Welcome to Roadworthy! This is a chance to show off a Road Crew Judge and allow them to share their experience and wisdom. We provide these profiles to help provide insight into their personality and style, and maybe give up-and-coming Judges some advice on improving their game.
The Road Crew theme for 2019 is Road Trip! We want you to get out there and experience the world. Whether it be in real life or online, you can always explore unknown lands and make new friends. Who knows, maybe we’ll put you up on our website. Jump on into the Road Crew program for your chance!
This time out we talk to one of the voices behind Spellburn and The Appendix N Book Club. His knowledge and love of classic fiction make him a natural fit for DCC. Let’s meet Judge Jeff Goad!
Roadworthy: Jeff Goad!
What’s your name, where do you live (and game), and how would you describe yourself?
Hi, I’m Judge Jeff! I started the DCC NYC Meetup group in 2016, became one of the Judges J of Spellburn and started the Appendix N Book Club podcast in 2017, and moved to Cleveland in 2018.
How did you first discover DCC?
In 2013, my buddy Adrian “the Invincible Overlord” Romero signed me up to run a session of Sailors on the Starless Sea for the New York Red Box group. It was my first time running DCC RPG and I hadn’t played it either. Eleven people showed up to play and I was having a hard time keeping up with all the action. I could tell some players were getting restless and annoyed that it was taking so long between their actions. I was overwhelmed but got through it. For the second session only two people came back and I took it super personally and felt like I had failed BIG TIME. So I stopped playing DCC.
But I couldn’t shake it off: the funnel, the magic system, patrons. It was haunting me. I started looking for people to play with but I couldn’t find anyone. I was like “I live in a city of eight million people, there HAS to be people who want to play this game”. So I decided I would start a Meetup group devoted to DCC RPG. But I wanted to make sure that I was going to do it right!
I started lurking in the G+ groups and the Goodman Games forums, and I devoured every episode of Spellburn. The JudgesJ kept talking about gaming conventions so I decided that I would go to Gen Con and play with the masters. One week after returning from Gen Con 2016, I scheduled my first game for the DCC NYC meetup group.
As of “right now,” how many Road Crew games have you run in this or past seasons?
Five. I ran four sessions of my DCC port of Queering the Dungeon at Gary Con and one at Dungeons and Drag Queens in Cleveland. [Since this interview, Judge Jeff helped to run the Origins DCC Team Tournament, so his total has definitely increased!]
What’s your favorite Road Crew game experience so far?
This is hard. So many great moments. All of the DCC NYC games were Road Crew games and I’ve met amazing folks through it: Aaron, Andrew, Andy, Basha, Berrie, Bunky, Chris, David, Eric, Hoi, Ian, Johnny, Jonathan, Kate, Lion, Matt, Matthew, Michael, Mike, Pete, Vasili, and many others. But I guess I’ll say my favorite moments were usually Volrath moments: Andrew Sternick always had me laughing with the antics of the Cleric of Bobugbulbilz.
Tell us where you run your Road Crew games.
Right now I’m mostly running them at cons. But if you are in the Cleveland area, I run them at Weird Realms occasionally and at Dungeons and Drag Queens.
Look me up and message me. If there’s a game happening, I’ll let ya know! Also, Beckett Warren runs DCC games every Thursday at Weird Realms and they are INSANE. I highly recommend checking them out.
What advice would you give to other Road Crew judges?
Play in other judges’ games. Notice their good habits and emulate them. Notice their bad habits and avoid those. It sounds simple but it makes a big difference.
Some players are loud and want to be the center of attention. Let them have their moment in the spotlight then move on.
Some players are quiet. Give them opportunities to be in the spotlight and if they don’t take those moments then move on.
Be mindful of ways that you can make your games more inclusive and feel safer to women, people of color, and LGBT folks.
This question comes from Judge Joseph “Shaun” Hale: In your DCC gaming, what is the most unexpected thing that a group has ever done? What did you expect them to do vs what they did? How did that affect the outcome of the plan you had for them?
There is no resurrection in DCC… until there is!
Zola the Lawful was decapitated by a head-stealing bat. The party killed the bat on the same round and then Volrath, the Cleric of Bobugbulbilz, put the freshly decapitated head onto the blood-spewing stump and cast Divine Aid and rolled a natural 18. It would have been so easy to say NO but I chose to say YES. The timing was perfect and the roll was high.
When Zola the Chaotic opened her eyes, they were frog eyes and she always had the smell of the swamp about her.
Interested in learning about our other amazing Road Crew judges? Click here for all the Roadworthy profiles!
