Five years ago, on a quiet Sunday night in May 2020, I hit the launch button on a Kickstarter for my little book called The Game Master’s Fantasy Toolkit. No big marketing push. No fanfare. I didn’t even tell friends or family. It was just a hobby project I’d made for myself during the pandemic; a wire-bound book of random tables to help with improvisation during my D&D games. My wife Kay gave me the final push to put it on Kickstarter, and we'd hoped to sell 10 copies.
Thirty days later, we had 7,500 backers from all over the world join the campaign. Suddenly, this hobby project became something much, much bigger. With Kay’s background in law and business, and mine in publishing and design, it felt like we’d stumbled on the perfect combination of skills to start something real. And just like that, Roll & Play Press was born.
Our first steps
Those early days were mind-blowing... but rough. Kay and I were both juggling full-time jobs, so our evenings and weekends were filled with shipping logistics, book writing, company registration forms, and product design. Eventually, we took the HUGE leap of faith and quit our jobs to give Roll & Play Press our full attention – we had no idea where this opportunity could lead, and we had to grab it with both hands. Soon after, we asked Kay’s sister Pasha and my friend Beth (who I knew from my publishing days) to join us full-time. To our amazement, they said yes, then we suddenly had a team!
We followed up the success of our first project with more random table books – The Fantasy Character Kit, The Game Master's Sci-Fi Toolkit, and The Sci-Fi Character Kit. We learned a lot during each project. There were hiccups, like pages printed upside down by manufacturers, books going missing at warehouses, duplicate orders being sent out – and we tackled each issue with late nights, elbow grease, and a sense of humour. Crucially, we kept everything local; we printed and shipped all our books from the UK for our first few projects, which meant that even when the pandemic disrupted global logistics, we delivered every Kickstarter project on time. To this day, we have delivered every single Kickstarter on time, and it's something we're incredibly proud of.
Our growing community
Then came one of our boldest moves yet. Kay (who is the engine behind the company) reached out to Critical Role about a sponsorship. We expected silence, but instead, they offered us a slot on the premiere of their brand-new show EXU: Exandria Unlimited. As you can imagine, we said YES. We tuned into Twitch at 3am UK time, full of adrenaline and excitement. We watched Matt Mercer read our ad... and then watched our website crash under the traffic. It was terrifying. And glorious.
As we grew, we knew it was time to hit the road and meet the people who had supported us. We took our humble wire-bound books to four UK conventions in 2022: Tabletop Gaming Live, KCon, UK Games Expo, and MCM London Comic Con. We were still relatively unknown, so getting tables at the events was tricky, but we took anything we were given. We had stands by the toilets, next to the car park, obstructed by a pillar, we didn't care. Meeting customers face-to-face for the first time was our goal, and it was incredible. The feedback was instant and invaluable, and honestly, it was just so energising.
Our new ideas
Around this time, we shifted from random tables to full adventures. I’d been tinkering with a format to make prep easier for game masters like me, who don’t enjoy spending hours planning and reading through a dense sourcebook before a session. That new format became One-Shot Wonders, which quickly became our bestseller. We handed out free samples (shoutout to the Fishy Business adventure) at MCM London Comic Con and had great feedback. The Kickstarter did amazingly well, and the book went on to win two UK Games Expo awards and an ENNIE Award for Best RPG Adventure – which Kay and I picked up in person at Gen Con on stage. Wild.
We didn’t stop there. At MCM London Comic Con 2023, we built an actual tavern inside the convention hall. It was a massive logistical challenge, so we brought on Anni (a veteran from my publishing past) as our Supply Chain Manager. She was instrumental in getting that tavern built, and it became a landmark at the show. We sold so many books, and didn’t stop moving the whole weekend. I think I lost my voice on the second day.
In 2024, we launched our Quest Journals range – GM and player stationery built to help people organise, run and enjoy their RPG games. We let our community vote on the colours (Blue, Purple and Green won), and the feedback has been awesome. Honestly, we use them ourselves in our home games every week.
Our big wins
We’ve hit some BIG milestones over the years, and we never dreamt we'd ever get this far. We made it into Waterstones Piccadilly, the biggest bookshop in Europe, as well as gaming stores across the world. We’ve won two IPG publishing industry awards, two ENNIEs, multiple UKGE awards, and a bunch more nominations.
Today, we’re a team of eight: me, Kay, Pasha, Beth, Anni, Alex, Christine, and Daniel. Every time I see the full team in the office, I get a bit emotional. We fill out a whole room now. Roll & Play Press is an actual, real-life, international, award-winning publishing company that sells tens of thousands of books a year – and it all started with a wire-bound book that Kay and I put on Kickstarter in the pandemic.
A look at the future
What’s next? So much. There’s No Place Like Homebrew, our massive 250-page homebrew encyclopedia. There’s the City of the Black Rose horror campaign setting, our first collaboration project. And yes, there’s a sequel to one of our bestsellers coming soon. But that’s all I can say... for now.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Here’s to five more years, we couldn't have done any of this without you.
