Who are we?

So… who the gosh darn heck are we?

Let’s start with a brief rundown of the of quirky band of wily scamps that works behind the scenes here at Storytellers Forge.

RICK HEINZ

Co-Founder

Rick has been a working professional across multiple facets of the TTRPG industry for well over a decade. His professional GM credentials span over 50 different gaming systems. When not writing TTRPG campaigns such as The Red Opera, The Crow: Prayers of the Past, Sirens: Battle of the Bards, or this studio’s upcoming The Black Ballad, Rick devotes his creative energies to working on his ongoing dystopian, urban fantasy novel series: The Seventh Age.

PATRICK EDWARDS

Co-Founder

Pat cut his teeth in the TTRPG publishing world when he co-wrote The Red Opera with Rick and quickly found a new professional passion. Since then, he has written for a number of upcoming TTRPG publications, including the Songs of Chaos RPG adaptation by Wider Path Games. Between TTRPG projects, Pat continues working on his ongoing sci-fi comedy novel series, Space Tripping, co-hosts the Let’s Rewatch & Bounty Buddies podcasts, and regularly performs in various actual play live stream shows.

COURTENEY PENNEY

Co-Founder

All hail the goddess of The Edit: Courteney Penney, without whom Rick and Pat’s so-called “writing” would appear as little more than the incomprehensible cave scribblings of a pair of illiterate Neanderthals. In all seriousness, Court is one of ST Forge’s secret weapons. There is no shortage of people in this industry who want to turn their grand ideas into written text. However, the number of people out there who possess the ability to polish that initial text into something actually worthwhile is few and far between.

JARON JOHNSON

Production Manager

Without technical support, knowing how to even run a discord, website help, and a wealth of industry connections - we would be dead in the water. Jaron is a maven in multiple aspects. Writer, Social, Printing, Invention, Tech Support, and Milo Cosplayer all wrapped up in one wonderful bundle. You’ll hear more about something he’s working on soon, but if you like Eldritch Horror… they are Dreaming of Cthulu.

OLLIE KIPP

Media Manager

Ollie is a media/marketing consultant, editor, and writer, specializing in speculative fiction. At Storytellers Forge, Ollie is writing copy, creating our social media footprint, and being involved with the earliest dev edits on The Black Ballad. You’ll find them on Tiktok and behind the scenes of our social media accounts. Like a brave champion standing on the edge of the internet abyss - Ollie is the front line of our socials.

JAMES MOSINGO

Art Director

James Mosingo is a queer art director, illustrator, and designer. He was the art director of Shadowrun, worked on several cartoons for Fox animation, was a concept artist on numerous video games such as Spec Ops: The Line and Borderlands 2, and has also illustrated for a plethora of TTRPGs and board games.

DRAKE MEFESTTA

Graphic Designer / “The Inspiration”

Drake is a visual artist, singer, and performer. As the singer, songwriter, and frontman for the band DiAmorte, it is safe to say the Storytellers Forge would not exist without Drake Mefestta. DiAmorte’s gothic orchestral metal album, The Red Opera, provided the original inspiration for the epic TTRPG campaign saga of the same name. The Storytellers Forge team is excited to adapt DiAmorte’s next installment in The Black Ballad.

JOHN MAXWELL

Community Manager

John, a.k.a. “Mr. Biscuits,” is the main cat wrangler, some might call him a moderator, of the Storytellers Forge Discord community and streams regular actual play games on Twitch using The Red Opera as a jumping-off point. John is also a creator of original 5e content, concocting a plethora of cursed items and other materials to facilitate “good times and roleplay fodder.” When reached for comment, John stated: “I couldn't be happier to be attached to such a great group of people.”

Disclaimer: We in no way, shape, or form coerced this statement from John. We swear.

If you have questions about past projects, feel free to email us at Info@storytellersforge.com

If you are feeling REALLY social: You can Join Our Discord!