2024 Featured Authors
This year, three special adventures were written specifically for attendees at this year's show. We hope you enjoy the quality of the stories they created, with the support of The Word Refinery's "Write Stuff Project."
Jessiye Davis
Jessiye Davis (she/her) is a grant writer and DEIA specialist from Cleveland, OH. She is influential in advocating for diversity and inclusion in professional and gaming spheres. As a Game Master and Tabletop Gaymers board member, she creates welcoming gaming spaces that prioritize safety and representation for all identities and abilities. Rooted in her intersectional identity, Jessiye champions marginalized voices in fantasy and TTRPGs with the goal of fostering inclusive, creative environments at gaming events and local sessions. Her impactful contributions are celebrated across gaming conventions, panels, and podcasts - Jessiye is a force in fostering diversity and equity within the world. Jessiye wrote Dicey Nights: Fellowship of the Lakeside Cabin for the 2024 D8 Summit Charity Convention.
Dicey Nights: Fellowship of the Lakeside Cabin. A group of online TTRPG players, meeting in person for the first time, stumble upon a mysterious adventure with deep, dark roots in Lovecraftian horror, hidden within a modern cabin's walls. Their weekend turns into a surreal quest as they confront eerie phenomena, ancient rituals, and cosmic entities, testing their bonds and blurring the lines between their fantasies and reality. A Call of Cthulhu adventure for new and experienced players.
Jessiye's Socials:
- Twitter: @jessiye_d
- Twitch: twitch.com/jessiye_d
- Instagram: @jessiye_d
- Threads: @jessiye_d
- Bluesky: @jessiye.bsky.social
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jessiye
Jonathan Connor Self
Jonathan Connor Self (Connor, he/him) is The Healer DM, gaming creative and charity leader. He is a mental health professional and family advocate at a public school, having served in his state counseling association. Connor has created numerous products for D&D and other games, for companies such as Wizards of the Coast, Legendary Games, and too many conventions to count. He is a top-rated proDM on Start Playing Games. Connor is the Vice President of Product Development for The Word Refinery, as well as the President of D8 Summit Charities. This 501c3 has raised tens of thousands for local causes such as food banks, homeless shelters, and mental health providers, as well as produced expert seminars to give back to the gaming community. Connor has numerous interviews available online on the intersectionality between gaming, mental health, education, charity work, and diversity. You can find Connor's work and social media contacts on his website. Connor wrote FR-DC-DES-06-01 Romancing the Drone for the 2024 D8 Summit Charity Convention.
FR-DC-DES06-01 Romancing the Drone. Can you show a Modron why chaotic emotions such as love should be preserved? Before he simply nukes Baldur’s Gate from orbit? Would that even be a loss? A Forgotten Realms adventure for characters level 5-10. Content Warning: Romance, feels (likely in-character hugging), incineration
Logan Wassenaar
Logan Wassenaar (he/him) is a game designer, actual play performer, and lover of all things magical girl and mecha. He is often seen online talking to people about TTRPGs and the space at large. He has written Daylight Publications Supers & Sorcery, Portal Portfolio, six subclasses in Twin Drum’s Wagadu Chronicles (A Dungeons & Dragons 5e Setting), and Apochromatic Unlimited Issue #0: Bringing the Ballroom to D&D. Logan is also an admin for Apochromatic Unlimited, an all PoC collective with the goal of raising the voices of other PoC in the TTRPG space. You can find more about Logan at his website.Logan wrote SJ-DC-DES-06-02 Glint in the Firmament for the 2024 D8 Summit Charity Convention.
SJ-DC-DES-06-02 Glint in the Firmament. Glint in the Firmament is a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure for four to five 5th-level characters. The adventure will take the characters on a journey from the asteroid city Bral to a roaming ball of metal that floats in the astral sea, known as the Silver Moon. Guided by Runa Radiance, the crew of the spelljammer Starbuster, and her captain the astral elf Arty Bow the players will find themselves on the floating satellite and uncover the secrets of a cult of necromancers and an ancient greatwyrm.
