[Q&A] R.A. Lopez (Empyrean: The Hyperfantasy RPG)

[1:04 PM]Electronicoffee: Hullo there, my name’s R.A. Lopez.. I’m an author, poet, and game developer.. I’m the creator of EMPYREAN : The Hyperfantasy RPG. My studio is a solo venture and aptly named Hyperfantasy Handbooks ! Empyrean is a Metadimension of imagination, faith, fears, and hopes that lies within and between all the many worlds. The Land is vast and near infinite as the very multitude of minds gifted with sentience across the multiverse are its basis. Empyreanites (Native and Non Native) naturally sense and find it (no matter how distant!) when in the many true realms. This setting & system can be played by itself as a standalone or fused into any d20 dice based game systems chosen, working best with the Third Edition of Dungeons&Dragons, the First Edition of Pathfinder, and Most d20 Books! Once in a generational beauty (fairness), forbidden rituals, unrivaled wisdom, wretched acts beyond speaking, supreme sacrifices, pure genius, numerical ancestry (seventh son), etc. ? It is rather important these souls find the path home as those stuck in Empyrean but who lack Empyrean Blood cannot gain sustenance nor evolve as an Empyreanite matures. While they are young and new, most Empyreanites are “less than” the average soul, but with time and experience grow “equal to” a human soul; with even more investment, these beings evolve into Gods and can eventually surpass them. (Done)

[Q&A] Paul Gioacchini (Eternal Forge TTRPG)

[1:01 PM]alienfossilart: Greetings! I’m very excited to be here! My name is Paul Gioacchini and I am the artist and designer of the TTRPG Eternal Forge. I’ve been playing TTRPG’s since I was in the 5th grade, when my older brother Peter taught me how to play AD&D back in the early 80’s. I was hooked from the get go, as I am a storyteller at heart. From that point on, I began trying other game systems, and eventually online RPGs. I always had issues with the class systems built into each of the games I tried, and it really frustrated me when certain class restrictions limited my imagination. Why couldn’t my wizard character wield a sword in combat – I mean, Gandalf seemed to have figured it out!
So after years of griping and procrastinating, I set out to create my own TTRPG, where the players could create whatever character they wanted, staying true to their own personal vision and creativity! Furthermore, I tried to make my TTRPG more organic in terms of die rolling. I boiled it down to one core success table, eliminating all of the numerous charts, cross-referencing and modifier calculations that I was accustomed to. My goal was to speed up the mechanics of gameplay and keep the story moving – after all, that’s what it’s all about!
Eternal Forge is a cooperative experience, between the GM and the players, and can be adapted to any setting or genre. The GM and the players can pick and choose whatever “rules” they want from the materials I have created, or modify them to suit their own needs and play style. The focus is on the experience of creating memorable adventures that are easy to create and accessible for everyone to enjoy! I’m looking forward to whatever questions you might have for me! ~ Paul | Eternal Forge (done)

[Q&A] John De Campos (Repugnant the Compostapocalyptic RPG)

[7:41 PM]John de Campos (he/him): Hi! I’m John de Campos – I’m the owner operator of Terrible Games – an indie tabletop publishing studio based out of Baltimore MD. We mostly produce boardgame offerings but we have release one all original ttrpg that we will be discussing today – RePuGnant – the RPG in the compostapocalypse. It takes place on the Crust – our earth hundreds of years in the future now encased in 3 miles of toxic waste soaked trash and garbage. Filth has become a way of life as has odd but useful mutations which the citizenry known as “dwellers” utilize with their natural talents to traverse and survive a hazardous and often hilarious world where burps, farts, boogers and zits are fixtures in a gross and juvenile setting. Unfortunately the crusts stratified depths have not only given birth to new lin and mutations that make up the dwellers but also a wide array mutated monstrosities that are somehow more grotesque and gruesome that the dwellers often face when crawling through the vast and vile crevasses of the crust (done)

[Q&A] Darrell Hardy (Beneath the Pyramid’s Shadow)

[7:30 PM]Darrell: Howdy! I’m writer and game designer Darrell Hardy, here today to talk about Beneath the Pyramid’s Shadow, which is a micro-setting zine for the Savage Worlds RPG system. Beneath the Pyramid’s Shadow is a modern-day cosmic horror apocalypse: the world hasn’t ended yet, but it’s started to totter towards collapse. It’s up to the heroes to hold back the darkness as long as they can by protecting the innocent, fighting cultists and monsters, and unraveling the mystery of the massive pyramid that now looms forever on the eastern horizon. (done)

[Q&A] Dave Ward (Plaguebound)

[7:30 PM]Grimwood_Games: I am Dave, the creator behind Grimwood Games, a hub for immersive tabletop role-playing experiences. With over 30 years of GM experience, I have built and run countless adventures across a variety of systems, from Ironbound (my own urban fantasy RPG) to Dragonbane, DC20, Savage Worlds, and more. I specialize in crafting deep, lore-rich settings, from the supernatural streets of Grimwood City in Ironbound to the dark fantasy world of Plaguebound, filled with unique species, factions, and mysteries. Whether it is writing murder mysteries, designing high-stakes heists, or developing entire new game systems, I am always pushing the boundaries of storytelling in RPGs. Beyond game design, I host actual plays, discussions, and community events on my Twitch channel, Grimwood_Games, where we highlight indie RPGs, dive into game development, and explore unique homebrew content. Join me for Ironbound on Fridays at 8PM ET, Plaguebound on Sundays at 5:30PM ET, and the Geekout Podcast on Tuesdays at 8PM ET. As For the Game. Plaguebound is a dark fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in a world ravaged by an Ichor-like plague that mutates creatures and threatens the balance of life. Players take on the roles of various species—including the fowl-bear Kraughorn, the mystical mushroom Enokin, Greedy Imp Zethri and others—who must navigate the dangers of a world on the brink of collapse. The game features a 1d12-based system, where success is determined by rolling above a target number, modified by boons (extra dice, highest roll taken) and banes (opposite effect). A unique “Failing Forward” mechanic allows players to gain Pool Points on failed rolls, promoting character progression even in failure. Combat is tactical, utilizing action points, contested checks, and an initiative system that reshuffles each round for dynamic encounters. The game emphasizes mutation, corruption, and survival, with characters gaining mutations upon accumulating too much corruption from the plague. Classes range from brutal Berserkers, Mystic Shamans, pet loving rangers. Players must also manage their physical, mental, and arcane Pools. A deep emphasis on lore-driven storytelling creates a rich, immersive setting and game play. Whether fighting against the horrors of the plague, uncovering ancient secrets, or engaging in factional conflicts, Plaguebound offers a high-stakes, story-driven experience that blends tactical combat with deep role-playing elements. Done

[Q&A] Chris Willett & Tim Molloy (The Painted Wastelands)

[7:36 PM]Tim Molloy: OK so, Chris reached out to me about a year ago, he’d come across a bunch of my art and introduced himself as a TTRPG writer – he said he could perhaps bring together some of my imagery and come up with a story – I let him know that I’ve been building a world that I call The Lower Ethereal Hierarchy for the last 25 years, 700 pages of comics, countless pictures and paintings, heaps of headcannon – so he was happy that all that groundwork was there. We decided in exploring a bit of my ‘inner geography’ that was quite underdeveloped in my own mind and worked together to flesh out ‘The Painted Wastelands’, a corner of a larger tract of land called The Endless Plain. It’s surreal, creepy, funny dream-world stuff, bizarre and fun, I hope.

[7:36 PM]Tim Molloy: Done

[7:36 PM]Willett: My name is Christopher Willett and I am the author of AEON: Ancient Greece, Ziggurat of the Blood God, and The Painted Wastelands. This project came to life after I stumbled across some of Tim’s drawings on facebook. I stalked him, hunted him down, and reached out to him. I felt his artwork had a strangeness to it that RPG players would be attracted to. The original idea was I could just take some of his old drawings and just make up some sort of story. Then Tim hit me with this whammy, all of his drawings and comics take place in the same setting. It was a setting he had been exploring for years. It had never been written down before. So I set to work adapting his world for an RPG. The Painted Wastelands is just a small corner of a much larger setting. We chose Old School Essentials because it has that classic DnD feel and is easily transferred to other rule sets.

[7:36 PM]Willett: Done

[Q&A] Alex T. (Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse)

[1:04 PM]Alex – Blackoath: Hello, my name is Alex, and I’m the person behind Blackoath Entertainment, a small indie RPG publisher that focuses mostly on solo games. Today I’m here to talk about Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse, a dark fantasy/science fiction tabletop role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity’s technological golden age has ended in catastrophe. In the aftermath, AI systems evolved into machine gods, and human society has rebuilt itself into a feudal structure, with people interpreting advanced technology through a mystical lens. This is a solo/co-op/GM-led OSR RPG that I’m planning on expanding in a modular way. The first release, the core rules, is already available via my Patreon.

[Q&A] Troy Mepyans (Ashland: No Safe Haven)

[6:33 PM]The Ashlander: Hi! I’m Troy Mepyans, member of The Yellow Hand, creator of Ashland 2D20 RPG and writer for Star Trek Adventures, Sentience RPG, Once Upon, and Tales of Menace and Mystery. I’ve been playing TTRPGs for the past 45 years, teaching them for the last 40 years.

[Q&A] Ed Jowett (Era: Sharkninja)

[1:00 PM]Ed Jowett (Shades of Vengeance): Hi everyone! So… what’s Era: Sharkninja? It’s a game where you play as a… well, Sharkninja! And you’re fighting dieselpunk Alien Robots (including both advanced alien models and ones which were made from materials on our world. You aim to free humanity, who have been enslaved to drill oil for the robots to power their galactic invasion forces. But it’s not just to foil the alien robots that you free humanity… You see, the truth is…

[1:01 PM]Ed Jowett (Shades of Vengeance): People taste better when they are free range!

[Q&A] Craig Hatler (Shadowlight & Personae RPG)

[7:34 PM]Craig H. “Tezrak” (he/him): I’m Craig, he/him/they/them. I’ve been an IT support pro, educator, and ed tech pro since my undergraduate days. I grew up in northern NJ, went away for undergrad to Villanova, did grad school online, lived in CT for 4 years and now live in Raleigh NC since 2019. TTRPGs have been a foundational part of my life since middle school, circa the early 90s, have been playing, running, designing (for) ever since. Have played more games than I can count, have mostly run D&D and WEG Star Wars apart from S&P. “In Shadowlight & Personae, you play curious people captivated and intrigued by mysterious phenomena and circumstances, seeking out to reveal truths hidden within them. You’ll investigate mysteries, explore and unravel paradoxes, and delve into the hidden truths of the omniverse—both within your world and possibly worlds beyond as well.” – from my S&P CATS and the Basic Game document. Done