Best Practices for US-based TTRPG Freelancers

Join panelists Misha B, Jenn Martin, Karen Twelves, and moderator James Mendez Hodes to hear their advice on working as a freelancer in the games industry. Collectively they've worked as editors, proofreaders, cultural consultants, project managers, writers, publishers. They'll share some of their best practices both for doing the work and thriving within the industry.

• In the yawning gulf between words, truth and meaning lurk, mercurial and ineffable. Who are we? What are we meant to do? Are orcs racist? James Mendez Hodes (he/him) has devoted his life to answering pretty much just the third question. After graduating Swarthmore College with a Religion major and Dance and English Literature minors, Mendez failed to learn from his mistakes and got a master's degree from St John's Graduate Institute in Eastern Classics. A career in game writing and design was thus his only recourse, focusing on such topics as martial arts, hip hop, samurai betrayal, and capturing the Avatar to regain one's honor. He's also a pioneering cultural consultant who's worked on properties like Magic: the Gathering, Frosthaven, and Jackbox Games. He desperately wants to fight each and every one of you, either unarmed or with weapons, up to you. Find him on Twitter @LulaVampiro and on the Internet at jamesmendezhodes.com.


• Jenn Martin (she/her) is a maker, writer, game designer, and project manager living outside of Chicago, IL. She keeps her feet on the ground as Production Manager for Bully Pulpit Games— with fair play and a square deal. She keeps her heart on her sleeve as the Larp Coordinator for Big Bad Con—where safety and care are central values. She keeps her eyes to the stars making games about space, curiosity and exploration. Her games include The Goose of Grillner Grove, Reunion (co-designed) and the forthcoming Beneath Violet Waves (Games that Bind Us) and Folly & Fortune (Fiasco playset).


• Karen Twelves is an editor and linguist, and has had the pleasure of working on such projects as Blades in the Dark, Fiasco, Dialect, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians. She is currently writing the second edition of Improv for Gamers, a collection of theater exercises to help strengthen skills for gaming, GMing, and larping. She loves playing one-shot narrative games with triumphant wins and disastrous fails, and will tell you all about her Duelist character from a truly epic Pathfinder "Kingmaker" campaign. Learn more about her at karentwelves.com and improvforgamers.com!


• Misha Bushyager is a longtime gamer and designer working on making sure the next generation of geeks sees themselves represented. She's one of the founders of New Agenda Publishing and a founding curator for More Seats at the Table, a newsletter highlighting gender-marginalized designers. She worked on Orun, #Feminism, Fate of Cthulhu, Lovecraftesque, Misspent Youth: Sell Out With Me, Masks: Unbound, and the as yet unpublished larp Nightingales. She's a panelist, writer, editor, and sensitivity editor for tabletop RPGs and larps. You can find her on Twitter as BGGameworks or on her website blackgirlgameworks.com.