How do you get started with Dungeons & Dragons and find a group that’s right for you? We welcome Montana Rosalle from YVR Dungeon Masters to give you some help!
0:00 Introduction
01:44 Interview: Montana Rosalle
23:56 Wrap-up
Manually captioned. Transcript available at our website.
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.
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.
Gaining Advantage 015: Reclaiming Dungeons
July 8, 2022
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.
Gaining Advantage 013: Relationships in the Margins with @httpaladin
July 8, 2022
How can role-playing games expand your view of the real world? We welcome Paladin, co-director of The Islands of Sina Una, to talk about just that. And in our Playing the Other segment, we welcome Nikki to talk about chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
0:00 Introduction
01:58 Paladin
23:25 Playing the Other: Nikki
40:15 Wrap-up
Manually captioned. Transcript available at our website.
Gaining Advantage 012: After School Dungeon Delving with @rmalena
July 8, 2022
What was your camp experience like? What if it involved fighting dragons & rolling dice? We welcome Richard Malena-Webber from Academy of Adventures to describe that for us.
0:00 Introduction
02:13 Richard Malena-Webber
34:23 Wrap-up
Manually captioned. Transcript available at our website.
The full book includes descriptions and full game mechanics for each trait. Each trait also includes assistive options, magical assistance, and real world examples.
100% of content creators hired for this book are disabled, neurodivergent, and/or have mental or chronic illness, and the variety of art styles intentionally reflects the diversity of experiences and expressions of these conditions.
Roll for Traits
Players can either roll for a random disability or discuss disability as part of their character concept with their GM, choosing specific traits, Frequencies, and IEs, keeping tropes to avoid in mind.
Game Masters especially who want to include a realistic percentage of disability in a game world’s population may find these random generators useful to provide a varied population. Fantasy worlds don’t need to have the same clusters of traits that we see in real-world experiences, but it’s also beneficial to use real-world clusters (diagnoses, both common and rare, and which vary by region or get organized differently by different cultures) to better understand the experiences of those around us, which again is why the tables allow you to “choose or roll.” Maybe you’ll do a little of both, or maybe you’ll use your first roll to find a real-world experience that includes that trait and learn more about it.
This suggestion also applies to the traits’ IEs and Frequencies. Instead of using tables to determine these, you may choose a frequency that ties into the narrative that you’re telling together, deciding in advance instead of leaving it to dice rolls.
Many people are afraid to represent these experiences in their games for fear of inaccuracy, but absence isn’t necessarily better, so we designed this book to get you started, to provide guidelines so you could feel free to add this inclusion creatively and respectfully.
Chance of Traits
15–20 percent of people worldwide in real life have some form of disability. In a world with less medical, therapeutic, and nutritional science but additional magic threats, the rate of disability is likely higher. GMs should decide the rate in the campaign world, but consider 20 percent to be the base rate. Roll 1d20, 1–4 indicating a disability. Any given population within that world should expect roughly the same percentage with possible variations based on environment and any number of other factors.
Number and Category of Traits
Many disabilities have multiple traits. Choose or roll on the following table to determine the number of traits your character has. If replicating a real-world cluster or more than one in the same character, you can increase or decrease the quantity.
d20
Traits
1–7
1
8−12
2
13−15
3
16−17
4
18−19
5
20
6
Next, determine whether those traits are physical or mental. The first trait is equally likely to be physical or mental. (Roll d20: 1−10 = physical, 11–20 = mental) Subsequent traits are more likely to be in the same category, so add or subtract 2 cumulatively to the roll for the category of each additional trait. (e.g. 4 traits: First roll = 18 (mental), so the next roll would be 1–8 physical and 9–20 mental. Next roll = 10 (mental), so the next roll would be 1–6 physical and 7–20 mental. Next roll = 4 (physical), so the final roll would be 1–8 physical and 9–20 mental.) No matter how the range adjusts, a roll of 1 is always physical, and a 20 is always mental.
Impact Extent (IE)
Each trait can vary in the impact of its expression. Roll on the following table to determine the impact of each trait. See the individual trait descriptions for impact explanations. Unless otherwise stated in the description, any saving throws required by the adverse effects are DC 8 + (IE). Note that the term “impact” and the Extent labels are used for mechanical shorthand to cover a wide variety of traits, but these terms aren’t always appropriate descriptors for their real-world counterparts. Players are encouraged to use more accurate descriptors or just the mechanical number. (e.g. Many neurodiverse traits are not appropriately described as “Acute” or with negative connotations; sensory disabilities, such as visual impairment, may be better described as “Complete” at IE 4.) If a trait causes an additional experience without a listed IE, choose or roll on this table for the new experience’s IE.
Pushing Through and Masking
You can use significant effort and concentration to force yourself overcome the challenges associated with many traits, temporarily reducing the IE penalties of a trait by expending one Hit Die per IE until the end of the encounter or for 1 minute, whichever is longer. This only affects ability checks, not saving throws, and all rolls to maintain concentration while pushing through are made with disadvantage. You also have advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks to conceal your trait.
D20
IE
1–9
Mild (1)
10−15
Moderate (2)
16−18
Substantial (3)
19–20
Total (4)
Frequency
Traits can come and go, sometimes appearing instantly and disappearing as quickly. Others appear and disappear gradually over the course of days. Some can disappear for months or years and suddenly manifest again, and some never go away. Choose or roll on the following table to determine the duration of each trait. (Note: This may not be applicable to many traits. e.g. missing limbs don’t generally come and go without magic. Players and GMs should use discretion for this table and see the trait description.)
All trait descriptions assume the effects only occur while the trait is active, unless otherwise noted.
Variant Rule: Plot Arc-Based Timing
For traits with Periodic Frequency or those that change over extended periods of time, instead of rolling for a number of days between changes or saving throws, depending on the trait description, make the change or roll based on the story arcs in your campaign, such as a climactic moment or after a major event when everyone is recovering. The players should decide how trait timing will be handled when implementing this system.
d20
Time
Frequency
1
Roll Twice
A trait may not fit one of these patterns exactly. Roll twice, and decide how they might combine, such as a trait that is Triggered but fluctuates in IE like Chronic or Frequent but only Periodic throughout a given day.
2
Remission
The trait begins absent. It will recur in 1d100 days, taking 1d4 days to reach full effect. On a roll of 95−100, roll again and add the rolls together, repeating for each roll of 95−100. At the end of the time period, the trait gradually disappears over 1d4 days, then roll the same way for the duration of remission.
3–7
Periodic
The trait fluctuates. It will recur in 1d20 days, rerolling cumulatively on a 20, taking 1d100 hours to reach full effect. On a roll of 95–100, roll again and add the rolls together, repeating for each roll of 95–100. At the end of the traits, they gradually disappear over 1d100 hours.
8−13
Triggered
The trait is triggered randomly or by one or more stimuli (or absence of a stimulus, like withdrawal) as determined by a discussion between the player and GM. The trait lasts as long as the stimulus is present plus 1d100 minutes, extended as above unless otherwise noted. (For absence of stimulus, the trait begins after 1d100 minutes and lasts until the stimulus is restored.) Note that some stimuli may be unknown to the character and seem random until discovering the triggering stimulus.
14−17
Frequent
The trait occurs more often than not but has periods of inactivity. Roll 1d20 every morning. The trait is present all day unless rolling a 19 or 20.
18−19
Chronic
The trait is always present, but if the Extent is more severe than mild, roll 1d20 each morning. The trait for the day is 1 Extent less on a roll of 15−19 and 2 Extents less on a roll of 20 with a minimum of mild.
20
Degenerative
The trait starts out Mild and gradually becomes Acute in 300d100 days. Once a degenerative trait becomes Acute, the character must succeed on seven daily DC 10 Constitution saving throws or gain a permanent level of exhaustion.Note: Degenerative conditions even in a fictional character, can be emotionally taxing. This RPG is a game, and such a bleak prognosis may take the fun out of the game, and this would work counter to the goal of this book, so the GM should always give a player the choice to reroll this result for the player’s own mental health.That said, the author's own father struggled with a degenerative disease for decades and lived with its accompanying disabilities, and he lived a heroic life in service to others. Many a tale can be told of heroes who finish their quest and ride off into the sunset, knowing their days are numbered, but that lives are meaningful however long they last.
Variant Rule: Good and Bad Days
In addition to overall trends in Frequency, many Traits have a fluctuating IE. Roll 1d20 after a long rest for each applicable trait.
d20
Effect
1–7
Good Day: All IE-related penalties are reduced by 1 (Minimum 0)
8–17
No change
18–20
Bad Day: All IE-related penalties are increased by 1 (Maximum 4)
Trait Descriptions
Physical Traits
For each physical trait, choose or roll to determine appendage or organ system (50/50 chance for each). Then roll on the appropriate table.
One or both of your ears has a shape that’s unusual for your ancestry. Choose or use the following table to determine the unusual shape and effects. This is a permanent condition.
A substance leaks out of your eyes. Roll on the table below for the nature and effects of the substance.
d20
Discharge
1
Acid
2–6
Blood
7
Ink
8–9
Oil
10−15
Pus
16−19
Tears
20
Venom
Eye Color Difference
Your eyes are colored outside the usual range of hues typical for your people according to the following table.
d20
Eye Region
1–3
Pupil
4−10
Iris
11−17
Sclera (Whites)
18–20
Entire eye
Ocular Diversity
One or both of your eyes are shaped or located outside the range typical for your ancestry. Choose or roll on the following table. Note that this is usually a permanent condition and does not fluctuate, but the player and GM are welcome to determine a magical version that fluctuates based on the Frequency table above. Example stimuli include sunrise/sunset, seasons, or stress.
d20
Ocular Diversity
1–3
Location
4–5
Eyelid Difference
6–8
Bulging
9–10
Sunken
11–13
Oversized
14–15
Undersized
16–19
Pupil Difference
20
Side Placement
Partial Field Blindness/Agnosia
You’re unable to see or recognize certain areas or features. Choose or roll on the following table.
d20
Visual Difference
1–8
Closed Angle Vision
9–14
Open Angle Vision
15–16
Humanoid Agnosia
17–18
Animal Agnosia
19–20
Topographical Agnosia
Humanoid Agnosia
You are unable to recognize a specific part of a humanoid body or distinguish it from others according to the following table.
You have trouble communicating using language, including speaking, understanding, and writing. Choose or roll on the following table. You have 1d6 of the following patterns.
d20
Language Processing Expression
1–5
Dysgraphia
6
Reiterative Agraphia
7
Specialist Agraphia
8
Dysexecutive Agraphia
9
Apraxic Agraphia
10
Lexical Agraphia
11
Semantic Agraphia
12
Phonological Agraphia
13
Visuospatial Agraphia
14
Alexia
15–16
Expressive Aphasia
17
Receptive Aphasia
18
Anomic Aphasia
19–20
Global Aphasia
Memory Loss
d10
Symptom
1–2
Anterograde Amnesia
3–6
Retrograde Amnesia
7
Dissociative Fugue
8–0
Traumatic Amnesia
Pain
d10
Pain Experience
1–5
Chronic Pain
6–9
Hyperalgesia
10
Hypoalgesia
Seizures
d100
Seizure Type
1–40
Focal Aware Seizures
41–60
Focal Impaired Awareness Seizures
61–67
Absence Seizures
68–77
Myoclonic Seizures
78–82
Clonic Seizures
83–88
Tonic Seizures
89–93
Atonic Seizures
94–100
Tonic Clonic Seizures
Focal Aware Seizures. You have a strange feeling for (IE)d20 seconds resulting in one of the following experiences.
Unusual smell or taste: You smell or taste something with no known source. You have a −(IE) penalty on all Wisdom (Perception) checks related to smell and taste for the duration.
Feeling like one random limb is larger or smaller than it actually is: you have a −(IE) penalty on all Dexterity attack rolls; ability checks; and saving throws with that limb for the duration.
7
Perception of colored or flashing lights: You have a −(IE) penalty on all Wisdom (Perception) checks involving vision
8
Hallucination
Sensory Processing Difference
d6
Sensory Processing Pattern
1
Sensory Over-Responsivity
2
Sensory Under-Responsivity
3
Sensory Craving
4
Vestibular Difference
5
Dyspraxia
6
Sensory Discrimination Difference
Sensory Discrimination Difference. You have trouble determining variation in 1d4 subtypes of sensory input. Choose or roll on the following table.
d8
SDD Subtype
1
Auditory
2
Visual
3
Tactile
4
Vestibular
5
Olfactory
6
Gustatory
7
Proprioception
8
Interoception
Sleep Disruptions
d100
Sleep Disruption
1–6
Confusional Arousals
7
Exploding Head
8–17
Hypersomnolence
18–40
Insomnia
41–44
Night Terrors
45–50
Nightmares
51–52
Sleep Aggression
53–55
Sleep Behaviors
56–60
Sleep Enuresis
61–62
Sleep Paralysis
63
Sleep Sorcery
64–86
Sleep-Related Breathing Disruption
87–88
Sleep-Related Hallucinations
89–93
Sleep-Related Movements
94–97
Sleep-Wake Disruptions
98–100
Sleepwalking
Sleep-Wake Disruption Your internal sleep clock does not correspond to your intended pattern. If you cannot follow your internal pattern, follow the rules for Insomnia accordingly.
Limitless Heroics for 5e (Disability, Neurodiversity, Mental illness Mechanics for DnD)
July 8, 2022
When you play a tabletop role-playing game like 5e, you want to be the hero. The world is different for you having been there, better. What if you could make the real world better by playing an RPG?! That’s what Limitless Heroics is all about. Limitless Heroics is the most comprehensive disability compendium ever created for a Tabletop Role-Playing Game. For Fifth Edition, it provides:
640 Pages of content!
450+ Traits: Game mechanics for nearly every condition or trait in existence (plus some fantasy traits, because that’s what you should expect in a world with magic) with 4 Impact Extents, and 6 Frequencies. With 1–6 traits per character (or more), that’s 64,800+ combinations with the option to add more. (Free Sample Trait: Blindness)
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 conditions to make sure our game mechanics represented their experiences before writing it, and over 900 people looked at the manuscript draft, and we got 90 pages of feedback from their experiences!
All writers, editors, and artists hired for this book are disabled, neurodivergent, and/or have mental or chronic illness.
Book Accessibility
Dyslexia-friendly layout
PDF, txt/csv, and ePub versions
Fully screen reader accessible
Indexed audio version included with every purchase
We believe that this resource will help you normalize disabilities in your life and the lives of other players. Non-disabled people can sometimes feel uncomfortable around disabled people or don’t know how to talk or act. This resource allows you to practice in an imaginary world to equip you with empathy and skills to feel increasingly comfortable doing that in the real world.And those with disabilities now have a way to represent their experience in-game to feel empowered and to help others see them more clearly.Imagine what we could communicate to the world when all those actual play Twitch streams include disabled characters!
This is a movement.
Limitless Heroics is more than an RPG book. It’s a petition. By supporting this project, 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.Imagine companies and organizations seeing the success of this movement beyond the RPG community and how that would affect their decisions in the future. Imagine how you as RPG players who work in every industry can work for change to overcome ableism because of what you and your players learned while rolling dice at the RPG table.Imagining is what we do best, but we can use fantasy to change reality. Maybe RPGs have some real world magic after all. Support this project with the 2,287 backers and others who ordered it since, and mark this day on your calendar and social media as the day you helped change the world.
About the Players Edition
The Players Edition of Limitless Heroics includes everything in the full book except the adventure, magic items, and NPCs, reducing the size and associated costs by 346 pages. If you plan to use these resources in settings where you need multiple copies (e.g. schools, clinics, community organizations, etc.), this will save you some money.
We met these stretch goals, all of which are included.
$25,000: Complications & Prostheses
Once we hit the $25,000 goal, we added additional complications and magical prosthetics. Some experiences are not traits of various conditions, but complications that result from them, such as infections, concussions, secondary depression, and intoxication. Once we hit this goal, we added 20 complications to the book and 20 Magical Prostheses.
$30,000: 10 NPCs
Similar to our previously published Disabled NPC of the Week but with more details, our character team added 10 NPCs (Non-Player Characters) with full backgrounds, personality details, disabilities, and artwork to the book. These are in addition to the characters created for the Create a Character and DELUXE Create a Character rewards and add-ons, which will be included automatically.
$40,000: One-Shot Adventure: Horror of the Shade by Theo Kogod
When a caravan makes camp in the shadow of crumbling ruins, they awaken an ancient revenant and are transported to a dark eldritch dimension. To escape back to the physical world, they will need to fight their way past the undead shade or risk being trapped forever.
$50,000: Service Animals
We included a chapter to implement service animals into your game, both real world and fantasy animals, including rules for training and how to use them. This section is written by Brittney Hay with service animal trainer and user consultation.
Content Warning
This book contains descriptions and game mechanics for nearly every physical, mental, and emotional condition in existence and a few that don’t exist, including physical, mental, and emotional trauma and all manner of illnesses, including an entry on phobias and mention or illustrations of possible phobic triggers. If it can happen to your mind and/or body, it’s probably here. For those who would have difficulty with any of that, please be aware of that likelihood. Use the table of contents to avoid difficult sections, or give this book to a trusted friend, and let them comb through it for the details you need to build your character while skipping past the traumatic entries.
Creators
Dale Critchley (Owner, Wyrmworks Publishing) Primary author of Limitless Heroics, Dale Critchley is the owner, lead writer, and chief tea drinker at Wyrmworks Publishing. He’s been playing tabletop role-playing games since 1982 and launched Wyrmworks Publishing as a hobby in 2000 to share his homebrew resources with the world. In 2021, after seeing the power that a TTRPG group can have to change the lives of the participants for the better, he rededicated Wyrmworks Publishing to focus on using TTRPGs to intentionally improve the lives of others and turned a hobby into a full time pursuit.
Beth the Bard, Layout Editor is the author of “She is the Ancient: A Genderbent Curse of Strahd” guidebook, now a Platinum best-seller on DMs Guild. She’s also a general TTRPG writer, graphic designer, and professional dungeon master.
Joie Martin, Cover Layout & Layout Contributor owns Drowning Moon Studios, a roleplaying game publisher that has produced over a dozen titles and two anthologies since being founded in 2017. They have been writing, developing, editing, and doing layout and graphic design for tabletop and live action roleplaying games since 1996. Beyond roleplaying games, Joie has produced content for a variety of markets, including ARGs, interactive theater, and immersive experiences. They have been a key speaker on panels about roleplaying game design at events such as DragonCon, MomoCon, and Metatopia, and was Head Judge for the 2020 IDGN Indie Groundbreaker Awards.
Naomi Hazlett: Copy Editor, Sensitivity ConsultantNaomi Hazlett, Bsc., MScOT, OT Reg. (Ont.) is a writer, editor, and occupational therapist with chronic pain. She is neurodiverse, queer, and lives with chronic pain and mental illness. Her work has most recently focused on social accountability, diversity, and inclusion in occupational therapy and gaming, including the adoption of a critical disability lens. Naomi has played and run TTRPGs for over 20 years; she has worked with organizations including Level Up Gaming, BALANCE for Blind Adults, and LOFT Community Services to run accessible TTRPGs, and consults for D&D Beyond. Naomi has multiple publications in academic journals, magazines, blogs, and poetry collections, and is currently the Managing Editor of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists’ national magazine, Occupational Therapy Now. She can be found online at @naomi_hazlett or can be reached via email.
Melissa Critchley, Sensitivity Consultant, lives with multiple disabilities. She has worked in the disability field for over 15 years and holds a graduate level certificate in Disability Policy and Services from the University of Minnesota in addition to her interdisciplinary master’s degree. She also recently completed an advanced certificate in Equity and Diversity and is an advocate for social justice and equitable societal change.Melissa has played quite a few tabletop RPG games through the decades which include Shadowrun, BESM, D20 Modern, Mutants and Masterminds, and Star Wars. However until we were confined to our homes during Covid quarantines, Melissa hated D&D. A good friend invited her to play over Discord, and despite her objections, convinced her that she “never had him as a DM.” It didn’t take long before she changed her mind about D&D, and it’s now her favorite game.
Simone Arnold, Sensitivity Consultant, Character Creation TeamSimone Arnold MA, Certified Geek Therapist, is a neurodivergent, queer clinical mental health counselor in the state of Vermont. They have been working in the mental health field since 2013 across a variety of settings including as a crisis clinician and currently as a counselor at a designated agency. Through this they’ve had the opportunity to work with people across the disability spectrum. They are also establishing their own private practice that is queer friendly with a special focus on ADHD and Autism. Simone has been gaming since 2012 and has had the opportunity to play across an array of systems including D&D 5e, Pathfinder, Dread, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Call of Cthulhu and more.
Matthew Rickmon, Sensitivity Consultant, Character Creation Team, Certified Therapeutic Game Master, owns Tabletop For Growth (IG, Twitter), a business dedicated to helping people learn interpersonal skills and develop core values through interactive tabletop games. Matthew has a Bachelor of Science in psychology and a Master of Divinity with a focus in pastoral counseling. He is a Certified Therapeutic Game Master and Certified Geek Specialist through Geek Therapeutics. He lives with multiple chronic illnesses: Crohn’s Disease, Irritable Bowel, and Psoriasis. He also strongly suspects he is neurodivergent. Matthew has been writing stories and running in-person and live-streamed tabletop roleplaying games from his home in California since 2019. Beyond running roleplaying games, he maintains a strong partnership with The Erika Legacy Foundation, a mental health awareness and suicide prevention non-profit in Canada. Painting and writing tend to take up his free time when he’s not being yelled at by his cat, Mr. Fox, for more pets.
Theo Kogod is a genderfluid writer, editor, educator, and activist. Diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, Theo learned to read at the age of ten, then attempted writing their first novel a year later. They have written for numerous publications, including the websites CBR, Screen Rant, The Gamer, and The Comics Vault, as well as the podcast Enter the Fanboy. In 2014, Theo helped found the magazine 3 Feet Left as its Resident Writer. Their fiction has been published in Diabolical Plots, Starward Shadows, and the cli-fi anthology A Flash of Silver Green: Stories of the Nature of Cities 2099, among other places. They are a lifelong storyteller and nerd who has been running D&D and other tabletop RPGs for over 15 years. You can find them at @TKogod.
Amy Weisner is a second year occupational therapy student at the University of Toronto. She has been playing TTRPGs for the past five years, including D&D 5e, Call of Cthulhu, and most recently the Avatar TTRPG. She has a degree in Child and Youth Care, and has worked in many settings and roles including community outreach and within the school systems. Through her experience, she has worked with individuals from all walks of life, including people from across the spectrum of disability and mental health. Amy is a passionate advocate, with experience presenting on social justice issues and advocating for clients. She has most recently begun a fieldwork placement with OT Naomi Hazlett at Level Up Gaming, assisting with running therapeutic TTRPGs for neurodiverse young adults and working on projects to make TTRPGs more accessible.
Artists
We intentionally assembled an eclectic team of artists to reflect the diversity of experiences and expressions of these conditions:
Kalman Andrasofszky (Insta) is a freelance illustrator, comic book artist, writer, and educator in Toronto, a longtime member of the R.A.I.D. Studio, and newly diagnosed with ADHD. In 20+ years as a creative professional, Kalman has worked with many clients such as Marvel Entertainment, DC Comics, Wizards of the Coast, Shaftesbury Films, UNESCO, Portfolio Entertainment, and TekSavvy, among others, creating content for such brands as X-Men, Avengers, Batman, Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons, Murdoch Mysteries, and PG: Psycho Goreman. Kalman reinvigorated the classic Canadian superhero property Captain Canuck by both rebooting and adding many new concepts and characters to significantly expand the scope of the brand into a dynamic sci-fi shared universe. When not writing and drawing too many things at once, Kalman can be found retro-gaming on his vintage SEGA Genesis system.
In addition to our primary sensitivity consultants, we discussed traits and game mechanics with hundreds of others as part of the research for this book to reflect their lived experiences as closely as possible. That list is too long to include here, but many of their names are included in the book’s credits, and we can’t express enough how grateful we are for their help.
Press
We appreciate all who have helped us get the word out about this project on podcasts and in the press.
