Setup

Lori and I attend and volunteer at a few gaming conventions each year; usually local ones, but occasionally one of the bigger, national cons. Earlier this month (March 6-10, 2019) we were able to go to the inaugural Dice Tower West gaming convention in Las Vegas and I am finally reporting on our experience. First, a bit about what we look for in a con, so you know whether my perspective is compatible with yours. Our attraction to cons is playing games, alternating between D&D and boardgames; that’s just the two of us sometimes or with friends we didn’t know we had until the bits are dumped from the box. So, the more general geekdom cons (Gen Con, Comic Con, etc.) don’t pique our interests and I wouldn’t know how to compare DTW to that type of experience.

The Don't Split the Podcast Network is a network of RPG-focused podcasts (currently 7) produced by veteran podcasters Rudy Basso and James Introcaso. The production quality is some of the highest in the game podcast universe and the variety of content is expansive. The show formats and content span the interests of most gamers. The content is mostly focused on D&D 5th Edition, but other systems are featured and much of the DM advice will improve your experience in most systems. My interests in the network podcasts are limited to the news, design, and DM content, having followed all since their inception. However, I am unfamiliar with the actual play shows. (I currently only have time to listen to actual plays for which I write content). The current shows are listed here:

As a budding writer and editor for the DMsGuild, I rely on the DMs Guild Creator Resources available on DMsGuild.com. As an editor, in particular, the Style Guide Resources are essential to perform my job. If you are doing similar work and have not downloaded these resources, stop reading now and invest your time in downloading the latest version and committing it to memory. If you are like me, the last version of the “D&D Style Guide: Writing and Editing” you probably downloaded was version 1.04a (which was what was available when I checked for updates in mid-February).

Many positive words are said and written about the creative openness of the game design community. My personal experiences and endeavors support this sentiment. In general, people in this industry are helpful and supportive of one another, which contributes to the pleasure of working in it. Even in this friendly social circle, I am especially pleased to encounter truly fantastic people. Pablo and Tove of Worldshapers Board Games are just such people.

After several months of having just a place-holder page up, we have finally relaunched the website on an upgraded platform. Given the monumental effort to complete this and the many projects we have in progress, we have focused on restoring website function and the 5 years of existing content (at least the most popular content).

New to the site is a listing of our Services so it is clearer how we might engage with you on your next writing or game production project. We will also start highlighting some of our recent and current projects on the Projects page.

DMs Guildhall is a Twitch.TV podcast about RPG design hosted by Travis Legge of Plastic Age Plays and Aegis Studios. Travis interviews community content creators for the ever-growing number of RPG system content communities. Cooperative publishing of community content has been working well for Wizards of the Coast at the DMsGuild and is becoming available for many platforms. The community of designers interviewed and systems discussed on the DMs Guildhall is growing as well.

The interview and conversation is open and casual, but Travis asks great questions and gets insightful answers from his guests. Note: As a casual discussion, there may be mature language, but Travis and guests are always respectful of their fellow designers, the RPG community, and the breadth of humanity in general.

If you are interested at all in RPG design, this is essential content. In particular, if you are new to the industry you will appreciate Travis' final question of his guest in all episodes, "What would you like to see available that, for whatever reason, you won't get around to creating it yourself?"

In November, I started offering services to the RPG design and development community, particularly the community content creators that publish on the OneBookShelf (OBS) platform. I have had the pleasure of contributing to several projects that have been or are in progress to be posted on the OBS RPG publishing sites DMsGuild (D&D 5E only) and DriveThruRPG (anything RPG). The content there can be available for free, “pay what you want”, or for a fee.

To date, my completed contributions have been primarily as editor and/or proofreader but writing and design projects are in progress. Here is an example of the types of projects: Orpheus Mission Reports Volume 1. I am involved in several other projects and will highlight them as they are published.

Calculated Risks: An Eberron Adventure is an actual play podcast set in the world of Eberron using D&D 5th Edition. Starring R P Davis, Alina Popescu, Mike Suteu, and featuring Dungeon Master Travis Legge. Watch LIVE on Twitch Fridays 10 am CST. Twitch.tv/plasticageplays

I am pleased to be writing the promotional copy for Calculated Risks: An Eberron Adventure. For Season 1, I have written an introduction to the adventure and characters and a season-level synopsis. These are complete and episodic promotional content for Season 2 is in progress (e.g., “previously on”, synopsis, and full summary).

The Dungeon Masters Guild Creators' Circle is a moderated Facebook group for DMsGuild community content contributors. The DMsGuild is a storefront on the OneBookShelf platform dedicated to D&D 5E. Publishing here is under a different agreement than the OGL and there are other restrictions and a higher rate to WotC. If you already contribute or intend to create content for the DMsGuild, you need to be a member of this group. The best and brightest of the DMsGuild creators are active in this group and will impart their wisdom, and community opportunities abound for one who is willing to contribute. If you belong to this group, you will also want to join the Dungeon Masters Guild Facebook group, which is moderated by WotC.

However, if you have a general interest in RPG design or publishing on other platforms, there are groups better suited for those interests. The discussion on DMGCC is limited to the DMsGuild platform. Most of the contributors to this group are active in other groups, so their wisdom will not be hidden from you.

Since early November, we have been participating in the playtesting community for Oceans by North Star Games. Oceans is the next stand-alone game in the award-winning Evolution series by Dominic Crapuchettes and, as voted by the BGG community, is one of the most anticipated games of 2019.

It has been a pleasure playtesting the game and watching it evolve (yep, I said that) into what is certainly not going to disappoint Evolution series fans. If you count yourself among them, or are new to the series, you will want to watch for the Kickstarter in Q1 2019 or for the game to hit the shelves at your favorite online store or FLGS later in the year.