Chad hitchcock
Story Design
Chad (they/he) works as an Artifact and Archives Registrar in Flint Michigan. They started in the roleplay scene in 2015 and has been roleplaying, playing a TTRPG, and/or larping ever since. They love writing and roleplaying horror, suspense, and mystery themes, and they can't wait to terrorize you all in game!
RJ Smedley
Logistics
RJ (he/they) works in product development, creating 3D models and technical drawings. He started running TTRPGs for his friends while in college. Back in 2022, he came out to Dystopia Rising, and has been coming back ever since. He's always looking for ways to uplift the community, whether it’s helping teach new players, or being “LARP dad”. In his free time he enjoys crafting, painting miniatures, playing TTRPGs, video games, and card games, man does he enjoy games... Anyways if you see him at game and have questions, he will be more than happy to help assist you.
Bradley bowling
Operations
Bradley (he/they) has the privilege of returning as the Dystopia Rising Michigan Operations Director. He's been playing and running Larps of all shapes and sizes from parlour Larps in game store basements and Discord based tabletop games to helping lead country-wide organizations. Working to bring Dystopia Rising back to Michigan has been a constant goal since the events that lead to the closure of Mourning Glory, and Bradley is incredibly excited and honored to be part of the team that gets to bring the Wasteland back to the Mitten.
Jer Moffitt
Visual Design
Jer (they/them) is a freelance artist that enjoys sculpting, fiber arts, and doing nails. They started larping in 2007 and have held multiple storytelling and logistics positions in multiple larps over their almost two decades of larp experience. Jer is very passionate about inclusion and representation in gaming spaces. They have been a Guide at DR:MI since they started with the game, lending their knowledge of logistics and operations. Jer is excited to be the new visual development director and can't wait to help make Dysptopia Rising Michigan a visually compelling experience for everyone involved!
Holly Eatinger
Marketing
Holly (they/them) works in patient services, as well as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. They started larping in 2019, and later that year discovered Dystopia Rising. During the pandemic, they assisted the writing team with online games, as well as diving head first in the wild world of social media to learn how to get eyes on posts. It's just kind of spiraled from there. They love traveling, reading, watching horror movies and tv shows, and coming up with too many crafting ideas. If you see them with a tiny microphone, you're probably their next TikTok victim.
Kendall Defrancesco
Conflict Resolution
Kendall (she/they) works as an early childhood educator and is pursuing higher education in psychology and child development. She started Larping in 2016 and three years later helped open the first DRMI branch. She has worn many hats but her favorite part has always been fostering a community where people can feel safe, included and equally horrified (by plot.) Outside of LARP they love traveling, musicals, videogames and webtoons. She has carefully designed her life so she can always play make believe.
Chappy Chapman
Writer
Chappy (any) is a real go-getter EXTREME based writer-pilled teamworker who writes the most scrumdiddliumptus stories in town. Chappy is a professional Dungeon Master who has been in the TTRPG scene since school days, and yearns for a future where everybody rolls initiative. Chappy enjoys long fights on the beach, drinking from a dice tower, and scrolling through tik-tok, wondering where it all went wrong. Horses are real, the nothing is fake, and writing rots your brain.
DVD
Writer
DVD (she/her) works for the State of Michigan while spending most of her free time either running TTRPGs or playing video games. She began larping in 2010 as a player, while off and on assisting in running the occasional parlor LARP - It wasn't until 2022 that she discovered Dystopia Rising. Other interests include clubbing, sharks, kaiju and amateur video game design. As a happy "Forever DM" she is excited to be part of the team but even more excited to tell some weird - possibly shark filled - stories.
Sara Castle
Owner
Sara (she/her) holds a master’s degree in social work and works in the mental health field. She started larping well over 25 years ago, starting with parlor larps. She joined Dystopia Rising in 2016 in the Frozen North (Canada). She started working as a guide and eventually was training to become the logistics director of previous Michigan Chapter. She is dedicated to creating an inclusive and accessible game and community. She enjoys creative pursuits such as sewing, crochet, embroidery and any kind of crafting. She loves playing tabletop games, board games. She lives with her husband and her six cats plus any number of foster kittens at any given time.