Eternity TTRPG Fallen Paladin

In Eternity TTRPG, the fallen paladin is known as the “Destroyer of the Light.” It’s a class that believes in the right of the individual to pursue whatever ends they desire, and fights for the rights of those with power to dominate.

Whatever belief systems, virtues, and aims held by a holy paladin – the fallen paladin/ dark paladin seeks the opposite. The desire of the fallen paladin also isn’t truly relevant, morally. Value is placed on the desire, itself, over the consequences of seeking or obtaining that desire. Not that all fallen paladins are evil. They simply view “the light” and the subservience to others that it requires as meaningless in a world that favors power and those who take it for themselves.

Eternity TTRPG Fallen Paladin Class in a Dungeon

Fallen Paladins in Combat

Fallen paladins in Eternity TTRPG combat fulfill the roles of damage dealer, defender, and healer. Their unique mix of spells and abilities allows them to take on multiple roles.


Fallen Paladin as Damage Dealer

1. Blood Spiller

After you cast this spell on yourself, every time you attack an enemy, you have a chance to deal additional damage. You can only deal damage with this spell once per turn. This spell can be maintained.


Critical Options…


  • Increases Blood Spiller hit chance.
  • Also, gain a chance to deal damage with Blood Spiller every time an enemy attacks you. This critical also allows you to deal damage with Blood Spiller twice per turn.
  • Whenever you deal damage with Blood Spiller you also heal yourself or an ally.


This spell functions well even if you have low hit chance. It’s a perfect complement to an all-out attack build, or a defensive one. Blood Spiller makes fallen paladins very dangerous enemies to fight. Choosing the defensive critical makes it dangerous for enemies to attack you, while choosing the healing critical increases your survivability during long fights.


2. Desecration

Targets up to three enemies in either weapon range (specific to the weapon you’re currently wielding), or spell range, at your choice. If this spell hits, you have a chance to deal damage on every one of each affected enemies’ turns. This spell can be maintained as an aura.


*Double-Hit: increases your chance to deal damage on each enemy’s turn.


Critical Options…


  • Increases Desecration hit chance.
  • The next time you are attacked, you also cast Desecration again before the attack is made. If this critical hits, it also allows you to stack double chance to hit with Desecration on any affected target.
  • Whenever you deal damage with Desecration, you also heal yourself or an ally.


The longer you anticipate a battle lasting, the more important this spell becomes. Desecration is one of the only damage over time spells or effects in Eternity TTRPG. Being able to stack the effect on enemies, with the second critical option is very useful for tanks. And having the additional chance for healing each turn is especially powerful if you’re facing multiple enemies, since Desecration targets all of them.


3. Oathbreaker

Weapon range or spell range, deals shadow damage (deals bonus damage to Light Aura Units). If this attack hits and the target isn’t healed by the end of their next turn, the target takes additional shadow damage.


*Double-Hit: deals additional shadow damage.


Critical Options…


  • Increases Oathbreaker hit chance.
  • Gives you additional Dodge if your attack hits.
  • On each occasion that you deal damage with this ability, heal yourself or an ally.


This is the staple attack of the fallen paladin as it can do multiple damage. It’s also particularly potent because most characters/ classes in Eternity TTRPG do not have access to innate healing spells or abilities. Any of the critical options are viable for almost any fallen paladin build. The defender critical option gives the class’ only possible buff to Dodge, from any spell or ability. Meanwhile, the healer critical option has a much higher chance for healing than other fallen paladin spells do.

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Fallen Paladin as Defender

4. Dark Hold

Weapon range (specific to the weapon you’re currently wielding) or spell range, Dazes the enemy.


*Double-Hit: increases the duration of Daze.


Critical Options…


  • If this spell hits, the target also can’t defend or critical defend while affected by this spell. They also have either lowered Dodge or lowered Will, at your choice, for battle duration.
  • Increases Dark Hold hit chance.
  • The next time the target attacks anyone, before their attack, Instantly recast this spell on them. If the spell hits, it interrupts their attack.


This spell allows you to stun enemies at a distance, as opposed to requiring you to be right next to them. It’s a great utility spell for all fallen paladin builds. The first critical option is great for taking down a key target. The third option offers preventative protection against persistent attackers.


5. Nihilism

Targets up to three enemies in weapon range (specific to the weapon you’re currently wielding) or spell range, at your choice. If this spell hits, all affected targets have reduced hit chance against every target but you. This spell can be maintained as an aura.


*Double-Hit: further reduces enemy’s hit chance when attacking targets other than you.


Critical Options…


  • Even if this spell misses, you also gain increased hit chance with all attacks against affected enemies.
  • Increases hit chance with Nihilism, and increases the amount of reduced hit chance targets have against your allies.
  • Even if this spell misses, you also become immune to the next attack made against you.


Nihilism is helpful if you want to protect allies. It’s also particularly useful if you have higher defensive stats than allies, as you’re encouraging enemies to attack you, instead of them. The first critical option makes the spell useful even if your character isn’t extremely defensive. The third option is also great despite which build your character is using, as you can always dispel Nihilism from enemy targets, so you don’t keep incentivizing them to attack you.


6. Shadow Aura (Faith of Darkness)

You automatically detect Light Aura units within 100 yards and you are immune to shadow damage. Every turn, you have a small chance of gaining immunity to all damage and negative effects for 1turn (negative effects are not dispelled, just suppressed for 1turn). This is a passive effect, always active, and cannot be dispelled.


Critical Options…


  • You also gain increased hit chance against “Light Aura” units (Paladin, Sage, Witch Hunter).
  • You also gain increased defensive stats when attacked by “Light Aura” units (Paladin, Sage, Witch Hunter).
  • When you encounter a Light Aura unit (Paladin, Sage, Witch Hunter), instantly heal both yourself and an ally.


There are three variations of Shadow Aura in Eternity TTRPG, each with its own effect. The fallen paladin’s invulnerability aura is particularly useful. All three critical options make fighting light aura units substantially easier, but don’t have much effect outside of that.


7. Wicked Armor

After this spell has been cast, the target gains additional resistance to magic. This spell can be maintained.


Critical Options…


  • If a target attacks you while you are affected by Wicked Armor, you gain increased hit chance against that target.
  • Increases the amount of magic resistance.
  • The target also becomes immune to the next attack made against them.


Fallen paladins are able to bless themselves and allies with a dark armor that resists magic, which is extremely valuable against spell casters. Each critical option is valuable in its own circumstance, though the only one that applies universally is the third critical option as it makes you invulnerable to the next attack, even if it isn’t magic.

Skinny Mini Fallen Paladins

Fallen Paladin as Healer 

8. Blight

After you cast this spell on yourself, on every one of your turns, you have a chance to both cause fear to nearby enemies, and to heal yourself and nearby allies. This spell can be maintained.


*Double-Hit: Fear an additional 2turns.


Critical Options…


  • Also gives you a chance to deal damage to nearby enemies, each turn.
  • Increases your chance to cause fear to nearby enemies.
  • Increases your chance to heal yourself and nearby allies.


Blight is a great spell to maintain in almost every combat situation as it provides a lot of utility to the fight, additional options, and some degree of healing. The critical choices can all be maintained in a fight, as well, and really vary in what they offer. One of the big choices with this spell is whether or not it should be maintained in its critical form, at all, as keeping it up can be costly in resources.


9. Dread March

This ability can only be used when you drop to 0HP. Based on your physical hit chance plus your magic hit chance, instantly attempt to heal HP. For every time you have received healing today, you must roll higher to hit with this ability (can stack without limit).


*Double-Hit: heals additional HP.


Critical Options…


  • If this spell hits, you also instantly attack the enemy who just dealt damage to you, with any non-critical attack or spell of your choice.
  • If this spell hits, you are also immune to all attacks and negative effects until after your next turn.
  • Increases the amount of healing you receive.


Spirits of shadow cannot allow their champions of darkness to die too easily, so infuse the fallen paladin with life, when summoned. Fallen paladins have many ways to gain temporary invulnerability, and Dread March is one of the best ways. Since it’s an instant action, the effect can be very surprising to enemies. Dread March is also a great way to deal a lot of damage, or restore a lot of hit points, quickly, and as a last resort. This effect can only be used very rarely.


10. Life Eater

When any target dies (or lies dead) within spell range, instantly heal either HP or Wisdom. This ability also allows you to heal above your normal max HP or your normal max Wisdom.


Critical Options…


  • When this effect triggers, Instantly attack any enemy in Range with any non-critical attack or spell of your choice.
  • When this effect triggers, you are immune to all attacks and negative effects until after your next turn.
  • Increases the amount of healing you receive.


As the sword or staff of the fallen paladin becomes soaked in blood, they can absorb the soul of the fallen, restoring vitality, to continue fighting. The critical options for this ability all follow the same style as Dread March, above. This effect can only be used very rarely.


Fallen Paladin Skill and Knowledge

Fallen paladins have a bonus to the intimidate skill, and politics knowledge. Because an aura of shadows and domination continually hangs around them, they are innately intimidating. Even those with strong constitutions can’t help but be slightly unnerved around the sheer dark dominance of the fallen paladin.


Though study isn’t necessarily a common pastime of fallen paladins, members of the order know that to destroy organizations and nations, they must maintain an awareness of what’s happening in the world, politically. Fallen paladins make it their business to maintain abreast of political leaders, trends, and movements. Any of those categories could create an opportunity for darkness to thrive. People can be bought, ideas can be twisted, and carefully-crafted lies can be spread to achieve any means, just as well, or better than pure force.

Fallen Paladin Pictures

Try a Fallen Paladin in Eternity TTRPG

If you haven’t checked it out yet, Eternity TTRPG has our own tabletop roleplaying game. The Fallen Paladin is one of Jake’s (the site creator’s) favorite classes.


Eternity TTRPG is a group GM game where everyone at the table gets to help create the gaming world, and roleplay their own character. The game also features highly tactical combat where every class and character brings their own special abilities and spells.


Famous Fallen Paladin Lore

Lord Achilles Obsidian was the first dark elf fallen paladin to ever obtain an eternal soul, which allowed him to become an Eternal – an undying demi-god, in the world of Aeturnum. His journey was forced upon him when his mansion was abruptly destroyed by a berserk chimaera. Along with a holy paladin of little renown, named Cadmar, and a druid werewolf named Hong, Achilles was able to slay the beast, as vengeance for the town. Unlikely as the three were, together, their initial interactions together led to a great adventure.


Achilles quickly gained notoriety among fallen paladins. Whereas he had formerly been content ruling his small piece of the world, in Eboncrest, the destruction of his mansion set him upon a quest that allowed others to finally see the tremendous powers he’d kept hidden. After gaining renown as an adventurer, he established the black knights – an organization of primarily fallen paladins. He was challenged by Razian for leadership of the knights, a young prodigy of darkness. Many were amazed to see Achilles emerge from the duel, barely alive. Information came to the knights that the young challenger had received a blessing of shadows from an ancient lich, and so had drastically increased command of fallen paladin spells.


It was this initial attack from the mysterious lich that caused Achilles to redirect the purpose of the black knights towards the being’s destruction. Over many years, Achilles’ fame grew, a new home -Castle Dreadnaught – was built, the black knights flourished, and more information on the lich was obtained. “Vain” was the lich’s name, and he sought an eternal soul, so as to ascend and become an Eternal.


Achilles waged war on Vain and his legions. In Gwynn, the capital city of the holy lands of Morgana, the two faced each other in battle, where a fabled eternal soul had made an appearance. Due to the magnitude of the war and its effects on all mortals, even Cadmar, the holy paladin – now himself, vastly renowned – and Hong, the druid, temporarily joined the ranks of black knights.


Ultimately, Vain was victories over Achilles, who was nearly killed upon the field of battle by the great lich. It was only due to the heroic efforts of Cadmar that Achilles’ life was spared, though the intervention cost Cadmar his life. In that split second while Vain was distracted at Cadmar’s death, Achilles grabbed the eternal soul and became an Eternal. In his ascension, he used his newfound power to lay waste to Vain and his legions. The last that anyone has seen of Lord Achilles Obsidian since that day was him kneeling before the tomb of Cadmar, paying his respects to the paladin that had saved his “fallen” brother.

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Jacob Tegtman Eternity TTRPG Creator

Author - Jacob Tegtman

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed this article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.


I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.


If you love the site, please share it with others! I have lots of gaming-related material for you to peruse and use in your own gaming sessions. If you have any questions about the site or want to contribute, just send me a message using the "Contact" page, which you can find in the site's footer.

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Does DnD Actually care about Gen Con Again? Return to DnD's Roots

By Jacob Tegtman • April 5, 2026
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvxI1GXJerE Transcription Dungeons & Dragons is finally returning to the convention that made it famous… Well, to be clear – D&D has been at Gen Con. It’s just, they haven’t really had much of a presence there in recent times, have they? Even small indie games have had substantially larger booth space than D&D, which I saw last year basically tucked into a back part of the convention, with pretty much only like a 20ft by 10ft space, or so. If even that, to be honest.  And, I don’t know for sure if D&D hosted many events even at Gen Con while we were there last year. Maybe a few intro games? But if I had to guess, I would’ve said that third parties may have run more games of D&D than Wizards of the Coast D&D actually did. But, after years of near silence… Wizards of the Coast is planning to go all-in on Gen Con again. The real question is—why now? We’ve seen a lot of relatively big moves from D&D recently, back towards its roots. So, what could this move mean for the future of D&D? Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG—your go-to news channel for all things D&D and tabletop roleplaying. Today we’re diving into some pretty cool news, hopefully a big positive for the direction of D&D: Wizards of the Coast is officially heading back to Gen Con with D&D in a big way. And honestly… it’s kind of a full-circle moment. Let’s rewind for a second, because – as I’m sure you know – Gen Con isn’t just any convention. Gen Con was founded back in 1968 by Gary Gygax, which to be honest, I didn’t know prior to researching for this video. If you aren’t aware, Gen Con is now the largest convention for tabletop gaming, I believe in the world. It pretty much takes over Indianapolis for, what I can confidently agree, is probably indeed the best 4-days of gaming each year. At the time they started Gen Con, it was just a small gathering of wargaming fans in Wisconsin. But in 1974… Gygax and Dave Arneson released Dungeons & Dragons. And, of course, Gen Con became ground zero for spreading the game. People would attend… pick up a copy… and bring it back to their hometowns. That’s how D&D went viral—before the internet even existed. It turns out, hanging out with cool people in person and telling them about cool things – in person – was the OG way to go viral. Go figure! So, fast forward a few decades… Gen Con became the D&D event, and the tabletop gaming event. We’re talking massive tournaments, huge reveals… Even a life-sized castle built on the convention floor. Yeah. That actually happened. But then something changed. In recent years, Wizards of the Coast has been… mostly absent. No big booths. No major announcements. Just a quiet, minimal presence—if anything at all. I can tell you, seeing them last year, like I mentioned, was not only unimpressive... it was actually even a bit sad. I remember thinking like, “why are you guys even here? Why bother with a booth like this, it just makes D&D look bad.” And other fans have definitely noticed, as well. At this point, you might be wondering: why did D&D pull away from Gen Con, anyways? Well, a few key things: First—vision. Wizards started treating D&D less like a game… and more like a global entertainment brand. You’ve seen the somewhat recent movie, and then they’re pushing hard towards digital tools now, trying to make D&D more of a money-making tool, and truthfully, less like the D&D we all grew up with. Second—control. Instead of third-party events like Gen Con, Wizards of the Coast has focused more on their own events. Things like MagicCon – for Magic: the Gathering. And third—cost. Giant booths and live events are expensive, and brand-awareness is not the same as actual sales. In the past, the cost of large-scale live events like Gen Con was a no-brainer investment for D&D. However, with D&D moving towards online income, live spaces didn’t fit the online vision as much. So, for years… Gen Con became more of a community-run D&D space rather than an official one. But now—that’s changing. Wizards vice president recently confirmed that Gen Con is about to become a major part of D&D again. Starting this year: Annual D&D product roadmaps will be revealed at Gen Con They’ll have more organized play events And there will be more direct and “official” community engagement Like so many of the things Wizards of the Coast is doing to push live community spaces for D&D again, this could be a big deal – but it will depend on how well Wizards follows through. Still though, this is the first time in years that Wizards is showing up where the players are. And this could be a great sign for the game. With all of this in mind, we now finally come to the question: “why is this happening now?” There are a few clues. First—D&D has lost major momentum in the TTRPG space, let’s be real. Wizards is, perhaps, finally recognizing the loss of their community, and is trying to reconnect with the people who built the community to begin with. We’ve seen: The return of classic settings – which is ok. I’d rather see – as one recent viewer put it – new stuff. Done in the classic way, but some actual new content would be x1,000 times better. And they are creating new seasonal content, with a return to D&D modules and “official” weekly play at local gaming stores. Second… Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The OGL controversy. You may remember: The Open Gaming License controversy, when Wizards of the Coast tried to change D&D’s open license in a way that would restrict creators and potentially take a cut of their earnings—sparking massive backlash and boycott calls from the community. That moment seriously damaged trust with fans. And while things have cooled down… This Gen Con push feels like a very intentional move to rebuild goodwill. Because if you want to win back hardcore players—You show up at Gen Con. That’s all there is to it. Show up, and make it fucking awesome. Make your audience actually want to play D&D again. For a lot of fans, D&D skipping Gen Con has felt… weird. It’s the place where the fire started. It’s been the biggest name in tabletop ghosting the biggest tabletop event in the world, in favor of creating online subscription models that very few people actually want. But now? This feels like a return to D&D’s roots. A reconnection with the community that built the game’s legacy in the first place. So the real question is—Is this just good PR… Or the start of a new era for D&D? What do you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments. And if you enjoyed this coverage, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and roll for initiative on the next video. See you next time!
Map of the Tomb of Horrors dungeon on aged parchment

The Return of Official D&D Modules in 2026 - The Future of D&D

By Jacob Tegtman • April 2, 2026
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r1xrclddMg Transcription A piece of classic D&D is coming back… but just not in the way you’re probably expecting.  Wizards of the Coast just announced something that could completely change how many people play D&D—short, fast, old-school adventures are officially returning. And yeah… I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that – as so often, depending how well Wizards of the Coast can execute this – this might actually be the biggest shift in D&D storytelling in years. Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG—your go-to party member for all things Dungeons & Dragons. Today we’re breaking down the return of adventure modules, what they are, why they disappeared, and whether this is actually genius… or just another attempt at recovering a piece of D&D that’s already forever sailed away. So this all dropped at Gary Con in Wisconsin, which was March 19-22 nd , just a couple weeks ago. That’s where the VP of D&D, confirmed that modules are coming back. If you’ve only played modern D&D, where campaign books are pretty lengthy and involved, this might not sound like a big deal. But it kind of is a big deal because this isn’t just a new product… it’s a return to D&D’s roots. If you aren’t familiar though, you may be wondering – what even is a module. Back in the early days of D&D, adventures weren’t the massive 300-page books we often see now. They were short, self-contained stories. Think quick, punchy adventures you could finish in a session, or a few sessions. They’re basically the ancestors of modern one-shots. These official D&D modules, which many people absolutely loved, were: Compact Easy to run And perfect for drop-in play, for someone who was a more casual gamer, or for someone visiting, etc. But when 3rd Edition rolled around, D&D itself changed. The game shifted toward long-term campaigns, deeper character progression, and structured storytelling—and short, standalone modules just didn’t fit that vision anymore. This brings up a whole order of interesting topics, but in older D&D (like Basic and Advanced D&D), the game assumed: That you’d jump between adventures Characters might not persist long-term – character death was super common, and almost even encouraged And the game world was only loosely connected Modules fit that style of play perfectly, where you can do a quick story that is compelling, engaging, and action-packed, but doesn’t necessarily try to stretch that narrative further into a larger context. 3rd Edition D&D, however, introduced: Strong character progression systems Feats, skills, and long-term character builds And most importantly, a focus on ongoing story arcs Suddenly, D&D became about one continuous campaign , not disconnected adventures. So instead of a: “here’s a dungeon for the weekend” vibe, the design officially shifted to: “Here’s a story that takes your party from level 1 to 15.” It’s also worth mentioning that with 3rd Edition, Wizards of the Coast introduced the Open Game License . This license meant: That third-party creators could make adventures freely Which inevitably led to the market becoming flooded with small modules. So, Wizards of the Coast didn’t need to focus on short adventures anymore. Instead, they could focus on: Big flagship campaigns that had a longer shelf life, and felt like “premium products” With lengthier and more involved Core rulebooks While letting the community handle smaller content. To summarize the history, D&D once offered “official” short, adventure modules. That module model shifted towards third-party creators with the advent of 3 rd edition. And now, 26-years later, third parties are still creating modules, but we’re also making a return to “official” D&D modules. Moving forward, the big question is: what’s different this time? According to D&D, these new modules will tie into something called D&D Seasons, which we’re already getting a taste of now. Think of themed content sets that last 3–4 months. The idea is basically what Magic: The Gathering does with Card release sets. Every 3months, they roll out a new set, where players can access new content. In this case, with D&D, it’ll be a new module, or new modules, based around the current set’s theme. Examples could include what we’re seeing with D&D Seasons for 2026, which will each be three-month series: starting with the Season of Horror followed by the Season of Magic And then finally into the Season of Champions with this year’s last quarter. These modules will also connect to organized play programs—in-store sessions of quick weekly games, for those local gaming stores that want to host these kind of events. Overall, D&D is aiming for: · Faster games available to more people (meaning like 1-2hr adventures, rather than the 3-4hr sessions many longtime players often get into, with their friends) · Easier prep for DMs · And more accessible D&D overall We don’t know yet if these will be physical books… or digital-only releases on D&D Beyond. My guess is there will be both available. Modern D&D campaigns are a big commitment. Oftentimes you’re talking months… sometimes years. And I love that, personally. Probably, anyone who’s ever been part of a long-term successful campaign, does love that style of play. However, I think we can all agree that not all campaigns make it very far, at all. I’ve heard the average number of sessions for most campaigns is 7-usually before they fall apart because of scheduling conflicts, lack of player interest, etc. So, modules are intended to flip the current long-term D&D campaign dynamic, not by replacing them, but by giving players another choice. Modules aim to be: Easier for new players to get into D&D, Create less pressure on DMs/ less requirement for preparing a long-term campaign And provide alternatives of play that could be perfect for people with busy schedules This might be what the D&D community needs right now. At the end of the day, these modules coming out will essentially be one-shot sessions that D&D provides for anyone who’s interested. My take is that Wizards of the Coast has made some tremendous mistakes with D&D. However, I do think that an attempted return to D&D roots is move that makes a lot of sense. The real test will be in the execution. If Wizards can make this new generation of D&D modules feel fresh and meaningful—then they may be onto something. If, however, they feel like recycled content with a new label… Players will notice, and probably resent the effort a little bit. I’m just saying, we don’t need more content on Strahd, Tomb of Horrors, and many other adventures Wizards has been putting out. I’ve been playing those adventures since the original modules and content on them. Personally, I’d be looking for something new, and that means Wizards of the Coast would have to get creative and take some content risks. Which... is something big companies don’t often like to do. That’s why we see so many remakes of movies, rather than exploring new ideas. Corporations often prefer “safe money” over true art. But, what do you think? Are you looking forward to trying these new modules… or will you stick with longer campaigns? And do you think D&D will create some awesome new concepts, or try to rehash the same adventures people have been playing for years, in hopes of relying on past success? Drop your thoughts in the comments. And if you want more D&D news, updates, and tools to make your games smoother and more enjoyable—hit that like button and subscribe. I’ll see you guys in the next one.
Josiah Mork: Creator of Starset RPG and Pen RPG

Interview with Game Designer Josiah Mork: Creator of Starset & PEN

By Jacob Tegtman • March 27, 2026
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9In5gaz65s8 Transcription Jacob Tegtman (00:01.848) Hey everyone, welcome back to Eternity TTRPG, where we cover really everything tabletop gaming related, Dungeons and Dragons. Now we're finally jumping into some of my favorite topics, which is game design and getting to spend some time with great game designers up and coming, people who are established. And today we're interviewing Josiah Mork, who is the owner and lead designer for Hoodwink Gaming. So welcome to the show. Thanks for being part of the channel. Josiah (00:33.142) Thanks, it's my pleasure. Yeah, it's been great working with you on eternity and getting to swap ideas. So I'm really looking forward to being able to talk through some of that process with you. Jacob Tegtman (00:44.478) Awesome, Ben. Yeah, I've been looking forward to talking with you. We always have a lot of fun when we catch up. I think this will be a really good conversation. There's so many parts of your mini games that I've wanted to ask you about for really such a long time. And it always felt like we were working on some project or discussing something. But now I have a really good excuse to just nail you down for maybe about an hour-ish and hopefully die. Josiah (00:50.028) for sure. Josiah (01:04.972) There's always something. Jacob Tegtman (01:14.352) dive into what you've been doing and why you've made some of the decisions you've made, which I think are really interesting. I'm sure, yeah. So do you just want to maybe start by introducing yourself more, know, who you are, what you've done, and yeah, where you're going? Josiah (01:20.968) Yeah, well, hopefully I've got good answers for you. We'll see. Josiah (01:32.756) Yeah, absolutely. yeah, like you said, I'm Josiah. I'm from Michigan, living just out of DC now. I've been designing and playing board games since my early teen years, I guess I would say. I love creative writing and storytelling. That's just been an amazing way that I've found to connect with people. My actually my undergrad and my grad degrees were in communication and looking at how communication connects us and strategies and stuff behind it. And so I find a storytelling a really compelling way to do that. But before I had gotten into school and whatnot, you know, I was homeschooled. I was in late middle school and I was reading this cartoon. Maybe you are some of your viewers have seen it. Foxtrot comics. And there are some. Have you seen it? Highly recommend, highly recommend. It's really funny. But there are these two characters, they're really nerdy middle schoolers and they were playing Dungeons and Dragons in the comic. And I just thought that was the coolest thing. But my parents, know, I'm a Christian, my family's Christian, fairly conservative. And so my parents were more familiar with like the 80s, like D &D scare, very like Stranger Things season four. And so they were not really like, yeah, not really D &D fans. And so I was like, well, okay, I'll create my own. And that's how it all got started, you know? And then it was a great way to make friends in my Boy Scout troop. You know, we would play, would swap ideas, we would... Jacob Tegtman (02:51.202) Yeah. Jacob Tegtman (02:55.042) Not too far ahead. Sure. Yeah, that's awesome. Jacob Tegtman (03:08.12) time. Josiah (03:09.972) you know, go on crazy adventures with rules that didn't quite work. And then over time, you know, I just realized that there were all of these cool avenues to explore and storytelling that D &D didn't necessarily do. And so I just felt really passionate that this is my way to connect with people and connect people with each other is through writing games. Jacob Tegtman (03:30.508) That's amazing, man. Yeah, it's funny, like the ways that we get into gaming too. Like you mentioned those comics. you ever see Dexter's Lab? Okay. Okay. Yeah, was probably a little bit before. Yeah. There was like an episode that was kind of based on Dungeons and Dragons and I saw it when I was like six and that's what got me into it as well. yeah. Josiah (03:39.616) Yeah, well, I've heard of it. Yeah, I've seen clips from it, yeah. Josiah (03:52.972) It's so funny how it seems like every show, know, Community, Gravity Falls, like, there are all these shows of every different genre, and they all have like a D &D episode for some reason. And I love it, you know, but it's so random. Jacob Tegtman (03:58.679) Yeah. Jacob Tegtman (04:05.302) Yeah, like all of them. Me too. Yeah, it is. Yeah. I also like the takes that different shows have on like nerdy board games. I think was like Parks and Rec had, I forget what the game was called. Yeah, you remember it. Yeah. Yeah. That's so cool, man. Josiah (04:20.81) The Cones of Dunshire, yeah. Love that, love those episodes. Jacob Tegtman (04:29.646) So I want to dive into really all of those things more, but what games do you currently have available then? And your website will post it in the show notes as well, but it is hoodwinkgaming.com for anybody who's interested. But yeah, tell us about some of your games. And again, I feel like I want to go into all of these in more detail, but yeah, give us the summary version at least for now. Josiah (04:55.05) Yeah, so it's a little deceptive at the moment. My original titles and kind of most of the games that I do are under the pen brand. So play easily now is the acronym. We have war game and role playing game. But actually neither of those are on the market at the moment. If you go to my website. Yeah, we've got a landing page for the war game and we've got a preview for the RPG. And I've actually I've got. Jacob Tegtman (05:12.95) really? I was actually, yeah, I was checking it out like yesterday, so. Josiah (05:24.422) know, prototypes of both of those here. But they are still in development because of various different reasons of wanting to refine some ideas or just kind of ended up having to move to other projects. So they're almost launch ready. But those are the ones that they're working on for the longest, just the newest editions aren't quite together yet. Jacob Tegtman (05:29.506) Yeah. Jacob Tegtman (05:39.96) Yeah, nice. Jacob Tegtman (05:46.04) Very cool. Josiah (05:46.164) And then the one that I've been working on most recently, and that we actually have a new project launching next month for, is Star Set. So that's a grimdark survival-oriented tabletop role-playing game that we launched initially a couple years ago, and then just did a relaunch for the second edition for, which is much more crunchy, much more mechanical, and much more narrative-based. So really looking forward to building that out. Jacob Tegtman (06:14.542) That's exciting. Yeah, I can attest that game is great. I really enjoyed reading through it. Everything from the design of the book to the art to the way that you have, especially character building in that, I find super fascinating. You can just tell, yeah, the amount of attention to detail in there is like out of this world. It really feels like you guys... Josiah (06:27.148) Well, thank you. Josiah (06:34.966) haha Jacob Tegtman (06:38.478) You took the lore of the game and you baked it into every part of the game. Whereas I think a lot of games like, you know, we'll talk about D &D later. D &D is like the game that's everything. So it's like if it's in a fantasy book or movie or anything, like we'll just jam it into D &D somehow. And, you know, that kind of has its place, but for building characters and stuff, you know, like you don't, I don't know. It's supposed to be able to fit many different genres and you're Josiah (06:42.72) Mm-hmm. Jacob Tegtman (07:08.612) I think what's so cool about is that when you're playing Star set you're playing Star set Because from the very first thing you do with your character and their background and their skills even it's all based on the lore of this whole universe so Josiah (07:19.902) Mm-hmm. Well, I really appreciate that. mean, that's really the heart behind it when we were working on it is, we had a story that we wanted to tell and really created the universe to tell that story. And one of the things, you know, that I picked up studying communication is that, you know, we are attracted to details. And even if it's details that, we haven't necessarily experienced in our own lives. Jacob Tegtman (07:24.963) Yeah. Jacob Tegtman (07:33.324) Yeah. Josiah (07:45.324) hearing vivid details or strong emotions in other people's stories lead us to be more connected with them. And so that was something that we really trying to flesh out in Star Set. hopefully, from the sound of it, it hopefully worked pretty well. Jacob Tegtman (08:00.352) I think so, yeah, absolutely. So, what do we talk about first, man? Like, what do you want to talk about first? Josiah (08:01.452) Thank you. Josiah (08:11.672) man, I could talk about games for hours and hours, so I better let you guide that conversation. Jacob Tegtman (08:14.944) You Okay, I just want to make sure we cover like the big things before we dive into the nitty gritty here. Yeah. Yeah. Josiah (08:24.332) Oh yeah, I mean, I kind of touched on, I guess I'll throw it out there. I'll throw it out there because it's really important to me and kind of the company into my story. you know, I really do, we're about to, you know, dig into the nitty gritty, like you said, and Dungeons and Dragons and all the different games that are out there. And I just think, you know, before whether you're a designer or a player, whenever you kind of step into a game, I think the most important thing and what's in the mission kind of a hoodwink that we try and do differently is that Jacob Tegtman (08:33.379) Yeah. Josiah (08:53.446) The games are just kind of an excuse. Really, the games are just an excuse to get together with people and to have FaceTime with people. And if working in social media has taught me anything, it's that people need that more than anything. And that's why we call it Hoodwink Games, because we kind of have all these substitutions. get hoodwinked into thinking that socializing is something that it's not. And really, it's just fellowshipping with people and joining community and FaceTime with people. and talking about the things that matter with people. And the way to do that from going from stranger to best friend is in my experience games. And so that's kind of the heart behind it. Jacob Tegtman (09:30.658) That's been a cool one. Yeah. You know, it's interesting you bring that up too, because this is something I've been thinking a lot about recently, especially as everybody's been seeing more AI come into their work, into their lives. And I feel that more than ever, people are wanting that human, real human interaction. And so as good as video games are looking nowadays and as fun as MMOs are and stuff like that, and I like all of those, I don't think I've Josiah (09:43.628) Mm-hmm. Josiah (09:53.004) Mm-hmm. Jacob Tegtman (10:03.53) found anything that's as fun is sitting around playing a tabletop role-playing game, especially in person. mean, even, you over FaceTime like this is fun, but something in person about it just makes it one of the best experiences. Josiah (10:09.729) video. Josiah (10:13.142) Mm-hmm. Josiah (10:18.686) It really does. It's those shared memories and those shared jokes. And, you know, I work in politics, doing social media for politics. And the thing that just aggravates me the most about politics, but also religion, people say don't talk about politics or religion because people care about it so much. And it's like those are things that we care about the most. So we should be able to share those with people. But you can't because as soon as you bring them up, you know, there are all these walls. Jacob Tegtman (10:39.48) Sure. Josiah (10:48.062) and games when you've played for a couple hours with somebody and slayed the dragon and made a couple jokes, then it's like, well, okay, now your opinion isn't the thing that I'm defining you on. The thing I'm defining you on is that, you know, you're a half drunk elf paladin or something like, and it just makes it easier. Jacob Tegtman (10:48.416) I guess. Jacob Tegtman (11:04.014) Yeah, that's so true. That's so true. Yeah, it definitely does break down those walls and give you that sense of shared history, even if it's like a shared mental history, theater of the mind. So, yeah. Josiah (11:17.27) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's great. Jacob Tegtman (11:21.428) I agree, man. Especially when you're doing... So I haven't read through all of the lore of Starseq. There's just so much in there. I've read through a good deal of it. But I think one of the things that also stands out about at least that game, because I know Penn's still in the work in progress... Josiah (11:38.599) the Jacob Tegtman (11:39.446) that, you know, it does cover a lot of political things and it covers a lot of religious things and you aren't like pushing a view on anybody, but just inherent to human life is politics and religion. so games let you approach these topics like in ways that allow you to explore what could be, but in a safe way and have conversations about what could be without feeling like you're being attacked or told. Josiah (11:53.856) Mm-hmm. Josiah (12:01.6) Thank you. Josiah (12:05.836) Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's really the, again, I'm really glad that you feel that way about the game, because that was one of the number one priorities of it, is there are just really hard conversations that should be had. And that game kind of came out of COVID, where there were a ton of hard conversations people were having. And I think you could spend every day, every minute of every day with people. Jacob Tegtman (12:14.306) Yeah, for sure. Jacob Tegtman (12:23.394) That's right. That's right. Yeah. Josiah (12:33.664) but if they're not people that you feel like you can have hard conversations with, then you haven't really been in community at all. And so having a medium like that, where, like you said, I don't wanna tell anybody what they should believe. There are things that I believe are true about God and about the world and about politics and stuff, but those things have to exist relationally for them to mean anything to you. so... Jacob Tegtman (12:39.788) Yeah. Jacob Tegtman (12:50.542) Sure. Josiah (12:58.954) to have that space to kind of explore and talk and then role play through just makes it fun for one thing, but also makes it so much more personal and so much more impactful, I think. Jacob Tegtman (12:59.374) Yeah. Jacob Tegtman (13:10.772) I agree. So what is the next thing that you said you're working on with StarCert? I think I missed that when you mentioned earlier. Yeah. Josiah (13:16.436) Yeah, so my co-writer, Emily, and her husband Ryan, who did some of the art for Star Set, they have actually written and illustrated the first campaign for it. It's called Echoes on Mars, and that's going to be launching on Kickstarter next month. Jacob Tegtman (13:31.822) Okay. Okay, cool. That's exciting, man. So what number of Kickstarter will this be for you? Josiah (13:38.092) Thank Josiah (13:42.294) That's Josiah (13:46.806) seven maybe six or seven. I'm doing this one well I should say the plan is to do it on Kickstarter but changing a lot of things. I'm still talking to them. My wife is behind me. I still want to talk through some of them with her because it had a lot of very negative Kickstarter experiences and learned a lot. So we're to do this one if we end up doing it on Kickstarter very slim down and very different than some of the other ones. So it's a constant learning experience. Jacob Tegtman (13:48.43) Sort of. Yeah. Jacob Tegtman (13:54.094) Sure. Jacob Tegtman (14:16.43) Yeah, I just remember I feel like every year or so I feel like you're launching something on Kickstarter successfully. So at least from the outsider's view looking in, it's like man Josiah just knows what he's doing with selling games. Josiah (14:30.208) You Well, I know a little bit more than I did last time and that's the goal. Yeah.
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