Johnny O’Neal

Jillian presenting to a standing-room-only crowd at GAMA Expo

Had a great time meeting with game retailers this morning! @meanpomelo.bsky.social shared details on Free RPG Day, the Plotweaver Envoy Program and our direct-to-FLGS program at bwiseretailers.com!

Johnny and Jillian from Brotherwise smiling in front of banners for the Cosmere RPG and Super Boss Monster 2.

All set up at GAMA Expo! Come visit me us at the @brotherwisegames.bsky.social booth!

Congrats to Emmet and his collaborators for how well this campaign is going! It looks really beautifully done.

Thanks for spreading the word!

Join the Brotherwise Games Envoy Team! If you're organizing demos, running events, GMing professionally, building community, or otherwise supporting the Cosmere RPG, we want you on the Brotherwise Envoy team.

Join the Brotherwise Games Envoy Team!

We are looking for GMs who are passionate about the Cosmere RPG and growing the community for the system by running games and demos at local retailers, conventions, and public events.

Apply today! forms.gle/VhzaoGvBibPx...

Groupshot of the Plotweaver team with the Plotweaver symbol

Plotweaver is currently getting developed by a wonderful group of folks!

So, please read (and share!) below about the people making this awesome game 🧵

Personally I think this is too much money to give to Donald trumps poorly trained but heavily armed Militia

I really appreciate that!

Snowy's Maps (@snowysmaps.bsky.social) Hi, I am Snowy! I create immersive content for TTRPGs, with epic battlemaps and ready-to-run DnD5e and PF2e sessions and oneshots for Dungeon Masters.

If anyone here knows how to get in touch with the lovely artist behind Snowy's Maps (snowysmaps.bsky.social) I would like to offer them some commission work!

And I know this sort of an awkward way to get in touch with someone, but it can be surprisingly difficult to find artists' contact info. 😅

Through a high-tech portal, we see a derelict ship floating above an alien village

We've updated the Plotweaver website with some lovely new art from Cristian Benavides. Check it out, and if you haven't already, take the survey about what you'd like to see from this new genre-spanning open source RPG system!

www.plotweaverrpg.com

Very excited for this, especially with @mericmoir.bsky.social spearheading the development!

Lots and lots and lots of fun plans for the future. Follow the Plotweaver accounts to stay tuned! You won't want to miss out.

The O'Neals (Johnny, 18-year-old Jack, and Beverly) with Beverly's mom and Johnny's parents, with their youngest son at his elementary school. The little guy was happy to win a Reflections award for fiction writing.

Please allow this proud dad a moment to brag about my kids:

My 18 year-old earned straight A's during his first quarter of pre-med classes at Northwestern.

My 16 year-old got accepted to a summer program at Yale to study law and politics.

And my 10 year-old won a writing award today at school!

🎉

p.s. if you want to PUBLISH content for those non-Cosmere worlds of your own—maybe even for real money—you should definitely watch this space 😉

Playing "the Gang" (co-op Texas Hold 'Em) with the gang

The Flip 7 crew

And the kitchen convo folks!

After-hours fun at Dragonsteel Nexus with @brotherwisegames.bsky.social (and friends from Kickstarter and Demiplane)!

Getting to dunk @johnnyoneal.bsky.social was the highlight of my month and it’s not even over

Johnny's Cosmere RPG character sheet for Jacques Ardot, a Surgeon/Gunslinger/Bloodmaker for Mistborn Era 2

On Saturday at Dragonsteel Nexus, the Cosmere RPG team is running our first-ever actual play for the Mistborn campaign setting! I'll be playing Jacques Ardot, an overconfident dilettante with Gold-powered super-healing. The team is running some hilarious characters... this is gonna be fun!

Behind Johnny's desk: built-in bookcases with Brotherwise Games on one side and a Sandershelf along the other. The top row of shelves includes brands that Johnny worked on during his years in the toy industry, like WWE, Masters of the Universe, and How to Train Your Dragon. His bookshelf also includes some graded Marvel comics on display.

Johnny's desk with ultra-widescreen monitor, family photos, D&D memorabilia, and Brotherwise "vision board."

My office is unusually clean today, so here's a look at my workspace!

Like everyone at @brotherwisegames.bsky.social, I work from home. I surround myself with various geeky items, a complete library of Brotherwise games, and mementos from my days at Mattel, Spin Master, and Moose Toys.

We had 13 people at the Thanksgiving table this year!

Beverly and her sister June with the Thanksgiving spread

Johnny and June

Beverly, Johnny, and their youngest son at Astra Lumina

Happy Thanksgiving! We had an amazing feast (including the best-ever hoisin bacon butter roasted turkey) with my beloved sister-in-law June and her friends from Taiwan. After dinner, we went for a nighttime stroll at the local botanical garden's "Astra Lumina" exhibit. Lots of reasons for gratitude!

📘 Learn the lore behind how a small board game publisher became the maker of the Cosmere RPG, the most funded TTRPG Kickstarter of all time!

https://youtube.com/shorts/ks0UEcPkmIY?feature=share

#brotherwisegames #cosmererpg #brandonsanderson

When recording videos for Brotherwise, I tend to skip writing a script because A) it's easier and B) improvising sounds a little more natural. The ad lib approach usually works, but I don't always stick the landing.

Avatar Magic prerelease box

It's been a while since the last time I attended a Magic pre-release, but I couldn't resist stopping by the Game Hub to play the new Avatar set! Put together a pretty decent green/white Allies deck with Aang, Momo, Sokka, and Kyoshi. Lots of exiling and earthbending. Good times!

Johnny and Beverly last night at the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach

Johnny and Beverly at the Fox Den in Redondo Beach

Johnny and Beverly at Saint Rocke

We've always tried to do weekly date nights at restaurants, but this is cheaper and a lot more fun! At first we wondered, "Are we too old for this?" (We're 45.) But there's always a big age range at these places, and we're roughly in the middle. This feels like such a life hack. I recommend it!

2/2

Earlier this year, my wife and I went to see a 90's cover band and had a total blast. So we found a similar band and did it the next weekend. Then we found a dive bar with live music, and another local venue with a great DJ. Then we realized that nothing stops us from doing this every weekend!

1/2

Cosmere RPG Creative Director Johnny O'Neal and Lead Designer Lydia Suen

Let's play the Cosmere RPG!

This awesome new TTRPG is now in stores, so @suenshine.bsky.social and I worked with the Dragonsteel team to create this fun series of videos about what makes this system so fun to play. The playlist *just* launched, so check it out!

youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Genuinely some of the coolest stuff I've ever backed on Kickstarter, can't wait to see the mistborn collection, from @brotherwisegames.bsky.social

Dragonsteel Nexus 25 "I am part of the story" tagline over a picture of the Brotherwise team with fans at Nexus in 2024!

Dragonsteel Nexus is officially one month away, and we couldn't be more excited! Make sure to check out our Cosmere Gaming panel on Saturday morning, and the live playthrough of the RPG on Saturday evening! We'll also have various demos happening throughout the convention. You won't want to miss it!

I've seen a couple where I think they must be doing *some* remastering? But yeah, that's what make me want to post this.

Shadowform Miniature from the Cosmere RPG miniatures pack

The Stormlight and Cosmere RPG Miniatures STLs are now available for purchase on MyMiniFactory! https://www.myminifactory.com/users/BrotherwiseGames

Get individual STLs of the miniatures from the Cosmere RPG and Stormlight Premium Miniatures Kickstarter campaigns, or bundle up on each pack!

The second time we were at the final signing stage of a contract, but then the Avatar RPG launched and did incredibly well. My understanding is that the creative and/or brand team felt like they were making too many games. And indeed, several have come out since then. But I'd still love to make one!

A still from Avatar the Last Airbender, from Day of Black Sun Pt 2, featuring Aang, Sokka, and Toph. Darren Calvert painted over this piece to "upscale" the original art!

The same still, showing the original art. The painted backgrounds look great, and the scene is fantastic in motion, but details like Sokka's face don't make it into a frame At this distance.

One of my professional dreams is working on an Avatar board game. Brotherwise pitched for the rights twice. The second time, we got so close that we started art! We planned original pieces, but we were also working with @dmacalvert.bsky.social to paint over stills from the show. Here's an example!