ABOUT

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 and 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, blending 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 and meta-strategy 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 took on an ambitious goal: releasing one new game per month on Itch.io. Each release highlights a different side of his design ethos—genre-savvy, emotionally rich, and mechanically sharp. January saw The Shadows Beneath: An Unspeakable Fishing & Exploration Game, followed by Whispers from the Deep, a chilling adventure for the system. March brought LUNGS, a working-class sci-fi RPG set in the asteroid belt, and April marked the remastered release of The Eldritch Social, an evolved version of his earlier Lovecraftian micro-game.

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.