Ronin Round Table – Events, Volunteer Programs, and Community Building

Greetings! I’m Donna Prior, the new Events Manager at Green Ronin. I’ve been busy working on a lot of documentation, and I’ve been remiss in introducing myself to you all. So, hello! In my first Ronin Round Table, I’d like to share a bit more about myself and the bits & bobs I’m working on for an official GR volunteer team.

I’ve known team GR for a few years now; I worked with Chris at Flying Lab Software on Pirates of the Burning Sea. I was hired right out of the community to work on the Community Team, and it’s led to a wonderful career in the video game industry. Whilst I love video games, I am especially keen on tabletop RPGs, board/card games, and miniatures wargaming.

I first started playing AD&D 1st Edition in 1998. I wanted to play earlier; the first time I saw D&D was in high school. I was a bit nerdy, but this hobby was the only one where my friends said, “Girls don’t play D&D”. I spent years believing this, until a discussion over beers confirmed that I had indeed, been missing out. He invited me into his game, which had 2 other women in the group! He threw heaps of Forgotten Realms novels at me; I was captivated! So much that my 2nd ever tattoo in 1998 has my very first character’s name.

When I moved to the East Coast, my game group played a LOT of different RPGs. I started GMing and convinced a purely hack & slash group to dive into my story-driven campaigns, full of intrigue and puzzles. No small accomplishment, that.

Through the years, I avoided game stores as much as possible. As I started to get more into gaming, the more I felt unwelcome. “Girls don’t play strategy games.” Or worse, it was awkward being hit on by men in game stores. As an aside, please don’t let charisma be your dump stat in real life.

This is why I spend much of my free time hosting and teaching people how to host inclusive and welcoming events. Now to talk about Green Ronin and events! I am not going to give away lots of details about the program right now, as we’ve got a lot to do. However, you’ll see me posting about them on the Green Ronin forums. If you’re hosting a Green Ronin game at a convention or game store, I want to know about it! We’re especially looking forward to Gen Con; we’d love to have many of you submitting events.

You’ll get a special title and numerous perks if you sign up for the Freebooter program. Wait. I gave a tiny bit away right there. And with that, I’ll be back with more information on the program soon. For those interested in Gen Con, you’ve got a month to get your submissions in!

You can follow me on Twitter, WordPress, and other spaces. http://about.me/Danicia or drop me a note on the forums!