"The Tsar is dead!" The cry echoes across the cruel tyrant fell in a battle with undead troops, abandoned by the two princes in his time of need. The empty throne creates anarchy and chaos, as the princes and the Tsar's advisor battle for the right to rule. As if that wasn't bad enough, the worst winter that Torassia has ever experienced leaves frozen corpses in villages everywhere. It's a race against time as Sergei, the Tsar's commander in chief, gallops southwards to reach the capital before the forces of hell get their first. Will you brave the coming storm? Tsar Rising is a d20 fantasy adventure for eight or ninth level characters.
Michael "Talien" Tresca is a game designer, author, communicator, and artist. He is the National RPG and Sci-Fi Movie Examiner and recently published three books, the non-fiction history of gaming, The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games from McFarland Publishing, his fantasy fiction debut, The Well of Stars, from Three Ravens Books, and the young adult fantasy Awfully Familiar from Dark Quest Books. Michael has authored numerous supplements and adventures for publishers of Open Game License and D20-compatible games, including AEG, MonkeyGod Enterprises, Goodman Games, Otherworld Creations, Privateer Press, RPGObjects and Ronin Arts. A top 1,000 reviewer for Amazon, his articles and reviews have appeared in Allgame.com, D20 Filtered, Dragon Magazine, Gamers.com, Pyramid, and RPG.net. He has participated in panels about electronic and tabletop role-playing games at ConnectiCon, Dragon*Con, and I-Con.
When he's not writing, Michael can be found as his alter ego, Talien, on RetroMUD as an administrator. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.