Events
Our Speakers
Meet the amazing minds of AärdCON!
We’re bringing together storytellers, artists, makers, and creators, each ready to share their skills, insights, and inspiration. From game design to miniature painting, these speakers will reveal tips, techniques, and secrets to help you level up your craft.
Don’t miss your chance to learn from the best and take your skills to the next level!
Our 2026 speakers:
Jaime
RPG Alliance
Rolling With It: Unpacking the Benefits of TTRPGs and Putting Them to Work
Connection, identity, diversity and creativity are some of the major areas TTRPGs can contribute to our lives. In this talk we will explore why that is and how we can be intentional about trying to bring these benefits to our tables as players, game runners and even through the lens of solo play.
More on Jaime:
Jaime is a TTRPG player, game runner, therapeutic recreation student and part of the organizing team behind RPG Alliance. From a lens of deep curiosity they have been exploring the reasons that theory and research support what we already know as gamers. That tabletop role playing games are good for us!
Shelly
Shelly Campbell Fine Art
What's Under the Bed? — Creating Monsters who'll haunt readers long after they've closed the book
Shelly Campbell Author and Artist, crafting adventures and art to feed your imagination
More on Shelly:
Monsters have given fear a face since humans could tell stories around campfires. As a prey species, we've had millions of years of terror baked into our bones. We've been stalked, hunted and devoured by terrifying meat-eaters. And we've always lived in a world that we have a deep drive to understand.
Fictional monsters pull on our primal fears of predation. We also fear the unknown, and monsters are something we can mold out of the ether of our anxiety. They turn the unknown into something with form. Something explainable.
Come explore what makes monsters scary and how writers craft creatures that stick with us long after we've stopped reading.
Anthony
Join us for an exclusive look at DM a GM!
The world of tabletop role-playing games is getting a powerful new companion.
Join the Head Developer for an exclusive event showcasing an exciting upcoming project from DM a GM — a platform built from the ground up to enhance the way tabletop RPG enthusiasts plan, and adventure together.
With an initial focus on Dungeons & Dragons, this project aims to bring players and Dungeon Masters together seamlessly. Attendees will get an early look at the vision behind the app, the features in development, and the direction the team is heading.
Whether you're a longtime D&D veteran or just rolling your first character, this is your chance to see something built with the tabletop rpg community at its core.
Sean
AärdCON Founder | Aärdnor Miniatures | WonShot Wonders
Opening Remarks and the World of Dark / Light
Kick off AärdCON exploring the highs and lows of creating a TTRPG System: a feat made possible by forging bonds with fellow adventurers and a lifelong dream.
More on Sean:
Sean is a pillar of the online crafting world: the man behind Aärdnor Miniatures, WonShot Wonders, Dark / Light, and the founder of AärdCON. For more than four decades, he has been playing Dungeons and Dragons, building worlds, and creating more new projects than is advisable. Leaning on community and a grassroots DIY spirit is in his veins.
