Ivan Van Norman Leaves Darrington Press

Ivan Van Norman has departed Darrington Press after a four-year stint. The veteran game developer and director announced on LinkedIn that he had departed the company, having left sometime earlier this month. Van Norman was previously the company director, responsible for creative oversight, product development and team collaboration as well as providing a public presence for the company.

No reason was given for the departure, although Van Norman says that he'll be focusing on Hunters Entertainment as well as several other passion projects.

Darrington Press announced earlier this week that they had hired Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford as the Creative Director and Game Director for Darrington Press, working on both Daggerheart as well as other new games.

Van Norman's full post can be found below:

As people have been reaching out, I wanted to let everyone know that I am no longer working at Critical Role.

I couldn't be happier to have worked with such an excellent group of people, who have worked so hard and passionately to create great things. While I am proud of everything the Darrington team has accomplished over the last four years, I am excited to move on to new opportunities.

In the meantime, I will be using this time to focus on the company I started 15 years ago, Hunters Entertainment, as well as pursue a few passion projects that I now have time to put effort into.

I have always enjoyed new ventures, and Darrington was the largest one by far. There is no greater joy than bringing talented folks together and making games worth participating in.

I wish everyone at Critical Role and Darrington Press team all the luck with Daggerheart. It is an amazing game, and everyone who worked on it should be proud of what they’ve accomplished.

Onto the next adventure!

 

[SteveC]

I do think that he will be missed. My major interest, as someone who likes Daggerheart, is how the change in personnel affects the development of the game. I don't know how much interest, experience, or what the opinions on this PbtA/narrative gaming are with Perkins and Crawford. I literally don't know this. I have been enjoying these types of games for years now, but they are quite different from traditional gaming in D&D. I think Darrington should be careful in giving the keys to the kingdom to people who might not have experience or really like that style of game. There's no doubt that Ivan knew what he was doing!

Now filter that with I literally don't know what the new guys know, so ... feel free to school me on this.

 

[agrayday]

take a look at the product line of Hunters entertainment, they are busy, i assume growth at CR and your own company it was time for a decision.

 

[Len]

But does this mean that he will now be moving to and hired by WotC ?

WotC should also get Darrington's first-round draft pick, at least.

 

[abazaba]

I do think that he will be missed. My major interest, as someone who likes Daggerheart, is how the change in personnel affects the development of the game. I don't know how much interest, experience, or what the opinions on this PbtA/narrative gaming are with Perkins and Crawford. I literally don't know this. I have been enjoying these types of games for years now, but they are quite different from traditional gaming in D&D. I think Darrington should be careful in giving the keys to the kingdom to people who might not have experience or really like that style of game. There's no doubt that Ivan knew what he was doing!

Now filter that with I literally don't know what the new guys know, so ... feel free to school me on this.

Just out of curiosity (and not really related) but : what would some of the better known 'narrative gaming' TTRPG's (that I probably should have been aware of already) out there be ? You mentioned 'Powered by the Apocalypse'; would that mean basically any game that uses that engine ?

 

[SkidAce]

Just out of curiosity (and not really related) but : what would some of the better known 'narrative gaming' TTRPG's (that I probably should have been aware of already) out there be ? You mentioned 'Powered by the Apocalypse'; would that mean basically any game that uses that engine ?

FATE.

FATE Core Homepage

 

[abazaba]

FATE.

FATE Core Homepage

Hey, thanks for the response ! I have never heard of it, so will have to look into it. Is there something like 'adventure modules' (pre-written stories using the FATE ruleset) or 'campaign settings' out there ? Sorry if I get it all wrong, I'm pretty much just used to D&D 5e, but have some friends that would like to try something that is more 'story-telling' and less 'dungeon crawl slaying goblins'.

 

[Len]

Is there something like 'adventure modules' (pre-written stories using the FATE ruleset) or 'campaign settings' out there ? Sorry if I get it all wrong,

There are some here: Fate Everything - Evil Hat Productions.
I've played Dresden Files. I'd say that FATE even more narrative-focused and less crunchy than Daggerheart. My group found FATE a bit too rules-light particularly in combat. but I really liked the co-op setting and character development, which is similar to Daggerheart.

 

[abazaba]

There are some here: Fate Everything - Evil Hat Productions.
I've played Dresden Files. I'd say that FATE even more narrative-focused and less crunchy than Daggerheart. My group found FATE a bit too rules-light particularly in combat. but I really liked the co-op setting and character development, which is similar to Daggerheart.

Thanks. So, do I understand correctly that if I got the 'Fate Core System' and something like 'Fate Worlds Volume One: Worlds on Fire' I would have the core ruleset and a few pre-written 'stories' to try it out ?

Also, I have no experience with Daggerheart, but am all for 'more narrative-focused' and 'less crunchy'

 

[SkidAce]

Thanks. So, do I understand correctly that if I got the 'Fate Core System' and something like 'Fate Worlds Volume One: Worlds on Fire' I would have the core ruleset and a few pre-written 'stories' to try it out ?

Also, I have no experience with Daggerheart, but am all for 'more narrative-focused' and 'less crunchy'

FATE has some "settings" and stories, but i feel the creation of your world setting falls into the narrative side. But there are some, like the Dresden and Cthulhu. Follow the link and it wil show you settjngs and tools for creating them.

By the way, I believe the CORE pdf is still pay what you want, and they are cool that that being zero so you can get a feel for it and then come back and pay/buy bokks or pdfs.

 

[SkidAce]

And yes, i feel its more narrative than Daggerheart, however, the system allows for building in "crunch" should you want that.