While sitting on my couch lost in time and thought during the lockdown of 2020, I dreamed of creating a place that could bring people back together in an attempt to repair our social fabric and alleviate the pain of isolation. I missed playing games and knew others did too. I am not a game master, but knew my other talents and love of hosting parties could help facilitate bringing entertaining games to new friends. As researchers like Brenee Brown and Stuart Brown have shown, creativity and play are not just for kids, they are vital for adults too! Role playing games have a structure that is malleable and thus facilitates imaginative play, in turn, leading to social bonding, laughter, and a respite from stress.
Life has gotten hard for many of us, and I want to bring some relief through playful co-creation. Escape with me to a world of wonder, guided by your imagination as we re-ignite curiosity!
Owen Hardisty
Owen is a lifelong lover of fantasy and storytelling. He has been playing Dungeons and Dragons since 2016 and joined his current home game in 2018. Shortly after starting his first home game Owen began running one-shots at special events in Santa Rosa, which is where he first met Jessica when she and her husband came to play for their first time.
Owen is also an actor in local theater in Sonoma and Napa. A former swim coach and PE teacher, he enjoys local music, open water swimming and singing karaoke. He would like to thank his wife Robin for all the support while he draws battle maps on the living room floor and decorate the window sills with minis of giants and wizards.
Ali Ferron
Ali has been playing D&D for about 8 years now as both a player and as a DM at almost all levels of play, from super roleplay focused low level play, to difficult combat encounters designed to kill the party.
Ali likes to keep things 'realistic', which may sound inherently odd for a fantasy RPG, but what he means is, if the raging barbarian with a +4 Strength modifier couldn't knock the door down (with an average/bad roll), the -1 Strength wizard shouldn't be able to either, even with a good roll. However he does highly enjoy and encourage players to find creative ways to explain how they might have been able to achieve things. Perhaps the wizard says that they used their strength to pull the door instead of push it. Sounds reasonable, let's roll with it! In Ali's opinion, "RolePlaying can and should spill over to combat too. I'd say a 50/50 split is perfect balancing RP with combat for longer campaigns."
Ali also loves to create art for his campaigns and has many drawings including character art, monsters, battlemaps, dungeon layouts, puzzles and more.
Erick Redcloud
Erick has played Dungeons & Dragons for almost 25 years now, and has been a DM for conventions, Adventure League, and local events, including the same one Jessica and Owen met at. Erick enjoys helping people learn and understand Dungeons & Dragons for the first time, and for the advanced players, he offers challenging, intriguing and memorable stories.
Erick has traveled the world as a photographer connecting with people and telling their stories. He looks forward to telling a great story with you!