Johnny O'Neal
@johnny0neal
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Brotherwise Games Co-Founder. Game Designer, Creative Director & Chief Cosmere Officer. Trying to make the world a more positive & joyful place through games.
Torrance, CA
Joined April 2011
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WotC's move to end
#OpenDnD
has created an uproar among fans, and a lot of people are blaming the corporate suits at Hasbro. Here are some thoughts from a former corporate suit, and how I'd try to use business arguments to convince other execs not to "de-authorize" the OGL. 1/🧵
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Over the course of 2023, I'll be commissioning 200+ illustrations for
#TheStormlightArchive
RPG, and I currently have a shortage of landscape artists!
My DMs are open, so please message me if you're a pro landscape/cityscape artist interested in working on the
#StormlightRPG
!
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Today, for no reason in particular, I’d like to share an insider’s perspective on how Brandon Sanderson is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met, and how much I enjoy the quality of his writing. 1/🧵
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My 6-year-old said he wanted to eat the Car Mouth cake from
#KribyAndTheForgottenLand
, so my 12-year-old helped him make it with fresh-baked cake, buttercream and fondant. I think they nailed it!
#cakedecorating
@KirbyInformer
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Today at Gen Con a kid was having a meltdown and a guy near me shouted “punch him!” A bunch of people laughed.
Encouraged, the guy added, “My kid would never do that because he knew if he had, I’d have fucked him up as soon as we got home.”
No laughs that time. He kept going…
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@ithayla
I grew up with this book and read it to all three of my kids. I think part of what makes it work is how the illustrations are memorable and matter-of-fact but not even remotely titillating or glorified. As a kid reading it I was like, 🤷🏻♂️ “that seems nice for them.”
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It was a long road to get here, but I couldn’t be happier with the Stormlight miniatures. ☺️ Update coming tomorrow!
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So that's what I'd say to a room of Hasbro execs ready to sacrifice the dream of D&D for short-term dollars. But I didn't take that job at Hasbro, so instead I'll do my own thing: being one of those plucky optimists who will now be playing against D&D rather than with it. 11/11
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Hasbro attacking the
#OGL
is like if MLB tried to put Minor League Baseball out of business ...*and* Farm Leagues *and* Little League. Because at its heart, the OGL is about the dream in the heart of every DM: the idea that maybe someday you could make it to the big leagues. 6/🧵
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Do I expect
#OGL
1.1 to kill the D&D brand? No, and I'd personally hate to see that happen. But I do think it's lousy strategy. It's also bad ethics, a move that will destroy the livelihoods of people who used to be D&D's biggest boosters. And bad ethics is bad business. 10/🧵
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I'd like to share a rant about the gaming industry, and I know this won't reach many people, but all week I've had this sense of swirling dread and frustration and today really pushed things over the edge for me. This rant is about the two types of people drawn to gaming... 1/12
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The
#OGL
incentivized 3PPs (third party publishers) to create great support content for D&D. Those publishers also served as a training ground for writers and designers. "It's not like having competitors," I'd tell my fellow suits. "It's like having a minor league." 5/🧵
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I'd start by pointing out what's obvious to fans: that making D&D "open source" took it from around 50% market share in the year 2000 to 85% in 2022. In a highly fragmented market, the
#OGL
incentivized potential competitors to play *with* D&D rather than against Wizards. 3/🧵
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Under the new closed license, a creator working on
#DnD
content can no longer dream of becoming the next
@MatthewMercer
or
@MattColville
. There's no more pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. So instead, anyone with that kind of creativity will be doing their *own* thing. 7/🧵
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Hi! I'm the Creative Director at
@bwisegames
, and we're working on a bunch of awesome games right now. A lot of our current subjects involve Black and Asian characters, so we'd love to hear from more Black and Asian artists. Tag your favorite artists (or yourself) in this thread!
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But I don't know of a hobby filled with more creative people than
#TTRPGs
. People who will create out of love for gaming. New systems (maybe even an existing system just waiting to break through) will come to the fore, and the OGL 1.1 will create D&D's next real competitor. 9/🧵
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Anyway, that guy shut up, even though nobody punched him. So, point made.
(BTW, anybody ever wants to talk about parenting? I’m down. It’s a topic I care a lot about, it’s very hard, and there’s no one right way to do it. But doing it well does *not* involve hitting your kids.)
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Sadly, most new D&D competitors will fail. In the short-term, OGL 1.1 will drive sales of new sourcebooks by crushing the new edition's biggest competitor: D&D 5e. We'll see a dozen new fantasy RPG systems from 3PPs, and most will crash and burn in a fragmented market. 8/🧵
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And to be clear, I never worked at Hasbro. But I did work for three of their key competitors: Mattel, Spin Master, and Moose Toys. In fact, my last big career choice was whether to become the President of
@bwisegames
or pursue a VP-level position at Hasbro. 2/🧵
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“I guess that’s what you get with today’s gentle parenting.”
Then he was done. But I wasn’t. I spoke up to the same people this guy was treating as his audience. “That hasn’t been my experience. If one of my kids acted that way, it was always because I put them in a situation.”
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“When kids are having that hard of a time, it’s because the adults in their life pushed them past their limits. And we all do it sometimes, but you don’t blame the kid for getting overwhelmed at the packed convention you dragged them to. Also…”
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Just watched Galaxy Quest again and I'm always amazed by how much I adore this movie. As a big believer in "fake it till you make it," there's no storytelling trope I love more than "people become who they pretend to be." Is there a better example of that trope than Galaxy Quest?
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Board game industry: in 2022, let's make a resolution to look at this data and make things better. Not just talk, but actual investment and action.
Because you can look at this data a lot of ways: as a cultural problem, a marketing problem, and a business opportunity. 1/4
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The
#OpenDnD
controversy explained:
You can’t copyright game mechanics, but for 22 years Hasbro said, “if you include the OGL in your vaguely D&D-ish game, we won’t sue you.” Now Hasbro’s telling all those people, “just kidding, oh and now you don’t actually own your game.”
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“I have three sons and was the hardest on the oldest one, and I can tell you that going easier on them is much better.”
Now I can think of better things I could have said, that being “gentler” takes *more* strength, but it wasn’t bad for a random confrontation with a stranger.
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One of my favorite
#Cosmere
scenes is early in
#TheFinalEmpire
, when Kelsier breaks down the steps to take down the Lord Ruler. It's an overwhelming task, but he has a plan ...and the perfect team to carry it out.
That's exactly how I feel about the
#StormlightRPG
right now. 😊
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Don't look the other way. Don't make excuses. Lead by example. Don't think "there are awful guys out there, but I'm not one of them." Be actively anti-awful. It's the least you can do for a hobby and a community that has brought us so much happiness. 12/12
Thanks for reading. 🫂
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This is a photo of 25 students interested in
#boardgames
as a career, and the industry pros who spent the weekend designing games and sharing experiences with them. This was the first Learning Event, and I want to tell you how incredibly cool it was. 1/🧵
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Internet friends, help me out. My 12-year-old got this
#DemonSlayer
-inspired hoodie for Christmas and absolutely loved it. He wore it for months, but recently stopped because a couple of other middle schoolers said it was “ugly.” Comment or like if you disagree with those kids.
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A few people have pointed out that this Stormlight Character (compiled with miniature painters in mind) is also an invaluable resource for fan artists!
Here’s the PDF:
If anyone makes art using this as reference, please let me know! I’d love to see it.
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I couldn't be more proud of the
#StormlightRPG
design team, including the three leads we've announced! The full 15-person team is a diverse and talented group, from seasoned pros to rising stars. But we all share a commitment to making this the highest-quality new TTRPG of 2024.
Stormlight Archive RPG's lead design team includes D&D, Star Wars RPG and Descent board game credits
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Sometimes it’s hard to believe that this is what I get to do for a living. My nerdy 13-year-old self would be so proud.
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Final thought: that there are people in the middle, socially awkward guys who might have good intentions but some bad ideas. Fellow white dudes, please speak up when you see these guys, and help them be better. Call out "small" infractions you might be tempted to ignore. 11/12
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Today I was very proud to announce the amazing team behind the
#StormlightRPG
! To build this team,
@bwisegames
reached out to people who designed our favorite games, people with a commitment to balancing narrative focus with mechanical depth, and people who love this setting!
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Not in the mood to read another rambling post about Brandon? Then let's cut straight to a quote that really gets to the heart of who he is: "I believe that books are empathy machines." Brandon's real genius as a writer is his ability to put himself in other people's shoes. 2/🧵
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Because at the end of the day, Brandon Sanderson isn’t our "god." He’s just… us. A geek made good. Brilliant in a deeply nerdy way, fascinated with possibilities, with empathy honed by a love of storytelling. Is that so hard to get? 16/🧵
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This industry will not grow and thrive if it caters to that type of gamer. But that's okay, because I think they're outnumbered by the rest of us, the joyful inclusive geeks... and all the women and people of color who haven't yet felt welcome to take a seat at the table. 9/12
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This morning my 6-yr-old came up to me and said, “I want to make a board game with you!” I couldn’t resist that. The result was a pretty fun little Christmas-themed bag-building worker placement game that he called “Santa’s Archive.” The meeples were elves in Santa’s workshop. ☺️
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Oh man, I hate to tease folks, but I'm so impressed with every one of the Cosmere games coming over the next 2-3 years.
The Mistborn deckbuilding game is down to final fine tuning, the RPG is at the editing stage, and the new game I just played today will blow people's minds. ❤️🔥
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See the people on this video? ALL of them are playing the
#StormlightRPG
at
#Dragonsteel2023
! We had over 100 players yesterday, and people came up to me all day to express what a great time they had with the system.
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Eleven years ago, I made two charts. One showed who I was at age 18, the other at age 30. Each circle in the charts represented a different role, pursuit, or aspect of my personality. The insight was obvious: who I had become was much narrower than who I had been. 1/🧵
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When I see these men, I understand and relate to the way they love the fantasy and sci-fi they grew up with. But I can't relate to being so infantile that you'd want to turn back the clock on decades of cultural progress just to make the world more like your own childhood. 8/12
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The more we call out the bad actors, the more we shut down the racists and sexists and predators and abusers, the better and safer this industry will be. We may be an open and inclusive community, but certain behavior simply can't be tolerated. 10/12
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The first type of gamer is defined by a sense of joy and playfulness, a desire to gather with friends around a table and create awesome shared experiences... even if it brands you as a bit of a nerd or an outsider. These people me love this community. 2/12
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First, Brandon is remarkably curious. As we chatted, he asked me hyper-detailed questions about action figure design and manufacturing. This is a guy who studies things like programming and fluid dynamics for fun. He finds the world, and everyone in it, worthy of inquiry. 6/🧵
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Brandon might be the only author in the world who has a full-time Continuity editor (Karen Ahlstrom) to manage the complexity of his worlds, and a full-time Creative VP (Isaac Stewart) to bring everything to life with gorgeous visuals. 9/🧵
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These men cry about "historical accuracy" when games try to be less racist, or whine about "woke culture" ruining games when women aren't depicted as sex objects. They've been fed a steady diet of anti-PC anti-woke outrage, and have lost all perspective. 7/12
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Instead of seeing themselves as part of a subculture of inclusive fun, these guys see themselves as victims, and blame the rest of the world. They see women and people of color joining their hobby, and think that means white men are somehow at risk of being pushed out. 6/12
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Today, during a meeting with
#StormlightRPG
Art Director
@artofKatiePayne
, I was like, "how lucky are we? How cool is it to work with all these amazing artists!" And Katie was like, "I know!"
These are just *some* of the artists on the Stormlight RPG team. It's gonna be so good.
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So I always thought there was something inherently progressive and inclusive about the geek community. But then came Gamergate, and an endless march of alt-right incel-adjacent losers who completely missed that point. 5/12
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@AtYourMercyBee
@whosbecks
@DaveStanley8
@DocLiza1
They’re children, not warriors. And the government didn’t create this hellscape, gun companies did by bribing their way out of regulations. In every other developed nation, countries which all have “bigger” government than ours, these tragedies are prevented by sensible gun laws.
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Someone could write a pretty great article about the people behind Brandon. In a suburb outside of Salt Lake City, these friendly and down-to-earth folks are doing the kind of IP development work usually only found at movie or video game studios. 8/🧵
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Brandon's contradictions make him interesting. He's highly confident but also very humble. (In a moment when he was feeling stressed, I've seen him genuinely disparage his own world-building, of all things.) He can be quite introverted, but he's delightful to watch onstage. 3/🧵
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If I sound like a fanboy, it’s because I am. I’ve been a fan of many things in my life: Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar (the good one), and D&D. The Cosmere pushes all my “geeky continuity” buttons, and I couldn’t recommend it more. Most importantly, it’s the best fandom I know. 14/🧵
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The other thing I learned at dinner was how he leads people. It wasn't just a small dinner; he brought the whole Dragonsteel team. It's a family business in every sense of the term, but also something more: a kingdom that Brandon is building with friends and loved ones. 7/🧵
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But there's another type of gamer. They're big kids, but not in an endearing way. We've all met the self-absorbed man-child who never learned social graces, or willfully choose to ignore them. And too often, we've tolerated their behavior. 3/12
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I met Brandon three years ago, after spending more than a year working on a board game based on The Stormlight Archive. I flew in on a Thursday night, hoping to see him for a short meeting the next day. He surprised me with a dinner at his favorite Indian restaurant. 4/🧵
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And they’ve all had to level up in crazy ways. Take Kara Stewart, who has gone from running a small online shop to managing every headache of a $42 million Kickstarter. Like the heroes in Brandon’s books, people at Dragonsteel set incredibly audacious goals & achieve them. 10/🧵
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Because gaming, and especially tabletop gaming, has always been a place for outsiders. When I was a nerdy kid who loved X-Men comics, I understood they were a metaphor for racism, but I also felt like they spoke to what it was like being a geek in the 80's and 90's. 4/12
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Brandon Sanderson’s “clear windowpane” style is the perfect counterpoint to his epic subject matter. When you’re following dozens of characters and exploring intricate magic systems, you want prose that carries you through the story. 12/🧵
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"I know you haven't heard much from me over email, but I've been watching this project very closely and I want you to know how grateful I am." He proceeded to spend the rest of the meal picking my brain about my years in the toy industry. I learned two things at that meal. 5/🧵
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As the
#Stormlight
collectibles Kickstarter has another great day, I'm doing an AMA for r/Stormlight_Archive! Come on over and ask me anything. I'll let you know what it's like to work for my favorite author on Stormlight figurines and tabletop games!
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Just to give you an idea of what a sweetheart my brother is, here’s something he posted today. Chris loves to give other people credit, but he’s the brains and heart of the
@bwisegames
. The reason Brotherwise exists — and always takes the next step — is because of him. ❤️
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Calling all 3D artists... We're making a new
#boardgame
set in the world of our million-selling
#BossMonster
series, and this one is a kart-racing game!
We're looking for 3D environment artists to create & compose textures & props. To apply, click here:
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Brandon is a master of pacing. He writes memorable characters and pithy lines that have stuck with me for years. He’s also a great teacher of writing. I’ve had the chance to sit in on his class at BYU, and it's fantastic. Professorial? He sure is! 13/🧵
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I’ve spent my career developing toys and games based on pop culture properties, often in roles that involve “community management,” and I’ve never met a fan base as kind, enthusiastic, clever, and all-around delightful as Sanderson’s. 15/🧵
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I’ve spent summers in Michigan for 30 years but I’ve never seen the Northern Lights so clearly. We all jumped up from the campfire and just looked at the lights, awestruck.
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Back to Brandon, let’s talk about writing. I spend a lot of time every year reading critically acclaimed “literary fiction.” I make sure to read the books that my high school English teacher (
@RonCharles
) tells me to read. I also love Brandon Sanderson’s writing. 11/🧵
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Me: Hey Jillian, this is a really busy month for the Stormlight RPG team, but I know you can handle anything marketing-related for Brotherwise. You donn’t need to send things to me for review or approval.
@meanpomelo
: No problem, get ready for some great content.
Box Farts are 100% important.
What would you rate these?!
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I have three sons, and all of them would like to be playing Zelda nonstop this weekend. To keep the peace, I literally have them playing in shifts. 😄
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I'm super excited for Gen Con this week, but I keep thinking about stories shared by people who have been harassed, belittled, or made to feel unsafe at game conventions. They often conclude, "I wish anyone else at the table had spoken up."
So what's the right thing to say? 1/🧵
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@Trekiros
In the toy industry, I often had to hide how much of a fanboy I was. There was a perception (sometimes justified) that super-fans can't be objective when managing a business. There was also a rule not to listen too hard to the geekiest, most vocal 5% of your customers...
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For 10 years, Boss Monster has reigned supreme as the ultimate retro-inspired dungeon-building card game. But now Super Boss Monster is coming!
We're working with great pixel artists, but need to recruit a few more! Tag your favorite pixel artist (or yourself!) in the comments.
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There are a lot of things I love about Gen Con, but one of my favorite things is that it’s the only place in the world where people ask for my autograph. Someone just apologized for asking me to sign 3 copies of Boss Monster and I’m like, “are you kidding? You just made my day!”
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The original OGL was a brilliant business decision because it took a highly fragmented hobby and made D&D the default language for a generation of RPG designers (including many of WotC’s best freelancers). Pulling the rug out from under those people is divisive and short-sighted.
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We all had a great time onstage at
#Dragonsteel2023
, but by far the best-dressed was Stormlight RPG Lead Writer Lydia Suen! She hand-made this Elsecaller cosplay to match her miniature design!
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Please join me in wishing a happy birthday to the wiser brother, the brains of the operation, the mastermind of
@bwisegames
, Chris O’Neal! He’s the best big brother anyone could ask for, and the reason we get to make awesome stuff for a living. Here’s to more adventures together!
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I’ve been working on Dragonsteel stuff for a while now, but it’s still pretty wild to be included in a State of the Sanderson. My inner fanboy is like 😮🥰🥳
This year's State of the Sanderson includes some new details about the Stormlight RPG! We'll be launching with...
🎲a core Handbook
🗺️a World Guide and art book
⚔️...and an Adventure!
Learn more here:
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To everyone who wrote encouraging things about my son’s hoodie yesterday, he appreciated it! I showed him the responses. He laughed and called it “cringe” but was smiling the whole time, and read every comment. He told me to say thank you. So, thanks!
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Our art team currently includes some of the greatest illustrators in the industry ...names you'll recognize from Magic: the Gathering, D&D, and Pathfinder. But with so many pieces to commission, we're also looking for pieces from less established artists. So if in doubt, DM me!
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Hey, this is a really random and specific request, but does anyone know someone who's great with
#Sculpey
or other
#polymerclay
creations?
I want to commission figurines of a couple of
#BossMonster
characters for an upcoming magazine cover. Please 🔄 if you have artist friends!
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Last week was simply awesome.
👑
#SuperBossMonster
launched on Kickstarter & exceeded our highest hopes.
✈️I flew to Utah for great meetings with
@BrandSanderson
& the Dragonsteel team.
🎲During my trip, I ran game nights for the
#StormlightRPG
&
#Mistborn
Deckbuilding Game!
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This started out as people feeling frustrated and hopeless, moved on to debate and brainstorming, and is now a 501c3 with a kick-ass board of advisors and a healthy amount of funding. Now we just need to finish our website so we can unveil the program. More details soon! 4/4
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Had a great time today playtesting with the
#StormlightRPG
team! Can't reveal *exactly* what we were doing, but I can say it was a blast.
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I really appreciate that our Mom and Dad have this little Brotherwise shrine in their living room. 😊
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Had a great time
#boardgaming
with new and old friends today. I played Ark Nova,
#EmpiresEnd
, La Boca, and
#CastlesByTheSea
. Chris played Dark Tower, Moonshell, and
#ReadySetBet
. It was a ton of fun, all thanks to host
@JohnDClair
!
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A month ago, my 7-year-old was pushing back whenever we asked him to read on his own. So I decided to make a game of it, and promised that if he read for 20 minutes a day for 4 weeks, he’d get a prize. Suddenly he was super eager to read every day. And his prize? More books!
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Game Pathways exists because these companies are investing in a more inclusive, diverse
#boardgame
community and we believe these students are the future of the industry. If this is a mission you want to support, visit to sponsor, donate, or learn more! 🧵
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This is really nice because after 8 years as a game designer, I still feel a lot of impostor syndrome.
#BossMonster
is popular, but was never a critical darling.
#CallToAdventure
isn’t a perfect game, either, but I’m proud of it, and I’m glad it has picked up a couple of awards!
We love the fact that we won a 2021 Tabletop Gaming Award for a game that came out in 2019. The "Still Playing This" award is all about staying power.
#CallToAdventure
has never been more popular, and we hope people will be building heroes and telling stories for years to come!
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My favorite fantasy writers are
@AaronEhasz
,
@PatrickRothfuss
, and
@BrandSanderson
. Is it because I'm drawn to nuanced characters, richly detailed worlds, and inventive magic systems? Or do I just really love stories about cool dudes with wind powers? 🤔
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I’ve commissioned hundreds of illustrations for board games, but this is the first time Beverly and I have commissioned an actual painting to hang in our home. By Michigan artist Judy Munro, it shows a view of the lake through beech trees. It arrived yesterday and we love it!
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I had such an awesome time seeing cool boardgame people at Gen Con! On the first day I was exhausted, but every day I felt more and more energized by the talent and energy of the
#boardgamecommunity
. Still feeling hyped up! 🌟
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Lately I’ve been thinking about the phrase “do what you love and the money will follow.” As a creative entrepreneur, I look like a poster boy for this saying. But I also think it builds unrealistic expectations, making creative people think you need a cool job to be happy. 1/🧵
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As someone who works remotely, it’s really nice to meet someone in person & realize they’re as cool as they seem online. This Gen Con was my first time meeting so many friends face-to-face, including
@meanpomelo
,
@Elle_FireSpray
,
@AJoyce_Rivera
,
@jamie_daggers
, &
@nosoulnoprob
.
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So *technically* it’s too early to post this, because
#OverbossDuel
is still a few months away… But I just got a factory prototype and dang this game is fun! I wasn’t sure if my 7-year-old could handle it, because it’s a bit more complex than the original, but he had a blast. 👑
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