Celeste Conowitch is a senior game designer for Kobold Press, an RPG freelancer, and creator of the podcast Venture Maidens.
Charles Dunwoody (CD): Thanks for talking with us, Celeste. You are a senior game developer, RPG freelancer, and RPG podcaster. With all your ongoing projects, what is your favorite RPG work and why?
Celeste Conowitch (CC): While this answer likely won’t surprise you, my daily design work is pretty focused on Tales of the Valiant these days. It’s always an exciting time when you launch a new game. As more people discover a game, the clamor for more content—and more content NOW—becomes ever louder. And we’re all working around the clock to make sure we meet demand.
CD: As senior designer for Kobold Press, what are your RPG responsibilities and what input do you have in future products?
CC: I wear a lot of hats as Kobold Press’s senior game designer. My primary role is to facilitate the ‘big picture’ elements of our hardcover releases—making decisions about what elements go where, constructing outlines, designing foundational mechanics for other designers to build upon, developing material from freelancers, facilitating playtest cycles, creating art briefs—and so on. I also routinely meet with our marketing and production folks to brainstorm future products, strategize ways to support existing products and pitch new ideas about the best ways to support our players.
CD: How did Kobold Press decide that The Labyrinth: 5E TOV Expansion and Adventure Path should be developed and what is your favorite part of Labyrinth?
CC: My favorite part of the Labyrinth setting—was helping to create it! It is a really rare and special thing to sit down with industry legends like Wolfgang Baur and Richard Green to do (to play, really) worldbuilding. Many gamers in this generation are inheriting default campaign settings that have already been well-established for decades—getting to be in the room creating something genuinely new was thrilling. As for why the Labyrinth—well, that’s easy. The Great Maze is the perfect meta-setting to connect to whatever world they are currently in. Tales of the Valiant was designed so you can use its elements right now (regardless of the 5E version your table uses), so it made sense to embrace a setting that could connect to any game world (whether homebrew or published) right now.
CD: What is the future of Tales of the Valiant: future products and what direction do you want to see Kobold Press go with the line?
CC: The future is bright for Tales of the Valiant! We have a ferociously dedicated Valiant fan base that grows larger every day. Once people come to check it out, they stay—and that is the strongest indicator that a game is solid and has a future worth investing in. So, right now, the Tales of the Valiant direction is full steam ahead! We worked hard to establish new ways of doing adventures, new structures for player options, and new formats for oft-overlooked game elements—now the task ahead is to make more of everything using these sweet blueprints.
CD: For GMs out there who want to improve their skills what is your number one recommendation to improve game play and/or enhance adventure design?
CC: When discussing soft skills, my answer to this question is always to develop better communication. Being a better GM—or improving any area of your life—starts with learning to listen, empathize, and establish healthy avenues of discussion with those around you. For an answer specific to gaming, mastering pacing is an important skill to cultivate. Whether you want to run engaging game sessions, write compelling adventures, or design mechanics for a market with less free time than ever, the art of holding attention is critical to success.
CD: Any hints of an upcoming product you are excited about (other than The Labyrinth) and/or a product direction that Kobold Press is planning to head in?
CC: Our number one complaint about Tales of the Valiant is ‘we want more options.’ (Which, frankly, is the best number one complaint a game designer could hope for.) So, I don’t think I’m surprising anyone too much when I say that we’ve got products jam-packed with more player options coming up on the horizon. Additionally, we can start dreaming even bigger now that we’ve secured our future with a foundational game system (one we know isn’t going anywhere). We can consider expanding and experimenting with many glorious avenues of the nerd world. When you’ve got a team as creative and supportive as my fellow kobolds, the sky is the limit.
CD: Thank you so much for sharing your experience and thoughts with us. Any final thoughts you’d like to share with the readers of EN World?
CC: Thank you so much for having me! Thank you all for being passionate about games—your discussions, playtest participation, and feedback are why we get to do this awesome thing every day. Keep playing, and we’ll keep making things to delight you. That’s our scaly promise.
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