Tanys Foster

My name is Tanys. I am a programmer, writer, and game developer with more than 25 years of design experience and over 100 scenario games designed, developed, and delivered. Game design and development have been my lifelong passions, with a focus on scenarios, world building, character development, and narrative structure.

I got my start in the mid- to late-90s with game engines like Verge, RPG Maker, and Multimedia Fusion after years spent feverishly prototyping games with markers and construction paper. I was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons in the early 00s and designed campaigns, adventures, and scenarios over a 15-year career as Dungeon Master. I wrote a public gamedev blog from 2011-2020 and wrote several million words on the subject of game design and development. I wrote an academic paper on ttrpg game design.

During my tenure as Dungeon Master, I hosted scenarios for individuals, and for groups as large as 20 players, in both private and organized play capacity. I attended more than 30 conventions across the United States in a 5-year span and served more than 200 hours as DM to hundreds of players across the country. I hosted games for the RPGA as part of their Mark of Heroes and Xen'drik Expeditions (2004-2008) living campaigns. In 2014 I helped to organize a TTG convention in SLC called Tablecon.

I was employed in accounting and worked as a bookkeeper for 8 years before I returned to school to pursue an MBA. Following one fateful programming course, I altered course to cram 6 semesters of coursework into 4 semesters worth of scholarships, and ultimately graduated in 2019 with a BS in Computer Science. I worked as a software developer for several Utah-based startups until the Tech Layoffs caught up with me in the Fall of 2022, at which point I organized World Serpent Games LLC.

I was born and lived the first twenty years of my life in Southern California. I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 2006 where I met my wife, a proud Arizonan. We live together in SLC with our 3 children.