Hi everyone.
I'm going to ignore the little voice in my head that keeps whispering "You don't belong here" and introduce myself.
I'm a marketing manager at a big toy company. (Yes, you've heard of it. No, I'm not gonna name it.) I'm a fairly creative person, with a background in writing/editing/publishing, various music project under my belt, a passion for comics, and more recently, TTRPG.
About three years ago, I started thinking about designing a role-playing game. I don't remember exactly why that idea came to me, but I think I was mostly interested in two things: world building and using semi-random systems to tell stories. I hadn't played any role playing game since high school, but I figured the best way to tackle such a project was to first study a really solid example. So on a whim, I ordered the three core rulebooks of D&D 5th edition.
At first, I wasn't even sure I'd be playing. I mostly just wanted to study it and understand it, so that I could then start working on my own system. But once I went down that rabbit hole, it quickly turned into an obsession. Before I knew it, I was watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, joining Discord servers, trying to convince all my friends to play with me, looking for groups online, etc.
For a while, it seemed like my idea of creating my own system was silly. D&D is such a solid and flexible system that I didn't see the need to create my own anymore. I started DMing a campaign (still going after 2 years) and was happy to just play within that sandbox for a while.
But as I got more into the TTRPG community online (and especially on Twitter), I kept hearing about all kinds of super-interesting little indie games with ultra-specific themes and settings. Games without combat. Games about grief. Games about small but meaningful interactions between people. Games designed to take you out of your comfort zone. Games meant to be relaxing and therapeutic.
So now I'm back to thinking about what I have to contribute to all this. I still play D&D and I still love it. But I want to do more.
I'm working on my first game. It's a single-player game about petting your cat. I don't know if it's going to be any good, but I'm excited about some of my ideas. I can't wait to share it with people and get some feedback.
I'm sorry this is so long.
TL;DR - I'm Yan. I'm designing my first game. I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm learning. Nice to meet you.
PS: If you want to follow me on Twitter: @queerdnd