Spring 2026 Newsletter

I didn't start as a process-driven person. For a long time, I (over-)confidently improvised my way through life—often falling hard on my face and only sometimes actually learning a lesson from my bloody noses. Eventually, I discovered that being prepared and organized brings me peace. Most importantly, I realized that peace, and not chaos, makes me a better friend, creator, and collaborator.

I learned other things, too: like that I tend to move too quickly through (and between) huge projects, propelled by my own irrational expectations. Or that self-imposed stress makes it far too easy for me to throw up my hands and exclaim that I just don't have time for personal goals.

So this year, I am trying to slow down, prioritize health, explore other passions beyond games, and build deeper personal connections. If you know me, then you know that I've set similar goals over the past few years. I'm always ready for another round in the never-ending fight against my more obsessive tendencies.

So, How's It Going?

Generously, I'd call this year a work in progress, but progress feels good—better than it has in a long time. These are a few core pillars I'm using to stay on track:

• Banish the myth that art demands sacrificing health or mental well-being
• Opt out of more algorithm-driven platforms (one day, all of them?)
• Take time to enjoy creative successes before leaping into new endeavors
• Spend more time in nature and meeting new people in the wild
• Only accept freelance writing jobs that are exciting (and well-organized)

And then, the two bigger ideas that I'm trying to let be my north stars:

• Find personal freedom and happiness in my communities (local and online)
• Find creative freedom and fulfillment by owning more of what I create

Finding and Building Community

After moving around many times, my partner and I finally feel like we've found our home: we love San Diego. Embracing that realization is helping us to build better local roots with like-minded folks. When I found San Diego's thriving Tabletop RPG community, I was immediately impressed by how welcoming, diverse, and well-organized it is. As I get to know the community better, I hope to become a good neighbor and contribute to it!

Meanwhile, it's never lost on me how lucky I am. The only way that I can survive as an independent creator is thanks to massive support from the community of people I've gotten to know online, through longtime friendships, creative collaborations, and (mostly) a whole lot of Tabletop RPGs. Because of them, I get more time to write games to the very best of my ability and share stories with so many phenomenal human beings.

This year, I'm looking to find more ways to bring online folks together. I admit, this is partly selfish: this community means the world to me, and I simply want to spend more time with them in the wild, far from work distractions or Discord notifications.

Upcoming Events

I'll be attending PAX Unplugged 2026 in Philadelphia from December 4-6th, where I hope to connect with some Tabletop publishers and friends. I'll be around walking the halls, attending panels, coordinating gatherings, and playing games.

I'll also be heading back to my hometown for Origins 2027 in Columbus from June 9-13th! If you've never been to Origins, it's a great time—and the best time to be in downtown Columbus.

I am available to participate in discussion panels for both conventions. If you know someone looking for a collaborative, thoughtful speaker, encourage them to reach out! I love talking about writing published adventures that emphasize player agency and worldbuilding, running games professionally, adapting beloved settings while staying true to your inner voice, and more.

If you see me at a convention, please say hello! And, if you want to meet or chat about collaborating at a convention, reach out to me on LinkedIn or Bluesky.

I'm also looking at organizing local events in the upcoming year! As the event gets closer, I'll share more details about my plans.

What I'm Working On

Last summer, I first wrote about grappling with Dungeons & Dragons, the OSR, and my burning need to create something new. Something that I owned. Something unsacred, unshaped, that I could experiment on and share however I wanted. So I have been building a game that is exciting to both my players and me.

My big project (let's call it RavenDark for now) has come a long way since then: I'm already running several ongoing Ravenloft campaigns (with more to come) and regularly testing rule patches and new game mechanics. I'm beginning to see how I can take my design philosophy and expand it into an entirely original setting, with more unique character options alongside the familiar.

Finding my voice within this system has been super rewarding. I have reached a point where I can see clearly how to laser-focus my design philosophy and expand its ideas into an entirely original setting in the future—with more unique worldbuilding and character options existing alongside the more familiar. When I'm ready to publish (or openly share) this system, it will be with a fully developed sandbox setting that Gamemasters can use, tear apart, rearrange, or cast aside.

This autumn will mark two years since I started this project and the first anniversary of launching my first campaign with the system. I plan to share what I've learned up to that point, what's changed, and where things are heading.

If you're interested in learning more about the game that I'm building, consider checking out my Discord community. Folks who support me on Patreon and join the Discord community gain forever access to the game and my worldbuilding, as it continues to develop.

Final Spring Thoughts and Recommendations

Before I sign off, I'll leave you with one last thought, followed by a few recommendations for awesome Tabletop RPG resources.

After 30+ years online, I have learned this truth: digital platforms don't last forever, and when they die, what is left behind is often lost forever. I've created a lot of games, stories, and art over that time. Most of it no longer exists. Moving forward, I aim to better preserve what I create for myself and others. I want to become more platform-independent.

Increasingly, over the past couple of years, I've been inspired by folks who have gone out of their way to make RPGs more accessible and lead by example on platform independence. So, I recommend you check out these folks doing great work to improve the accessibility of the hobby.

These are people and resources that I am personally learning from:

Sly Flourish: I've been reading Mike Shea's blog articles for almost 20 years. In fact, it was some of his very good Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition design ideas that first inspired me to roll up my sleeves and start sharing my own D&D homebrew. Mike's website is a treasure trove of articles, podcasts, Gamemaster-ready tools, simple but excellent advice, and insights into the industry. I love recommending How to Be a Great Player to new players who want to invest more in their games.

ShadowDark: Kelsey Dionne's efficient, evocative writing and fun, accessible mechanics are the bones of the game I'm building. That I'm able to do that at all is entirely thanks to her generous open license and support for brilliant third-party creators working on original ShadowDark projects. Kelsey has fostered an incredibly creative community worth checking out, especially if you have ever considered publishing your own Tabletop RPG module.

Old Gus's Daggerheart System Reference Document: This might be my new gold standard for making a game as accessible as possible. The site is a free, open-license resource that gives you everything you need to play Daggerheart, a Dungeons & Dragons alternative that you have probably heard of, if not played. It goes above and beyond in all respects, with articles to help you learn to play and tools to help you run games more smoothly. You can download it all from GitHub, so even if the site goes down, the backup will remain on your hard drive.

And that's all from me this spring! There's a lot that I'm looking forward to in the next year—but I'm going to continue to work at taking my time to smell the flowers along the way. I hope you have the chance to do more of the things you love, too.