Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 9 hours ago
James is prolific designer in the tabletop RPG space. He’s contributed to too many projects to neatly sum up, but to list a sample of titles he either led or contributed to, in D&D 5e: The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, Descent into Avernus, and my personal favorite D&D 5e products I’ve purchased, My Dad’s Monster Manual. Outside of D&D, he was a lead designer on Roll 20’s Burn Bryte system. Since 2021 he’s been at MCDM Productions. Most important for the purposes of this video, he is currently the lead on their forthcoming flagship table top RPG, Draw Steel.
James Introcaso's Twitch: twitch.tv/jamesintrocaso
Mr Matt Dollar's Portfolio - mrmattdollar.itch.io
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:30 - Interview start
00:04:30 - The epoch change of D&D 5e
00:08:42 - Three stages of James' career
00:11:12 - How did you get into TTRPGs?
00:17:29 - Did you NEED to become a designer?
00:22:33 - First steps into content creation
00:32:18 - How hard did you have to work?
00:36:45 - Gaining confidence in your own opinions
00:42:56 - A message from past James to future James
00:44:34 - James' specialty changed over time
00:50:00 - James Haeck, design prodigy.
00:54:03 - Learning by talking to nerds
00:58:31 - First products on the DM's Guild
01:04:07 - Wanting to give up every day
01:09:16 - What are the fundamentals of TTRPG design?
01:13:01 - The x-factor is friendship
01:16:30 - The Manifold Q&A
01:26:26 - Outro
James is prolific designer in the tabletop RPG space. He’s contributed to too many projects to neatly sum up, but to list a sample of titles he either led or contributed to, in D&D 5e: The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, Descent into Avernus, and my personal favorite D&D 5e products I’ve purchased, My Dad’s Monster Manual. Outside of D&D, he was a lead designer on Roll 20’s Burn Bryte system. Since 2021 he’s been at MCDM Productions. Most important for the purposes of this video, he is currently the lead on their forthcoming flagship table top RPG, Draw Steel.
James Introcaso's Twitch: twitch.tv/jamesintrocaso
Mr Matt Dollar's Portfolio - mrmattdollar.itch.io
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:30 - Interview start
00:04:30 - The epoch change of D&D 5e
00:08:42 - Three stages of James' career
00:11:12 - How did you get into TTRPGs?
00:17:29 - Did you NEED to become a designer?
00:22:33 - First steps into content creation
00:32:18 - How hard did you have to work?
00:36:45 - Gaining confidence in your own opinions
00:42:56 - A message from past James to future James
00:44:34 - James' specialty changed over time
00:50:00 - James Haeck, design prodigy.
00:54:03 - Learning by talking to nerds
00:58:31 - First products on the DM's Guild
01:04:07 - Wanting to give up every day
01:09:16 - What are the fundamentals of TTRPG design?
01:13:01 - The x-factor is friendship
01:16:30 - The Manifold Q&A
01:26:26 - Outro
