Rodney Thompson began freelancing in the RPG industry in 2001 before graduating from the University of Tennessee. In 2006, after having designed books for the Star Wars, d20 Modern, and Dungeons & Dragons product lines, he contributed to the design of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition core rulebook. In 2007 he joined the Wizards of the Coast staff as the lead designer and developer for the new Star Wars RPG product line, and then in late 2008, Rodney became a developer for Dungeons & Dragons.