WotC Is Hiring A New D&D Game Designer

Want a job designing Dungeons & Dragons products for WotC? They're hiring! A new job opportunity has been posted on Hasbro's jobs website. "This position creates D&D products, such as a book updating a setting to 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. It is responsible for leading one product at a time, while providing feedback on other products in production. The person in this role is responsible for the final product, and must oversee and coordinate the work of designers, writers, and editors to combine individual contributions into a cohesive whole. This position is also responsible for ensuring that the product is consistent with D&D game mechanics and that new game material is properly playtested."

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The job is based near Seattle, at WotC's main offices. Click here to check it out.

It's interesting that the task of "a book updating a setting to 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons" is specifically called out in the introduction.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Those laws mostly just mean a load of paperwork.

If a (private) company wants to hire a certain someone no rule can prevent that, or force them to hire someone else.


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As someone who has done a ton of hiring in the past, firstly there are no laws that make you have to post a position publicly (maybe government, not sure. But not private or corporate). In fact, many times it's just internal postings and Joe Public never sees it. Jobs are posted to allow all qualified applicants to apply, so to avoid favoritism or discrimination. I think that's what Parmandur was getting at, but there are no laws that say you have to post a job to the general public.

Secondly, there isn't a load of paperwork. Not sure where you get that idea. It's a simple job posting that takes all of 15 minutes to create. You don't have to create paperwork for every applicant. Either way, even if those laws existed, they don't "just mean a load of paperwork". They mean me as a manager can't just automatically give the job to my best friend and not allow someone more qualified to apply for it. Which is a very good thing.

 

[dave2008]

Sounds interesting, but it would be a pay cut with much less job security

What is the salary for this job? Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see the salary listed. I'm interested in what a position like this pays, not that I'm changing professions, just interested.

 

[Sacrosanct]

What is the salary for this job? Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see the salary listed. I'm interested in what a position like this pays, not that I'm changing professions, just interested.

Don't know about this one specifically, but in the past I've seen about $40,000-$55,000, give or take for a lead designer. Probably less for entry level work.

 

[dave2008]

Doesn't someone already have this job and if so are they leaving? This sounds like someone high up is possibly headed out. I hope I'm wrong.

There have not been any settings updated to 5e yet, so apparently no one has this job yet.

 

[dave2008]

Don't know about this one specifically, but in the past I've seen about $40,000-$55,000, give or take for a lead designer. Probably less for entry level work.

OK Thanks. That seems about right for someone with mid-level experience. Probably level 6-8 Designer with a few levels in Management?

 

[Sacrosanct]

OK Thanks. That seems about right for someone with mid-level experience. Probably level 6-8 Designer with a few levels in Management?

Rereading the description, it looks like this is a higher level position, so if I were guessing, I'd say between $50K and 70K, depending on credentials and experience. Just a guess anyway.

But I think the most important question is being overlooked. I.e., what is the setting? Darksun? Ebberon? Al Qaddim? SPELLJAMMER!!!!

 

[Morrus]

As someone who has done a ton of hiring in the past, firstly there are no laws that make you have to post a position publicly (maybe government, not sure. But not private or corporate). In fact, many times it's just internal postings and Joe Public never sees it. Jobs are posted to allow all qualified applicants to apply, so to avoid favoritism or discrimination. I think that's what Parmandur was getting at, but there are no laws that say you have to post a job to the general public.

Hasbro might have internal rules though.

 

[Parmandur]

As someone who has done a ton of hiring in the past, firstly there are no laws that make you have to post a position publicly (maybe government, not sure. But not private or corporate). In fact, many times it's just internal postings and Joe Public never sees it. Jobs are posted to allow all qualified applicants to apply, so to avoid favoritism or discrimination. I think that's what Parmandur was getting at, but there are no laws that say you have to post a job to the general public.

Secondly, there isn't a load of paperwork. Not sure where you get that idea. It's a simple job posting that takes all of 15 minutes to create. You don't have to create paperwork for every applicant. Either way, even if those laws existed, they don't "just mean a load of paperwork". They mean me as a manager can't just automatically give the job to my best friend and not allow someone more qualified to apply for it. Which is a very good thing.

Yeah, that's what I meant: wasn't sure if it was legal or just best practice in HR: either way, pretty standard to put something out there even if somebody is already a top candidate.

 

[Anthro78]

In fact, WotC and Hasbro is working hard on the reverse; associating "D&D" with a single kitchen-sinkified Realms of a setting, something amorphous and all-encompassing suitable for movies and action figures.

Which sounds great, except the general strength of the Forgotten Realms is its history. Trying to 'kitchen sink' it means you have to ignore much of that history, or incorporate it all, and I'm not sure which idea is more problematic. Why not build their own generic new setting and make that the basis for movies/comics/fiction? Use that base of creative talent that exists in the RPG world and let them go crazy. It's working for Pathfinder's Golarion. And with the backing of Hasbro, D&D could do it even bigger with computer games, comics, novels, movies and who knows what else?

I feel like D&D's major enemy right now is the smallness of their designers' and developers' thinking. Plan bigger. Think bigger. Write bigger. Try to return to the fore-front of games in something more than just sales and name recognition.

 

[jgsugden]

Someone contact (long list of ex-D&D folks like Andy Collins).