“An Inventive and hard-working game designer–wrote some of the most engaging material in a Kobold Press release. Open to feedback, and has a powerful knack for strong communication and getting out in front of problems.” – Wolfgang Baur, Kobold Press

George “Loki” Williams, a native New Orleanian of French Creole background, has been gaming since 1978 and a professional game designer since 2012. That would be me.

Formerly I was an online communications consultant specializing in Web content, community management and social media. I’ve worked for clients including the Open Society Institute, The National Association of Broadcasters, and The VCU Brand Center among others.

In 2003 I became co-manager of Planewalker, the Official Planescape fan website, where I served until 2019.  During that time we received two silver ENnie Awards (2005, 2007). This is where it all went barmy, I got the bug and have been writing games ever since.

Some of my design and writing credits since include the ENnie nominated Dark Roads and Golden Hells for Kobold Press/Open Design, XCrawl: Louisiana Rising for Goodman Games, City of 7 Seraphs for Lost Spheres Publishing, Bloodlines & Black Magic: The Crescent City for Stormbunny Studios, Everybody Games’ ongoing Pop Culture Catalogue series, and The Dungeonlands series of products  for Savage Mojo.  I was also Line Developer, writer, and designer for Savage Mojo’s Pathfinder compatible product line.

My work has been covered by media including the BBC, The New Yorker, NOLA.com, BBC 5 Radio, Offbeat Magazine, Know Direction, WTUL 91.5 FM, RPG Knights, and a series of appearances on Geekline415 Radio. It has also been covered by scholarly publications including  MetroPolitics EU and the book  News Evolution or Revolution?: The Future of Print Journalism in the Digital Age from Peter Lang Publishing.

I’ve been lucky enough to be on teams that have received numerous accolades and awards. Highlights include Silver ENnie Awards in 2005 and 2007 for Planewalker.com, Bulldog Reporter Award in 2008 for the ”Blog Buddy” campaign for AMACOM Books, Webby Award in 2008 for OSI’s Katrina: an UnNatural Disaster, and an ENnie nomination in 2013 for Dark Roads and Golden Hells from Open Design/Kobold Press.

In the wake of hurricane Ida I relocated northwards to another river city, Cincinnati. Here I teach Intro to Game Design at the University of Cincinnati under the supervision of my feline handlers, Puck and Gremlin.

George “Loki” Williams

XP38,400 Human Bard (game designer) 15

NG Medium humanoid (human, french creole)

Init +1; Senses Perception +15

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +2 deflection, +1 Dex)

hp 71 (15d8)

Fort +5, Ref +10, Will +10; +2 vs. media, +4 vs.bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic

Defensive Abilities Spice Tolerance (+4 racial bonus to Fortitude saves vs. ingested poisons); Resist heat 10

Weaknesses vulnerability to cold

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee +1 iPad +11/+6/+1 (1d2+1 nonlethal plus 1d6 electricity)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks +1 on attack rolls against internet trolls and crawfish, bardic performance 38 rounds/day (swift action; countersong, cajun jokes, distraction, fascinate, horrible puns, inspire community, inspire design team +5, meet deadline +3, rule zero, soothing performance, suggestion); blue bolts, wandering damage

Bard Spells Known (CL 15th; concentration +17)

5th (4/day)—greater mashup, mass suggestion (DC 21), summon housecat V

4th (5/day)—barrage of words (DC 20), dominate conversation (DC 20), greater team wrangling, summon housecat IV

3rd (6/day)—charm monster (DC 19), create creole food, glibness, haste (DC 19), speak with geeks, summon housecat III

2nd (7/day)— cat herding, genre mixing, mirror image, pyrotechnics (DC 18), rage, summon housecat II, writing trance (DC 18)

1st (7/day)—animate mardi gras beads, charm person (DC 17), create roux, devil’s advocate, hideous laughter (DC 17), prepare for layout (DC 18), summon housecat I

0th (at will)—brass band boogie, daze (DC 16), fanboy (DC 16), mage typing, mending, season food

STATISTICS

Str 11, Dex 12, Con 11, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 16

Base Atk +10; CMB +11; CMD 14

Feats Agile Vocabulary, Combat Language, Greater WordPress, Fast Talk, Improved Social Media, On The Fly, Technologist, Weapon Focus (iPad)

Skills Knowledge (geek culture) +13, Knowledge (pathfinder rpg) +15,Perception +15, Perform (comedy, krewe antics, oratory, profanity) +24, Profession (writer) +4, Stealth +24, Use Computer Device +18 Languages Common, Feline, Groot, Social Media

SQ bardic knowledge +7, jack-of-all-trades (use any skill), know everyone, lore master2/day, versatile performance (comedy, krewe antics, oratory, profanity), computer familiarity

Combat Gear   +1 iPad, laptop of deadline bashing (50 charges), potion of caffeination x3, scroll of OGL, scroll of NDA Other Gear+2 leather jacket, coat of water resistance +1, Google Glass +4, keyring of deflection +1, earrings of protection +2, dire housecat, 349 gp