We recently connected with Elsie McCart and have shared our conversation below.

Elsie, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I think the biggest shift from being a hobbyist to a professional happened when I realized how much of an art creating TTRPG stories actually was. I used to think of it as a very binary thing. I make a room, put some pre-generated monsters in it, and see what the players do. I ran games for friends in that style for over 15 years. But in 2020 I had time to really watch how other people ran their games, how their stories lived and breathed, and I fell in love with TTRPGs in a totally different way. I realized that when you run games, you’re building a fantasy world that can be dynamic and anachronistic and that interacts with the adventurers who you’re sharing a table with to bring a story to life. My whole perspective changed and I found such incredible joy in the experience.

At that point, I was having so much fun and wanted so badly to be a person whose job was involved in TTRPGs. Being a Game Master is this complicated mix of being a writer, an actor and an event coordinator all at the same time. I’m creating the world, I’m doing intense amounts of improv theater at the table and also helping my players navigate their own characters and play styles to create this beautiful, communal story that we can all share. It’s fun, but it’s hard to do! I was watching content creators like Matt Mercer and Ginny D and Aabria Iyengar and wanting so, so badly to be at their skill level. I was constantly thinking, “You aren’t good enough yet.” I kept waiting for that magical time where I would know all of the rules of the different games I was playing and that I felt confident that my stories were good enough and that I had enough chops as a Game Master for people to find value in what I was doing. I told myself that until I was able to improv a bunch of different voices and could list every spell in Dungeons & Dragons, that I couldn’t be a professional. Then the pandemic happens and we’re all losing loved ones and feeling that constant anxiety of not knowing what the future is going to bring. Simultaneously, friends were reaching out to me to run virtual games for their friends or their kids, because everyone wanted an escape from the dumpster fire we were living in. I would talk to my friends after and they’d say how much fun they had, and that crystalized into this moment where I was like, “You know what? Fuck it. I will never feel like I’m good enough, so I’m just going to pretend that I’m confident enough to do this and we’ll see what happens.” So I started putting up flyers for games on instagram, I signed up to DM through a local company that ran games at breweries, and I started running my own virtual sessions. A few small businesses invited me into their spaces to run games for their customers. After a few months, I started getting requests for private events and people asking where I was getting my game content from. So I started publishing my one-shots as modules so people could run my sessions for themselves.

The fact that so many friends signed up to fill early tables and playtest session elements and help me balance homebrew monsters is also just a testament to the community that TTRPGs can create. This is one of the scariest things that I’ve ever done, but I’ve never had to feel alone in it, which has given me the confidence to do this professionally.

Elsie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Sure thing! My name is Elsie, I am a professional Game Master and content developer for my TTRPG company, OnyxLunacyRPG. I’ve been playing TTRPGs since 2007, since I started running games for friends and family in the basement of my parents’ house. Since 2021 I’ve run TTRPG events virtually and in-person that allow people to play games like Dungeons & Dragons without the time constraints of building a game, setting up and even creating characters (if that’s not their thing). I also publish the games that I run as modules so people can run my games for their friends. My games tend to be a little bit creepy, sometimes anachronistic, and always good for a laugh and a bit of whimsy.

It’s my goal as a member of the TTRPG space to bring people together to share stories and go on adventures that are inclusive and affirming. I want all of my players to come to the table as whomever they are or want to be and have a fantastic time. My tables- virtual or IRL- strive to break the stereotypes of TTRPGs past and create daring and dynamic stories that everyone can relate to and feel comfortable being a part of.

Outside of the TTRPG space I am an indie author of lgbtq speculative fiction, a crafty little goth witch, a horror movie enthusiast and an aspiring poltergeist.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There is an exact moment in every game that is so affirming and keeps me doing the work. It’s that moment around the table where all of my players are in character, they’re solving a problem together, and I can see that they have absolutely locked into the story. They are no longer five strangers staring at a computer screen. They are adventurers trapped in a haunted conservatory with carnivorous plants, or fighting a sea monster on tumultuous seas. The stakes are real, they care about their friends’ well being and they are completely thinking through the lens of their character. In that moment, I go from a host and rule keeper to the embodiment of the world they’re playing in. It’s this immersive, magical moment that always makes me think about the long history of human storytelling– of early humans sitting around their fireplaces under the dark, unknown sky, also experiencing that kind of joy. When I’m struggling to balance the immense time pressures of being a creator with also being a person, or when I am doing the admin that keeps all of this rolling, that’s what keeps me going.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

In the short term, I’m hoping to build my business and connect with other creators. OnyxLunacyRPG and my indie author projects are side hustles and part-time gigs. I work a full-time job at a nonprofit that I am incredibly passionate about, but the comfort of knowing that I can provide for myself and my partner and maybe someday even sustain other creatives who want to work in the ttrpg space is my dream.

I also just want to show people that nowadays, there are creators in the space who are actively trying to make things more inclusive. There is a fairly justifiable perception that some of these games were built for a very narrow, specific audience. We as a community need to do the work to show how we’re running from that perception kicking and screaming. We’re building fantasy worlds- what a fantastic opportunity to show how magic can support gender-affirming care, or that it’s absolutely batshit to say that only non-disabled people can be adventurers or that a fantasy race should be treated as the villain because of their complexion. These stories are for absolutely everyone and I want to do my part in seeing that change happen however I can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.onyxlunacyrpg.com
• Instagram: onyxlunacyrpg
• Other: DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/26240/onyxlunacyrpg

  indie author instagram: Elsie Farrell Books : @elsiefarrellbooks

Image Credits

Elsie McCart, Jo Snider