My name is Shoshana Kessock and I’m a storyteller.
I’ve been telling stories all my life and loved it so much, I made it my job.
I work in any kind of storytelling medium I can, from games to fiction, comic books to television and film, podcasts and more. I make my living primarily as a game designer, working in tabletop and live action roleplaying game design.
I’m co-founder of Phoenix Outlaw Productions, an indie larp and tabletop publishing / production company dedicated to developing projects from diverse voices in gaming.
I was the founder of the Living Games Conference, a conference dedicated to bringing larp designers and academics together from across the world. I ran the first conference in 2014 as part of my thesis project for the NYU Game Center masters program.
I’ve written several games including SERVICE, Keeping The Candles Lit, Dangers Untold, The Last Ten Minutes, Welcome to REAPERCON, and more. I’ve also freelanced for over a dozen companies and contributed games across the tabletop RPG world.
Want to know more about what I’ve done? Check out below.
When I’m not doing all that, I love taking photos and traveling. I’ve got a mad collection of Funko Pop figures, love pro-wrestling and LARPing across the world. I never go anywhere without a book to read, adore Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, and want to one day have a dog named Mr. Beefy. I have two cats named Lilo and Ajax who I really hope won’t mind.
I’m in the middle of developing a tabletop RPG called Wanderlust, a novel called Doors Open, Wide Awake, and a passel of other shorter projects. My favorite things in the world are a good night’s sleep, a movie night with friends, sushi and guacamole. But not at the same time.
I can be contacted by email at shoshana.kessock@me.com or found kicking around on Twitter!
Downloads of my Resume and my CV available here.
Employed At:
John Wick Presents – Full-time Writer for 7th Sea
Company:
Founder and Co-Owner of Phoenix Outlaw Productions
Education:
NYU Game Center – Pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Game Design (graduation 2014)
CUNY Brooklyn College – Received a BA in Film Studies (graduated 2010)
Thesis Project (NYU Game Center MFA):
Living Games Conference – Academic conference on live action role-playing games (larp) held at NYU in Spring 2014.
Published Writing – Academic
“Ethical Content Creation and the Gamer Social Contract.” WyrdCon Companion 2013.
“Cultural Appropriation and LARP.” The Cutting Edge of Nordic Larp: Knutpunkt Book 2014.
Published Writing – Tabletop RPGs and Larp:
SERVICE – A freeform scenario published by Phoenix Outlaw Productions, nominated for the 2014 IndieCade Awards.
Fate Core Supplement “NO EXIT” – Available from Evil Hat Productions in Fate Worlds Volume Two: Worlds in Shadow. Originally part of the Fate Core Kickstarter stretch goal package.
Dangers Untold – LARP adaptation of Josh Jordan’s tabletop RPG Heroine by Ginger Goat Games. Runner up for the Indie RPG Awards 2015 for Best Production and Best Support.
Cthulhu Invictus scenario “Misplaced Purity” – Published in the Lux in Tenebras expansion book for the Roman Call of Cthulhu setting by Miskatonic River Press.
“My Name is Bethany Hicks” – Stretch goal scenario contributed to the Trigger Happy RPG by Tailspinner Games.
The Complex – Scenario for Becoming RPG by Brian Engard.
SERVICE – A freeform scenario published by Phoenix Outlaw Productions, nominated for the 2014 IndieCade Awards.
“The Last Ten Minutes” – A short live action game included in the Indie+ 2014 Anthology of games.
Chronos Universal LARP System Corebook – contributed content for Eschaton Media.
Chronos Universal LARP System Storyteller’s Guide – contributed writer for Eschaton Media.
The Dracula Dossier – Director’s Handbook – contributed content for Pelgrane Press.
“Monsters and Mayhem: How to Run Adult Content In Your World Of Darkness Game” – contributed essay in the Vampire the Masquerade Storyteller’s Secrets supplement by By Night Studios.
Blood on the Trail – A vampire-filled frontier America adventure for the Fate Core system and Evil Hat Productions.
Published Writing – Fiction:
“The Case of George the Curious” – Short story published in The Lost Anthology by Galileo Games.
“Rex” – Short story published in the Trust Me Anthology by Ginger Goat Press.
“Change The World” – Short story published by Needle In The Hay, short-listed for The Scenery Chewer Award (January 2014).
Digital Games:
Octavia – Puzzle Platform video game with Team Awesome (Sebastian Teesdale, Atlas Chen, Nick Zhang and James Chapin)
Editorial Work:
Dystopia Rising Tabletop RPG Sourcebook
Monoliths of Rust supplement book for Dystopia Rising Tabletop (consultant)
Pillars of Dead Light supplement book for Dystopia Rising Tabletop (consultant)
Echoes of Celluloid Dreams supplement book for Dystopia Rising Tabletop (consultant)
Live-Action Roleplay (LARP) Work:
Dystopia Rising (New Jersey) – Full-time Storyteller (2011-2013)
Dresden Files: The Empire State Chronicles – Organizer and Storyteller (2009- Present)
Battlestar Galactica LARP: Tales of the Rising Star – Organizer and Storyteller
SERVICE – American freeform scenario (author), nominated for 2014 IndieCade awards.
Convention Events run since 2006 at such conventions as Dreamation, DexCon, I-CON, WyrdCon, GeekGirlCon, GenCon, Knudepunkt, and Metatopia. Games previously run include White Wolf’s Mage: the Ascension, Changeling: the Dreaming, and conversions of settings like Scion, Harry Potter, My Little Pony and Dragon Age to LARP.
Sites I Blog / Have Blogged For:
Internships:
Spring 2013: Relaunch of SiSSYFIGHT 2000 with Eric Zimmerman, Naomi Clark and Ranjit Bhatnagar (Kickstarter)
Fall 2013: Intern for Games Innovation Lab Artist in Residence Kaho Abe on her Costume as Controllers project.
Fall 2014: Intern for Kill Screen, blogging about video game and game culture.
Screenplays:
“Reader” – One hour television pilot garnered semi-finalist position for the HBO Access Writer’s Fellowship in 2015. Genre: modern/fantasy.
“The Forest” – One hour television pilot. Genre: modern/fantasy.
“Paradigm Shift” – One hour television pilot, written with Michael Pucci. Genre: modern/fantasy.
Materials In Production:
Wanderlust (author) – Tabletop roleplaying game for Phoenix Outlaw Productions
New Dorado: Tales of the Wild City (co-author)– Setting book with Josh Harrison for the upcoming Chronos LARP system from Eschaton Media.
The State vs. Captain Wonder (author and game designer) – A short live action game set in a world of superheroes and inspired by 12 Angry Men.
Keeping The Candles Lit (author and game designer)- A short live action game included in the War Birds anthology of games about Jewish women partisan fighters during World War II.
Nowhere Girls (author) – A comic book about a team of young women cut down in their prime and now provided with a chance to earn a return to life.
New York Underground (writer, producer, voice actress) – A fiction podcast about the weird things that go bump in the New York days and nights.
Additional projects in production with John Wick Presents, Onyx Path, Green Hat Games, Galileo Games, Magpie Games, Green Ronin, Atlas Games, Exploding Rogue Games, Unruly Designs and more.