Hi, Pathfinders and Starfinders! We’re lucky to have a community full of awesome people with so many different identities and experiences. Today, we want to give the spotlight to members of our community with disabilities. These folks are game designers, content creators, players and GMs, business owners, writers, and artists. Please take a few moments to learn more about them in their own words.
Zigvigix, Illustration by Sebastien Rodriguez, from the Starfinder Society Organized Play Program GM Numbat (they/she)
I started playing RPGs in the mid-late ‘70s, enjoying the original D&D with its flimsy booklets and fun dice. Within a year, I was running games at my all-girls high school. I’ve played many systems over the years, though usually only briefly and with long breaks between. Partly this was because of a complex interaction of several chronic mental and physical conditions which can limit my abilities. I am grateful for the Paizo Organized Play community, where I found an accepting and welcoming home.
None of my health concerns are obvious by looking at me. The major advantage to this is that when I have a good day, no one prejudges me simply based on appearance. The major disadvantage is that when I am having a bad day, it is difficult for some to understand, as I look “normal.” Over time, I have become better at learning my limits and predicting some of those times that I need to cut back on commitments. Still, I can be caught out with an unexpected flare and have to pull out of playing, or worse, running a game. I always feel terrible when I do, even though most of our community has been wonderfully supportive. Dietary restrictions are a challenge, especially when traveling or wanting to socialize. I catch myself annoyed by someone’s fidgeting or apparent distraction at the table and remind myself that this may be their coping mechanism, just as I have mine. We are each so individual, with our own needs and concerns, often not obvious to others. Let us celebrate those differences and the unique perspective they bring.
Ivis K. Flanagan (she/her)
Disabilities come in many forms. There are disabilities that the world can observe and recognize. There are others, though, that people fight in the dark, because the social stigma of them can be a silence spell, where the anxiety of the possible response is more encompassing than the darkness of suffering alone. PTSD is one of those.
PTSD is the demon that I fight. While many often associate this fight with former soldiers or others who have been in warzones, those are not the only demons at hand. Any traumatic event can be a catalyst. This is my fight—utilizing weapons of words, medications, and therapy in the ongoing battle. I now add to these this transparency in the hopes that someone else will see that they aren’t alone. You have allies who know these battlefields well.
Another weapon against it is finding safe spaces and friends who care. I have been able to do that through this community—the players, volunteers, freelancers, and staff who I am lucky to call colleagues and friends. This community is ever growing, and its values of inclusion, diversity, and honesty are why it is a safe space, a space I am grateful to help create, and a place where no one has to fight alone.
Tassada Kor Full, “Illustration by Milos Rocenovic from SFS #4-06: Combatants’ Concerto: Prelude to Revolution Avi Kool (they/them)
Hi all! I’m senior editor at Paizo (on Twitter at @legalizegoblins) and multiply disabled, both physically and mentally. Due to hypermobility and congenital muscle issues, I have numerous joint conditions and when walking for more than a few minutes, I have to wear braces on my knees to reduce pain. This can lead to awkward questions, uncomfortable assumptions, and a sense of self-consciousness. Sticking out in public is challenging, whether it’s the braces themselves or the need to use the elevator when all my friends automatically go for the stairs. Additionally, I have a whole cocktail of mental and learning disabilities. This isn’t uncommon; comorbidity is the norm for mental illness and learning disabilities, which is why you often see people listing out a number of disorders. Here’s my list: bipolar disorder, OCD, generalized anxiety disorder, ADHD, and dyscalculia. I struggle with feeling self-conscious about the number of health problems I face, but there’s no need to be ashamed. Disability is actually extremely common, though we don’t talk about it like it is, and many people with disabilities have more than one.
It’s been a huge pleasure to see disability become more prominent in our games. I feel so lucky to have worked on books like Grand Bazaar, where I gave my NPC, Arhan Benimaya, a service dog. Disability *is* normal, and we should treat it as such.
Dave Nelson (he/they)
Hey everybody! I'm Dave Nelson and I live with a handful of disabilities, mainly autism, dyslexia/dysgraphia, and anxiety. Often these "invisible" disabilities get either swept under the rug or have their legitimacy questioned. It makes it quite the uphill battle to get recognized and taken seriously. I feel very strongly that more exposure to what folks with these disabilities are actually like and what they go through will help combat these issues. So from the very start of my writing career I have tried to champion neurodiverse causes and representation as best I can. You can find examples of my neurodiverse characters both in Lost Omens Grand Bazaar in the form of Erikanesh, or the upcoming Absalom, City of Lost Omens with Chun Hye-Seung. You can find me on Twitter @davicthegrey, talking about my experiences, games, and all other manner of things.
Chun Hae Seung, Illustration by Alex Stone, from Pathfinder Absalom, City of Lost Omens Stefan “Waffles” Timmons (he/him)
Hello, I am Stefan, better known in the TTRPG sphere as Waffles from WafflesMapleSyrup LLC. I am a disabled US Navy veteran with major depressive disorder, tinnitus, as well as other depressive contributing factors such as insomnia and chronic pain. I have battled with suicide in my life and strive to have nobody need to fight that battle alone.
I am one of the two CEOs of WafflesMapleSyrup, who run two separate streams and podcasts. I am the GM of our Starfinder show Journeys Adrift, and I play an android magus (Arc II) in our Strength of Thousands show, Outcast & Outclassed. TTRPGs have given me a close-knit group of friends and a significant other that keep my head up and let me strive to do better in life.
WafflesMapleSyrup strives to reduce the stigma against mental health with our platform in TTRPGs, and because of their similar standards, love to do so with Paizo. We've participated in PaizoCon streams, Jasper's Game Day, and Paizo events, among other events with various creators since we began.
We aim to build our platform into something large enough to have the reach necessary to reduce the stigma against mental health and show that it is okay to be different, it's okay to be disabled, and there should always be a place for everyone at the table.
Esther Wallace (she/her, zhe/zher)
Hi y’all, I’m Esther Wallace. I GM Chromythica, a Pathfinder 2E actual play, and I’m multiply disabled. I have myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), two types of OI (osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare bone disease, and orthostatic intolerance, which mostly means I get really dizzy when I stand up), and other as-yet-undiagnosed chronic illnesses.
My disabilities come with frequent symptoms of brain fog, intense pain, and exhaustion. I’m still learning how to navigate as a disabled person in the tabletop community. Gaming spaces are so often not constructed with disabled people in mind; for me, it makes all the difference in the world if a GM and fellow players ask me about my access needs and work with me to implement accessibility practices. As a player, this can take the shape of GMs building in time for me to move my body or encouraging me to play online games from bed or a couch. As a GM, this frequently takes the form of my players helping me recall rules on particularly bad brain fog days!
I created the hashtags #tabletopaccess and #ttrpgaccess as a way for disabled people to discuss our experiences in tabletop, and I host periodic Twitter chats about disability and tabletop RPGs using these hashtags. Disabled people are welcome to respond to any of the prompts I’ve posted, and nondisabled people are welcome to follow along and learn!
You can find me on Twitter @dungeonminister and catch me GMing @Chromythica on Twitter and YouTube!
Illustration by Lucas Villalva Machado, from Pathfinder Lost Omens Grand Bazaar Owen K.C. Stephens (he/him)
Hi, I’m Owen K.C. Stephens. I’ve been playing and homebrewing for TTRPGs for 39 years, been a professional game writer for 25 years, a developer for 21, and a publisher and consultant for 9. My involvement with Paizo goes back to the early days of the company putting out DragonMagazine. I wrote the original Guide to Absalom as a freelancer, was a Paizo developer on-staff from 2014 to 2019, am a co-creator of Starfinder, and have done regular freelance work for Paizo since I left. I am also the publisher and co-owner for Rogue Genius Games, and the Fantasy AGE developer for Green Ronin.
Content Warning: Trauma, abuse, and suicidal thoughts discussed in the rest of this bio.
I’m a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I have Civilian Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (also known as Non-Combat PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder. I must be medicated and undergo psychotherapy in order to remain functional. This is much like having a broken leg and needing crutches—the crutches don’t let you act normally, but they do make it possible to get more done than you possibly could without them.
Gaming, both game-writing and game-playing, have been a major source of therapy and the ability to build a social safety net for myself. Before I was diagnosed, without RPGs, I would not have survived high school. I know games are important—they saved my life—and believe representation is a crucial part of that.
You can find me and links to my social media at owenkcstephens.com.
For content designed by disabled authors and game designers for playing characters with disabilities, check out Pathfinder Grand Bazaar and Starfinder Tech Revolution! For some great fiction, read “Wheels Aflame” by Sara Thompson.
International Day of People with Disabilities
Friday, December 3, 2021
