Who  IS  rpg&Co?

Well, it is me, Bryan Weiss. I’m a gamer, a dad, a graphic designer, VO talent, painter, sailor, and geek at heart. Why did I start RPG & Co? Mostly because after 25 years in the advertising biz, I got sick of the corporate scene and wanted to play games again. Wouldn’t that be nice? Sure. But a smidgen unrealistic for me. So I had an idea. Why not utilize what I’ve learned about branding and marketing in that 25 years and apply it to something that I’ve loved since I was 11 years old? Hence, what you see here. 

Play Happened

The game that did me in was D&D. (I can hear the collective, “yeps” already). I was 11. I loved it. Next question. I can recall countless hours spent rolling characters (and cheating on so many stat rolls), drawing character portraits, sketching out dungeons on graph paper, and writing modules. And (attempting) to paint miniatures. Loads of them. Back then we called them “lead figures”. Yeah, it was a while ago, in fact, my first D&D set was Basic Rules. We moved around a bit when I was a kid but eventually when I was 15, we ended up in the Chicago burbs where I met friends who shared my passion for gaming and with whom I still play today. Every weekend I’d pack up my sleeping bag and bag of books and dice and figures and we’d play early into the morning. D&D was just the beginning. Middle Earth Role Playing, Champions, Top Secret, Mechwarrior, Shadowrun (still one of my favorite back stories of all time) TORG… those are the ones I can recall. We also played a multitude of table top games; Battletech was huge, Interceptor, Centurion, Car Wars and more. And of course, more video game sessions than I can even remember. Though Castlevania always stands out, as does three of us watching Gary win at Ghosts & Goblins on Sega from 11pm till 4:30 in the morning. 

I was big into Warhammer 40k. My buddies not so much. I absolutely loved the canon and the figures and ate up all the backstory I could find. I got the guys to play only once in all my years. That was decidedly enough after they gamed the rules system so badly they instantly crushed my so carefully-constructed army in a matter of 2 rounds. That was my punishment for annoying them with it until they agreed to play. After that I just collected the figures to paint.  

We played in junior high. We played in high school. We played when home from college. And invariably, after college, we just kind of stopped. Back then there was no internet to connect those in the community and being a nerd was not yet as cool as it is today. There was less opportunity to build a career out of playing games and, as such, it fell by the wayside. Once in a while, around the holidays, we’d get together and play a bit of Magic the Gathering. But we ultimately went our separate ways to establish our careers. Computer programmer. Options trader. Nuclear Physicist, to name a few. I pursued the finer aspects of my artistic talents and that led to a career in advertising as a designer. 
 

Back in the Game

Fast forward. My time in the agency world taught me a lot about many aspects of visual communication. I worked on a huge range of clients doing a broad spectrum of work. It afforded me the opportunity to grow my design skills, learn the finer points of building a brand, and supported my family’s lifestyle. However, after a while, I realized I wasn’t doing the kind of work I enjoyed and it became stale. I realized that my true passion in advertising lay mostly in branding. And my passion for branding included a combination of brand building, design, and brand strategy for smaller business owners and entrepreneurs as well as large, well known brands. So how did this lead to RPG & Co? Well, a few things happened. First, my old high school buddies and I started playing D&D again. Our wives indulge our nerdy pleasures and once a month (or so) when our schedules permit, we get together and play. We’ve dived right back in with 5e and have embraced it on a new level. Second, we got into watching Critical Role. I admit I was late to the game on this one but we all have to start somewhere. I started watching right as campaign 2 was starting. And I started following Geek & Sundry. Thank you Felicia Day and Matt Mercer. I was simply blown away at the development of the gaming community over the years and what the internet and shows like Critical Role had done to bring D&D and role playing games (and table top games) to the mainstream. The degree to which fans invest themselves into the stories they create, and use role playing games as a means to come together, bond, and enjoy the hobby is amazing. It has reinvigorated my interest in gaming like nothing before, since those days in high school when we played every weekend. I was hooked again. Third, I ran into another old high school buddy online (never would have reconnected without it). He had a similar story. Worked at Google. Got tired. Quit. Bought a game store and started a company printing 3D game terrain. We met up at a table top gaming convention after not having seen each other for almost 30 years and had a great conversation which lead me to realize, “hey, you’ve taken our passion from when we were kids and remade your career from it”. And that got me thinking… until the final piece fell into place. I had the pleasure of meeting Matt Mercer at C2E2 in Chicago. I had a spot right up front in the line and watched him for 4 hours interact with all of his fans. If you didn’t already know, he is amazing. Rarely in my life have I met someone as genuine, talented, gracious, and humble as he. I had a great conversation and he was kind enough to introduce me to Critical Role’s fantastic VP of Marketing. One thing led to another and I found myself in the unbelievably lucky position of being able to contribute as a design resource for the Critical Role brand!

Sharing what we love

And that leads me to today. RPG & Co is a place share with you my art and ideas about roleplaying and tabletop games that I grew up playing. A place to discuss and connect. Along the way, I’m going to put up some cool stuff of my own in my shop, and some really cool content for you to use. And of course, I’m always here to help the gaming community take their endeavors up a notch by providing what I’ve learned over the years… brand work that you love! 

If you have any thoughts, input, comments, complaints or whatever, I’m always here to chat. If you want to talk about your brand, please contact me. Reach out. Keep in touch. And enjoy. I’ll do my best to keep things interesting. You game?