Special Guests

Alex Kammer is a lawyer, a freelance adventure/game designer, and is the Director of Gamehole Con, the largest tabletop gaming convention in the upper Midwest.  Alex has numerous published titles to his credit from an array of publishers. His most notable releases include the epic length adventures, Sea King’s Malice and The End of Everything. His other works include a series of platinum and mithral bestselling titles on the Dungeon Master’s Guild, the most recent being, Thay Land of the Red Wizards. Alex also is one of the owners of True Dungeon, the magnificent, life-sized, immersive, role-playing experience played in […]

Alexander Stangroom is Chief Operations Officer at the ENNIE award-winning tabletop roleplaying publisher Kobold Press, best known for the Tales of the Valiant RPG and the Tome of Beasts monster book series.  When he is not toiling with the kobolds in the warrens, Alexander is a TTRPG designer whose credits most recently include More Prepared! by Kobold Press, as well as Dreams and Machines RPG by Modiphius, and Keys from the Golden Vault, a Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition adventure book by Wizards of the Coast. Alexander is also a professional GM with over two decades of experience running a wide range of tabletop RPG systems and genres including Dungeons […]

Alicia Marie is an actor, Hollywood professional costume artist and writer who turned her love of fantasy, sci-fi, comic books, video games and art into a creative career. Alicia, a self-professed “compulsive maker,” creates costumes and character looks for global media companies like Disney (Star Wars, Marvel), NBC, Netflix and Warner Brothers; gaming and interactive studios such as Netherrealm (Mortal Kombat), Gearbox, Riot and Sony and for celebrities such as platinum recording artist Megan Thee Stallion, Academy Award winning actor Jamie Lee Curtis and WWE superstar Ronda Rousey. Alicia is a physical inspiration for some of the female fighting characters you see in popular video games today. In 2020, Alicia was introduced as a playable […]

Alyssa Faden has been a professional cartographer and GenCon panelist since 2012. She is best known for her incredible cityscapes and stunning details, often inviting viewers of her creations to see stories-within-stories for years after. Her clientele includes Monte Cook Games, Kobold Press, Profantasy Software, Gygax Magazine, Golden Goblin Press, Troll Lord Games, and Frog God Games. Her style is unique and self-taught, with influences from the lovely ink work from such greats as Jeff Laubenstein and Jeff Easley. She is a long time table-top RPG gamer with a passion for game mastering Call of Cthulhu.  

Amanda Hamon is a Senior Designer working on Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast, where she builds, leads, and supports 5th Edition books from conception through publication and beyond. An award-winning tabletop game designer, developer, writer, and editor, Amanda has designed games for numerous publishers, including Wizards of the Coast, Modiphius, Paizo, and Kobold Press.  She is the former Editorial Director for Kobold Press, where she oversaw all 5th Edition publications, as well as a co-creator and the manager of the Starfinder RPG product line by Paizo. In addition to her work in game design, Amanda appears as […]

Anjali Bhimani is an award-winning actor whose career spans across Broadway, feature films, television, video games, animation, and digital content. As a globally recognized talent in the gaming industry, she has been celebrated for her work in AAA projects as well as indie games. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Symmetra in Overwatch, Rampart in Apex Legends, Medusa in the Grammy-nominated Stray Gods, the Fallout series, Starfield, and many more. Having voiced characters in eight video games released in 2025 alone, recently, Anjali joined the Call of Duty universe as Priya Zaveri, the newest Guild operator in […]

Anna B. Meyer is a professional Fantasy Cartographer specializing in visualizing fantasy worlds using the latest digital tools and an artistic eye. Her goal is to create a vision of your world in the form of maps and images that inspires and guides you and your players, or readers, to experience your world in ways beyond what words and and traditional fantasy maps alone can accomplish. She started pursuing fantasy cartography as a hobby over twenty years ago, and specializes in large area setting maps. The past decade she has worked full time on both commissioned work for publishers and […]

Antonio Canobbio is the Chief Creative Officer of Titmouse, Inc., a multi-hyphenated animation studio and pop culture brand with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver.   As the CCO, Canobbio oversees the creative direction of all Titmouse projects including Star Trek: Lower Decks, The Legend of Vox Machina, Venture Bros., Scavengers Reign and Big Mouth..   Canobbio began his animation career working as a layout artist in his native city, Paris, until Chris Prynoski, who was working at MTV, noticed his unique portfolio drawings showing up on the fax machine (yes, really – via fax!). Shortly after Chris and Shannon […]

Arthur Loftis is an art director at Titmouse Los Angeles, currently working on the record-breaking Kickstarter success, The Legend of Vox Machina. Since the first days of development, Arthur has worked with the creative executives of Critical Role to forge an animated adaptation which both honors the source material and introduces new viewers to the story that hooked him years ago. Currently he manages an amazing team of both 2D and 3D artists who bring fresh ideas to the world of fantasy action-adventure cartoons. We also play Dungeons and Dragons on the weekend. Previous Projects:Voltron: Legendary Defender, Motorcity, Son of […]

Banana Chan is a game designer and screenwriter living in Seattle. She is also the owner of the publishing company, Read/Write Memory. Her most notable work has been on Forgery, Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, Betrayal at House on the Hill: 3rd Edition and Chucky: The Board Game. She won Dicebreaker Awards’ Game Designer of the Year 2022 and 2 Silver ENnie Awards in 2022.

Bill Fawcett has been a professor, teacher, corporate executive, college dean, and board and computer game designer. He designed role-play and board games as a partner in Mayfair Games. As a book packager, he created and edited over 400 books for major publishers. He has collaborated on the Mycroft Holmes, Ian Fleming, and Madame Vernet mysteries. His non-fiction books include Hunters and Shooters and The Teams, histories of the Navy SEALs, and Making Contact: a UFO handbook. Bill also has edited/ written over a dozen books about great mistakes in history including How To Lose a War, The 100 Mistakes […]

Brendan J. LaSalle is a staff writer for Goodman Games who has been writing and publishing in the game industry since 2002. He has written for Goodman Games, Fat Dragon Games, Troll Lord’s Games, Legendsmiths, Savage Mojo, Pandahead Publishing, and Hand Made Games, among others. He has written many adventures and RPG source books, including the award-winning Age of Cthulhu: A Dream of Japan. His most recent release is the Xcrawl Classics Role Playing Game. He lives in Kennesaw, GA, with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Brent is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and has produced art for a multitude of media including cover paintings, interior illustrations, collectible card art, cartography (maps), graphic design, page layout, t-shirt designs, miniatures paintings, concept art and commercial photography for a plethora of clients. Some of the gaming brands Brent has produced work for include: Dungeons & Dragons, D&D Dragonfire, Shadowrun, Battletech, Leviathans, Legend of the Five Rings (CCG and RPG), Doomtown: Reloaded CCG, 7th Sea Card Game, Metal Magic & Lore, The Vampire’s Codex, as well as his own DragonVerses® line of art. Brent lives in […]

Brian David Judkins is the executive producer and DM for the Wizards of the Coast’s TV Show, Encounter Party. Based out of Chicago, Brian works as a television producer, writer, and voice actor aimed at bringing gaming entertainment to the silver screen. Brian also works as a part-time illustrator who has worked for companies such as Fantasy Flight Games, Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, and Solar Flare Games. His writing and illustrations can be found in games like the LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS series, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS productions, NIGHTMARE FOREST, and more. Visit his website to learn more: briandavidjudkins.com

Brian has written over twenty products for Paizo, Kobold Press, and Legendary Games since breaking into the industry in 2014. A lifelong gamer and Wisconsin resident, Brian grew up just down the road in New Glarus. He’s proud to be one of the few writers who has written official products for all editions of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, including the Playtest edition and the just-released Remastered 2nd edition. Some of his favorite publications include the Free RPG Day adventure “We Be Heroes?” and “Siege of Gallowspire,” the final Pathfinder Society Scenario of Pathfinder 1st edition. He’s written numerous other PFS […]

Forty-seven year old husband, father, producer, author, designer, and painter; if it has anything to do with the gaming industry, Bryan has made it his goal to try his hand at it. He has been a gamer for thirty plus years, industry professional for over two decades, with over two million published words across numerous companies and brands: Iron Kingdoms, Babylon 5, Conan, Starship Troopers, Everyday Heroes, Pacific Rim, Traveler, RuneQuest, Power Rangers, Transformers, and more. When he isn’t helping create roleplaying games, he’s making miniature games such as Dark Age and Warzone Eternal. It’s not all games though, as […]

Charles Urbach is an award-winning writer and colored pencil illustrator with 30 years experience in design, publishing, and illustration. His hand drawn Prismacolor pencil artwork pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with colored pencil, resulting in drawn artwork that has the visual depth and sophistication of traditional paintings. Like a traveler on a journey, his work ventures into varied territories, not resting for long in any single genre or subject matter. As a result, his art is recognized for its diversity and dynamic visuals that appeal to many different audiences and age groups. Charles’ published work includes hundreds of illustrations […]

Chris Arneson is a freelance illustrator who grew up with a love for Dungeons & Dragons, especially its art. He has currently been doing much freelancing for Joseph Goodman, of Goodman Games, including work in many of their OARs, Original Adventures Reincarnated, on such iconic titles as The Temple of Elemental Evil, Castle Amber, Isle of Dread, The Lost City and currently The Dark Tower. Last year he had the honor of illustrating three cards for Luke Gygax and Gary Con’s Deck of Many Things as well as the high honor of painting Gary Con XV’s 2023 t-shirt design and promotional […]

Chris Prynoski is an award-winning producer and entertainment executive, and the founder and president of Titmouse, Inc., a multi-hyphenated animation studio and pop culture brand with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver. Prynoski began his career in New York City directing and creating hit shows for MTV such as Beavis and Butt-head, Daria and his Emmy-nominated creation MTV Downtown. Shortly after his Emmy nomination, Prynoski and his wife Shannon moved to Los Angeles and launched Titmouse, Inc. in 2000, naming the company after Prynoski‘s favorite Northeastern‐American bird species. Originally starting as a t-shirt company that utilized short Flash […]

DARLENE is the first woman artist for TSR (1977), openly signing her first name to her art instead of hiding her gender behind her initials—which was a recommended practice at the time for women artists. Through the Wizard-head logo, stationery for TSR and its Divisions, column art for The Dragon, ads, calendars, as well as cartography and illustrations for GenCon and the RPGA, DARLENE created TSR’s graphic look, collectivelydefining TSR’s public image during their formative years. Her most remembered contribution to fantasy gaming is as cartographer of The World of Greyhawk maps. Many of her iconic illustrations—the DMG title page […]

David S. LaForce is one of the first generation artist for Dungeons & Dragons. LaForce started his career in 1979 with TSR where he was initially hired in the shipping department. Catching the eye of David Sutherland, (head of TSR’s art department) who had him submit some sample drawings. Two of the three samples were bought and used for the Dungeon Master’s Guide. LaForce was hired by the art department where he remained until 1998. One of his first assignments was “C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachin.” Many of his illustrations can be seen in the first Dungeons & Dragons […]

David formed Kenzer & Company with six other stalwart RPG enthusiasts in 1993, later teaming up with Jolly Blackburn in 1996. He is responsible for publication of “Knights of the Dinner Table” (of which Jolly is editor in chief) as well lead designer of award winning RPG games including HackMaster, Aces and Eights, the Monty Python CCG, and dozens of D&D products (Kingdoms of Kalamar fantasy campaign setting). David is also responsible for starting the retro-clone movement in 2001, with the release of Hackmaster. David is the proud father and stepfather of four daughters and a stepson and stepdaughter, a loyal […]

Doug Kovacs grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, playing Dungeons and Dragons and other RPGs . He drew his way through High School, avoiding involvement in most things but art class, where he cultivated a love for all forms of painting and drawing. At 16 he thought he invented cubism, but then realized he was wrong. In 1996 he received a BA from Columbia College Chicago, however over four years of school it was never mentioned that the internet and digital media might completely change the world. Then they did. Since then he has adjusted , and has […]

Douglas Niles discovered Dungeons & Dragons in 1979, when he was a high school teacher in Clinton WI and happened to have Heidi Gygax (Gary’s daughter) in his class. She gave him a copy of the D&D Basic Set on a Wednesday and he began DMing his first campaign the very next weekend. In 1982 he joined the TSR game design staff in Lake Geneva, and began a long and prolific career designing roleplaying products and boardgames, and writing novels. Niles has designed dozens of RPG adventures for all levels of D&D and AD&D players, as well as several game […]

Ed is Elminster.  He was the original creator of the Forgotten Realms, writing about it in Dragon Magazine beginning in 1979.  He’s published over two hundred articles in Dragon Magazine and Polyhedron Newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Association (RPGA) network, and has been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor many times. Greenwood has written over thirty-five novels for TSR, and written, co-written, or contributed to over two hundred books and game products from other publishers. Greenwood won “best player” at the 1984 Gen Con AD&D Open tournament and several Gamer’s Choice Awards and […]

Ed Stark has been working as a game designer for more than thirty years in both the tabletop and computer industries. Ed started his career at West End Games where he worked as the Paranoia Line Editor, lead designer for ShatterZone and MasterBook, and a designer for many TORG and Star Wars projects. He also wrote a few novels and several short stories while at WEG. At TSR/Wizards of the Coast, Ed worked in the D&D Worlds group as a lead designer, focusing primarily on the Birthright RPG line but also contributing to Planescape and Ravenloft designs. Ed became the […]

Erik Mona is Editor Emeritus of Dragon, Dungeon, and Polyhedron magazines. He co-founded the Living Greyhawk organized play campaign and edited the Living Greyhawk Journal. After leaving Wizards of the Coast, Mona co-created the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and its Lost Omens campaign setting, founded the Pathfinder Society Organized Play program, and is the Chief Creative Officer and Publisher of Paizo, Inc.

Erol Otus is an artist and game designer, best known for his work in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game. He was a member of TSR’s art department from 1979 to 1981. After TSR, Otus worked on computer games at several studios including MicroProse, Hasbro, and Toys For Bob/Activision; notable titles include Star Control 2 and the Skylanders franchise. He lives in Berkeley, CA, and continues to create artwork for RPGs.

After playing his first D&D game at the age of six at Gen Con, he became enamored with role-playing games. Greg has worked on products for every edition of Dungeons and Dragons and written too many adventures for organized play campaigns to count. He is currently the Creative Lead for Legends of Greyhawk and the Content Manager for the D&D Adventurers League organized play campaigns. Greg is a frequent freelancer and has written for Wizards of the Coast, Dragon and Dungeon Magazines, Fantasy Flight Games’ Midnight setting, Raging Swan Press, Schwalb Entertainment, Ghostfire Games, and Kobold Press, among other companies. […]

Jason Charles Miller is a critically acclaimed and highly accomplished singer/songwriter and an award winning voice actor. As a voice actor he has appeared in hundreds of productions such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Attack on Titan, The Outer Worlds 2, Star Trek Online and many chapters of the Final Fantasy series. His music has been featured on such TV shows as True Blood, The NFL Today, The Deadliest Catch, Critical Role and The Legend of Vox Machina. He’s also a featured singer in the video games Final Fantasy XIV, Cyberpunk 2077 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Jason has written […]

Jeff Butler has worked professionally as an illustrator, comic book and video game artist for over 40 years.  Jeff broke into the comic book field in the early ‘80s, helping writer Mike Baron create The Badger for Capital Comics. He spent 5 years in the TSR Art Department (the creators of Dungeons&Dragons.) At TSR, he illustrated many D&D and DragonLance game products and was also the primary artist for the Marvel Superheroes Role Playing Game.  In 1989, Jeff teamed with writer Ron Fortier to bring The Green Hornet back to comic books.  Jeff would go on to illustrate other comics: […]

Jeff graduated from Murray State University with a BFA in Painting. Working briefly as a freelancer, he joined TSR and then Wizards of the Coast from 1982 until 2003, which included the creation of a LOT of cover art with which many of us are familiar. Some of Jeff’s notable works include the cover art of the 1st Edition incarnations of the Monster Manual, Monster Manual II, Legends & Lore, Unearthed Arcana, Oriental Adventures, and the Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide. He’s a winner of the E Gary Gygax Lifetime Achievement Award and has done art for Gary Con over the years […]

Jeff Grubb is a best-selling author and award-winning game designer. He’s written novels, short stories, and comics, and has designed computer games and roleplaying games. He’s a co-founder of the Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms campaign settings from TSR, as well as designer of Al-Qadim, Spelljammer, Manual of the Planes, and the original Marvel Super Heroes game. He’s written novels in numerous shared worlds, including the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Star Wars, Starcraft, Warcraft, and Guild Wars. He is currently a senior writer for Elder Scrolls Online.

Jeff Richard is the Creative Director for Chaosium, publisher of Call of Cthulhu, Pendragon, RuneQuest, and other games using the Basic Roleplaying System. Jeff has worked on numerous roleplaying games, computer games, and board games over the last twenty years. He was the lead designer for the current edition of RuneQuest with Greg Stafford, Steve Perrin, and Ken Rolston, and has brought out the new edition of Pendragon with David Larkins. He’s won the Diana Jones award for the Guide to Glorantha, and numerous other awards. Born in California, long-term resident of Seattle and Berlin, Jeff divides his time between […]

Red is a 15-Time #1 International Bestselling, award-winning, 30-year creative professional of 120+ indie- and traditionally-published works. The USAF Veteran Arabic Linguist leads writers’ tracks around the country and guests with Origins Author’s Alcove and Gen Con Writer’s Symposium. As Jeri Shepherd, she pens sci-fi, genre fiction anthologies, novellas, and TCG Lore (Gudnak), as well as TTRPG adventures (Legends of Avantris, G20 Zine) and original systems (Dungeon Race RPG and 1-Page Dice Dungeons from Red Rose Works with TR Nickel). As Reji Laberje and Maggie McMahon, she has children’s books, author’s resources, celebrity biographies, sportswriting, romance, plays, and a diverse library of nonfiction. Her publishing imprint (Lucy’s […]

Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as ‘spoiling cats.’ When not engaged upon this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories.  Before breaking away from gainful employment to write full time, Jody worked as a file clerk, book-keeper at a small publishing house, freelance journalist and photographer, accounting assistant and costume maker.  For four years, she was on the technical operations staff of a local Chicago television station, WFBN (WGBO), serving the last year as Technical Operations Manager. During her time at WFBN, she was part of the engineering team that built the […]

Being a child in the 1950’s exposed a young boy to toys and TV shows that inspired the call to heroism: Marx playsets, The Lone Ranger, Zorro, The Adventures of Robin Hood (with Richard Green), and all the movie reruns of Flash Gordon, Captain Blood, etc. Re-enacting adventures with toys graduated to playing wargames, first with Milton Bradley’s Battle-Cry!, leading to Avalon Hill’s Tactics II, and others. Then, as a freshman at UIC, sitting through a less than invigorating Physical Science class, a classmate sitting next to John noticed his doodles and invited him to draw some artwork for the monthly newsletter of the International Federation of Wargaming. […]

Jolly Blackburn is best known as the creator of the comic strip Knights of the Dinner Table.  He launched a gaming magazine called Shadis when he was still serving in the Army.  Knights of the Dinner Table was a strip in the back of Shadis in the tradition of Finneous Fingers in Dragon Magazine. Of course the Knights have become a force of their own! Jolly is also the person who helped Luke name Gary Con at the gathering after Gary’s funeral.  When someone commented that Luke should hold a gathering every year in honor of his Dad, Jolly offered the name of “GaryCon” based on the fictional […]

Jon Peterson is widely recognized as an authority on the history of games, best known as the author of Playing at the World, The Elusive Shift, and Game Wizards. He also co-authored Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana, Heroes’ Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook, and Heroes’ Feast Flavors of the Multiverse. He has contributed to academic anthologies on games, including MIT Press’s Zones of Control and Routledge’s Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations. Jon also has written for various geek culture websites, including Wired, Polygon, and BoingBoing, as well as maintaining his own blog.

Jon Pickens is an American game designer and editor who has worked on numerous products for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game from TSR and later Wizards of the Coast. Jon Pickens was born in Mishawaka, Indiana. In 1968, he was introduced to miniatures wargaming, and his parents bought him the Blitzkrieg wargame for Christmas that year. A couple of months later, Pickens responded to an ad in Popular Mechanics for a magazine titled Strategy & Tactics. He wrote in for a sample copy, and “spent the rest of the summer mowing lawns to get enough money to buy […]

Keith Baker is best known for creating the Eberron Campaign Setting for Dungeons & Dragons and the storytelling card game Gloom. He’s produced a host of games, novels, and TTRPG supplements. He’s recently released Chronicles of Eberron on the DM’s Guild and the second edition of Illimat with his own company, Twogether Studios. Keith can be found online at Twogetherstudios.com, or on Twitter as @HellcowKeith.

Kelsey Dionne is a critically-acclaimed new and old-school TTRPG designer who founded The Arcane Library in 2017. Her modernized take on OSR gaming, Shadowdark RPG, launched on Kickstarter in 2023. Visit The Arcane Library to find out more and explore her work at: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/

LaTia Jacquise is a Community Manager for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast, and a Community Review Board member for the nonprofit TakeThis.org, which focuses on decreasing the stigma surrounding mental health and wellness in the games industry and gaming communities. A TTRPG enthusiast to the bone, she’s had past lives as a freelance writer, contributing to “Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep” and several one-shot adventures for D&D Beyond; as a Dungeon Master, helming two seasons and several one-shots for the now-ended actual play Rivals of Waterdeep and one season of “A Familiar Quest” for Codename Entertainment; […]

Best known for the Dragon Dice game and Dark Conspiracy role-playing game, Lester Smith began his game design career in 1985. Since then, he has written or contributed to more game products than he can remember, on project lines from D&D to Star Wars, collecting five Origins Awards, a ZigZag Junior Editors’ award, and a Games 100 Best along the way.  Since his “retirement,” Les has published a few dozen other titles as Lester Smith Games, 16 of them DriveThruRPG and DriveThruCards Best Sellers, including the D13, D6xD6, and Bookmark HP RPGs. He also served two terms as President of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, gained a few poetry awards, and published an irreverent novel in sonnets, The […]

Luke Gygax is the son of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) co-creator Gary Gygax, Ennie Award winning designer, and founder of Gary Con®, a memorial convention held in honor of his father every March in their hometown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Luke literally grew up at the gaming table with the designers that laid the foundation of the RPG industry. He played the iconic character Melf, aka Prince Brightflame, in his father’s World of Greyhawk campaign. Melf was a powerful wizard who adventured through many legendary scenarios from the golden age of D&D, and his name and image remains in the latest […]

Margaret Weis was hired by TSR, Inc as a book editor in 1983. One of her projects was to work with game designer, Tracy Hickman, on a new project known as Dragonlance. She and Tracy wrote the Dragonlance Chronicles novels to go with the D&D game adventures. They celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Dragonlance this year with a new series, Dragonlance Destinies. She has written other novels, including Deathgate, Darksword, Star of the Guardians, and Dragon Brigade. She continues to write with help from border collie, Billie Blue, and Sheltie, Clancy.

Matt Everhart, who also goes by “KC Rift”, has been playing Dungeons & Dragons (among many other role-playing games) since receiving the Red Box from his uncle back in 1983. Even then he was dreaming up new worlds and new adventures for his characters and those of his friends to journey through. While his family, including his wife and four children, and his military career take priority, Matt is nevertheless constantly writing and creating RPG content in his free time. Matt published his first sourcebook, The Deductionist, for the Pathfinder 1st Edition RPG under Total Party Kill Games, LLC. Since then, […]

Matt Finch is a writer and co-owner of Mythmere Games. He was the initial author of OSRIC, the 2006 retro-clone of first edition AD&D, and Swords & Wizardry (based on Original D&D). He is also the author of Tome of Adventure Design and the upcoming additions, Tome of World Building and the Nomicon. He is also known for writing the Quick Primer for Old School Gaming, often used as an introduction for playing D&D in a pre-2000 style. Matt lives in Houston with his partner Suzy and their dog, Bruno.

Matt Forbeck is an award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author and game designer of over thirty-five novels and countless other books and games. His projects have won a Peabody Award, a Scribe Award, and several ENnies and Origins Awards. He also runs the Diana Jones Award Foundation and is the father of five, including a set of quadruplets. His latest work includes the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game and the Shotguns & Sorcery 5E Sourcebook based on his novels. He lives in Beloit, Wisconsin, with his wife and a rotating cast of his now-adult kids. For more about him and his work, visit Forbeck.com.

So far in 2025, Merle appeared during a live “Zoom” Interview with Don Semora on February 16, 2025. He can be heard on “This Ol’ Dungeon Episode 50! Our “Golden Anniversary! Interview” with Luau Lou on February 1, 2025. In 2024, Nicholas Seidler mentions Merle Rasmussen in Zepo Publishing’s first book, “How to Celebrate Your Fandom.” If you want to see him, Merle appears in a Stephen Clement’s Zoom Interview. If you want to hear his voice, Shane Plays interviewed Merle for over two hours during Episode 278 of Geek Talk Blog. Merle appears briefly in Pat Kilbane’s Film “The […]

Magazines, radio, podcasts, development, and localization: Michael Croitoriu has been in the RPG industry for decades and has done it all. He also created serious games for L’Oréal and Danone, and the Wakfu TCG for Ankama. Now, as the Head of Edge Studio, he supervises all things RPG-related for Asmodee. Legend has it that he can dismount an electric transformer in less than 22 seconds blindfolded.

Michael Curtis is Director of Product Development for Dungeon Crawl Classics at Goodman Games, overseeing the DCC, Mutant Crawl Classics, Xcrawl Classics, and other product lines since 2021. Before taking on this role, Michael spent more than a decade as a freelance writer and designer in the gaming industry. Michael is best known for his DCC RPG adventures, including Frozen in Time, The Chained Coffin, and Danger in the Air!, his award-winning gaming supplement The Dungeon Alphabet, the OSR-inspired megadungeon of Stonehell, and his work as lead writer on the DCC Lankhmar line of products. Michael lives on Long Island, NY, with far too many […]

Michael first became involved in wargaming back in early 1972. A friend of his in Boy Scouts invited him to join a tabletop battle game at Don Kaye’s house. That Saturday they played Chainmail on Gary Gygax’s original sand table that had been moved from 330 Center St. into Don’s garage. Sometime in late 1972, while outside of Don Kaye’s garage, one of the other players, Rob Kuntz, mentioned that Gary Gygax had a new game called Greyhawk and invited him to a game. During his college days Michael was a member of the University of Minneapolis Conflict Simulation Association. […]

As a teenager, Mike began gaming with the International Federation of Wargamers (IFW) in the 1960s.  He created the game “Fight in the Skies” (FITS), also known as “Dawn Patrol”, and self-published it at the recommendation of Gary Gygax as part of the IFW’s Wargame Inventors Guild (WGIG) in 1968.  FITS was later published by Guidon Games in 1974 and then by TSR in 1976, changing the name to Dawn Patrol in 1982.  He also co-authored “Don’t Give Up the Ship” with Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax in 1971. He joined the ranks of TSR in 1976 at the invitation […]

Mike Mearls is the executive producer for roleplaying games at Chaosium, focused on the RuneQuest line. He led the creation of D&D 5th edition and continues to tinker away on TTRPGs of his own design. He has designed award-winning board games, worked on Magic: the Gathering, and is still pretty amazed at how lucky he is to be here. He teaches game design at the University of Washington and spends much of his time trying to keep up with his wife, daughter, two dogs, and three cats.

Malix is a gamer, game designer and game master who has been involved with the hobby for more than 40 years. During his time as a professional designer he worked in-house for TSR, FASA, and Mayfair Games on lines such as D&D, BattleTech, Shadowrun, DC Heroes, Chill, Underground, and Role Aids. As a freelancer he worked for companies such as White Wolf, Steve Jackson Games, Hero Games, and West End Games on lines such as TORG, GURPS, Champions, Fantasy Hero, and In Nomine. Under the banner of Pariah Press he published The Whispering Vault (an offbeat horror game) and he […]

Mike Reese started miniature wargaming in 1962 using HO scale armor models, 20mm plastic troops, and S scale model train buildings. He first met Gary Gygax through a postal player section in The General, heading 20 miles out to play with Gary and introduce him to WWII skirmish gaming. During this time Reese developed his own skirmish rules for World War II and modern armor. Reese met Leon Tucker in Chicago in 1968 at an International Federation of Wargamers (IFW) convention and they began working together on a rule set. With Gary Gygax’s support and encouragement, Reese and Tucker collaborated […]

A long time ago, in the mythical land of Ohio, a nerdy young woman named Penny played role-playing games and dreamed of working for the company that made them. She helped out at conventions and made many friends, both famous and not. Eventually her dream came true, with an offer to work for TSR, Inc. as their Games Questions Expert. So she lived the dream for several years at TSR, where she became a Marvel superhero and head of the RPGA Network, among other achievements. Eventually she moved on to New Infinities Productions, Inc., and then to Wizards of the […]

Rick Meints is the President of Chaosium and the head of its Nostalgia Department. Rick started playing D&D in the 70s, along with Gamma World and Boot Hill. He started playing Chaosium’s RPG in the late 70s, first with RuneQuest, followed by Call of Cthulhu and Stormbringer. An avid collector of Chaosium’s games, he is the author of a collector’s guide to RuneQuest and Glorantha known as the MIG3. If there’s an auction, he’ll be there. His favorite projects from the last few years include RuneQuest Classic, Call of Cthulhu Classic, and ElfQuest Classic. As a long-time scout, and current scoutmaster, he enjoys camping in the great […]

Roger E. Moore was added to the ranks of TSR, Inc., by Kim Mohan, of blessed memory, in May 1983. From the staff of Dragon Magazine, he wrote articles, novels, short stories, and edited magazines and game products for 17.5 years. His greatest accomplishment was the co-creation of the Giant Space Hamster with Jeff Grubb for the Spelljammer campaign. He currently lives with his wife Diana and 16 cats in upstate South Carolina, tinkering with new materials for the venerable Greyhawk campaign. He is writing Spelljammer articles as well as Greyhawk ones. Also, he wishes you and yours the very […]

In 1977 Rose Estes became the 13th employee of a small company in a small town in Wisconsin called TSR Hobbies. She thought of it as a temporary position until she found another job as a journalist. But things kept happening and time passed. Choices were made and the temporary position became permanent. After a time Rose began writing the series that would become known as The Endless Quest multiple choice books. At last count they have sold more than 21 million copies worldwide and translated into many languages. She has also written numerous novels and three books of non […]

Ross Maker was the first person to play a Dwarf Character in an RPG. He played that same character for roughly 40 years. As part of the Blackmoor Bunch, Ross witnessed the invention and evolution of Arneson’s fantasy campaign. In his real life career he has been a game designer and computer programmer. As a founder of the 4D Interactive team he helped port many games produced by Coleco such as Zaxxon. Ross Maker has been gaming for some sixty years and designing games for nearly all that time. He was a member of the Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA), […]

Sarah Babe is a long time gamer, actor, public servant, lifelong Wisconsinite, and dice goblin who really wants to know if she can pet your dog. Her most recent projects include playing Ulavina on the official D&D television show, Encounter Party, being a cast member on Theatre of the Mind Players actual play, and her new podcast, Gaming Shelf Help. You may also know her from previous projects such as Plot Points or the Encounter Party Podcast. If you say hello at the con there is a very good chance Sarah will take the opportunity to talk to you about her […]

Sarah Moore is the host of Sarah’s Table on GenConTV where she spotlights RPGs created by indie designers and small publishers. She embodies her philosophy of Joyful Gaming by emphasizing safety and comfort at the table while encouraging people to be vulnerable and tell a collaborative story. Sarah is a contributing writer on The Vanishing Lands, an upcoming fantasy RPG by Square Pixels Entertainment. She’s the co-designer of The Crowned, an RPG by Formerly Feral Games, where you play a god of a small slice of reality. Sarah is also the production coordinator for Actoroke and wears many hats for Peter Adkison’s World of Chaldea. […]

Meet the Harper, Sir Andrew Scott, Co-Creater and Chief Designer – Founders & Legends Tournament. Andrew Scott is proud to represent the Guilds of WARP as their Dungeon Master and founder of the club in 1976. Andrew Scott has held the reins as WARP’s DM since the beginning of 1978.  He has DMed an unbroken campaign for WARP for over 48 years! WARP is one of the longest running Role Playing Game clubs in existence and boasts over 300 members. Andrew Scott makes his living as a professional adventurer representing WARP at conventions across the country, while racking up a staggering […]

Skip Williams is a Wisconsin native who hails from Lake Geneva, also the birthplace of the D&D game. As a kid in school. Skip rubbed elbows with many of the people who developed and influenced the original Dungeons & Dragons game, especially Gary Gygax. After college, Skip did a stint with TSR, Inc. organizing the Gen Con Game Fair. After leaving TSR to become a freelancer, Skip eventually came to pen the Sage Advice column for Dragon magazine. For more than 15 years, Skip applied his unique wit and wisdom to help DMs and players navigate that difficult frontier where […]

Stefan Pokorny is a classically trained painter and sculptor who began running 1st edition D&D games around the age of 14 years old. In 1996, he founded DWARVEN FORGE, a first of its kind modular miniatures terrain company that would go on to fund many hugely successful Kickstarter campaigns. Game Tiles were the FIRST modular 3-D painted tiles and continue to be the gold standard of the modular terrain space.  Dwarven Forge’s most recent KS topped 4 million dollars in funding! He has been invited to run his Theatrical D&D games at countless conventions, including Lucca Comics and Games, Essen Spiel, […]

Stephen Chenault is the current CEO of Chenault & Gray Publishing & Troll Lord Games. He is an author best known for his work on the world of Aihrde, Castles & Crusades game system, and short fiction. In 1999 he co-founded Troll Lord Games with his brother Davis Chenault and longtime friend Mac Golden. He worked on layout, writing, and marketing until 2002 when Mac Golden stepped down as head of the company. Steve took over the mantel and has run the company since Mac’s departure. He was instrumental in bringing Gary Gygax on board in 2001, oversaw the release […]

Stephen D. Sullivan is the award-winning author of more than sixty books. But before he turned to writing novels, he worked on DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Basic & Expert, TOP SECRET, and countless other TSR products. He also helped found Pacesetter, creators of CHILL, WABBIT WAMPAGE, and more.  He still dabbles in game creation—including DR. CUSHING’S CHAMBER OF HORRORS RPG and an upcoming DINOSAUR RPG—and comics, while writing new novels and stories.  Visit Steve & his work at: www.sdsullivan.com

Tom DeSanto is the founding writer/producer behind some of the biggest franchises in movie history (Transformers, X-Men). DeSanto’s films have grossed over $6 billion dollars worldwide with billions more in licensing, merchandising, and video games. The proud owner of more than 40,000 comic books and a self-described pop culture junkie, DeSanto dreamed of bringing the characters he loved as a kid to life in Hollywood, X-Men was first on his list. With comic book films failing at the box office in the late ’90s and Marvel in bankruptcy, DeSanto saw the potential in the stable of characters he grew up […]

Tom Wham is best known for creating whimsical board games that feature his unique artwork.  However, his first design credit is actually a miniatures wargame called “Ironclad”, with Don Lowry, in 1973. Tom worked for Guidon Games when Gary Gygax asked him to run the auction at Gen Con IV.  A few years later, in 1977, Tom came to work at TSR, Inc.  Tom held many positions with TSR over the years, from general office support, to manager of the Dungeon Hobby Shop.  He contributed to many projects, including artwork for the AD&D Monster Manual, and published several games in […]

David “Zeb” Cook joined the TSR design staff in 1979, as employee #24 and through the dint of persistence rose employee #2 or 3 (in senority only) the time he left in 1994.In those years he designed such things as X1: The Isle of Dread (with the late Tom Moldvay), the D&D Expert Set, Oriental Adventures, the AD&D 2nd Edition Rules, the Conan RPG, the Indiana Jones RPG, the Escape From New York boardgame (really!), the Planescape Campaign Setting, and what must have been the personal pinnacle of his career the Bullwinkle and Rocky Party Game. After leaving TSR, Zeb entered the world of videogames where he worked on a lot of things that never saw the […]