Gaining Advantage 018: Excellence in TTRPG with @MForbeck

Gaining Advantage: Making Lives Better through tabletop role-playing games; Wyrmworks Publishing Logo; Disability symbol with wheelchair wheel replaced by d20; Brain with embedded d20; Diana Jones Award pyramid logo

How can game excellence make lives better? We welcome Matt Forbeck to talk about excellence in game design.

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 02:54 Interview: Matt Forbeck
  • 21:46 Wrap-up

Manually captioned. Transcript available at our website.

Matt Forbeck Links

Wyrmworks Publishing




Become a Wyrmworks Publishing Affiliate

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Fans, podcasters, streamers, and anyone else who thinks more people should know about Wyrmworks Publishing’s products and wants to join us in helping you make lives better with tabletop roleplaying games, we have an offer for you!

Join the Wyrmworks Publishing Affiliate program, give your fans a discount, and get a commission as our thanks!

  1. Sign up using the form below.
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And if you want to use our products in actual play shows or similar uses, we can help you with samples or discounts.




Gaining Advantage 017: Accessible Benefits from TTRPG

Gaining Advantage: Making Lives Better through tabletop role-playing games; Wyrmworks Publishing Logo; Disability symbol with wheelchair wheel replaced by d20; Brain with embedded d20; photo of Katriel Paige

How can the TTRPG industry teach the rest of the world about accessibility? We welcome Katriel Paige to talk about their work in accessibility.

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 02:46 Interview: Katriel Paige
  • 30:24 Wrap-up

Manually captioned. Transcript available at our website.

Katreil Paige Links

Wyrmworks Publishing




Improvements in TTRPG Inclusion

Black background with a grayscale woman in a wheelchair

When we launched Limitless Heroics, we said, ”Limitless Heroics is more than an RPG book. It’s a petition. Back this project, and you communicate to every game publisher on earth that disabled people exist and can easily be included in their games, that the customers want that representation, and that accessibility and representation are necessary core features for future products.” Some scoffed at that. Others called it virtue signaling. But we truly believe that these small actions have a ripple effect on the industry and the world.

Efforts toward inclusion have definitely improved over the years. Third party products like Ancestry & Culture and An Elf and an Orc Had a Little Baby offer suggestions for better representation and an alternative to the bioessentialism that has had such a prominent role in Dungeons & Dragons throughout its existence. Wizards of the Coast began making changes with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and took racial representation to the next level with the announcement of Journeys through the Radiant Citadel, and we applaud these efforts and see the leader of the industry providing a positive example for racial representation.

But what about disability representation?

The first well-known effort to better represent disabilities in role-playing games came from the viral Combat Wheelchair, followed closely by the inexplicably controversial ”ramps in dungeons” adventure in Candlekeep Mysteries, but note that the latter, while published by Wizards of the Coast, was only designed to be accessible by its author, Jennifer Kretchmer, not by direction from the company, which is obvious in that that’s the only adventure in the collection that includes any deliberate accessibility. (GURPS and the Hero System also include disabilities, but it does more harm than good.)

Besides a handful of very small games floating around itch.io, Accessible Games produces Psi-Punk and Survival of the Able, and Evil Hat’s Fate Accessibility Toolkit was the first deliberate representation publication by a second tier publisher, and it’s still considered the best of its kind in the industry, and while it’s brilliant, it’s also the best because it’s the only one of its kind until Limitless Heroics finishes production.

Other third party offerings have stepped into the D&D system with examples like Adventures in ADHD and our own Accessible Adventures of the Week, but those examples remain rare.

Proof that Tony Stark Has a Heart

But now Marvel has thrown down the Infinity Gauntlet of accessibility with the Marvel Multiverse RPG, including limited but deliberate disability representation. Disney/Marvel by no means leads the TTRPG space, but they’re the first company to enter it in recent years with the potential to challenge WotC on their home turf. While Marvel’s past TTRPG offerings haven’t challenged D&D for dominance, that’s not necessary even now to see more inclusion. (No, I have no illusions that Limitless Heroics influenced this decision.)

As more publishers, especially media companies whose reach extends beyond the TTRPG sphere, implement disability inclusion in their game systems and campaign worlds, the more it becomes expected. Imagine how odd a campaign world of all white characters would seem today thanks to the civil rights movements and the ongoing work of millions to demand racial representation. In the same way, games and other media without a broad range of orientations and gender expressions are becoming increasingly expected.

The more we see accurate and positive disability representation throughout different forms of media, the more it becomes a standard. I look forward to the day when the lack of disability representation becomes noticeable.




Enter the Dragon’s Hoard

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Our fans are actively dedicated to joining us in our mission to make lives better through tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPG).

We provide what you’d expect from a weekly publisher email: discounts, freebies, and news, but we also provide personal encouragement and opportunities to improve lives by working together. This is also the place for playtest announcements of upcoming products.

Our fans make the world a better place, and we truly treasure them, which is why we call them the Dragon’s Hoard, and we invite you to become a part of this treasure trove by signing up today and immediately getting your own free collection of treasure as soon as you confirm your subscription!






Gaining Advantage 016: More Fey, Less Squirrels

Gaining Advantage: Making Lives Better through tabletop role-playing games; Wyrmworks Publishing Logo; Disability symbol with wheelchair wheel replaced by d20; Brain with embedded d20; Adventures in ADHD logo

Let’s learn about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in a fun way, like a way that will keep your attention! We welcome Kel and Skald from Awfully Queer Heroes!

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 04:38 Interview: Awfully Queer Heroes: Adventures in ADHD
  • 37:53 Wrap-up

Manually captioned. Transcript available at our website.

Awfully Queer Heroes Links

Wyrmworks Publishing




Gaining Advantage 015: Reclaiming Dungeons

Gaining Advantage: Making Lives Better through tabletop role-playing games; Wyrmworks Publishing Logo; Disability symbol with wheelchair wheel replaced by d20; Brain with embedded d20; headshot of Collette Quach

Let’s talk about diversity in games and how often that’s not what it could be and how to change that. Collette Quach (they/she) is an award winning writer and game designer based in California. Her focus is writing and designing within speculative fiction. She has a passion for mythology and folklore through nontraditional forms of storytelling. Her work can be found in Uncaged Anthology, Book of Seasons: Solstices, Eyes Unclouded and the Unbreakable Anthology. They also were the producer for Creepy Monster Compendium, a book of horror creatures for 5th edition. Currently they are a MFA student in Interactive Media and Game Design at USC where they are focusing on narrative and the blend between physical and digital spaces.

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 01:23 Interview: Collette Quach
  • 26:36 Wrap-up

Manually captioned. Transcript available at our website.

Collette Quach Links

Wyrmworks Publishing




The Kickstarter is done. Sort of. Now what?

Hi, wonderful patrons! I know I’ve been quiet lately here on Patreon, and before that, I’ve been talking a lot about the Limitless Heroics Kickstarter, and now that it’s done, what’s next?

Of course, first of all, it’s far from done! If you’ve been watching the conversations in the Discord (Feel free to jump into the conversations!), everyone is busy creating characters, making artwork, writing additional pieces — over 200 magic items and so much more! We set July as the target date and are on track for that, and here’s a Patreon-exclusive teaser draft just for you that I just finished based on a backer submission! (Note: it hasn’t gone through our extensive editorial process yet, so expect it to change.)

GleamForth Wayfinder

Wondrous Item, Legendary

Follow the Gleam, and find your way. Hold me leftward lest you stumble. Let the third eye guide your path. Look to your heart to find your Truths. Center me, and I will bring you home though the darkness envelop you.

This labyrinthine eye provides protection and direction to those who would be lost without it. Unlike most prosthetic eyes, you hold this one instead of inserting it. When held in the left hand, it provides 5′ blindsight. When so held, you cannot use that hand for any other purpose. As an action, you can hold it mid-forehead and cast the find the path spell once per day. Once per day, as your action, you touch the heart of a creature you can reach that is charmed, frightened, or possessed by a celestial, an elemental, a fey, a fiend, or an undead. The creature you touch is no longer charmed, frightened, or possessed by such creatures. When held at the solar plexus, once every seven days, you can cast either plane shift or teleportation circle to your home. Your home need not have a teleportation circle inscribed, but when you acquire this eye, you must declare your home location as the destination of this function.

Pre-Orders Open

If anyone missed the Kickstarter (or knows someone who did — feel free to pass on this link), you can get the pre-order here, and use the coupon code LHPATREON to get $2 off! (Yes, you can share this coupon code along with the link!)

But then what?

We have a long to-do list that keeps getting longer, but picture this: imagine the city version of Limitless Heroics: a campaign city that explores concepts of accessibility where characters can have all the typical urban adventures while encountering what accessibility in its various forms would look like in a high fantasy setting! I’ve already received interested notes from accessibility advocates and universal design firms interested in helping with this and several writers and artists eager to work on future Wyrmworks Publishing projects, and if it’s well received, we can keep adding pieces to create a campaign world with different locations that explore and teach about all kinds of issues, all while having grand 5e adventures! Add in some miniatures based on some of the 50+ characters being designed for Limitless Heroics, and you have something truly unique that helps you improve others’ lives!

Tied to that big project, I have a collaborative project in the works that I can’t discuss yet, but it’s a partnership with at least one well known figure in the D&D space whose name is attached to some official D&D adventures. That one is just in the idea stage right now (We’re both pretty busy at the moment but hoping to get started on it later this year), but when I can say more, you’ll be the first to know! (OK, besides my wife. She hears these things first.)

And, I have some great guests lined up for future Gaining Advantage episodes, so expect more of those soon!

Thanks so much for your support! You’re helping make all this happen!

All the best!

Dale




Gaining Advantage 014: Fantasy Accessibility with Fay Onyx

Gaining Advantage: Making Lives Better through tabletop role-playing games; Wyrmworks Publishing Logo; Disability symbol with wheelchair wheel replaced by d20; Brain with embedded d20; Writing Alchemy Logo (cartoon image of Fay against a magenta planet background) logo

How can we make our fantasy worlds more accessible, thus encouraging more accessibility in the real world? Dale and Fay Onyx nerd out about disability, accessibility, and TTRPGs.

Fay Onyx is a queer, nonbinary, disabled writer, podcaster, game designer, and disability consultant whose work focuses on intersectional disability representation. Ze creates resources to help storytellers and game designers represent disability respectfully, including a Q&A series, a Decolonizing Games Resource List, and a series of articles about harmful disability tropes. Hir podcast, Writing Alchemy, has an actual play series about the adventures of disabled, neurodivergent, and chronically ill heroes. Fay is also working on Magic Goes Awry, a high fantasy roleplaying game that has detailed character creation with a rules-light core mechanic that creates plenty of magical mayhem.

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 02:39 Interview: Fay Onyx
  • 42:40 Wrap-up

Manually captioned. Transcript available at our website.

Wyrmworks Publishing




Limitless Heroics Press Kit

Limitless Heroics Cover: As our heroes fight the hydra, we see just some of the variety of symptoms represented in this book. The paladin has a prosthetic arm to assist with their amputation. The barbarian rages from their wheelchair, providing mobility for their paralyzed legs. The ranger, whose body is more accustomed to an aquatic environment just as someone in the real world may be more comfortable in a quieter or darker sensory environment, finds ways to compensate and keep fighting. The wizard’s vitiligo may not be thought of as a disability, nor should it be, yet many in the real world experience severe discrimination due to unusual skin pigment — how many celebrities, corporate executives, or politicians do you know with visibly irregular skin?

Limitless Heroics

Including Characters with Disabilities, Mental Illness, and Neurodivergence in Fifth Edition

Limitless Heroics is the most comprehensive disability compendium ever created for a Tabletop Role-Playing GameFor Fifth Edition, it provides:

  • 450+ Traits: Game mechanics for nearly every trait in existence (plus some fantasy traits, because that’s what you should expect in a world with magic)
  • 78 Random tables to choose or generate the traits, their degree of severity, and their frequency
  • 93+ New Magic Items and an online random generator for thousands more! Nearly every trait includes mundane and magic assistive options.
  • Thousands of real world examples so players can learn more and better represent the traits
  • Tutorials: Opening articles discuss how and why to implement these options, how to discuss it with your players, and common tropes to avoid. You have all the tools here to run an inclusive campaign.

Our website will have a free random generator to simplify determining character traits, but you’ll need the book for the descriptions and mechanics, or you can use the included tables to choose or roll manually. We talked to dozens of people with diverse traits to make sure our game mechanics represented their experiences. All writers, editors, and artists for this book are disabled, neurodivergent, and/or have mental or chronic illness.

Limitless Heroics launches on Kickstarter January 4 through February 3, 2022. Sign up to get notified when it goes live for a free first day backer tutorial adventure to help you implement these mechanics into your game!

Wyrmworks Publishing believes that representation of disabilities, neurodiversity, and mental illness in tabletop role-playing games helps players normalize interactions in real life by practicing in an imaginary setting. Disabled players who have consulted on the book have expressed joy in being recognized and given an easy way to demonstrate their experiences through game mechanics to help others understand their experiences, how they adapt, and how others can help.

Find the latest at InclusiveRPG.com.

Limitless Heroics Illustrations & Assets

Limitless Heroics Press Release: pdf / docx

Limitless Heroics page on our website