Despite being involved in RPGs for almost 30 years he’s played very little as he is mostly the forever DM – but don’t worry, he loves it! As a DM Michael tends to be more story focused and has been known to fudge a die roll or two if it serves the greater story. He craves immersive role playing and dramatic character moments. Michael rarely does combat in his games, unless he does. And likely you’ll find a magic dagger at some point (and likely that’s it for magic items) and it’s best to never rule out time travel as the answer to the campaign’s central mystery. Besides RPGs, Michael is also growing into a Boardgame geek and is already a Movie Geek. And if you didn’t already know – he wants to be a writer. Michael is married to his high school sweetheart and has two minions that he hopes to bring up loving RPG’s as much as he does.

Tom Cantwell’s introduction to D&D is somewhat unique, as he is one of the “new consumers” who discovered the hobby through Fifth Edition. He had always been aware of D&D through years of playing board games and spending time at his local comic book shop, but it wasn’t until he saw the glorious green dragon on the D&D 5E Starter Set box that he realized it was meant to be. Since that moment, Tom has immersed himself in as much RPG-related material as possible, running games ranging from Everyone is John to AD&D.

Tom’s true passion has always been hospitality and making people feel welcome, and tabletop RPGs have proven to be the perfect outlet for this. Over time, he became an RPG community organizer in Cincinnati. He currently runs the monthly RPG One Shots with The RPG Academy at Woodburn Games in Cincinnati. His events focus on introducing new players to the hobby while providing opportunities for experienced players to try out new systems. When he isn’t playing RPGs, Tom can be found reading comics to his two young daughters, giving his dwarf cat pats on the head, or playing board games with his wife.

Brad Knipper has been gaming in one form or another starting with NES in the 1980s. His first exposure to table top RPGs was in his cousin’s basement playing AD&D. From there he dove into Palladium Fantasy, Shadowrun 3rd edition, and the 3.5 d20 universe.

Brad spends most of his RPG time behind the screen weaving stories from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. When not gaming, he spends his time with his lovely wife and two children. He enjoys camping, backpacking, and trying to make jerky out of new and interesting things.

Kalum started playing tabletop RPGs in the late 90s with Star Wars D6 and later Nephilim, Night Prowler, Legend of the Five Rings, and Vampire The Masquerade.

He is the producer and host of “The Rolistes Podcast,” the show of tabletop RPG fans across the Channel, the Pond, and beyond. He also hosts “The Rolistes Present…” streamed panels and live events. Additionally, he curates “The RPG Academy Film Studies.” He has launched several London-based live events including the monthly London Le Drinks & Dice, #PodcastZone, and #DnDMentalHealth.

You’ve heard Caleb’s voice on various podcasts over the years, both as a player and as a game master. When he’s co-host on the Academy, he disagrees with Michael on principle but ends up agreeing a lot of the time. He’s on record for fully supporting min/maxing, power gaming, and big entertaining heroic moments. Games focused on collaborative storytelling, escapism, and excitement are his favorite. Cyberpunk is his favorite genre. He flirts with writing and game development, but they can’t commit to a relationship.

He’s currently on sabbatical from the Academy to multi-class in Middle Management and take levels in the prestige class New Dad.

Scott has played paper-and-pencil RPGs off and on for nearly 20 years. He started in Palladium, of all systems, and moved on to GURPS, Marvel, and In Nomine before finally trying D&D 3rd edition. D&D has hosted his longest-running games, each lasting several years.

His favorite PC was in a group of new and soft-spoken players where he volunteered to play a mute character so he wouldn’t accidentally dominate the table; the result was a complex and compelling character in a three-year epic campaign. During his time with The RPG Academy, he has enjoyed exploring some of the shiny new systems in the current indie wave, most notably playing Tetabiakte Martín Maldonado de Jesús in a FAE Deadlands game.

Matthew Parody, the Improv Prof., was born on the 25th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood and the world has never been the same. In the years of the Roman Republic he was known as Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. In the present he is an aspiring actor who does a lot of free-form comedy.

He co-starred in the Long Island public access show Zam Zex and appeared in Reality Kills: The Burningmoore Incident. He holds an AA in Liberal Arts and a BA in History and is passionate about ancient history, mythology, paleontology, zoology, biology, genetics, evolution, sci-fi, fantasy, and gaming.

Matthew has performed with numerous improv troupes across Long Island and NYC and currently serves as the Artistic Director of IPA Comedy.

Rocky has been playing and dungeon mastering tabletop games since Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and now focuses primarily on Fifth Edition. Over the years he has also played Dresden Files, FATE, FAE, Pathfinder, Mouse Guard, and nearly every version of D&D.

He proudly credits his wife and two daughters as three natural 20s in life, though he suspects his wife might say he still plays too many games — or not enough depending on the week.

You can reach him on Twitter @LaffinJoker with questions or comments, and he hopes you enjoy his writing as much as he enjoys creating it.