About The Story Engine Deck
In 2019, I launched a Kickstarter for The Story Engine Deck for creating endless story ideas, creative writing prompts, and D&D campaign ideas.
I had no idea it would go on to raise $420,000 on Kickstarter and BackerKit, bringing together a community of 6,000 creators.
I designed The Story Engine Deck because I met so many writers with incredible story ideas, character concepts, and D&D campaign ideas trapped in their heads.
I know how frustrating it is to feel like you’re missing out on your best creative years. Sometimes you just need something to unlock your creativity and get you started.
I decided to design an open-ended prompt creation tool and seek input from a variety of experts:
- Writers
- DMs and GMs
- D&D players
- Teachers
- Realplay podcasters
- Game designers
- Tarot readers
- Visual artists
With their help, I came up with additional guidelines and recommendations for generating powerful creative prompts, story ideas, D&D campaign ideas. character concepts and more.
Writing has also seen me through some really dark times and difficult life transitions. No matter what was going on outside of my little writing nook, I was able to turn to my stories either as an escape, or as an arena to face my down my demons on my own turf. These stories are always the scariest to write, but they're the ones people seek me out to talk to me about again and again, often to tell me about their own creative projects they want to get off the ground.
I know these stories are speaking to people, and I know people have their own truths to tell and stories to share.
Building a Community
Now with two Kickstarters behind us, the Story Engine community has achieved some pretty incredible things.
- We've donated 250 free physical copies to schools, libraries, and community groups.
- We've provided over 1,700 copies of the free print-at-home PDF deck to educators, volunteers, and parents in need of home-friendly quarantine activities.
- We've developed lesson plans, an activity sheet, a free card creation webapp, and blank create-your-own-card print sheets to make sure anyone can access their own creativity with The Story Engine Deck.
If you'd like to stay involved with The Story Engine Deck community, please feel free to follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube!