Shawn

One was some articles for Dungeon and Dragon Magazine, which they had moved to digital. One was for a book called Dungeon Delve, which was the short sort of three encounter mini adventures that they put a book out of level one through 30. So I wrote like seven or eight of those.

One was some articles for Dungeon and Dragon Magazine, which they had moved to digital. One was for a book called Dungeon Delve, which was the short sort of three encounter mini adventures that they put a book out of level one through 30. So I wrote like seven or eight of those.

And then Rob Schwalb dropped out of an adventure writing project in their adventure path, so they asked me to fill in for him. So I got to see four different projects with four different directors at Wizards. Wow. with four different sort of formats, organized play, short-term articles or adventures, these mini adventures, and then a longer adventure. Wow.

And then Rob Schwalb dropped out of an adventure writing project in their adventure path, so they asked me to fill in for him. So I got to see four different projects with four different directors at Wizards. Wow. with four different sort of formats, organized play, short-term articles or adventures, these mini adventures, and then a longer adventure. Wow.

All while they were still sort of putting the rules together or getting their feet on the ground. And it taught me so much to be in that position, to see, to learn lessons from different people. But it also grounded me in the fact that Wizards of the Coast is like any organization.

All while they were still sort of putting the rules together or getting their feet on the ground. And it taught me so much to be in that position, to see, to learn lessons from different people. But it also grounded me in the fact that Wizards of the Coast is like any organization.

disorganized yeah yeah uh and and so it it grounded me when you first come especially back then when there isn't a lot of social media a lot of interaction you're like think these people are just right demigods right right you think they're perfect right just they're they're there they know their shit sorry uh they know their stuff

disorganized yeah yeah uh and and so it it grounded me when you first come especially back then when there isn't a lot of social media a lot of interaction you're like think these people are just right demigods right right you think they're perfect right just they're they're there they know their shit sorry uh they know their stuff

uh they you think they've got it all together and then you realize that they're just like you right they have more experience they have more skill in some cases but they're they're just and so that helped me in that area but also then as social media became more prominent and the anti-wizards of the coast sentiments became magnified by the echo chamber, I also realized that they're not evil.

uh they you think they've got it all together and then you realize that they're just like you right they have more experience they have more skill in some cases but they're they're just and so that helped me in that area but also then as social media became more prominent and the anti-wizards of the coast sentiments became magnified by the echo chamber, I also realized that they're not evil.

Corporations may be evil, but the people that populate it are just trying to do their jobs and they're generally fine folk. And that has been so important for me to keep my sanity. over the course of a 25-year career now. So important.

Corporations may be evil, but the people that populate it are just trying to do their jobs and they're generally fine folk. And that has been so important for me to keep my sanity. over the course of a 25-year career now. So important.

Yeah, and those times of transition are, multiply it by 100, the awkwardness of trying to put together something that's already not perfect to start with, And then all that changed. I worked on two D&D Encounters seasons. The first one was War of Everlasting Darkness, which was a bridge between fourth edition and D&D Next. They knew fourth edition was ending.

Yeah, and those times of transition are, multiply it by 100, the awkwardness of trying to put together something that's already not perfect to start with, And then all that changed. I worked on two D&D Encounters seasons. The first one was War of Everlasting Darkness, which was a bridge between fourth edition and D&D Next. They knew fourth edition was ending.

They hadn't announced it yet, but they knew it was going to end. So they wanted to sort of experiment with the D&D Encounters format, which was a very linear adventure.

They hadn't announced it yet, but they knew it was going to end. So they wanted to sort of experiment with the D&D Encounters format, which was a very linear adventure.

where you play one encounter that evening people level or not people gain stuff or not then the next week they come back and they play the next encounter this was play a chapter of a novel that could take place over months in one session Fourth edition had daily encounters, daily powers and counterpowers, at will powers. So we had to mess around with those.

where you play one encounter that evening people level or not people gain stuff or not then the next week they come back and they play the next encounter this was play a chapter of a novel that could take place over months in one session Fourth edition had daily encounters, daily powers and counterpowers, at will powers. So we had to mess around with those.

And, you know, it was as you would expect. Some people thought it was cool, but for the most part, people were like, why are you breaking something I love? Then the next season, they already moved into D&D Next. They had already released the first version of those rules. So now they wanted an encounter season that could be playable for 4th edition or D&D Next.

And, you know, it was as you would expect. Some people thought it was cool, but for the most part, people were like, why are you breaking something I love? Then the next season, they already moved into D&D Next. They had already released the first version of those rules. So now they wanted an encounter season that could be playable for 4th edition or D&D Next.