MJ Newman
(she/her)
Writer / Game Designer / Storyteller
Welcome to my website!
I am a professional game designer and author of the fantasy/horror novel, Darkdrifters: The Key and the Crescent. Here you can find my personal blog and links to all of my projects.
Thank you for your support!
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About Me
I am a writer and game designer with over 12 years of experience in the tabletop game industry. After graduating with a J.D. from Albany Law School, I moved to Minneapolis to pursue my dream of game design.
I am a storyteller at heart. I enjoy dreaming of new worlds, creating interesting characters, and weaving dynamic tales. My specialty is creating games and narratives that establish an emotional resonance with players. Creeping dread, shock and awe, the thrill of victory: these are games that will make you think, feel, and remember the experience for years to come.
Portfolio
Darkdrifters, vol 1:
The Key and the Crescent
A fantasy novel about dark horror and bright love, the power of imagination, and discovering self-worth.
Everything you have ever experienced has been just one reality. The prime reality. However, there exist many more realities within the infinite realms of the Drift, throughout which the dreams of every living creature in the universe are interwoven.
For Poppy, a lonely young girl with severe narcolepsy, these myriad realities are a cherished escape from her own. But that all changes when she meets a mysterious black cat and discovers the nightmares that dwell within the Drift, infecting dreamers in the prime reality. Only those like Poppy who can travel from one dream to the next can hunt the nightmare down and slay it once and for all. These Drifters live by a simple mantra:
Protect the Drift.
Slay the Nightmare.
Free the Mara.
Do not go Dark.
Darkdrifters, vol 2:
The Thousandth Cut
The never-ending battle between Drifters
and their Darkness continues...
Everything you have ever experienced has been just one reality. The Prime Reality. However, there exist many more realities within the infinite realms of the Drift, throughout which the dreams of every living creature in the universe are interwoven.
Sato Atsuko never asked to become a guardian of the Drift, and she’s not a good choice for one, either. After all, she’s failed every other person in her life—herself included. Relying on her is foolish. But when she realizes she may be the only one who can stop a total stranger from becoming trapped in a nightmare’s deadly web, she will go to any lengths to save her. For a Drifter’s task is simple, but vital:
Protect the Drift.
Slay the Nightmare.
Free the Mara.
Do not go Dark.
Darkdrifters:
A Drift Apart
A short story collection with collaboration
by Kickstarter backers.
Everything you have ever experienced has been just one reality. The Prime Reality. However, there exist many more realities within the infinite realms of the Drift, throughout which the dreams of every living creature in the universe are interwoven.
For Juniper Rosario, the Drift is a prison, a nightmarish gauntlet from which there can be no escape. And as a Drifter, their nightmare is not just a bad dream: it is a cunning and malicious creature, one that knows their every weakness, their every sin. Only by confronting and accepting the truth of this nightmare can June discover how to finally slay it. For Drifters live by a simple mantra:
Protect the Drift.
Slay the Nightmare.
Free the Mara.
Do not go Dark.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
A Cooperative Card Game of
Arcane Mystery and Supernatural Terror
The boundaries between worlds have drawn perilously thin…
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a cooperative Living Card Game® set amid a backdrop of Lovecraftian horror. As the Ancient Ones seek entry to our world, one to two investigators (or up to four with two Core Sets) work to unravel arcane mysteries and conspiracies.
Their efforts determine not only the course of your game, but carry forward throughout whole campaigns, challenging them to overcome their personal demons even as Arkham Horror: The Card Game blurs the distinction between the card game and roleplaying experiences.
Contributions:
Co-Designer, Core Game
Lead Design: The Dunwich Legacy, The Path to Carcosa, The Forgotten Age, The Circle Undone, The Dream-Eaters, The Innsmouth Conspiracy, Edge of the Earth, The Scarlet Keys, and all standalone products years 1–7
Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
A Cooperative Card Game of
Adventure and Peril in Middle-Earth
In The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, players assemble a band of adventurers who are attempting to complete dangerous quests in Middle-earth. From the bright fields of the Shire and the dangerous paths of Mirkwood Forest to the mighty kingdoms of Gondor and Rohan, the heroes of this beloved setting join together to resist the threat of the Dark Lord, Sauron.
The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is a cooperative game in which one to four players work together, competing against scenarios controlled by the game. As a Living Card Game®, additional cards and quests are available in future expansions, further allowing players to customize the contents of this set, or to create their own original decks.
Contributions:
Lead Design: The Angmar Awakened cycle, The Grey Havens, The Dream-chaser cycle, and dozens of Nightmare Decks
Associate Development: All products from the Voice of Isengard expansion and onward
Earthborne Rangers
A sustainably produced, cooperative adventure
card game set in the wilderness of the far future
Earthborne Rangers is a customizable, co-operative card game set in the wilderness of the far future. You take on the role of a Ranger, a protector of the mountain valley you call home: a vast wilderness transformed by monumental feats of science and technology devised to save the Earth from destruction long ago.
The story of Earthborne Rangers is presented as a branching narrative campaign consisting of a main storyline and a multitude of side stories. In it, you can choose to follow the critical path or to strike off on your own to discover the Valley's many engaging characters, mysterious ruins, and beings both familiar and strange.
Each action allows you to interact thematically and narratively with the world, and each time you take an action, the world comes to life around you. Predators stalk their prey, rain pours from the sky, rocks tumble down the mountain to block your path, and much more.
Contributions:
Nothing yet! I just joined the team as Lead Game Designer. But soon!
