Celeste Conowitch hired by Wizards of the Coast as Senior Game Developer for Dungeons & Dragons

TTRPG designer Celeste Conowitch has joined the Dungeons & Dragons design team. Conowitch announced on her social media that she had joined Wizards of the Coast as a Senior Game Developer. Conowitch previously worked for Kobold Press as a senior game designer and was the lead game designer of Tales of the Valiant, a 5E spinoff billed as an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons in the aftermath of the Open Game license debacle. Conowitch has credits in most Kobold Press books dating back to 2022 and previously worked on Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Wizards of the Coast has been building up its D&D design team, hiring names like James Haeck and Erin Roberts among others. Justice Arman serves as the game design director of the group, with the design team ultimately reporting to Dan Ayoub, who leads the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.

While Dungeons & Dragons has seen growth on its design team, the overall group took a hit yesterday when community manager LaTia Jacquise was let go as part of wider Hasbro layoffs.

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

EN World interview with Celeste Conowitch

 

[NosajR]

Is she the one who tweeted about hating white men? I won't be buying a thing from WotC while she's employed there.

 

[Waller]

Is she the one who tweeted about hating white men?

Citation needed.

I won't be buying a thing from WotC while she's employed there.

No, no. You're already boycotting D&D because it's art isn't like Deathbringer. Keep your story straight!

 

[dave2008]

Is she the one who tweeted about hating white men? I won't be buying a thing from WotC while she's employed there.

No, you are thinking about someone else (or just making it up).

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Citation needed.

No, no. You're already boycotting D&D because it's art isn't like Deathbringer. Keep your story straight!

Can't you like both?

 

[saviirkad]

HELL YEAH.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Is she the one who tweeted about hating white men? I won't be buying a thing from WotC while she's employed there.

I did an extensive search and I couldn't find it at all. If she posted that I guess she regretted it and deleted that. I'm a big fan of second chances (and some times third and fourth chances).

Anyways I looked up her resume and its impressive.

Core Rulebooks & RPG Systems

• Tales of the Valiant: Player’s Guide 1-2 (Lead Designer, Kobold Press)
• Tales of the Valiant: Monster Vault 1-2 (Designer/Developer, Kobold Press)
• Tales of the Valiant: Game Master’s Guide (Designer/Developer, Kobold Press) [1, 2]

Campaign Settings & Sourcebooks

• Venture Maidens Campaign Guide (Author/Designer, 2CGaming)
• Book of Ebon Tides (Designer, Kobold Press)
• Campaign Builder: Dungeons & Ruins (Kobold Press)
• Campaign Builder: Castles & Crowns (Kobold Press)
• Tome of Heroes (Kobold Press)
• Vault of Magic (Kobold Press)
• Deep Magic Volume 1 (Kobold Press)
• Deep Magic Volume 2 (Senior Designer/Contributor, Kobold Press)
• Kingdoms & Warfare (Contributor, MCDM Productions)
• Epic Legacy Tome of Titans Vol. 1 (2CGaming)
• Warlock Grimoire 3 (Kobold Press)
• Scarred Lands: Vigil Watch (Onyx Path Publishing)
• Scarred Lands: Yugman's Guide to Ghelspad (Onyx Path Publishing) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Adventures & Modules

• Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden (Co-author, Wizards of the Coast)
• Dream Eater (DDAL-EB-15) (Co-author with Will Doyle, Wizards of the Coast / DMs Guild)
• Caverns of the Spore Lord (Kobold Press)
• Labyrinth Adventures and Wordbook (Kobold Press)
• Blood Sea (Scarred Lands / Onyx Path Publishing) [1, 2, 3]

Bestiaries & Supplements

• Tome of Beasts 2 (Kobold Press)
• Tome of Beasts 3 (Kobold Press)
• Total Party Kill Bestiary Vol. 2 (2CGaming)
• Book of Blades (Author/Designer, Kobold Press / Open Design LLC)
• Play with Class [1, 2, 3]

Periodicals & Digital Short-Form Media

• Arcadia Magazine (Contributing Writer, MCDM Productions)
• Kobold Press Blog & Warlock Patreon (Frequent article and design contributions)
• Ghostfire Gaming (Freelance design articles and system contributions)
• Dungeon Masters Guild Community Anthologies (Design contributions for electrum, silver, mithral, gold, and platinum bestselling modules including Darkhold, Dino World, and Encounters in Theros).
• Major Supplements & Campaign Guides
  • Darkhold: Secrets of the Zhentarim (Lead Designer alongside Justice Arman, M.T. Black, Anthony Joyce, Jeremy Forbing, and Ed Greenwood) — A comprehensive 100+ page guidebook detailing the history, factions, spells, and character options for running evil-aligned or faction-heavy campaigns focused on the Black Network. [1, 2]
  • Mordenkainen's Tome of Marvelous Magic II (Co-author with M.T. Black) — A massive supplement expanding on magical items, artifacts, and whimsical options for 5th Edition D&D. [1]
  Official D&D Adventurers League Modules
  Conowitch has authored multiple high-tier and event adventures featured in official D&D storylines:
  • Dream Eater (DDAL-EB-15) (Co-author with Will Doyle) — A Tier 3 Eberron adventure set in the Oracle of War campaign (Engines of War storyline, part 2). [1]
  • The Dragon Below (DDAL-EB-16) (Co-author with Bianca Bickford and Will Doyle) — A Tier 3 Eberron adventure concluding the Engines of War story trilogy. [1]
  • The Great Knucklehead Rally (Co-author with Shawn Merwin) — A 44-page adventure set in Icewind Dale, premiering during the official D&D Celebration as part of the Plague of Ancients storyline. [1]
  Anthologies & Community Contributions
  • Encounters in the Far North (Co-author with Ginny Loveday, M.T. Black, Ashley Michaela Lawson, and Rich Lescouflair) — A collection of encounters designed to plug directly into cold-weather campaigns like Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.
  • The 12 Days of Midwinter (Contributor) — A festive collection of holiday-themed one-shots, trinket charts, and wild magic tables, featuring her adventure "Heart of Gold".
  • Encounters in Theros (Contributor) — A collection of encounters tailored for mythical campaigns using the Mythic Odysseys of Theros setting.
  • Dino World (Contributor) — A prehistoric-themed community supplement
• She's clearly got alot of experience with Systems, leadership, D&D settings, MtG to D&D crossover settings, and even more 3rd party settings so the depth and the experience is there. And she worked with Ed Greenwood on an FR project so that counts for alot.

 

[...m...]

...not sure why this story posted and then disappeared for a couple of days, but celeste is legitimately qualified and i have no reason to doubt that her transition is on good terms with all involved parties...

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Yeah she seems fine by what I can see.