Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

Courtney Stover / Lightheart Adventures LLC

Roll Play Grow is a TTRPG interview podcast for entrepreneurs, creators, and fans within the tabletop roleplay gaming space. Every episode, we interview the faces behind the TTRPG brands in the community to learn how they turned their passion for the ttrpg industry into a career.

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Top 10 Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

033 - Honing your design process & whipping out publications with Chris Valentine

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

10/29/21 • 52 min

Chris Valentine is a best-selling TTRPG author who published on both DM’s Guild and DriveThruRPG. One of the things I find most impressive about Chris is the wildly efficient process he’s developed for producing new supplements and adventures on a super-fast timeline: we’re talking a new publication every week and a half, while he also works full time and has a newborn baby. Now, I will absolutely say that I do not want to in any way encourage something that could cause burn-out for you personally, and I certainly don’t want any of you to hear that and feel as though you aren’t doing enough. You absolutely are. Instead, what I hope you’re able to gather from this discussion is ideas on how to make your own development processes more efficient, so that they are serving you well. Chris has great advice on how having lists of every step can help you when you’re feeling stuck so you know what else you can focus on that will still help you reach your goals. Again, I found this deep dive to be really fascinating, and I hope it helps you too!
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032 - Designing Maps & Marketing Tips with Christian of CZRPG

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

10/22/21 • 54 min

Christian Zeuch is a Brazilian cartographer and author who has published a large number of supplements, adventures, and map packs on both DM’s Guild and DriveThruRPG. He has some absolutely amazing advice that he shares as he describes his journey to becoming a best-selling cartographer involving marketing strategies, strategies for planning future publications, collaborations, and more. He also has a Kickstarter launching very soon that we discuss towards the end of the interview that sounds like it will be very cool. We did record this episode early, so he doesn’t go into too much detail, but that Kickstarter will be launching on October 26th, and I’ll include a link in the show notes. Christian is a fount of knowledge and recommends some pretty amazing resources throughout the show. If you’re interested in learning more about publishing on these platforms, then I know you’ll love this episode.
If this is your first time tuning in to the show, welcome. This podcast is a part of Lightheart Adventures, which is a small company I co-founded with my husband. We offer a weekly blog on our website where you’ll find tips for running games, free monthly one-shot adventures, product reviews, and more. You’ll find that blog at lightheartadventures.com. Brenton also creates beautiful dungeon maps, both on DM’s Guild and on a commission basis.
Another way you can support the show is by checking out our affiliate links, like Found Familiar Coffee: the most delicious and nerdy coffee you’ll ever taste, and you’ll get to collect some pretty cool D&D themed art on every package. Go to foundfamiliar.com and enter code LightheartADV to get 10% off your order, enjoy delicious coffee, and help me keep this show running.
That is all for now, so please sit back and enjoy this conversation with Christian.
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045 - Blogging, Streaming & Game Design: Making Inclusive & Diverse Content with DeAngelo Murillo

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

03/25/22 • 58 min

Our guest today is DeAngelo Murillo, a writer, streamer, game designer, and activist. He founded a really cool blog and website that puts a spotlight on cosplayers and other creators called The Geek Lyfe and has continued that theme in his streamed games on Twitch. We talk about the site, his journey into content creation, his Actual Play and Charity streams, and then we pivot to talking about his game that is about to launch on Kickstarter, Emerald Templars. There are so many good nuggets in this episode, and I know you’ll learn a lot!
In case you’ve missed this announcement from the last few episodes, I now have my own Patreon for Roll Play Grow! So if you want to help support the show, you can go to patreon.com/rollplaygrow and you’ll find a tier as low as $3 a month. Perks include having early access to the guest list, being able to add your questions to upcoming interviews, behind-the-scenes content, and shout-outs on my website and the show. I would love if you’d go check it out and help me work towards some goals. Liiiiike being able to hire an editor to help me keep up with episodes so we don’t get behind again. Either way, I hope you’ll check it out!
Lastly, another way you can help support the show is by checking out our affiliates like the creator behind the most delicious and nerdy tea, Friday Afternoon Tea. Friday makes some truly amazing blends inspired by so many different books, movies, shows, and more. We just stocked up on a whole bunch more tea, and we are really enjoying working our way through the spring sampler pack right now. To learn more about Friday Afternoon Tea and our other affiliates, go to Our Favorite Trinkets.
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043 - Telling the story that matters to you & authentically advertising your product with Nathan of Reckless Attack

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

03/11/22 • 74 min

Today we get the pleasure of hearing from the Dungeon Master of a still new yet increasingly popular D&D Actual Play podcast, Reckless Attack. Nathan Lurz joins me today to chat about this podcast, which was years in the making and then we pivot to chatting about social media marketing. This episode is longer than usual, but to be honest that’s partly because Nathan and I are friends in real life and this is just what happens when you’re friends, but also because he’s full of some amazing advice.
I’ll try and keep this intro short, but in case you missed the last episode, I’ve got a couple of business updates for you. The first is to announce that after some feedback about our Lightheart Adventures Patreon being a bit confusing, I decided to split Roll Play Grow off into its own separate Patreon, and I just launched it this week! This will allow posts to be more streamlined and less confusing. So if you want to support the show, you can go to patreon.com/rollplaygrow and you’ll find a tier as low as $3 a month. Perks include having early access to the guest list, being able to add your questions to upcoming interviews, behind-the-scenes content, and shout-outs on my website and the show. I would love if you’d go check it out and help me work towards some goals. Liiike trying to hire an editor because y’all, editing takes a long time.
I’d also like to take a little bit of time to chat about a new affiliate. The ones y’all are used to hearing about are definitely ttrpg focused, but this one is for my fellow entrepreneurs who are looking to upgrade your email marketing. I started using FloDesk to make gorgeous emails that are completely automated a couple years back, and I cannot speak highly enough of them. You can see an example of this by going to lightheartadventures.com. If you have pop-ups enabled, within a few seconds, you’ll see a sign-up show up for a free D&D one-shot, or you’ll find other ways to get that sign-up throughout the website if you have pop-ups blocked. That sign-up is powered by FloDesk, and then it will email you a free one-shot and add you to an automated email workflow that I set up long ago. If I’m being honest, I really need to go in and update that workflow to be more relevant content, and frankly, it’s really easy to do. It’s very user-friendly to make new, gorgeous emails, and it’s very simple to schedule individual emails or create a workflow that messages your contacts week after week. If you use my affiliate link, you’ll get 50% off your first year. Go to lightheartadventures.com/our-favorite-trinkets to learn more about FloDesk and our other favorite things.
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041 - How to market your Kickstarter campaign with Daniel Nimitz

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

02/25/22 • 52 min

If you are planning a crowd-funding campaign, thinking of planning a crowd-funding campaign, or just in search of some amazing advice about marketing your products, then you NEED to listen to this episode. Daniel Nimitz is an absolute wizard at helping Kickstarter campaigns get funded. Some examples of previous projects they were the marketing manager of are Fuel Priest, Magic School Mystery, and Heroes of Tara. Dan shares some incredible tips about preparing for your campaign, the budget you set aside for marketing, crowd surveys to see what graphics and images are going to help you achieve your funding goals, building an email list, and so much more. To be totally honest, I kind of kept forgetting that I hadn’t shared it yet and would mention some of the stats she told me to Brenton, and he would get confused and be like Courtney, I haven’t heard that episode yet. Well now you’ll finally know what I’m talking about, Brenton!
If this is your first time tuning in to Roll Play Grow, you’re probably like what did I just walk into. So hey! This podcast is a part of Lightheart Adventures, which is a small company I co-founded with my husband. We also do blogs, one-shots, and maps that you’ll find over on our website, lightheartadventures.com.
If you’d like to support the show, you can find us on both Patreon and Ko-fi as Lightheart Adventures. Another way you can support the show is by checking out our affiliate links, like Found Familiar Coffee: the most delicious and nerdy coffee you’ll ever taste, and you’ll get to collect some pretty cool D&D themed art on every package. Go to foundfamiliar.com and enter code LightheartADV to get 10% off your order, enjoy delicious coffee, and help me keep this show running.
That is enough from me for now, so grab a notebook and a pen, and get ready to learn from Daniel.
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050: 50th episode celebration! Aka how to start an interview podcast

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

04/29/22 • 54 min

It’s episode 50! It took a long time to get here, longer than it technically should for a weekly show, but we’re here. We made it, and it’s amazing. I am in a little shock about what this signifies. I’ve talked to so many amazing people in this space, and I am just so grateful to everyone who’s been a guest and to all of you for listening, tuning in every week, giving me feedback, and leaving those super encouraging reviews. To celebrate making it to 50 episodes over the past 15 months, this episode is one where I am the guest. Brenton joined me again, but this time, he asked me the questions. So if you’ve ever wondered about how I got started with this super awesome interview podcast and wanted to know about my processes, we get really into it. Brenton also asked me about that ever elusive pet merch shop, so we dig into some of the struggles I’ve run into while crawling towards a launch. Hopefully you both enjoy and find value in hearing about all this.
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044 - From Comics to TTRPGs: Co-writing Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast with Lillie J. Harris & Mercedes Acosta

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

03/18/22 • 56 min

Spoiler Warning: I forgot to say this in the intro, but there are some mild spoilers about Yazeba's backstory, starting at about the 25-minute mark until the 34-minute mark.I am very happy to bring you Lillie J. Harris and Mercedes Acosta, two of the writers from the upcoming, so close to launch, game Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast. I am VERY excited about this game, and it was an absolute delight to chat with Lillie and Mercedes about their involvement with its development. They both come from a comics background, so it was really cool to hear about how they brought those skills into this very unique ttrpg. Also, they’re pretty badass in general, so just know that you are about to hear from some delightful people. The game launches in a few days, on March 22nd, on Indiegogo.

If this is your first time tuning in to Roll Play Grow, hello! This podcast is a part of Lightheart Adventures, which is a small company I co-founded with my husband. We also do blogs, one-shots, and maps that you’ll find over on our website.

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024 - Diving into entrepreneurship full time & Making Random Generators with Adam of Sword & Source

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

09/03/21 • 56 min

Adam Waselnuk is the founder of Sword & Source and co-founder of Legendkeeper. Sword & Source is a collection of random generators, most notably, Here be Taverns, which was just nominated for an Ennie award. Adam was actually one of my first listeners of this podcast and reached out to me to say hello a while back, so it’s been super cool watching him grow over the last several months. Brenton actually is a contributing writer for some of his generators, so I’ve also gotten a glimpse of some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into these creations. Adam tells us all about these generators today, but we also discuss the strategy he used to grow a following before he even had a website, the importance of email marketing, and dig into all sorts of analysis and processes. This conversation definitely made my little project manager heart happy, so I know those of you who are more analytical will definitely enjoy this episode.
As usual, I’ve got a few items of business to go over before we jump into the interview. It’s been a few episodes since I mentioned this, but we have a whole bunch of map packs over on DM’s Guild. Our most recent publication is a Copper best-seller of an all-color map pack for Candlekeep Mysteries that highlights sections of the book that didn’t come with their own maps. We are pretty close to hitting Silver on that pack, so I’d love for you to check it out if you plan on playing through Candlekeep soon. We also have a Silver best-seller black and white map pack for Rime of the Frostmaiden, specifically for Ythryn. You can find all of our map packs by either going to DMsguild.com and searching for Lightheart Adventures as the author, or you can go to lightheartadventures.com/shop to find all our DM’s Guild and DrivethruRPG publications in one spot.
Some other ways you can support the show are via our Patreon page, which has a few different tracks depending on whether you’d like maps and adventures or tailored content for this podcast, including contributing questions for upcoming guests, a spotlight on our website and even a shoutout on this podcast. You can also check out our affiliates, like Friday Afternoon Tea! Friday just released her fall teas and I am 100% channeling my basic white girl self and buying alllll of them. Seriously, listen to these names: Pumpkin Chai, Caramel Apple, Harvest Spice, Maple Houjicha, Punkin Pie Rooibos, and Warm Heart. I cannot wait to try thiem all. If you also want these delicious sounding teas or want to try her very large assortment of nerdy teas, go to fridaytea.com and enter in code LightheartADV to receive 10% off your order and help support this show.
Thanks for sticking around, and I hope you enjoy this conversation with Adam.
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039 - Animating Video Games & Drawing All the Things with Aster

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

12/17/21 • 48 min

Today’s guest is Aster, an incredibly talented game and comic artist from Mexico City. I found Aster by looking for an artist to draw my dog, Bowser as a Ranger in a few pieces. As you may or may not know, I am working towards opening an Etsy shop soon for D&D-themed pet merch like bandanas, bowties, and collars. I decided I wanted Bowser to be my mascot, and I needed someone who could draw him as a D&D character. Ruby from Possum Creek Games recommended Aster to me, and I fell in love with his art style. Three AMAZINGLY adorable pieces later, I am a fan of Aster for life.
Aster tells the wild journey he’s gone through: everything from an abusive boss at 17 to working on Cartoon Network game animation to comics and commission work. Aster is one of the artists working with Possum Creek Games, and you can see his work in the upcoming Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, which we heard about in last week’s episode. We discuss balancing full-time work with freelance commissions, finding clients, finding what art mediums make you happy, and so much more. I am in such awe of Aster, and I cannot wait for you to hear about his journey.
If this is your first time tuning in to Roll Play Grow, welcome. This podcast is a part of Lightheart Adventures, which is a small company I co-founded with my husband. We offer a weekly blog on our website where you’ll find tips for running games, free monthly one-shot adventures, product reviews, and more. You’ll find that blog at lightheartadventures.com. Brenton also creates beautiful dungeon maps, both on DM’s Guild and on a commission basis. He is currently working on the third in a series of map packs for Wild Beyond the Witchlight. There will be 5 packs total, one for every chapter, and they offer a look at some additional locations in the adventure. You can find all of those by going to DM’s Guild and searching for Lightheart Adventures as the author, or by going to lightheartadventures.com/shop to find all of our DM’s Guild and DriveThruRPG publications in one spot.
Some other ways you can support us and this show are by subscribing to the show and leaving a review. Reviews help me reach more people, and if you leave it on Apple Podcasts, your review might even get featured on an upcoming episode!
That is all for now, so please sit back and enjoy this conversation with Aster.
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065: How to become a freelance social media manager with Sol

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast

01/31/23 • 66 min

Today’s episode is the second in our short series of interviews with my project team members on the upcoming indie ttrpg called Burnaway. The game is launching on Kickstarter on February 7th, and I wanted to introduce you all to some of the awesome people behind the scenes! Be sure to check out the show notes for a link to the pre-launch page on Kickstarter, and the Arnamantle website, where you can grab an interactive story primer to get an idea of the game’s setting.
Sol is the social media manager for Burnaway, so we definitely do talk about the game and the art a bit, but we also chat about their journey diving into the world of ttrpg socials as a freelancer over the past two and a half years. Sol tweets an average of 1000 tweets a week across all his clients, and seriously, if you are struggling with your posts, grab a notebook. Especially when he starts listing his pet peeves, I literally want to print out that list and frame it. Sol is awesome to work with, and has so much wonderful advice for you!
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FAQ

How many episodes does Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast have?

Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast currently has 91 episodes available.

What topics does Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast cover?

The podcast is about Leisure, Games, Entrepreneur, Tabletop, Entrepreneurship, Gaming, Podcasts, D&D, Business, Rpg and Ttrpg.

What is the most popular episode on Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast?

The episode title '062 - Creating in-depth Actual Play Characters with Joshua Simons' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast?

The average episode length on Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast is 54 minutes.

How often are episodes of Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast released?

Episodes of Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast?

The first episode of Roll Play Grow: A TTRPG Business Podcast was released on Dec 7, 2020.

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Emil

@masteroverspace

Jun 14