Demiplane Hires D&D Beyond Founder Adam Bradford

Demiplane, a new digital platform for tabletop RPGs, has brought on D&D Beyond founder Adam Bradford as its Chief Development Officer. Demiplane is a relatively recent web-based service for online tabletop RPG play that combines player matchmaking, live and interactive video capabilities, shared journals and inventory, dice rolling, and other services into one system. The platform launched in 2020 and was founded by Peter Romensko and former Dallas Cowboys center Travis Frederick. Notably, Demiplane supports more than just Dungeons & Dragons – the service supports matchmaking for just about every tabletop game available.

ComicBook.com spoke to Bradford about the move from D&D Beyond, a platform that has grown exponentially since its launch, to a new company. “I’ve played roleplaying games for three decades at this point,” Bradford said. “Not trying to sound cheesy or altruistic here, but I think that if everyone in the world played role-playing games, the world would just be a better place. As I started thinking about where my journey was coming at fandom with D&D Beyond, I started really just itching for some new challenges, and I started seeing some gaps out there of things that something like D&D Beyond isn’t going to necessarily cover.”

“One of those areas was this idea of matching game masters to players, pulling groups together, and some of the other really exciting things that’s part of Demiplane’s overall mission,” Bradford continued. “So it really was, for me, just a natural extension into continuing on that mission to get as many people in the world playing these games as we possibly can.”

Demiplane’s founders Peter Romensko and Travis Frederick grew up about 15 minutes for Lake Geneva, the birthplace of Dungeons & Dragons. The pair grew up playing tabletop games in Lake Geneva and eventually re-united to build Demiplane. Romensko also noted in addition to being a massive TTRPG fan, Frederick also serves as the “tech guy” for the company. Bradford spoke highly of Romensko and Frederick, saying that they were a big reason for his move. “It is absolutely the people,” Bradford said when discussing his decision to embark in new direction on his career. “I want to work with the best out there, and Peter and Travis have already just been completely incredible. And obviously, it’s a big move for me and I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t feel that way about them. I do think that we are forming quite the Voltron that is going to be a force here in the industry,”

Currently, Demiplane offers a variety of features for players either searching for a game or for groups looking for a better online experience that doesn’t require multiple softwares and services. While Bradford and Demiplane co-founder Peter Romensko couldn’t speak about specific plans, they did provide a bit of a tease about where Demiplane will head next. “The primary focus for us is when you’re in an adventure right now, how can we make sure that we’re reducing the number of distractions that come from playing the game and focus on the people,” Romensko noted. “I’m a game master myself and my main focus is the players that are at the table – I want to make sure that when they’re either experiencing whatever I’m laying out for them or we’re trying to find specific answers. We’re trying to make that as easily accessible for people when they’re in the moment so that those distractions are reduced.”

“This is a little bit of a tease,” Bradford added. “But it’s thinking through what are the good aspects of technology that can reduce those distractions that can make that a really great experience? Because all the emotions that are happening at a table, from just triumphant success to hilarious defeat and we want to make sure that those are the elements that shine through. With Demiplane, we try to minimize the things like scheduling, the other logistics, looking up rules, so the good parts can be the things that shine through.”

Although Bradford and Romensko kept future plans for Demiplane close to the chest, they made clear that they are looking to build a better platform that works for all tabletop RPG games, regardless of their age or publisher. “It’s been such a surreal experience to be able to be a part of D&D Beyond that has put a dent in that overall holy grail of bringing tabletop RPGs to all players,” Bradford said. “But with Demiplane, I really do believe that one of the things that excites me the most is as I’m looking at the space, I play all sorts of games that are not Dungeons &Dragons because I’m playing games all the time. And I love the inclusivity that we’re going with with Demiplane. As a gamer who has played virtually every tabletop role-playing game that I’m aware of in some capacity, it really, really excites me to be able to come into a sandbox where we’re going to be able to provide an experience that’s going to help with all of those kinds of things.”

Demiplane is a free-to-use system that can be accessed here.