Aaron Holding He/They

Aaron has been roleplaying since the early 2000s, and attending conventions since 2004. Some time ago, he decided that he would try writing and running a game, instead of just playing them. It seemed to go well then, so he's trying it again now, with a new bunch of players.

Game: The Finding of Ilwuz

Adrian Overbury They/them

Adrian is not an artificial intelligence, but they're definitely an unnatural one. They are a bucket full of ideas, mostly based around puns. Do not spill the bucket, or you may be punished.

Game: The Search for the Hunt for the Quest for Something

Alicia Any

As a pre-teen, Alicia (he/she/they) discovered mysterious blue and red boxes hidden in the back of the games shelf at home, and promptly embarked on a (allegedly) productive lifetime of playing, running, and writing games, as well as attending gaming conventions far and wide. Previous convention offerings include Teenage Mokolé Ninja Turtles, Singles' Night, Tales from The City: Exogenesis, Tales from The City: Apotheosis, and New Year's Spirits. After spending the last several years on a tour of the multiverse, Alicia returns to the gaming convention scene with their new game, Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship.

Game: Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship

Andrew Smith he/him

Xole Karman she/her

Andrew is a common fossil found throughout the Phenomenon paleoludological record. The last specimens recovered were A Fair Bonny Crew (of Pirates) and Tauris 2077, both cowritten with Xole Karman. He likes SciFi, horror stories, and offbeat mashups of genres, and still hopes one day to achieve verisimilitude.

Game: The Word for World is Shoggoth

Daniel Ryan He/Him

Daniel is not addicted to writing games because he can stop anytime. But not this year, maybe next year. He grew up on crunchy games like Shadowrun and Ars Magica but loves weird indie things.

Game: Butterflies and Mirrors

Elliot Hickey He/They

Having stared into the abyss for long enough to go only slightly mad, Elliot has emerged from the void, determined to entertain all those people who have kept him up at night with all the screaming. Elliot is the writer of Racoons in a Warehouse and Hell Is Other People, and had a minor consulting role in the game Rava’s Final Journey. Whilst Elliot does specialise in horror, he also loves comedy, describing this style as “like a good cheese and wine pairing". Elliot loves the connections and surprises that storytelling can bring to both players and storytellers. He hopes that you come away from his games feeling a little like you would after a good massage- feeling a little bruised, perhaps, but satisfied and happy as well.

Game: Chierokmeta

Evan Paliatseas They/Them/He/Him

Micah Paliatseas He/Him

Evan has been playing and running RPGs for more than the meaning of life, the universe and everything years now. Loves Pheno, shows up when possible, runs occasionally ok games.

Micah has been playing and running RPGs for half his life. Co wrote a splatoon inspired DnD game with his dad a couple years ago that was pretty fun.

Game: POWER HEIST

Gavin Lucan He/Him

Gavin has been gaming for longer then he hasn't and can barely remember a time when he wasn't cursing dice as soon as he touched them. His previous games include In Valen's Name, It's a Long Way to the Top and The Cardinal's Blades.

He still hopes someday to dramatically enter a room swinging on a chandelier and will take any excuse he can to wear a cape.

Game: WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME 3

Hugh Fisher

Hugh Fisher is one of those ancient roleplayers who can reminisce about first edition D & D and has written a number of games for Cancon and Phenomenon over the years.His niche or genre within the wonderful variety of Phenomenon is humourous games where the players have fun interacting with each other.

Game: Excitement is Off the Menu

Ingrid Bean she/her

I wrote my first con game, Keeping the Faith, back in 2001, and won the New Designer Award at Pheno that year. I spent the next decade running and writing con games, including at least two Triptychs. The games I write always rely on deep characterisation, and I generally consider the game a success if one or more characters/players cry (in a good way), or they make me cry! After a break of about 12 years (due to having babies and stuff), last year I came back with Seeking Refuge, a game inspired by stories of mothers becoming refugees. This year, I’m bringing its sequel, Reclaiming Home: a game exploring the impact of displacement and violence on families.

Game: Reclaiming Home

Jake Nelson he/him

Jake is returning for his fifth year running at Pheno, having not yet learned his lesson, and has once again decided to combine two largely-unrelated genres in an unholy amalgam of screaming flesh with DRAGON FORCE, IGNITE!

His previous Pheno games include CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS MUST DIE! (2019), LOVE LOVE LOVECRAFT! (2022), Hooty McOwlbear's Family Restaurant and FUNtertainment Zone! (Diptych, 2023), and Battles of the Band (2024), the last of which was the only title that wasn't yelling at you. Some day he will run another game with a calmer title, but that is not this day.

Game: DRAGON FORCE, IGNITE!

Jo Rocke He/They

Jo Rocke is an amateur translator, unsuccessful senate candidate, and local Canberran weirdo. He's a big fan of giving people access to experiences they wouldn't normally have. When he is not running murder mysteries, he is busily translating them, to make sure he's at least one game ahead of his usual test groups. This is their third Pheno, and second time running a game, so you're stuck with them now.

Game: House of Flames

Joe McNamara He/Him

Joe McNamara is bound to the Con by ancient pacts sworn beneath a lunar eclipse. His previous World of Darkness games include FROSTBITE, SUNSET and SHELLSHOCK

Game: MISRULE

Kell Shaw He/Him

Kell Shaw is an author and avid tabletop roleplaying gamer, whose lifelong passion for fantasy—especially Shadowrun, the Lord of the Rings, and the World of Darkness—inspired him to create the Vestiges of Magic urban fantasy universe. Kell’s fascination lies with the modern world colliding with magic, and his stories explore the lives of individuals caught between these realms.

Game: The Fall of Kings

Kristine Hertel She/Her

Jake Fischer He/Him

Spun from shade and gloam, Kristine, Lady of Mists and Shadow, has woven you a new tale all of her own. Past co-author and tale-teller of stories such as “War of Fae and Flowers” and “Raccoons in a Warehouse”; this year, Kristine is channelling a tale of her own invention. After the feverish pleas of her current tabletop victims (er... players) and heeding the pleading cries of Phenomenon conventions past, Kristine hopes to bring her fresh perspective to breathe life to this year's convention in a unique way.

Jake would like to describe himself as an amorphous sludge from beyond the bounds of time, but, alas, he is trapped in the body of a male identifying human as of now. Having attended Pheno at least once, his current Pheno call to fame is winning an award for playing the stressed-out line manager at a D&D iHop. According to the players in his D&D campaigns, his style is “The perfect amount of stressful”, "I had all the feels" and “Definitely so much fun”, but he has his doubts.

Game: The Dreaming of Daramalan

Michael Hitchens he/him

I've been writing games for cons for over thirty years. And mentally scarring people for almost as long. The Phenomenon organisers have let me back again. More fool them.

Game: London

Michelle Ashman She/Her

Erik Kearns He/She/They

Hi! My name is Michelle and I've been roleplaying since High School all the way back in the 1980s! I have run TTRPGs for friends for almost as long and played in them too across most of the systems out there. I have also written for and run others games at Conventions across NSW and the ACT for Call of Cthulhu, D&D and a loose Freeform game based on Aliens the movie. I wanted to write something quirky that was fun for all levels of RPG know how and who doesn't want to play a snarky Raven or Marxist Rat, press ganged into saving the world!

Game: Of Wands and Whiskers

Mike Walker He/Him

Mike has been writing for Phenomenon since 1997, including three Triptychs, the last one being Chrysalis in 2022. He prefers running and playing in games that focus on deep characterisation and are low in game mechanics, such as the Amber Diceless RPG. He first developed the concepts and characters for Star Explorers when he was ten years old. They have been updated for a modern and adult interpretation

Game: Wings of Hope

Random Jones He/Him

Random has been running games at conventions for longer than a number of his players have been alive. Some games he has been responsible for include "Flotsam's Children", "Unions and Intersections", "Ball of Dreams", "12/1", "A Darkened World", "Remembrance Day", and "Ghosts of Future Past".

He is not three racoons in a trench-coat, he just feels that way some days.

Game: Reboot! Just Another Day In Mainframe

Game: Broken Promises

Sean Allsop He/Him

David James He/Him

Sean is a human roleplayer who enjoys turning players loose on settings for maximum chaos. He is absolutely not a meatsuit piloted by a remarkably hostile cat, and rumours of such should be dismissed as the scurrilous lies they are.

Game: Cyberpunk 2097: Buying the Future

Shan Thomson she/her/they

Shan has being roleplaying in some form or another for over 20 years, bringing an over active imagination and chaotic whimsy to your table!

Game: Untitled Goose Game: Multiplayer Edition

Shane Donohoe He/Him

Writer Bio? eep

Game: Contact. Handshake. Heartbeat. - A Murderbot Story

Stu Barrow He/Him

Stu Barrow has been writing games at Pheno on and off for years and years, specialising in pulp and comedy games. You may remember such games as Three Short Games about Wizards (2018), or A Little Magic (a game about three short wizards) (2022). Or others. You may not; time is fleeting, memory is fickle and experience is highly subjective. 2018 seems a long time ago, and Stu started well before that.

Game: Three Wizards Short

Wren Weatherwax They/Them

Fable Bruckard They/Them

Wren Weatherwax has been roleplaying for nearly five years now, and has been running games since 2022, where they ran their first ever role-playing game Five at Phenomenon. They can confirm that they are indeed a biological being, though further investigation on the matter is heavily discouraged. Any attraction to magnets is purely coincidental and/or platonic.

Fable B. is probably human, but we cannot confirm that they aren't an innumerable number of raccoons in a vaguely humanoid shape. They are an imaginative writer, long time role-player, and long time Pheno attendee. This will be their first year actually running a game at the convention, though they have dabbled in DM-ing before.

Game: Love In The Air