I’ve gone from a couple things at PAX West this fall to a whole lot at PAX Unplugged coming up in December.

So far my schedule is as follows:

X-Cards, Lines and Veils; What’s in a Safety tool? Friday December 10th, 4pm EST Crab God Theatre

With live streamed games becoming more prevalent, and even more people getting into the hobby; safety tools are a must have at the table. Let’s discuss what they are, why they are important and what to do when tools aren’t used or how to handle a situation where they were needed but a player or GM may not have known how to incorporate them without bringing the session to a halt. Note: a lot of the discussion will be on streamed games but these tips can be applied for home games as well.

Tanya DePass [M], Noir Enigma, Brian Gray, Dr. B, & Lauren Urban

Rivals of Waterdeep – LIVE! Friday December 10th, 8:30pm EST Main Stage

The longest running, all POC Actual Play D&D 5e show wraps its eleventh season the same weekend as PAX Unplugged! Come and celebrate this milestone with co-DM’s DMJazzyHands & urbanbohemian leading our crew, cypheroftyr, LaTiaJacquise, Mahrudeboi & Shareef Jackson down unknown roads.

Brian Gray [Co-DM], Eugenio Vargas [Co-DM], Tanya DePass, Masood Haque, Shareef Jackson, LaTia Jacquise

Wrong Answers Only: Bad Advice From Great GMs Saturday, December 11th, 11:30am EST Mothman Theatre

We all sometimes have questions about how to run TTRPGs. Do you need help resolving player conflict? Is there a rule that confuses you? Maybe there’s some story advice you need in creating a satisfying hook? Do you desperately need earnest, helpful advice from experienced GMs? Great! This isn’t that kind of panel. At all. Our delightful and fantastical panel of professional tabletop creators and authors will to their best to confabulate, prevaricate, and befuddle community questions about TTRPGs. This is terrible advice from amazing GMs. Will you leave wiser? Probably not. Will you laugh? We hope so!

Dr. B [M], LaTia Jacquise, Gabe Hicks, Tanya DePass, Joshua Mendenhall, Jasmine Bhullar

Decolonizing RPG Design Saturday December 11th, 4:30 pm EST Leviathan Theatre

TTRPG’s have a history of colonization, racism and racial exceptionalism at the core of their world building and design. In the last few years, designers have been working to remove those deeply rooted biases and issues at the core of the games we play and those they are building. Join designers for a frank discussion on how to continue to dismantle the colonialism inherent in the games we love.

Tanya DePass [M], Joshua Mendenhall, Amir “Prince” Hamza, Khaldoun Khelil, Brian Cortijo, BananaChan

Analog roleplaying games provide fantastic opportunities for players to explore how their characters present gendeconduct relationships, and –yes even have sexual encounters. 

However, delving into sex in a tabletop game can get complicated quickly. So how do you create a safe, affirming, consensual, and sexpositive experience for players? When everyone’s desires are different, how do we collaborate to build a sex inclusive narrative? Join GaymerX and Friends as our panel of TTRPG writers, GMs, and gaming professionals take a close look at how we do (or don’t!) discuss sex in analog games.

Katie Kaitchuck, Brian Kunde, Sharang Biswas, Tanya DePass, Richard Ruane, Katherine Cross

Panelists for Kickstarting your TTRPG!

Kickstarting your TTRPG – Getting under the Hood

Sunday, December 12th, 12pm EST Leviathan Theatre

Everyone likes to say just “kickstart your idea!” when you mention a half formed game idea within 50 feet of anyone who might like what you do. What a lot of people don’t realize, kickstarting a project is a lot of work; especially for making a TTRPG.

Tanya DePass (she/her) , HTTPaladin (he/they), Justus Huges (he/him) , Banana Chan (she/they) , Markeia McCarty (she/they)

Role for Success: Create Characters to Level Up in Real  Life Sunday, December 12th, 4:30pm EST Leviathan Theatre

Sure, there’s lots of cool characters we can create for TTRPGs. But what if you could play a character that makes you even better in real life? Tried on a different sexuality? Gender? Personality trait? Belief system? – leveling up your charisma may be easier than you thought. A Take This curated panel of experts will talk shop on how to build a character to improve our understanding of ourselves in the game and beyond.

Sarah Hays [M], Eugenio Vargas, Lauren Urban, Tanya DePass, Brian Kunde, LaTia Jacquise

Published by cypheroftyr

Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a non-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers attend the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make it better and more inclusive for everyone. She founded and was the EIC of Fresh Out of Tokens podcast where games culture was discussed and viewed through a lense of feminism, intersectionality and diversity. Now she’s a co-host on Spawn on Me Podcast. Along with all of that, she’s the Programming Coordinator for OrcaCon, she often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at multiple conventions throughout the year. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications.