I started playing D&D when I was nine as a Red Box kid – it’s like being a Red Diaper baby, except instead of Das Kapital, your parents give you polyhedral dice and you have to color the numbers in with a crayon. I don’t think the years lend credibility as a player or designer, but I think it’s informative for what defines someone’s tastes and predilections in RPGs. Someone who started playing D&D with 3e or 4e will have a different perspective on what the game means, and it’s bound to influence their play style and design work. In my case, I’ve always approached 5e as an ‘80s D&D emulator, with predictably mixed results.

Back to the hazy, halcyon days of yore, it was just me and the kid down the street, although I would peek at the AD&D books that belonged to another friend’s older brothers. We spent the next few years killing sleeping dragons and dividing the Known World between ourselves before other interests captured our adolescent attentions. I moved to Ann Arbor, MI for college, but mostly spent my time playing guitar in hardcore bands and putting out records. After that ran its course and life took a few twists and turns, I got curious about the state of D&D. A new friend started us off with Lost Mines of Phandelver and I dove back in, despite being beaten unconscious in the streets by the Redbrands. I wrote my first adventure for fun and as an experiment to see if I could, and then I wrote some more to be a part of the public D&D community, which at the time was most accessible through the Adventurers League organized play program. Writing and running games at cons led to more connections, and I’ve written a little for Kobold Press and World of Game Design. I’m currently working on some projects of my own, but I’m always open to collaborating with other good folks.

Regularly Playing: D&D 5e with friends and at cons, Frostgrave with my son and his friends

Current Campaign: D&D 5e, Dark of Hot Springs Island (set off the coast of Ptolus, used as one of the Seven Cities in Midgard)

5e Characters: Faerthurin, elf assassin, retired when I took over DMing our Lost Mines game. Thorgrim, AL barbarian/paladin, obvious MCU Thor homage. Gim, space goblin ranger, TPKed in Ythryn, immortalized in Fall the Cold Night as an NPC.

Games I Would Like To Play More: BECMI D&D, Cloud Empress, Mothership, Old School Essentials, Shadowdark, Stargrave

Day Job: convention manager and woodworker at Elderwood Academy