[Q&A] Nathan Maher (Manors Macabre: A Campaign Supplement (5e))

[7:35 PM]Pris Mascotti: Sure thing! My name is Nathan Maher, I’ve been playing TTRPGs since the early 90s, and I’ve been producing them (alongside a few novels) since 2010. I won one award for middle-grade fiction in 2017 and was short listed for the Larch Award for YA Fiction in 2024. Haven’t won any TTRPG awards, which makes me think there needs to be more out there – but that’s just me. I just finished writing, editing, illustrating and publishing “Manors Macabre: A Campaign Supplement” because I’m a huge fan of old 2nd and 3.0-3.5 edition Ravenloft and I’ve become disenfranchised with the WOTC, so I wanted something to make something for myself and everyone else who nostalgia for the old vibe. I’m calling it your cemetery gate to Gothic Horror for 5e. I dont normally produce 5e material, but here it is anyway. It’s 110 pages and contains the following: • Two lineages, the Horrorborn and the Zyrasha. • Three classes, the Dancer (and its subclasses: School of Ballet, School of Courtly Dance, School of the Feywild, and School of the Macabre); The Seer (and its subclasses: Harbinger of Doom, Medium, Prophet, and Truthseeker); and the Witch (and its subclasses: Hearth Witch, Broom Witch, and Familiar Witch). • Eight backgrounds: Doctor, Farmer, Grave Digger, Poet or Writer, Rancher, Scientist, and Soothsayer. • Four optional background features such as Doomed Bloodline, Haunted, Aura of Innocence, and Touched by Madness. • Six Gothic-inspired deities. • Nine new spells. • Rules on fear, dread, morality, virtue, sins, and mistrust. • Storytelling tips on how to run Gothic Horror adventures. • A Gothic adventure to incorporate into any ongoing campaign, intended for 3rd-level characters or higher.

[Q&A] Xane & Bunni Daniel (Druskara)

[7:34 PM]Xane: I’m Xane Daniel. I grew up as a TTRPG player — Dungeons and Dragons red box set — and it helped me escape the bullying and teasing I received in my middle school years. I was also into video games at that age, and I ended up making my own games on the Commodore Amiga before I was hired as a producer in Chicago. I enjoyed a 22-year video game career before I left it all behind.2

[7:34 PM]Dungeon Damsel: Hi! I’m Bunni AKA the Dungeon Damsel, and I grew up as a doodling artist with dreams of doing artwork for TTRPGs and enamel pins, which became an obsession of mine. I started Dungeon Damsel Creations with Xane (who’s also here! Hi Xane!) and we created our first publication, Unnatural Selection for the Shadowdark RPG. It was surprisingly successful, and turned our little twosome into a legit publishing company! I also have a YouTube channel, where I have many videos on the how tos of Shadowdark, coupled with secret singing and cat breaks. my videos are quirky, funny and short. I have also run two successful enamel pin campaigns – one called Mimics Among Us and the other, Infinite and Infernal, just ended in April. I’m not sure what else to say here, I am quite terrible about speaking about myself. (Done for me!)2

[7:36 PM]Xane: During the video game industry days, nobody played TTRPGs, oddly enough. So I took an almost 30-year break until I left the industry and decided to “for fun” find some TTRPGs to play. I met Dungeon Damsel during that FIRST game I returned to the hobby, and a few years later we started Dungeon Damsel Creations.

[Q&A] Laura Lang (Sewer Sanctuary)

[1:03 PM]veloceetato: Hi my name is Laura, a product and game designer, currently based in Belgium. I am the creator of Sewer Sanctuary, a standalone fantasy TTRPG, which is going to be crowdfunding it’s 2nd edition on Gamefound this summer.

[Q&A] Michael Robinson (Hexmaster Series)

[7:31 PM]Rutibex: Hi my name is Michael Robinson and I am the creator of 46 published TTRPG books (with AI assistance). I have been DMing D&D games since the 90’s but I started publishing books on DriveThru in 2022. My first book was mostly a compilation of random tables I had created via various means, as well as some a few sections of original content. I used Creative Commons art as well as a very privative AI called ArtBreeder. Art Breeder mostly created nightmare fuel, but that was appropriate for some things! My second module was hand written for the Basic Fantasy system. It was called Isle of the Succubus and also used public domain art. I really began to use AI during a module create content in the Basic Fantasy forums. ChatGPT 3.5 had just came out and I had created some basic templates for generating Basic Fantasy content. I made a very respectable module, but it inflmaed the forums and I was basically benned from making Basic Fantasy content any more.

[7:31 PM]Rutibex: So I created generic “OSR” content for a while until the Wizards of the Coast OGL debacle. When that happened I decided I needed a system of my own and rewrote the entirety of everything, Players handbook, DMG, and monsters manual with AI and published it as Creative Commons license under my new title Hexmaster. My system is not exactly 5e, it has a blending of all of the editions of D&D and a lot of my own house rules. But mostly I wanted it to stick a thumb in WoTC eye. All of my books are published Creative Commons, so anyone can reuse the material as they see fit. This is a cornerstone of basic Fantasy, and even though I am on my own I still stick to it. I go a step further and release all the art creative commons as well. In the era of AI art I don’t think the copyright is very valuable anyway! I’ve continued to publish books, mostly material I make for my own table. Instead of buying a module I will now create it. I don’t make a lot of money or anything, but its nice some people got a bit of value out of it! And I have a lot of fun making it. https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/20143/Rutibex https://rutibex.itch.io/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPSBQKT5DriveThruRPG.com – Rutibex – The Largest RPG Download Store!Your one-stop online shop for new and vintage RPG products from the top publishers, delivered fresh to your desktop in electronic format.itch.ioRutibexHexmaster SeriesVisit Amazon’s Hexmaster Series Page and shop for all Hexmaster Series books. Check out pictures, author information, and reviews of Hexmaster Series

[Q&A] Darrin Drader & Mike Lafferty (Last Fleet to Vega)

[1:01 PM]ddrader: I’ll defer to Mike and go second…

[1:02 PM]FaintingGoatWrangler: OK – I’m Mike Lafferty – head of Fainting Goat Games. I’ve been publishing/creating RPGs for a few now.

[1:03 PM]FaintingGoatWrangler: We are here today to talk about Last Fleet to Vega – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darrindrader/last-fleet-to-vega-a-5e-based-space-opera-game/

[1:03 PM]ddrader: I’m Darrin Drader. I used to work for WotC, and I’ve been a professional in the tabletop roleplaying game field now for a quarter century. I have recently picked up the title of small publisher, and I’ve run two successful Kickstarters. Hopefully the one we’re promoting today will be the third.

[1:03 PM]FaintingGoatWrangler: it’s a 5e space opera game

[1:04 PM]FaintingGoatWrangler: with a certain affection for a beloved property from the ,ate 1970s

[Q&A] Melina Sedo & Andreas Wichter (Serenissima Obscura)

[1:01 PM]Melina I Vortex Verlag: I will start:

[1:02 PM]Melina I Vortex Verlag: I am the main author and project manager for Vortex Verlag and Serenissima Obscura. This is already my second project with Vortex Verlag and I am proud to present our dark version of REnaissance Venice.

[1:03 PM]Melina I Vortex Verlag: done

[1:03 PM]Melina I Vortex Verlag: Andreas?

[1:03 PM]Elder Evil: Hi, I am Andreas Wichter, co-author of The Straight Way Lost and Serenissima Obscura. I am German but live in France currently. In the grey distant past I translated, among other things, Ars Magica 2nd edition into German. Melina, btw, later translated 4th edition Ars Magica.

[1:03 PM]Elder Evil: (done)

[Q&A] Dave Scott (Return of the Living Dead)

[7:36 PM]DaveScott: Hi Everyone. My name is Dave Scott and I am the CEO of Evil Genius Games. We make the spiritual successor to d20 modern called Everyday Heroes. Its a modern day TTRPG based loosely on 5e

[Q&A] Malcolm Harris (Relentless 5e)

[7:45 PM]Malcolmxh: Hello people who are here

[7:46 PM]Malcolmxh: I’m Malcolm Harris, writer, artist, editor, and publisher at Relentless Fiction.

[7:47 PM]Malcolmxh: We publish a lot of different things, including a lot of TTRPG products

[7:47 PM]Malcolmxh: 5e products nd our own

[7:48 PM]Malcolmxh: I think that covers the basics.

[Article] Serenissima Obscura

I’m doing something a bit different here.

Full disclosure: The game designers hired me to write an article to help promote their game, providing me with promotional materials to look over because the game isn’t out yet.

That doesn’t mean that I’m going to be writing advertising copy here. My goal is to give you my honest impression of the game based upon what I’ve seen.

Also, please be aware that this article contains spoilers and is intended primarily for GMs who intend to use the product.

So, here we go…

[Q&A] Raymond Ayala (Legend RPG)

[1:06 PM]Ray Legend: I’ve been publishing indie comics for about 11 years and started developing Legend around 2017. The connection is that my comic worlds actually inspired our three core worlds.

[1:08 PM]Ray Legend: Legend RPG is the result of a lifetime of RPG playing, 2 decades of Dad GMing, and about 5 years of asking questions

[1:08 PM]Ray Legend: Two major drivers inspired the game

[1:09 PM]Ray Legend: I felt like games could do a better job of capturing the feeling of movies or our favorite books, and I committed to figuring out how to make that happen.

[1:10 PM]Ray Legend: The second thing was that people in my life wanted to play, but they were turned off by long campaigns and complicated character creation.

[1:11 PM]Ray Legend: That pushed me to start developing and playtesting mechanics, and eventually led to a complete overhaul of hero creation.

[1:12 PM]Ray Legend: Now, I like to say, Legend RPG lets you become the hero you’ve always dreamed of—in the stories you love most.