Current Cast Members
John Harju is a [person] from Washington State. In addition to PGwS, John spends his time making music with his band, Mezzanine, and multiple podcasts for the Geek Devotions network. His first Playing Games with Strangers appearance was They Said I Should Throw You as the Dungeon Master. His real life class would be a cleric/bard multiclass.
Squid is a writer, podcaster, and general procrastinator from the Chicagoland area. Although it’s only happened once, she’s happy to tell you about the time she got published, thereby making her a Real Author™️. Rumor has it, her legal name is not Squid.
She first appeared in They Said I Should Throw You, and her real life class would be paladin.
Josiah Crandall is a husband, father, and board game enthusiast from the Kansas City area. When he is not at his day job making videos for his church, Josiah can be found creating award-winning films such as The Library. Or building theater sets for the college…. or creating audio dramas like Jason Brubaker’s Sithrah… or performing improv with Locally Grown Improv Co.
Honestly he should dial it back a bit. Anyhow, what Josiah loves most about all the above is getting to tell amazing (and sometimes silly) stories with amazing (and sometimes silly) people. He first appeared in They Said I Should Throw You, and his real life class would be a friendly villager.
Celeste Mora is a the co-founder of Geek Devotions. [More details.] She first appeared in The One Where We Get Sued, and her real-life class would be [class].
Dave Clements is a dabbler extraordinaire with a strong focus on podcasting from northern Indiana. He works for a podcast company and is considered the “workaholic dad” of the team because, dang, he does a lot behind-the-scenes. He’s been making podcasts since 2012.
He first appeared in the episode The Reaping Festival and his real-life class would be Sorcerer.
Amanda Clements is a workaholic who likes playing games with strangers on the internet and has never been good at self-promotional material. She also has a degree in vocal performance and enjoys crafting of most kinds. Her first appearance was The Fall of the House of Firmstone. Her real life class would be a monk, she guesses, because she’s a hard-core perfectionist. (Also, she’s married to one of Dave’s brothers.)
Ben Avery is a comic book writer, sci-fi author, podcaster, screenwriter, pastor, actor, puppeteer, and father, although he just sort of lumps that all into one word: storyteller. He lives in northern Indiana. His professional writing career began working in the script for the graphic novel version of George R.R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight and he just published his first novel, Ghosts of the Future. He’s also part of the writing team for the upcoming Larryboy feature film. He first appeared in the special one shot Liberation Day in 2021. His real-life class would be a bard maybe. He doesn’t know. He took an online quiz.
JM Bilezikian is a disgruntled Midwesterner who negotiates his existence by frantically absorbing too much information about tabletop roleplaying and video games as if they formed some sort of neuroelectric insulator against the bitter cold. He first encountered D&D from his father who originally ran a game of 1st edition back in the 80s with his mom and siblings. He has apparently inherited the hobby. He first appeared in The Pine Springs Chronicles, and his real-life class is a druid, probably the kind that wild shapes into an octopus and scampers off into the ocean.
Past Cast Members
JS Earls is a comic book writer, sci-fi author, podcast, screenwriter, and — wait. Isn’t this just Ben’s bio with the name changed?
Actually, no!
JS is a multifaceted artisan from the realm of multimedia creativity. Notable for creating Nemo: The Lad with Scout Comics and Pistolfist, a top Black comic hero, he’s adapted 20 graphic novels and worked with National Geographic Channel. He is also the co-host of The Baron Earls Show. He first appeared on PGwS in They Said I Should Throw You, and his real-life class would be a bard.
Steve MacDonald is a co-host of the Strangers & Aliens podcast and voice actor playing various roles for Supersonic PodComics. His first appearance was They Said I Should Throw You as Gheroth Uxish and his real-life class would be a cleric.
Eric Compogno is the co-owner of Sage’s Portal in Spokane, WA, a member of the now-defunct band Burning Clean, and a voice actor playing various roles for Supersonic PodComics. His first appearance was The One Where Waterdeep Has a Parade as Stumblefoot and his real-life class would be Dungeon Master.
Honored Guests
Dallas Mora is the co-founder of Geek Devotions, an organization devoted to letting people know that they are loved. He played Brother Pan’Da in some episodes of Campaign One. He is also the husband of our very own Celeste Mora.
Katie Leigh is a multifaceted voice-over veteran. She is beloved as Connie Kendall in the world’s longest running international radio drama, Adventures in Odyssey, and played Sheila The Thief on the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. She played Nimlalwe in the episode “Katie Leigh Comes to Town”.
