A Q&A with Adam Bradford About Moving to Demiplane

Adam Bradford is famous in the Dungeons & Dragons and tabletop RPG communities as one of the founders of the popular tool D&D Beyond. Bradford helped grow the tool into an incredible tool for players and DMs alike that is quickly becoming a standard for expectations. Bradford announced a few weeks ago that he was leaving D&D Beyond and Fandom for new projects, and we finally know what he is up to. Bradford is now working with the tabletop RPG tool website Demiplane.

Demiplane is a site that allows players and GMs to find one another and play various RPGs virtually. It offers audio and video tools, shared notes, and more. GMs can also advertise their services for paid gaming sessions and campaigns. The site was founded by Peter Romenesko and Travis Frederick in 2020, and with Bradford joining the team, they’re bound to see more success. I was given the opportunity to ask Bradford a few questions and I’ve included his responses below. We talk about Demiplane, his move to the company, his current games, and more.

Tommy: Adam, it's a pleasure to speak with you. Before we get started, I wanted to say thank you for all the work that you put into D&D Beyond, it's a great tool that has helped many people. You're now part of the team over at Demiplane, can you explain what Demiplane is in two sentences?

Adam: Thanks for the kind words! Demiplane connects tabletop roleplayers with video and voice chat, shared journaling, matchmaking, and much more to come. We aim to make games better by leveraging the best aspects of technology to enhance the experience while highlighting the human imagination and collaborative storytelling, which are the most essential parts of it.

Tommy: What drew you to Demiplane from a career aspect?

Adam: Starting D&D Beyond was an incredible journey that has forever changed my life and I will be forever grateful to have had that opportunity. I was ready for something different and new challenges—to get back to making things and making things happen.

Demiplane was a perfect fit because the founders—Peter and Travis—and I are all in lock-step about the vision that tabletop roleplaying can change the world, and that if everyone played these games, the world would literally be a better place. I am excited to get in on the ground floor of that mission.

Tommy: In your own words, why should people go and check out Demiplane?

Adam: As going online became the primary means to play in the last year, fans turned to a variety of tools to make that transition easier with varying degrees of success. Demiplane pulls in the video experience and screen sharing, voice chat and text chat that players can use in and between sessions, and things like shared notes, inventory, and dice rolling. All of that is in one place, and the focus stays on interacting with the other players where it should be.

Tommy: Is there anything that you can tell us about what you've been planning for Demiplane or what users can expect to see in the future?

Adam: While we can’t quite yet talk about future plans, the features I mentioned before are just the start. There are exciting things on the horizon that will continue to elevate the digital experience to make games better. Keep an eye out for updates as we’ll have them on our social media accounts.

Tommy: What RPGs are you currently playing and do you have a favorite system (or top 3 if you can't choose just 1)?

Adam: I play a great deal of Dungeons & Dragons, but also Pathfinder, Vampire the Masquerade, Cortex, and recently ALIEN.

I’ll also be playing in Demiplane’s first livestream content starting March 16th called ‘Heroes of the Planes’ - a show that brings my friends and their characters Penelope, Freely, Briv, Alyndra, Orkira, and Widdle back together for wild plane-hopping adventures!

I certainly can’t choose a favorite system, but a top 3 would likely be D&D, Pathfinder, and World of Darkness (I guess I’m stretching it a bit and grouping several games into that).

Tommy: What's a favorite house rule that you have as a GM or have seen?

Adam: I tend to like house rules that introduce more story collaboration into play. My favorite is probably “set dressing,” where I describe a location and ask players to add to that description.

So for a dungeon room, I’ll go through the whole list of “you see wet stone walls…” and so on, then the rogue player when prompted might say “there’s a broken table on its side in the back corner.”

This has the benefit of fleshing out the room for verisimilitude but also allowing for a potential place to hide for the rogue.

As long as the additional descriptive elements mesh well with the story, I quickly confirm the broken table is there or say it wouldn’t be or it would be different for whatever reason and move to the next player. I’ve found it really engages players and makes for a better mental picture for the group.