About Us
We are the RPG Empire, a group of creators, writers, DMs, and players, and we make roleplaying content for your inspiration and entertainment!
We love RPGs and have a background in screenwriting, acting, and game creation, and we've been playing RPGs for more than 20 years. Paul, our creative director, even had the opportunity to play a Dungeons and Dragons game DMed by Dave Arneson, one of the creators of D&D.
We create RPG content. Specifically, we create the Dust World RPG podcast a post-apocalyptic sci-fi western actual play RPG podcast, Strangers in the Pines the Gravity Falls and Stranger Things inspired actual play RPG podcast, and the Patreon only podcast "Behind the Screen" a DM round table where we dive into the art and science of RPGs with your favorite DMs from around the internet.
Some Guests on the "Behind the Screens" podcast include Michael Sands the creator of Monster of the Week, Rev the DM of the Critshow, and Robert "Lachiel" founder of the Keepers Fellowship and creator of Second life Progeny a Vampire Role-playing game.
Cast and Crew:
Paul Parnell - DM of Dust World, player of Lucas Santiago
Blaise Marcoux - Clarence Wells and Dotty Luzkof
Josh G. - Danny Fields
Izaak Sutherland - DM of Strangers in the Pines
Tanner - Dr. Andrew “Doc” Miller
Frank - Silent Monday
Dumaresq de Pencier - Head Writer
Liam Mackenzie - Editor, Musician
Past Contributors and cast:
Robert “Lachiel” - Chad Woodmore
Preston Parnell - Kevin Wolfkin
Jonathan Vuytecki - Gage Thane
Michael Yatskar - Co-Creator of Dust World
Ryan Mulder - DM of Ototo, Dexter Ward
Paul Parnell
Creative Director (All things The RPG Empire)
Writer/Creator (Dust World RPG PBTA, Victory City Blues)
DM, Producer (Dust World RPG Podcast)
Lucas Santiago, Producer (Strangers in the Pines)
Player, and GM, Producer (The RPG Empire Limited Run Podcast)
Host, Producer ( The Behind the Screens Podcast, Mage World Podcast)
Paul has worked and developed projects in the media industry for 15 years. He is a writer, director, creator, and artist and has had a love for tabletop RPGs since the 90s. He even had D&D creator Dave Arneson, as his college professor! Paul has written a variety of sci-fi and fantasy TV and movie scripts, directed a feature film on Amazon, and is the creator of several viral shorts on YouTube. Dust World has been his passion project for the last decade. You can listen to Paul as the Game Master on the Dust World RPG Podcast, and as Lucas in the Strangers in the Pines Podcast.
Fun Facts:
What was your first roleplaying experience?
My buddy Michael Yatskar introduced me to DnD 3.5 in high school probably 11th grade. Yikes, that was 20 years ago!
What is your favorite setting to play in?
Right now I’m jiving with Cyberpunk, but I also really like sci-fi westerns and modern magical.
What’s an embarrassing or funny thing that happened to you after high school?
On-time I was changing a baby before I had to run to work and it pooped all over me. I then had to borrow a friend’s uniform which was several sizes too small and felt really ackward.
What is one thing no one could guess about you from looking at you?
I’ve been to over 10 countries and I’m a pretty good beatboxer. :)
Blaise Marcoux
Clarence Wells (Dust World RPG Podcast)
Dotty Luzhkov(Strangers in the Pines)
Player, and GM (The RPG Empire Limited Run Podcast, God Step Bebop)
Co-Host, Player ( The Behind the Screens Podcast, Mage World Podcast)
Blaise is from Rockport, IN, and went to school at the University of Kansas where he got the Edgar Wolf Award for his short story fiction. He now lives in the Raleigh area. He currently writes and roleplays as exceedingly absurd characters for the RPG Empire. His fiction can be found at www.betterlivingthroughlowselfesteem.com and Smashwords.
Fun Facts:
What was your first roleplaying experience?
Playing D&D with friends at my college dorm.
What is your favorite setting to play in?
Original science-fiction settings.
What’s an embarrassing or funny thing that happened to you after high school?
I went with some friends to the Plaza in KC during the winter to ice skate. For some reason, they still had water jets going, and I darted through them even though it was freezing cold. Got immediately sick two days later.
What is one thing no one could guess about you from looking at you?
I don’t know how to whistle. Or maybe that would be immediately obvious upon looking at me. I have no idea how I come across.
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Josh G.
Danny Fields (Strangers in the Pines)
Co-Host ( The Behind the Screens Podcast)
Josh was probably born somewhere in the United States sometime in the 80s (1980s), most likely to two parents who had at least one car. After being a baby for a while, he got bored with that and decided to start eating solid food. His parents ended up moving to a different place and luckily remembered to bring Josh along this time. He did a bunch of other stuff, and now enjoys playing tabletop role-playing games among other things (eating food, drinking liquids, etc.). That should be good for now.
Fun Facts:
What was your first roleplaying experience?
A group of friends from work (shout out to the Tuesday Boys) decided to play D&D, which I had never played before so I declined to join. I was later convinced to just come hang out while they played, but the DM secretly convinced me to fill out a character sheet even if it was for just one session. I’ll never forget introducing Jamamros “Jamie” Homeforger by slapping my character sheet on the table and unleashing one of the most grating faux-British (fun fact, I was going for Australian) accents since Monty Python’s various female characters. Ah, memories.
What is your favorite setting to play in?
Anything, really. Honestly!
What’s an embarrassing or funny thing that happened to you after high school?
After seeing a Dan Deacon show, I stayed after to meet him and say “thanks” like I do at most shows I go to. He threw me off by immediately saying “you look familiar,” to which I replied by frantically scrambling to validate my familiarity by name dropping anyone and everyone and spouting any possible common thread my mind could grasp at. He rightfully found someone else to talk to right in the middle of my rambling.
What is one thing no one could guess about you from looking at you?
I don’t know. My random obsession... I mean hobbies? You know, like Transformers, RC aircraft, vinyl, board games, LEGOs, kites at one point, etc.
Izaak Sutherland
DM (Strangers in the Pines)
Angus ( RPG Empire Limited Run)
Izaak Sutherland has been playing and DMing Tabletop RPGs for about 5 years now. Out of southwestern Virginia. Would recommend the works of the Lovecraft circle namely the "Space Eaters By Frank Belnap Long"
Fun Facts:
What was your first roleplaying experience?
My super nerdy neighbor invited me to play a 3.5 dnd game. Fun fact we are still playing the same game
What is your favorite setting to play in?
Faerun is my favorite and the first game setting loves traditional fantasy settings.
What’s an embarrassing or funny thing that happened to you after high school?
Well, I haven't been out of high school that long so for me I will do an in high school moment. And the funniest moment was coming in booty shorts, fishnets, and a tank top for senor slut day. Also, fun fact I am a 6'3" hairy dude
What is one thing no one could guess about you from looking at you?
No one guesses I am a nerd. I spent 3 years working at a summer camp hiking every day and now working for FedEx I am a 6'3" wannabe lumberjack.
Tanner
Dr. Andrew “Doc” Miller (Dust World RPG Podcast Season 2)
Writer of Pit of the West: Listen to Pit of the West
Tanner was raised on a steady diet of comic books, science fiction, and cartoons until one fateful day, he picked up his first role-playing game, Mutants & Masterminds, at Barnes & Noble. It all went downhill from there. It was only a matter of time before he was running games on his own, spending hours crafting character sheets and homebrew settings. He hasn't looked back since. He has always seen himself as a geek, and many of his friends join in his many geeky hobbies, including LARPing and podcasting. A lifelong reader, Tanner got his Master's degree in Library Science and is living out his dream of working as a librarian in Houston, Texas, where he currently runs a D&D game online. He is the main writer of Pit of the West, a weird western audio drama podcast released in March of 2021.
Fun Facts:
What was your first roleplaying experience?
Fumbling through the rules of Mutants & Masterminds second edition with my best friend in high school.
What is your favorite setting to play in?
I like to homebrew my settings more often than not, but I've really enjoyed Deadlands. I've played the western setting, Deadlands Reloaded, Deadlands Noir, and Deadlands Hell on Earth, the post-apocalyptic version.
What’s an embarrassing or funny thing that happened to you after high school?
During high school would be way too real to answer. After high school...I met an actor from a favorite show and looked like a total dork when I was trying to ask him for a picture.
What is one thing no one could guess about you from looking at you?
My Bachelor's was in early childhood education and I was almost an elementary school teacher. As a tall, mountain-man kind of bearded guy, this likely would not be your first impression of me.
Frank
Silent Monday (Dust World RPG Podcast Season 2)
Frank is cool and does stuff and was a key playtester for the Dust world PBTA RPG
Fun Facts:
What was your first roleplaying experience?
My first ever experience was when I was invited along by my now-girlfriend along for a Shadowrun 5th edition, my first ever character being an Orc Face character.
What is your favorite setting to play in?
Homebrew, definitely, with more modern settings, or sci-fi-esque settings and situations.
What’s an embarrassing or funny thing that happened to you after high school?
I grew up...
Kidding. While playing a Shadowrun campaign, one of the players summoned a crab demon to take on security guards. I then decided to play an old flash video about Metal Gear Solid 3, called Crab Battle. No clue why, but everyone started screaming "CRAB BATTLE!" and dying every time we did this.
What is one thing no one could guess about you from looking at you?
That I'm a trained survivalist and a crack shot with the most firearm you care to name, and I'm a dedicated hunter.
Dumaresq de Pencier
Writer(Dust World PBTA RPG, RPGE Mysteries)
Dumaresq has been writing rambling, overly-wordy RPG content since he first learned to type. A professional museologist and freelance writer, he is responsible for several permanent exhibits at major history museums in Canada. In his spare time, he also writes his own RPG content, most notably the popular Trisdekan Primer series of unofficial expansions for Fantasy Flight Games' Only War RPG.
Fun Facts:
What was your first roleplaying experience?
A terribly embarrassing Warhammer 40,000 forum RP that I got into in the 8th or 9th grade. If I recall my character wore a lot of bandages and was very, very edgy.
What is your favorite setting to play in?
"Sky Pirates, assemble." I'm a sucker for all things dieselpunk.
What’s an embarrassing or funny thing that happened to you after high school?
That time I tried to prepare frozen french fries for myself and some friends by putting the entire box in the oven and almost burning the house down. Don't cook at 3 in the morning, folks.
What is one thing no one could guess about you from looking at you?
I have whatever the opposite of a green thumb is.
Liam Mackenzie
Editor(Dust World Podcast, Strangers in the Pines)
He edits, he makes music he’s in South Africa!
Fun Facts:
What was your first roleplaying experience?
I am yet to do any role-playing but I'm sure the day will come.
What is your favorite setting to play in?
Without a doubt, it would be a dragon ball-style anime world.
What’s an embarrassing or funny thing that happened to you after high school?
Not one moment, but I went through a phase of wearing a leather jacket with a white hat and a goatee. I was 19 and looked ridiculous.
What is one thing no one could guess about you from looking at you?
I'm a hermit crab and prefer to spend my time indoors as much as possible.
Special Thanks!
So many people have helped or inspired us along the way and we want to take a few minutes to give them thanks.
Thanks so much for being on the team or just helping us along.
Ali Parnell - Wife, writer, and forever supporter.
Natiania Lee - Thanks for helping with the Website.
Robert “Lachiel” - Thanks for playing Chad and supporting us with the Keepers Fellowship!
Jonathan Vuytecki - Gage Thane, and helping start and inspire RPG empire!
Preston Parnell - Kevin Wolfkin, Thanks for helping Paul create the very first draft of Dust World in 2006.
Michael Yatskar - Artist, Writer, Game Designer. Thanks for introducing Paul to RPGs and creating so many awesome things with Paul throughout the years.
Ryan Mulder - Creator, Teacher, and DM of OTOTO Thanks for bringing RPGs back in our life.
Michelle Balderston - Editor for Behind the Screens and Mage World