended his relationship with Catalyst due to problems at that company. [1] : 437
FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations for several years, becoming an IP holding company under the name FASA Inc. In 2012, a wholly owned subsidiary called FASA Games Inc. went into operation, using the name and logo under license from the parent company. FASA Games Inc. works alongside Ral Partha Europe, also a subsidiary of FASA Corporation, to bring out new editions of existing properties such as Earthdawn and Demonworld, and to develop new properties within the FASA cosmology.
BattleTech is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark is currently owned by Topps and, for video games, Microsoft Gaming; Catalyst Game Studios licenses the franchise from Topps.
NECA/WizKids, LLC is an American company based in New Jersey that produces tabletop games. WizKids is best known for its collectible miniatures games (CMGs) Mage Knight, HeroClix, MechWarrior, and HorrorClix, all of which make use of the company's Clix system, in which the changing combat statistics and abilities of each figure were indicated by a turnable dial inside the base underneath the figure. The company was founded in 2000 by Jordan Weisman, a veteran of the game company FASA. It was purchased by sports-card manufacturer Topps, Inc. in 2003.
Classic BattleTech is a table-top wargame set in the fictional BattleTech universe that simulates combat between futuristic mechanized forces. Originally published by FASA Corporation, the game is now produced by Catalyst Game Labs under license from WizKids. The term "Classic" is used to differentiate the original game from variants and related games that have derived from it, such as MechWarrior: Dark Age. The game has an extensive range of 1/285 scale miniatures.
Fantasy Productions Medienvertriebsgesellschaft GmbH is a German publishing company based in Erkrath.
Jordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded five game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry.
Robert N. Charrette is an American graphic artist, game designer, sculptor and author. Charrette has authored more than a dozen novels. His gaming materials have received many Origins Awards. Charrette was inducted in the Origins Hall of Fame in 2003. His work is known for a clean, realistic style that invokes themes from Feudal Japan and Chanbara films and in particular, historical and fantastic representations of Samurai culture. His early work in game design and miniature sculpting set the tone for depictions of Japanese mythology in American fantasy and science fiction. His 1979 role-playing game Bushido was one of the first role-playing games with a non-Western theme and remained in print for more than three decades. Charrette produced gaming products for Fantasy Games Unlimited, Grenadier Models Inc., Ral Partha Enterprises, FASA and currently operates Parroom Enterprises, LLC, a boutique miniatures game company.
Marc Gascoigne is a British author and editor. He is the editor, author or co-author of more than fifty books and gaming related titles, including Fighting Fantasy books, Shadowrun novels and adventures, Earthdawn novels and adventures, the original Games Workshop Judge Dredd roleplaying game, and material for Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu and many others listed below.
Loren L. Coleman is an American science-fiction writer, born and grew up in Longview, Washington. He is known for having written many books for series such as Star Trek, Battletech/Mechwarrior, Age of Conan, Crimson Skies, Magic: The Gathering and others. He has also written game fiction and source material for such companies as FASA Corporation, TSR, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast. He resides in Washington with his wife Heather and three children.
MechWarrior is a set of role-playing game rules published by FASA Corporation in 1986 that were designed to be used with FASA's previously published mecha wargame BattleTech.
Catalyst Game Labs (CGL) was created in May 2007 by InMediaRes Productions, LLC for the purpose of publishing print Shadowrun and Classic BattleTech sourcebooks. In June 2007, WizKids transferred the licenses for both Shadowrun and Classic BattleTech from FanPro's United States subsidiary, FanPro LLC, to Catalyst, and in June 2008, Catalyst announced novels for Shadowrun and Classic BattleTech, as well as the MechWarrior series.
Formed in 1975, Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, is now known as Ral Partha Legacy Ltd. and produces miniature figures in 25 mm, 30 mm, 15 mm, and 54 mm scale. The company's products are made by spin-casting metal alloys which depict soldiers, adventurers and creatures that have been inspired by history and fiction. Their miniatures are sold at gaming conventions, in hobby shops, and by internet and mail order for use in role playing games, wargaming, dioramas, competitive painting, and collecting.
Eclipse Phase is a science fiction horror role-playing game with transhumanist themes. It was originally published by Catalyst Game Labs, and is now published by the game's creators, Posthuman Studios, and is released under a Creative Commons license.
Adam Jury is a Canadian game designer and graphic designer working in the hobby games industry. He is the co-founder of Posthuman Studios.
Randall N. Bills is an American game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
InMediaRes Productions, LLC is an American game company that produces role-playing games and game supplements.
Shadowrun is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy, and crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy, horror, and detective fiction. From its inception in 1989, it has spawned a franchise that includes a series of novels, a collectible card game, two miniature-based tabletop wargames, and multiple video games.
Posthuman Studios is an American game company that produces role-playing games and game supplements, primarily for the transhumanist role-playing game Eclipse Phase.