A practical discussion about worldbuilding covering how to craft histories, cultures, and landscapes, weave lore into play, design divinities with cultural impact, and keep stories coherent.
Description:
A candid, hands-on conversation about building worlds that feel lived in and ready for play. We unpack how to craft histories, cultures, and landscapes that create story, and how to tie tone, stakes, and consequence to every choice characters make. You’ll learn clear methods for adapting existing worlds without breaking canon, and keeping long campaigns consistent without losing momentum. We show how to weave lore into scenes so it guides play instead of clogging it, and how geography, climate, and cosmology become engines for story. Expect practical prompts, repeatable frameworks, and honest lessons from mistakes so you leave with tools to build worlds that invite exploration.
In this session we will discuss ways to design historical games that include difficult subjects.
Description:
Human history is filled with material that most of us would rather never existed. Yet, part of learning about our past is engaging in these very topics. This session will discuss how to engage difficult material. In the process of discussing the material we will also talk about different ways to engage challenging information through game mechanisms.
Write Smarter, Revise Easier: Learn a Proven Blueprint for a Page-Turning Novel
Summary:
Learn a powerful tool to plan or revise your novel! Practice in real-time with a guided writing prompt and discover how to craft a story that captivates readers while reducing revision time.
Description:
In this interactive workshop, you’ll practice using The Blueprint, a flexible framework that helps you craft a story that works—whether you're starting fresh or refining a draft. At the start, you’ll receive a writing prompt to apply The Blueprint in real-time as each section is explained. As we go, I’ll answer questions and guide you through the process, so you can see firsthand how to use this tool for your own novel. This workshop is led by Leslie Horn, a developmental editor and Author Accelerator certified book coach, specializing in Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi. She also runs a YouTube channel on writing craft. This workshop uses concepts from The Blueprint for a Book by Jennie Nash. All writing styles, experience levels, and genres are welcome!
Write Smarter, Revise Easier: Learn a Proven Blueprint for a Page-Turning Novel
Summary:
Learn a powerful tool to plan or revise your novel! Practice in real-time with a guided writing prompt and discover how to craft a story that captivates readers while reducing revision time.
Description:
In this interactive workshop, you’ll practice using The Blueprint, a flexible framework that helps you craft a story that works—whether you're starting fresh or refining a draft. At the start, you’ll receive a writing prompt to apply The Blueprint in real-time as each section is explained. As we go, I’ll answer questions and guide you through the process, so you can see firsthand how to use this tool for your own novel. This workshop is led by Leslie Horn, a developmental editor and Author Accelerator certified book coach, specializing in Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi. She also runs a YouTube channel on writing craft. This workshop uses concepts from The Blueprint for a Book by Jennie Nash. All writing styles, experience levels, and genres are welcome!
Turn your passion for TTRPGs into a paycheck. This guide covers writing online, working from home, and understanding what editors want. Get the facts on industry outlets and expected pay rates today.
Description:
Do you want to write for tabletop role-playing games, but aren't sure where to start? Mike and Amber take you step by step through how to write online, work from home, and get paid doing it. We'll also explain what outlets are available, how much you can expect to get paid, and what editors are looking for.
Bryan Young, Mike Stackpole, Jennifer Brozek, and Katherine Monasterio talk about writing in the worlds of Shadowrun and BattleTech and how you can to.
Description:
Featuring: Bryan Young, Jennifer Brozek, Katherine Monasterio, Michael Stackpole
Join the podcast hosts for a live panel Q&A with audience questions, followed by a 20-minute live episode of the podcast with a topic picked from your questions.
Description:
Writing Excuses is a fast-paced, educational podcast for writers, by writers that focuses on tools, not rules. Join podcasts hosts Dan Wells, Erin Roberts, Howard Tayler, Mary Robinette Kowal for a live panel Q&A with audience questions, followed by a 20-minute live episode of the podcast with a topic picked from your questions.
Want to write inclusive fiction with diverse characters but worry you'll get it wrong? Join panelists as they discuss how they write outside their own identities and life experiences.
Description:
Featuring: J. B. Garner, Jesse Scoble, Karen Menzel née Bovenmyer, Tanya DePass
Interested in how to write horror into your game? Looking to become a writer for horror TTRPGs?
Description:
This seminar will go into depth on writing for horror TTRPGs, what the process looks like on the developer end, and some tips to use when writing in your own scenarios. For writers, the seminar will also have tips from accomplished writers on how to get hired for horror writing. Come join us for an hour focused on horror writing.
Panelists - Noxweiler Berf (Hunters Entertainment), Brian W. Holland (Chaosium), Bridget Jeffries (Chaosium)
Moderator - Crystal Mazur (Darker Days Radio)
You Should Certainly Try - Making Actual Play Performances for Library Outreach
Summary:
Wait, a library made an actual play D&D show? Yep. This behind-the-scenes talk explores why we did it, how we built it, and why you don’t need a studio to try it.
Description:
A university library built an audience-facing actual play D&D show. On purpose. You Should Certainly Try is a behind-the-scenes look at how Live D&D at UNT and The Hidden Stacks were designed as intentional media projects, not games that happened to be filmed. This seminar focuses on the thinking behind the work: why actual play was the right format, why making it public mattered, and how creative vision, student involvement, and institutional realities were balanced from the start. Rather than teaching gameplay, this session explores the design choices that shaped the project, what made it sustainable, and why this kind of work can succeed outside of studios and major platforms. Attendees will leave with a clearer sense of what makes audience-facing actual play work, and the confidence to decide whether they should certainly try something similar in their own space.