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.

 

[Afroconan]

She supposedly made some Twitter posts that were not particularly diplomatic.

Like this oneView attachment 449589

This was 6 years ago, though. Maybe she feels differently today.

6 years ago, right in the middle of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests?

That sounds pretty tame to me...

 

[touc]

It looks like a fantastic hire from someone with crapton of experience and love of the game, and a fellow DM.

I did ask my friendly AI to do a deep dig into the character attack, and:

(1) There is no verifiable archive of her ever having made such a tweet nor publicly responded to it, so it can't be verified as real.
(2) Context is severely missing. If someone screenshotted one tweet from 6 years ago in the hopes this somewhat up-and-coming game designer could be attacked as a "white man-hater", where's the rest? It's impossible to tell if this were part of a greater discussion and even if real, if it were severely being taken out of context.
(3) There were public releases around that time by WOTC discussing race, representation, and diversity. But that doesn't mean she was engaging, or certainly not supportive that she's anti-anything. It's strongest best guess is that she might, might, have been discussing the Orion Black (WOTC employee who left) issues. But, no proof, so only speculation.

Anyhow, not subscribing to ragebait theories about someone who brings some solid credentials into play. Game on.

 

[Alzrius]

Maybe she feels differently today.

One can only hope.

 

[billd91]

She supposedly made some Twitter posts that were not particularly diplomatic.

Like this oneView attachment 449589

This was 6 years ago, though. Maybe she feels differently today.

Seems like a perfectly reasonable sentiment to me, particularly now (and not, of course, limited to just D&D).

 

[AlViking]

One can only hope.

A single tweet from 6 years ago without context, without any proof that she actually wrote it? If you believe a screenshot is evidence of much of anything, I've got some great pictures of the Nessie I'd like to sell you. Personally I can't imagine being that judgmental based on a single easily faked statement. Then again even as a white male I can see why someone might say that in context of the time when it was purportedly posted.

Meanwhile she's worked on some products that I enjoy and it's interesting that she was lead designer on Tales of the Valiant. Sounds like a promising addition to the team.

 

[Alzrius]

A single tweet from 6 years ago without context, without any proof that she actually wrote it?

Leaving aside the tinfoil-hat part about "proof that she actually wrote it" (which makes about as much sense as asking if there's any proof that you're the real AlViking and not someone hacking their account), that's why why I said "hope."

Personally I can't imagine being that judgmental based on a single easily faked statement.

 

[AlViking]

Leaving aside the tinfoil-hat part about "proof that she actually wrote it" (which makes about as much sense as asking if there's any proof that you're the real AlViking and not someone hacking their account), that's why why I said "hope."

There are sadly a lot of people who see a successful woman and go out of their way to discredit them. I think that's just as likely as her making the post. Even if she did, it's not particularly meaningful to me.

 

[Scribe]

She supposedly made some Twitter posts that were not particularly diplomatic.

Like this oneView attachment 449589

This was 6 years ago, though. Maybe she feels differently today.

The Glory days of peak Twitter psychosis.

Change it to any other demographic and people would be calling for blood.

Oh well, people grow.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Ragging on straight white men isn't wrong, but it's not like... funny or unique. If you're gonna say something that's gonna piss someone off you might as well take a bigger swing.

 

[Silam]

Meanwhile she's worked on some products that I enjoy and it's interesting that she was lead designer on Tales of the Valiant.

A cynical take (not mine, I don’t have an opinion) would be that WotC hired her specifically to shoot down Tales of the Valiant. First, because that product would lose its lead designer so it may be less well staffed at least temporarily, and secondly because TotV fans may want to give vanilla D&D a(nother) chance if they see her contributing to it.

I can’t say if that is the intention, and whether it is or not, I can’t say if that will be the end result. But I could see pros and cons if this is what happened. A less fractured community has positives. Competition also has positives though.

We’ll see…