Rob Justice

About Rob Justice

Rob Justice wears a lot of hats—software engineering manager, ex-podcaster, game designer, writer, father of three, husband of one, keeper of two cats, friend to one dog, comic book fanatic, pro-wrestling aficionado, someday banjo learner, 3D printing hobbyist, and an all-around good guy. Whether he's shipping code, rolling dice, or crafting stories, Rob brings curiosity, heart, and a relentless DIY spirit to everything he does. Rob has been a passionate, unfiltered voice in the tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) scene for over a decade. He first made waves in 2008 with The Bear Swarm!, a boundary-pushing podcast that earned its place as the internet’s first explicitly unfiltered RPG discussion show. Equal parts hot take and heartfelt critiques, it built a cult following that helped shape early TTRPG podcast culture. He followed it up with several more shows, including BS! Radio, a personality-driven geek talk show; Digging for Diamonds, which celebrated overlooked pop culture gems; and The Commute, a personal project capturing stream-of-consciousness thoughts during his daily drive. In 2010, Rob published his first RPG, Danger Close, a tactical game inspired by modern military storytelling. But the turning point came in 2015 when he joined John Wick Presents. There, he collaborated on Unspeakable, a system crafted for Curse of the Yellow Sign that blends cosmic horror with deeply personal consequences. His work earned praise for innovative mechanics and hauntingly resonant design. His contributions to 7th Sea: Second Edition were even more significant. As a System Designer, he helped modernize the game for a new generation. His writing can be found in the Pirate Nations and New World sourcebooks. He also co-authored The Castle, one of the game’s first published adventures. Rob’s never shied away from projects with a personal edge. In 2017, he contributed to the "Running a Horror Game" section in Party First, an RPG that explores Cold War paranoia and supernatural conspiracies. That same year, he released his first card game, Reading the Play, blending social deduction in a compact format. In 2018, Rob launched Murder! Be Thy Name, a passion project born out of his love for murder ballads and dark Americana. Created as a bespoke gift for the folk-horror band American Murder Song, the game is a gritty, atmospheric journey into a world of sinners, saints, and spectral justice. Designed, illustrated, and laid out entirely by Rob, the game was later made publicly available. He followed up with Gif-Kwando, a tongue-in-cheek party card game inspired by online culture, and The Lovecraft Social, a tiny free game published via Imgur. Even his smallest projects are loaded with theme, personality, and mechanical creativity. After a brief creative hiatus, Rob returned to game design in 2023 with Neonoir's The Run, a narrative card-driven RPG that blends cyberpunk aesthetics with retro detective noir. That same year saw the long-awaited publication of "The Safe Zone," a Cortex Prime spotlight that he originally wrote in 2016. The setting explores themes of sanctuary, scarcity, and community building in the aftermath of collapse—a prescient piece that has finally found its audience. In 2025, Rob set an ambitious challenge for himself: one new game every month on Itch.io. Each release explores a different facet of his design style—genre-savvy, emotionally charged, and mechanically tight. January kicked things off with The Shadows Beneath, an unspeakable fishing and exploration game that set the tone for the year. February was followed by Whispers from the Deep, a haunting adventure that expands the same mythos. In March, Rob shifted gears with LUNGS, a gritty, working-class sci-fi RPG set in the asteroid belt. April brought a polished return to earlier work with The Eldritch Social, a remastered take on his Lovecraftian micro-game. May introduced Americana Mythica: Outlaws!, a musical blackjack RPG that blends folklore and outlaw country into something extraordinary. June saw his most ambitious project to date: Grim Heroic, a sprawling superhero epic released in two editions—one free with AI-generated art, and a paid “Artless” version for players who would prefer less AI-generated art in the world. July’s release was the Vault Residents Training Manual, accompanied by a physical Oracle deck specifically designed for the game. Alongside it, Rob also released a special Tarot variant using the Oracle’s visual language. The back half of the year pushed his range even further. August brought A Tale of Ten Thousand Leaves, a mythic vision of feudal Japan that evokes classic tales of honor and sacrifice. Inspired by a beloved samurai role-playing game from the late 1990s, it pays clear homage while standing apart through its own sharp, painful nuances. September followed with Comin' Home, a quiet, character-driven game about returning to a small rural hometown, confronting old grievances, mending relationships, and tracing the legacy of the person you used to be. October turned the neon back up with Neonoir's Chromrenner, a high-tech low-life RPG of desperate Runners clawing their way through a merciless Gigaplex. It is an independent production published under the Mausritter Third Party Licence. November then shifted to something more mournful with Those Who Return, where players take the roles of the Risen, immortals cursed to live through endless cycles of death and resurrection, each life another chance to change the world, cling to fleeting loves, or dissolve into decay. He closed out the year in December with In the Pines, a tabletop role-playing game of cosmic dread. Players keep a living Mythos Journal as investigators chasing artifacts, creatures, locations, and rituals that bleed in from something older and hungrier than humanity. The truth costs Wellness, friends can harden into Bindings, and Complications stick like burrs. Whether he’s writing rules, wrangling code, or weaving worlds, Rob Justice stays true to one core belief: make cool things, share them with people, and never stop experimenting.