ForgeWild started in Phandalin.
Phandelver & Below Campaign on Startplaying
Well, sort of.
It started when Max, Wes, and I all signed up for Calvin’s “Phandelver and Below” campaign on StartPlaying.Games in October/November 2024. Over the course of several months, we realised that our playstyles were all complimentary. All four of us enjoy collaborative storytelling, drama, humour…but most of all we love finding ways to expose the humanity in hopeless situations and the complexity of characters.
On top of all that, we all really love D&D.
In summer of 2025, Max and I were chatting about jobs and how wouldn’t it be the dream to do something creative full-time? To tell stories and share them with the world? He had podcast ideas, I had other narratives percolating…I told him “if ever you and Wes want to start doing that, let me know and I’ll help.”
So, we decided to form a media collective. A place where we could play D&D, write new campaigns, make fiction podcasts…a place where we can create.
We talked to Calvin about DMing an Actual Play and he upped the ante: A campaign setting that he had been dreaming up for quite some time, complete with new species, subclasses, and more.
Over the past few months, we have been building this company, writing our fiction podcast Aurora Frequencies, started recording it with the help of our lovely friends Adam and Dené, applying for grants – shout out to BlackWater D&D and their very cool Project Black Light – and shaping the world of Caldora. In the coming weeks, we will be sitting down to record our Actual Play and start releasing clips on our channels.
ForgeWild is a place where different communities will be seen and celebrated. So many Actual Plays are based in North America. We are primarily South African. So many stories are told through a Western lens. We are keen to bring focus to narratives from the Global South.
Most importantly, we are focused on connection. We are international, intercontinental, and interhemispheric. In a world that constantly tries to drive a wedge between people, we are dedicated to bringing people together by celebrating what makes us all unique and diverse, be it age, ethnicity, ability, sexuality, gender, country, and more.
Welcome to ForgeWild! We hope you find a home here.
