Monica Valentinelli

The first RPG company she worked for was Abstract Nova Press, a small press publisher devoted to making games that had a literary influence. She wrote for Nuomenon, a game inspired by Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, in 2006. Since then she’s contributed to: 'White Wolf, Onyx Path Publishing, Catalyst Game Labs, Wizards of the Coast, Atlas Games, and many others. Late 2012, she was approached by Margaret Weis Productions to work as the developer and lead writer on the Firefly RPG, which was based on the television show by Joss Whedon. Monica worked on the multi-award-winning Firefly RPG corebook and several supplements through 2016. In 2015 she was approached by Shadowrun developer Jason M. Hardy to create a new setting based on the fae. This setting was presented in Court of Shadows and debuted at Gen Con in 2016. Following her departure from MWP, Onyx Path Publishing announced that Monica is the lead developer for Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition. Then, in 2016, Monica released an adventure called “Battle for the Undercity” for Wizards of the Coast’s creator-owned site dmsguild.com. Due to its reception, Monica was added to the list of Adventure League writers and contributed to “In Volo’s Wake” to announce In Volo’s Guide to Monsters. In addition to her creative contributions, she also worked as the Marketing Director for Steve Jackson Games from 2011 to 2013, and as John Kovalic’s business manager from 2009 to 2014. She now consults for Onyx Path Publishing, and has done so since its inception in 2012.

Monica’s first known published short story was “Prey”, a Lovecraft-inspired piece that won an Honorable Mention for Neil Gaiman’s MirrorMask Competition sponsored by FutureFire.net. The following year, in 2006, Monica’s short story “Promises, Promises” for the Promethean RPG won entry into White Wolf Quarterly Magazine. Since then, Monica has published several short stories set in the worlds of Vampire: The Masquerade, Shadowrun, and many others. As an anthologist, Monica conceptualized Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling. This collection, which was co-edited with Jaym Games, features stories and essays that examines tropes and clichés from a broad range of perspectives. It was a successful Kickstarter project for Apex Book Company, and the anthology received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly.

A frequent guest and speaker at conventions, Monica has been to CONvergence, GameHole Con, GameFest UK Expo, Geek*Kon, WisCon, Origins Game Fair, and many others. In 2015, she was invited to speak at the GAMA trade show in Las Vegas, and also presented for Origins University at Origins Game Fair in Ohio. Then, in 2016, she was announced as a Gen Con Industry Insider for Gen Con: Indianapolis. She is returning to the Gen Con Writer’s Symposium

Monica strongly believes in the importance of making art, sharing her expertise, and advocates for better representation in games, fiction, and comics. To that end, she pens a column for the SFWA.org about writing for games, and often writes guest blog posts and essays about the need and ways to implement better representation in media. Monica has also been serving on the Board of Applicants for the RPG Creator’s Relief Fund, a charity founded in 2016 to help RPG designers, writers, artists, and other professionals recover from personal disasters similar to The Hero Initiative for the comics industry.

In December 2016, she announced a program to help artists continue making art called Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge.

Games

• DAGGER OF SPIRAGOS, a Scarred Lands adventure for D&D 5E and Pathfinder, 2017, Nocturnal Media/ Onyx Path Publishing
• DARK ERAS Companion, Geist: Sin Eaters “Forboding Lands”, 2017, Onyx Path/White Wolf Publishing
• UNKNOWN ARMIES 3rd Edition Books 1, 2, & 3, 2017, Atlas Games
• IN VOLO’S WAKE, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, 2016, Wizards of the Coast
• COURT OF SHADOWS, 2016, Catalyst Game Labs
• Robert E. Howard’s CONAN RPG, 2016, Modiphius Games
• GHOULS & REVENANTS, Vampire: the Masquerade, 2016, Onyx Path/White Wolf Publishing
• DARK ERAS, Hunter: the Vigil “Doubting Souls”, 2016, Onyx Path/White Wolf Publishing
• CODEX INFERNUS, 2016, Gun Metal Games
• BATTLE FOR THE UNDERCITY for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, 2016, DMsguild.com (Self)
• WORLD OF DARKNESS: GOTHIC ICONS, 2015, Onyx Path Publishing
• SKAA TIN AND ASH, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn RPG supplement, 2015, Crafty Games
• GHOSTS IN THE BLACK, Firefly RPG Supplement, 2015, Margaret Weis Productions
• SMUGGLER’S GUIDE TO THE RIM, Firefly RPG Supplement, 2015, Margaret Weis Productions
• DREAD NAMES: RED LIST, Vampire: the Masquerade, 2015, Onyx Path/White Wolf Publishing
• THINGS DON’T GO SMOOTH, Firefly RPG Supplement, 2014, Margaret Weis Productions
• CROSSROADS DRIFTERS, Geist Ready Made Characters, 2014, Onyx Path/White Wolf Publishing
• ECHOES OF WAR: THRILLIN’ HEROICS, Firefly RPG supplement, 2014, Margaret Weis Productions
• BUCKING THE TIGER, Firefly RPG Episode, 2014, Margaret Weis Productions
• MORTAL REMAINS, Hunter: the Vigil supplement, 2014, Onyx Path Publishing/White Wolf Publishing
• FIREFLY RPG COREBOOK, 2014, Margaret Weis Productions
• FREEDOM FLYER, Firefly RPG Episode, 2013, Margaret Weis Productions
• FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES, Firefly RPG Episode, 2013, Margaret Weis Productions
• SHOOTING FISH, Firefly RPG Episode, 2013, Margaret Weis Productions
• WEDDING PLANNERS CORTEX PLUS, Firefly RPG Episode, 2013, Margaret Weis Productions
• SERENITY CREW, Firefly RPG Characters, 2013, Margaret Weis Productions
• WEDDING PLANNERS CORTEX CLASSIC, Firefly RPG, 2013, Margaret Weis Productions
• GAMING IN THE ‘VERSE: GenCon 2013 Exclusive, Firefly RPG Preview, 2013, Margaret Weis Productions
• SCION: EXTRAS (Supplemental Yet Can Be Useful On Occasional Scions), 2013, Onyx Path/White Wolf Publishing
• War Echoes (Miniatures Game), 2012, Battle Bunker Games
• FALLING SCALES PART II, 2012, White Wolf Publishing
• RIMWARD, 2012, Posthuman Studios
• STRANGE, DEAD LOVE for Vampire: the Requiem, 2011, White Wolf Publishing
• INSTANT ANTAGONIST: THE CREEPY COTTONTAIL, 2011, FR Press
• SCENES OF THE EMBRACE, January 2011, White Wolf Publishing
• THE DEVIL’S NIGHT: Storytelling Adventure System (SAS) One Scene, October 2009, White Wolf Publishing
• EXQUISITE REPLICAS, August 2008, Abstract Nova Entertainment
• ALETHEIA, 2007, Abstract Nova Entertainment
• NOUMENON, 2006, Abstract Nova Entertainment
• CURSED EMPIRE: Warrior-Priest Class Book, 2006, Spartans Unleashed
• NINJA BURGER 2nd Edition, 2006, aethereal Forge (Editor)
• ALL FLESH MUST BE EATEN: Worlds of the Dead, 2006, Eden Studios
• OBSIDIAN: the Age of Judgment LARP Quickstart, 2004, Twilight Games (Editor)

Original work

• “Furies (Three of a Kind)”, GODS, MEMES, AND MONSTERS, 2015, Stone Skin Press
• “The Button”, WE ARE DUST stories inspired by Our Last Best Hope RPG, 2012, Magpie Games
• “Bored to Fu”, THE LION AND THE AARDVARK, 2012, Stone Skin Press
• “Fangs and Formaldehyde,” NEW HERO Volume 1, 2012, an anthology from Stone Skin Press
• “The Dig”, November 2012, Lovecraft eZine
• “Tomorrow’s Precious Lambs,” EXTREME ZOMBIES, 2012, Prime Books (Reprint)
• “Tailfeather”, APEXOLOGY: Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2011, Apex Publications (Out Of Print)
• “Curse of the Yellow Bunny Rabbit”, THE CREEPY COTTONTAIL game aide, 2011, FR Press
• “Tomorrow’s Precious Lambs”, 2011, THE ZOMBIE FEED, VOL. 1, The Zombie Feed, an Apex Publications imprint
• “The Message“, 2011, Bewildering Stories
• “Lady Yellowbird and the Flight of the Sad Panda”, 2011, Self-Published. Available through Smashwords, Amazon Kindle, DriveThruSciFi.com, etc.
• “The Saint, the Pickpocket and the Manticore” (July 15th, 2011), DAILY BITES OF FLESH: 365 DAYS OF FLASH FICTION, December 2010, Pill Hill Press.
• “A Different Kind of Treat”, October 2010, FlamesRising.com.
• “Miskatonic University Scientist Reveals the Old Ones are Responsible for Global Warming“, April 2010, Innsmouth Free Press.
• THE QUEEN OF CROWS e-book, 2010, FR Press.
• “Prey”, re-published February 2008, Pseudopod.org.

Media tie-in

• “Redder Than Red”, ENDLESS AGES for Vampire: The Masquerade, 2016, Onyx Path Publishing
• “Suffering of the Unchosen”, TALES OF THE DARK ERAS, 2016, Onyx Path Publishing
• “My Enemy, Mi Amici”, DRAWING DESTINY: A Sixth World Tarot Anthology, 2016, Catalyst Game Labs
• Interstitial In-Character Prose, MORTAL REMAINS for Hunter: the Vigil, 2014, Onyx Path Publishing
• “Don’t Ignore Your Dead”, DON’T READ THIS BOOK, a Don’t Rest Your Head RPG anthology, 2012, Evil Hat Productions
• Gangrel Storyline, 2011, PATHS OF STORYTELLING for Vampire: the Masquerade, White Wolf Publishing. Available in PDF, Kindle and ePub.
• “Pie”, BURIED TALES OF PINEBOX, TEXAS, Pinebox Adventures for Savage Worlds, June 2009, 12 to Midnight, Inc.
• “Promises, Promises”, WHITE WOLF QUARTERLY, for Promethean, Spring 2007, White Wolf Publishing

• THE CAINITE CONSPIRACIES, Vampire: The Masquerade Dark Ages 20th Anniversary Edition, 2016, Onyx Path Publishing
• UPSIDE DOWN: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling, 2016, Apex Publications
• SLICES OF FATE: the Collected Works of Eddy Webb, 2011, FR Press
• HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror, 2011, FR Press

Media tie-in

• REDWING’S GAMBIT for the Bulldogs! RPG, Novella, 2012, Galileo Games
• “Twin Designs”, TALES OF THE SEVEN DOGS for Aletheia the RPG, Novella, 2008, Abstract Nova Press

Comics

• “Last Man Zombie Standing,” Unfashioned Creatures, A Frankenstein Anthology, Summer 2013, Red Stylo Media