About Nerdburger Games
NerdBurger Games is the Atlanta-based game design imprint of Ennie-nominated RPG designer Craig Campbell. Craig freelanced for a variety of different RPGs for years before establishing NerdBurger Games in 2016 with the publication of his first game, Murders & Acquisitions. Since then, NBG has published over a dozen RPGs of varying sizes and styles, including CAPERS, Good Strong Hands, Die Laughing, Code Warriors, and Secrets of the Vibrant Isle.
Craig Campbell and NerdBurger Games can be found at GenCon and PAX Unplugged every year, along with a variety of other, smaller game conventions. Several super-fans also often run our games at their local game conventions.
NerdBurger Games Goals and Values
Make games that help players tell engaging, memorable stories.
Be inclusive and supportive in games, work, and community.
Pay freelance contributors. Give them opportunity to express their creativity as much as possible.
Strive to help creative people get their first work in RPGs.
Fulfill Kickstarters on time, often shortly after the campaign ends.
Craig Campbell – Owner, Designer, Publisher
I’ve been playing, GMing, and designing RPGs for three decades. In 2001, I wrote my first paid freelance RPG piece, a convention module for D&D’s Living Greyhawk titled, “Winter Tears.” Over the next several years, I published a feature article in Dragon Magazine and wrote a few adventures for the RPGA. In 2009, I began doing more freelancing, racking up over thirty freelance credits for Dungeons & Dragons, Gamma World, Pathfinder, and Iron Kingdoms. I started designing my first game in 2013 and it’s been non-stop game design and publishing ever since.
I’ve found game design and publishing to be incredibly satisfying. I love building worlds and rules with my imagination and bringing them to others to read, play, and enjoy. Storytelling is one of humanity’s most enduring and defining activities. And cooperative storytelling like RPGs is a great way to connect with others and find common ground.
You can contact Craig by emailing NerdBurgerGames@gmail.com.
Contributors
While I’m the owner of NerdBurger Games and fill a lot of other roles, there are plenty of things I don’t have time to do or simply cannot do. I employ many freelancers as designers, illustrators, editors, graphic designers, layout artists, consultants, and so on in order to make games. Additionally, playtesters and members of the NerdBurger Games Discord and fandom have helped make our games the best they can be.
Who are some of these people?
I try not to forget how I was helped along the way as a freelancer by many designers, developers, and editors who guided and encouraged me. To this end, NerdBurger Games does what it can to give freelance opportunities to people with no or few credits in the RPG industry. Some work on just one or two projects. Some become regular contributors, like these fine folks…
Beth Varni is a freelance artist working in comics and gaming. Growing up on tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons helped cultivate a deep love of art and storytelling–leading to a pursuit in the field of Art and Illustration. She lives in the Northern VA area with her dog, Mariketa, and cat Yoshi. She loves horror games, Indian food, and arts and crafts.
Christopher R Boyer is a professional game master, game designer, forever GM and the person responsible for convincing Craig that NBG needed a Discord. His love of learning and role-playing games is why he’s playtested every NBG product since the original Capers. Chris’ favorite system of all time is CAPERS, because of the ease of character creation and the fast, flexible nature of the system. His work as a designer includes CAPERS Pirates, CAPERS Offworld, CAPERS Expanded, and Code Warriors.
Coyote Crow is an author, editor, and game designer with a passion for storytelling. She’s especially fond of ghastly horror, weird fiction, and alternate histories brimming with adventure. She has found all three in NerdBurger Games, whom she edits (and sometimes writes) for.
Ginny Loveday is an award-winning and best-selling game designer and editor. She primarily flexes her editing skills for NBG, where she’s gotten to work on so many exciting projects. Code Warriors is currently her favorite NBG game because who doesn’t love a fun apocalyptic game with puns about computers? Like her favorite animal, foxes, Ginny can be bribed with snacks. She asserts that her favorite snacks are Mickey-shaped and served at Disney World! You can find her work and contact her
Ryan Hennesy is a cartographer, designer, and illustrator with over 10 years experience creating for RPGs who loves solving visual problems. He lives in the Baltimore-Washington area with his wife, daughter, and small spotted dog named Pixel.
Sharene Gilchrist is a longtime, queer gamer who loves storytelling, humour, and psychedelia. When they discovered the roleplay-focused games of the 90s, she went all in and totally embraced TTRPG life. Since then they have managed online text roleplay chatrooms, written for a few books and compilations, been on live streams as a GM and a player, and featured on podcasts and shows. Writing for NerdBurger is a dream come true with the chance to really express herself in the fun and interesting NPCs, settings, and plot hooks they get to create. Game mechanics too!
Todd Crapper (yep, that’s right) is an award-winning tabletop indie publisher, game designer, and production designer. You may have seen his work in Part-Time Gods Second Edition, Pandora: Total Destruction, Artisans of Splendant Vale, Die Laughing, Good Strong Hands, and the ENnie-award winning High Plains Samurai. Learn more about his work at http://brokenrulergames.net.