Industry Guest

Jason Pitre

Jason Pitre in front of a bookshelf.

/*-->*/ /*-->*/ Jason Pitre (He/Him) is owner and primary employee of Genesis of Legend Publishing. He acts as a game designer, writer, editor, layout professional, and lover of coffee. Jason works as a bureaucrat and law nerd by day, working on games in the evenings. Jason is also the mind behind the RPG Design Panelcast which shares recorded panels and seminars about game design.

Jeff Fraser

Jeff Fraser standing in front of a book shelf of board games.

Jeff Fraser is a rules editor and game developer based in Ottawa, Ontario. He has edited rulebooks for over 100 published games, including Flamecraft, Divinity: Original Sin, and Castles of Mad King Ludwig, and he codesigned The Fox Experiment with Elizabeth Hargrave. As game editor at Allplay Games since 2024, he has worked on a wide array of fresh titles and revised classics, including Container and Sail Legacy (both coming in 2026).

Ric Heise

Ric Heise with his arms raised wearing a cloak.

Ric Heise is Mythworks' Chief People Person! Ric is the first point of contact for people interested in Mythworks. For Mythworks, Ric handles the Supporter Experience, Retail and Related Relationships, Connecting a Network of Creativity, and Your Curiosity. Ric is a contributing writer and designer for The Wildsea in addition to being Head of Playtesting. Ric is a Lyric Game Creator and Curator of Ephemeral Joys. Ric can be found on Mythworks' related Discords, or reached by emailing contact@myth.works. Ric would love to play a game with you, especially if you made it!

Dillin Apelyan

Dillin Apelyan wearing a red hoodie.

Dillin Apelyan (mirror pronouns) hosts the One Shot podcast, helms several popular productions including The Atomless, Dorkspawn, and Patchwork Productions, and has appeared on media giants like Dropout and Critical Role. Dillin has also designed several successful role-playing games like HUNT(er/ed) and Metalepsis, and uses every opportunity to share the sprawling world of RPGs.

Jonathan Lavallee

Jonathan Lavallee standing in front of a yellow background.

/*-->*/ /*-->*/ Jonathan has been working in and around games for the past twenty years. He began with line license for CyberGeneration and eventually published his own games. He’s published a few things for other people, but mostly focuses on his own content. He has just released the updated version of his latest game We Used To Be Friends (a collaborative teenage detective drama game), Behind You!

Colton Balske

A headshot of Colton Balske standing outside in front of trees.

Colton Balske is a Canadian Indie TTRPG writer and digital artist. He loves creating memorable experiences that roleplayers can share with their friends. He hopes these experiences will create meaningful face-to-face connections mixed with silliness and laughter. His debut game is Hell's High Rollers, where players are selfish devils at a casual poker game. You can play the game and several free one-page RPGs he wrote at contron.itch.io

David Van Drunen

David Van Drunen surrounded by colourful meeples.

/*-->*/ /*-->*/ David Van Drunen loves bringing people together with "fun", and for over a decade has been designing and developing games that connect people around exciting experiences. Beginning their career in video games, David transitioned to tabletop mixing the familiar with the unexpected to create games inspired by architecture, Luchadors, and family traditions.

Gwendolyn Marshall

Photo of Gwendolyn Marshall in front of a book shelf.

/*-->*/ /*-->*/ Gwendolyn Marshall is an independent author and game designer, working on products that challenge and supplement D&D, like her ENnie Winning best seller, Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e, and dozens of other titles. She also develops indie games using OSR and PbtA systems and principles, to explore queer identity, chosen family, and classic adventuring themes.

Joe Slack

Photo of Joe Slack standing in front of a bookshelf of board games.

Joe Slack is a board game designer, publisher, instructor, and the author of the #1 international best-selling book, The Board Game Designer's Guide, along with four other books on game design. He has taught Game Design and Development at Wilfrid Laurier University and runs the Board Game Design Course, an online course for new game designers. Joe has nine published games, including four successful Kickstarter campaigns.

Bill Benham

Head shot of Bill Benham standing in front of a bookshelf.

/*-->*/ /*-->*/ Bill Benham started playing Dungeons & Dragons as a kid and knew he would make games one day. “One Day” was the summer of 2018 when he joined the Wizards of the Coast as a producer for D&D. Before joining Wizards, Bill served 20 years in the Army, earned a master’s in healthcare administration, and was a clinic manager in the public sector.