Meet the Players behind the Characters
Nick Kelly, Cyberpunk Noir Author, Musician, Geek Wolfpack Network Editor-in-Chief
How did you discover D&D?
My love of D&D goes back, and I’m not kidding, to third grade. I remember my first character was just a filler. He was a fighter, really an archer named Bolt. From there, we played all through high school and college. Sure, we expanded out to other RPG’s including Gamma World, Cyberpunk, Marvel’s Super Heroes, RIFTS, and Vampire: The Masquerade. But, D&D was always there. When we decided to get together in the mid 2010’s and play a long-distance campaign, making it into a podcast was a no-brainer. Those who were there at the very beginning know that D&D was just a segment of a different podcast before it grew into its own thing. But, remember, The Simpsons was just a segment on the Tracey Ullman Show before it became its own thing for decades!
ADHD D&D Classic: Pharaxes Fireborn
ADHD D&D New: Talos Lightbringer
Rime of the Frost Maiden: Choncord Wolfchyld
Website: www.nickkelly.com
Socials:
Twitter: @Nick_Kelly
Instagram: nick_a_kelly
Facebook: NickAKelly
Bluesky: NickAKelly
Threads: Nick-a-kelly
Dr. Stacia Kelly, PhD, Holistic Health Practitioner, Cast Member
Bio:
Stories are my currency.
I’ve authored fiction, non-fiction, and RPGs. My current works include the Goddess Chronicles, the Urban Samurai Series, and now, Tales from The Fracture, a role-playing experience born from Luna’s Emporium that allows players to explore cosmic thresholds and personal transformation.
I also ghostwrite, mentor other authors, and design story systems that help creators go deeper — whether they’re crafting a trilogy or a tarot-based journal.
📖 Published works: From wellness guides to speculative fiction
🎲 RPG Creator: Story-first, oracle-powered, solo and shared play
ADHD D&D Classic: Luna
ADHD D&D New: Luna
Rime of the Frost Maiden: Mystori Glas
Website: staciakelly.com
Socials:
Twitter: @StaciaKelly
Instagram: staciadkelly
Facebook:
Brandon “Thermal” Wolf, Composer, Editor & Cast Member
Bio:
ADHD D&D Classic: Shade Nightshadow
ADHD D&D New: Shade Nightshadow
Rime of the Frost Maiden: Serigade
Website: https://bwolfkelly.
Socials:
Twitter: @ThermalWolff
Instagram: Thermalwolff
Tee Morris, Award-Winning Author, Actor & Cast Member
Bio:
Tee Morris has been writing adventures in far-off lands and far-off worlds since elementary school. Inspired by numerous Choose Your Own Adventure titles and Terry Brooks’ Shannara series, he wrote not-so-short short stories of his own, unaware that working on a typewriter when sick-from-school and, later, on a computer (which was a lot quieter that meant more time to write at night) would pave a way for his writings.
His first published work was at James Madison University where he received his degree in Mass Communications and Theatre. During his semester abroad in England, Tee covered London’s Poll Tax Riots for JMU’s newspaper, The Breeze. While an accomplishment, writing whether it was journalism or fiction was just a fun departure from his first love: Theatre.
I always saw myself as an actor. Still do. I continue to enjoy the new and exciting experiences that my writing has introduced me to, but I do miss taking the stage. As a writer, I try to find excuses to bring in that theatre training. I learned a great deal as an actor, and those experiences give me an advantage to writing dialog, creating characters, and setting locations and moods. That’ what acting and writing are all about: telling a good story.
It would be at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, while learning lines and sharpening up his improvisation skills, where Tee would pick up the pen and punch the keys of his first Mac. After writing two one-acts, Tee was invited to participate in their Writers’ Guild. At one of the largest festivals of its kind on the East Coast as his source of inspiration and research, the character of Rafe Rafton and his debut novel would take shape.
In my previous seasons at Maryland, I had portrayed an awkward town deputy, an eccentric inventor, and a verbose actor. Now came the opportunity to play a brash, swaggering swashbuckler. Basically, a Tudor version of Han Solo. In creating this privateer, I also took a few notes from Errol Flynn in Captain Blood and Tommy Lee Jones in Nate and Hayes.
After my first season as Rafe, I knew an opportunity was presenting itself. I thought it would be for me as an actor or a stage combatant. I truly had no idea what adventure this character would take me on.
His first work, MOREVI: The Chronicles of Rafe & Askana, a Historical-Fantasy epic written with Lisa Lee began in the most unlikely of places an online chat room for Fantasy role players who combined various gaming rules and characters to interact between one another. It was here that Tee Morris’ Rafe Rafton met Lisa Lee’s Askana Moldarin, and the two began work on an adventure that would become a top selling title for Dragon Moon Press, an EPPIE finalist for Best eBook Fantasy of 2003, the first book to be podcast in 2005, and a Parsec Award Finalist for Best Podcast Novel in 2006.
Podcasting MOREVI led to the founding of Podiobooks.com and collaborating with Evo Terra and Chuck Tomasi on Podcasting for Dummies. It also won acclaim and accolades for his first solo title, Billibub Baddings and The Case of the Singing Sword, the podcast winning a 2008 Parsec Award for Best Audio Drama. While writing Fantasy is his passion, his journalism chops were still called upon when commissioned to write articles for BenBella Books’s Farscape Forever: Sex, Drugs, and Killer Muppets and So Say We All: Collected Thoughts and Opinions of Battlestar Galactica. He was also tapped to write All a Twitter, a definitive guide to working with Twitter. With his diverse background in Science Fiction, writing, and Social Media,Tee has hosted presentations at venues across the country and around the world including The Library of Congress, BlogWorld, CREATE South, and Te Papa Tongawera.
I am an author. To me, this means that I do more than write what I love. I’ve been a columnist for a tech blog. I’ve been asked to write commentary for print and online publications. I’ve written several books on Social Media. It doesn’t matter what you are writing, so long as you are writing. With each short story, op-ed, or tweet, you sharpen your skills.
I also believe being an author means more than just being able to write more than what you love. It means being a marketer, a promoter, and a public speaker. You need to be versed in things other than just grammar. You need to understand networking with people, what image you portray when online or when at a convention, and know what new technology is out there and how you can make it work for you. That’s the difference between being a writer and being an author.
Tee returned to writing fiction with The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series, written with his wife, Pip Ballantine. he still dabbles in non-fiction, having panned with his wife Social Media for Writers, returning for the Third Edition of Podcasting for Dummies, and releasing the first mainstream book for Twitch, Twitch for Dummies. When Tee is not creating something on his Macintosh, he enjoys streaming video games early in the morning, Krav Maga, and putting together new Spotify playlists to write by. His other hobbies include cigars and scotch, which he regards the same way as anime and graphic novels: “I don’t know everything about them, but I know what I like.” (And he likes Avo and Arturo Fuente for his smoke, Highland Park for his scotch!) He enjoys life in Virginia alongside Pip in their historic house surrounded by a clowder of cats.
ADHD D&D Classic: Eryk Whitewolf
ADHD D&D New: Eryk Whitewolf
Rime of the Frost Maiden: Quinton Edmund Devonshire
Website: teemorris.com
Socials:
Instagram: TheTeeMonster
Twitch: TheTeeMonster
Threads: TheTeeMonster
Bluesky: Tee Morris
Philippa Ballantine, Award-Winning Author, Story Contributor & Cast Member
Bio:
New Zealand born fantasy writer and podcaster Philippa (Pip) Ballantine is the author of the Books of the Order, The Chronicles of Art, and The Shifted World series. She is also the co-author of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series with her husband, Tee Morris.
The first book in the series, Phoenix Rising, won the Airship Award for Best Steampunk Fiction, and was the number eight best Science Fiction book of 2011 according to Goodreads.com. Their follow-up, The Janus Affair, was the seventh most popular science fiction book of 2012 on Goodreads.com, and won the Steampunk Chronicles Reader’s Choice Award for Best Fiction. The third book in the series, Dawn’s Early Light, won the RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Steampunk of 2014. Her short stories of fantasy, steampunk, and even post-apocalyptic dystopia can be found in collections like Steampunk World, Tales of a Tesla Ranger, Clockwork Fairy Tales, and Hell Hath No Fury.
In 2023, Pip was invited to write in one of her favorite science fiction IPs. Alien: Inferno’s Fall, written for 20th Century and published by Titan Books, dropped her like a team of Colonial Marines into the world of xenomorphs, corporate espionage, and galactic politics. Inferno’s Fall and this famous franchise proved to be a natural fit for her unique brand of horror.
She is also a well-known essayist in the field of pop culture, her editorials appearing in collections like A Taste of True Blood, published by Ben Bella Books; and offering strategy alongside Tee in their popular Social Media for Writers title.
Her awards include an Airship, a Parsec, the Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice, the RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for steampunk, and a Sir Julius Vogel. While returning as often as possible to Aotearoa, Pip lives in Virginia with Tee and seven cats. (And yes, the story of how they now have seven cats is a story for the ages.)
She is represented by Fuse Literary.
ADHD D&D Classic: Ashimei Dragonfire
ADHD D&D New: Ashimei Dragonfire
Rime of the Frost Maiden: Vishara
Website: pjballantine.com
Socials:
Instagram: PJ Ballantine
Bluesky: Pip Ballantine
Threads: PJ Ballantine
Steve Saylor, Gaming Accessibility Advocate, Cast Member
Bio:
Steve Saylor is a passionate advocate for accessibility in the gaming industry. His expertise and dedication have significantly impacted raising awareness about the importance of inclusive gaming experiences. Steve has collaborated with game developers to ensure that video games are playable for people with disabilities, and his work has been widely recognized and praised.
Game developers have credited Steve Saylor for his contributions to accessibility in video games. They have expressed appreciation for his guidance and expertise, highlighting how his insights helped them create more inclusive gaming experiences. News outlets such as IGN, Gamespot, Kinda Funny, Giant Bomb, BBC, CBC, NPR, and USA Today have featured Steve and his work, showcasing his expertise as a video game commentator, an accessibility advocate, and a content creator.
Notable video games that credit Steve Saylor for his accessibility work include Call of Duty MW2 (2022) and MW3 (2023), Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, The Last Of Us Part 2, and more. These credits testify to his impact and influence in making gaming more accessible and enjoyable for a wider audience.
ADHD D&D New: Roylas
Website: Steve Saylor
Socials:
Twitter: @stevesaylor
Instagram: Steve Saylor
Twitch: BlindGamerSteve
YouTube: Snowball
Serena/Sonny/Sam Morris
Bio:
ADHD D&D Classic: Kara
ADHD D&D New: Kara
Website:
Socials:
Jessica Lehman, Artist, Cast Member
Bio:
Rime of the Frost Maiden: Khivae the Barbarian
Website:
Socials:
Instagram: EssiCrossed
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