In May, the D&D Adventurers League community partnered with Wizards of the Coast and the Dungeons Masters Guild to donate the proceeds from a collection of 18 DDAL adventures to the Asian Mental Health Collective. Over the course of a week, sales of the bundle generated a $4,265.73 donation -- an absolutely incredible feat.
The bundle would not have been possible without the authors who donated their works and their royalties, and as soon as this initiative was announced, a number of Asian writers outside of the United States volunteered to contribute their adventures to the cause. We're excited to share more about some of those authors today!
Paul Gabat [he/him], author of CCC-GSP02-02 Stygia Untamed
What is your heritage? Filipino/South-East Asian
How can people support you? Aside from purchasing my products in DMsGuild, they can make a donation on my website.
Where on social media can people find you? Twitter: @DMPaulG
What’s some little-known information about yourself (including any identities you’d like to share, projects you’re proud of, hobbies you nerd out about, etc.)? I am fortunate enough to win an ENnie gold award last year for my CCC, Stygia Untamed, and also I wrote DDAL10-06 The Fallen Star.
What does your writing process look like?
1. Watch a lot of anime, tv series, and movies to get inspiration
2. Write an outline (very important! So you won't forget what you wanna write about)
3. Set deadlines.
4. Write at least 500 words a day.
5. Whenever you are motivated, take advantage of the situation and write as much as you can.
6. Read the 1st draft before sending it to the editor if you have one.
7. Playtest at least twice. Both as a DM and as a player.
8. Make the necessary changes, send it back to your editor.
9. Add layout and all your fancy art if applicable.
10. Publish!
11. Celebrate by doing number 1.
Are there media (books/television/music) that inspire or motivate you? Anime for me. My first CCC, A Dragon's Breath, I got the inspiration to write it after watching a heart-breaking episode of The Ancient Magus' Bride.
Do you have a favorite DDAL adventure that you've DMed or played? DDAL05-02 The Black Road is my go-to adventure because it is so easy to run and I think it is one of the best adventures to give to new players. From my adventures, I love running A Dragon's Breath and cry together with my players.
Petrina Ho [she/her], author of CCC-RPSG-06 Of Caravans and Crossings (with Eriko Ho, Pearline Ho, and Jason Koh)
What is your heritage? Chinese
Where on social media can people find you? Twitter: @irevx, Ko-Fi: irevx, & Instagram: @petrinaho
What’s some little-known information about yourself? I really have an interest in Science and Tech!
What does your writing process look like? It’s not pretty! The whole process, creatively, was new to me! Pearline, Erika (both co-authors on the module) and I sat and workshopped a few ideas for a whole afternoon. After that… it was a blur of drafts and edits!
Are there media (books/television/music) that inspire or motivate you? Actually, real life is the best inspiration for any story!
Do you have a favorite DDAL adventure that you've DMed or played? I don’t have a favourite… because every time I run or play the same mod, it turns out different!
Graeme Kristoff Alejo [he/him], author of CCC-GSP-FEAR01-01 Beneath the Bleeding Tree
What is your heritage? Filipino
Where on social media can people find you? Twitter: @Fudgetop
What’s some little-known information about yourself? I absolutely love mythology, especially South-East Asian, Japanese, African, and Native American mythologies.
What does your writing process look like? I write whatever comes into my mind in a single file and arrange the ones I think people would love into a cohesive story, then fill in the details and use inspiration I get from other stories which are similar.
Are there media (books/television/music) that inspire or motivate you? Batman, Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, and Discworld are among my favorite media and have shaped my writing.
Do you have a favorite DDAL adventure that you've DMed or played? CCC-GSP01-01 A Dragon's Breath! Amazing characters, tear-jerking story, and an amazing adventure all around.
Jonathan Tan [he/him], author of CCC-RPSG-05 Through the Ashes and Flames (with Jason Koh)
What is your heritage? 3rd Generation Chinese
Where on social media can people find you? Twitter: @beardedasianlad & Instagram: @beardedasianlad + @nerd.hobbies
What’s some little-known information about yourself? I ran a podcast in Avernus for WotC once! I had a lot of fun on that one.
What does your writing process look like? I figure out the themes and what's unique about this adventure first, followed by thematic encounters they might face. Once everything is in bullet points, I playtest it and write notes on anything interesting that occurred as well as any pacing issues that I notice. Then I write it as a module and finally edit it.
Are there media (books/television/music) that inspire or motivate you? In video games, I personally enjoy MMO raid mechanics for combat and often try to put them into my games.
Do you have a favorite DDAL adventure that you've DMed or played? I tend to enjoy running modules that have spectacles in them, so there's CCC-RPSG-01 Ooze There, as well as CCC-ODFC02-02 Palace of the Efreeti.
Jason Koh [he/him], author of CCC-RPSG-04 The Waystop
What is your heritage? Singapore Chinese
How can people support you? I'm also an editor, writer and game master for hire, and you can check that out on Ko-Fi.
Where on social media can people find you? I head a collective called Neo Tokyo Project. We're content creators, cosplayers and gamers, and we post about our geeky endeavors on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We're also launching a D&D stream on Twitch in the latter part of the year.
What’s some little-known information about yourself? I'm currently working on a book of character options inspired by Wuxia and Xianxia (martial arts and fusion fantasy) with an all Asian creative team from Singapore and around the region. We're all diehard D&D fans, and we're excited to share our take on popular aspects of our culture with other players around the world!
What does your writing process look like? I'm a film maker by training, so I approach adventures just as if I were creating a screenplay or directing a film. A strong, coherent storyline with ample foreshadowing, compelling NPCs with clearly defined goals and motivations, and expansive, memorable sets are all incredibly important to me. I also enjoy thinking up new ways to present genre conventions, and to subvert popular tropes. I typically spend 80% of the time playing things out in my head, making notes, and shuffling the elements of each scene around until I'm satisfied, before I sit down to actually work on the manuscript.
Are there media (books/television/music) that inspire or motivate you? I'm a big fan of Hong Kong cinema, especially the films of John Woo, Tsui Hark, Peter Chan and Wong Kar Wai, martial arts manhua (comic books) by Andy Seto, Type-Moon's Fate franchise, and the Final Fantasy video games. The rigor that goes into my stories is something I've learned from these cinematic auteurs, and how I dress my NPCs and design the environment is heavily influenced by manhua, anime and video game aesthetics.
Do you have a favorite DDAL adventure that you've DMed or played? The first AL module I DMed was Window to the Past from Alan Patrick's Saga of the Worm, and it will always have a special place in my heart. I also loved everything the AL team did with The Red War, and how the community helped shape the narrative. It'd be great if the community at large could continue to contribute to the overarching storylines of AL in a similar way!
Tan Lou Ee [he/him], author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Land
What is your heritage? Southeast Asian Chinese, my grandparents were first generation immigrants from China to Singapore.
How can people support you? I help manage a Singapore based AL community called The Legitimate Business ("TLB"). We run games online for the time zone on Discord as well as listing games on Warhorn.
I also intend to write more Salvage Missions for the DMs Guild but I always look for people to test and play them before publication in our community.
Where on social media can people find you? I don't really use social media but I've published a few articles at The Legitimate Business regarding the Oracle of War modules.
What’s some little-known information about yourself? I'm qualified as a lawyer in Singapore and have experience in trials. So sometimes I have to control myself in adventures involving laws or trials.
What does your writing process look like? Thinking of one or more highlight scenes for an adventure and building everything around that experience. Then thinking of an awful title that links everything together.
Are there media (books/television/music) that inspire or motivate you? Lovecraft's stories, Junji Ito works, Absurdist Fiction
Do you have a favorite DDAL adventure that you've DMed or played? I enjoy DMing DDAL-EB-06 The Last Word, because I enjoy roleplaying NPCs and RP shenanigans with the PCs. I enjoyed playing DDAL-05-05 A Dish Best Served Cold because of Groganbosh.
Lance Martin Lu Tan [he/him], author of CCC-EPI01-01 Hordes of Thar - The White Hand of Death
What is your heritage? Chinese
Where on social media can people find you? Twitter: @halforcbarb and Facebook
What’s some little-known information about yourself? I'm currently in flux when it comes to having a hobby to focus on though I do love video games.
What does your writing process look like? I have a full time job and write when I can. I update very slowly and write when inspiration hits.
Are there media (books/television/music) that inspire or motivate you? World of Warcraft, Warhammer, anime have always been a very big inspiration for me.
Do you have a favorite DDAL adventure that you've DMed or played? The Saga of the Worm by Alan Patrick is an absolute masterpiece and I can't wait for him to finish the series.
We're incredibly grateful not only to all of the authors who contributed their work to this charity bundle, but to everyone who made a purchase to support the Asian Mental Health Collective.