Hi! I'm Laurie O'Connel, a Dublin-based tabletop game writer and editor. I've been writing and freelancing in tabletop roleplaying games since 2020.
I love writing for other people's games. It's a design challenge that sharpens my own writing skills, and I find a particular pleasure in making someone else's world and rules shine. My commissioned and personal work spans the full range of the TTRPG landscape: system-neutral adventures, rules-light storygames, Forged in the Dark hacks, 5e adventures, and crunchy, rules-forward mechanical design for games like Lancer. My personal work has been translated into Italian, French, and, most recently, Chinese.
I also edit Playtest Material, a critical journal about tabletop roleplaying games, and I have a deep love for the sheer variety of the TTRPG scene, which always calls me back to it.
I have a history in non-fiction publishing, which means I'm great at working with editors and getting you deliverables on time: in my years of freelancing, I have never delivered a piece of work late.
I also do sensitivity reading and fact-checking, what I like to call accuracy reads.
As a reader, I'm not just looking to help you catch faux pas. I'm helping you give an honest and sincere depiction of a particular time period, group of people, or way of life. I specialise in accuracy reading for work featuring labour organisations and political organising (legal, semi-legal, and underground) and specific, researchable time periods.
"We hired Laurie to write some bonus content for one of our games and we couldn't be happier with his work. He was a pleasure to work with, fit the brief perfectly and delivered a really funny and inventive adventure!"
Sasha Sienna, MacGuffin & Co. (for writing)"Laurie's work inspired me to investigate the indie ttrpg scene, and it felt really special to work with him on Lost Eons. Laurie is an incredibly sharp thinker about how meaning is conveyed through words and mechanics, paring concepts down to their essence so that each part of the game reinforces the central ideas. His design eye is bold, precise and clean, helping the text flow while looking fresh and beautiful. His use of header fonts as an integrated design element is always executed so well. Working with Laurie is a conversation of ideas, interrogation and inspiration in equal measure. Laurie is making some of the most vital and profound work in the ttrpg scene right now, and I can't wait to work with him again."
David Blandy, Lost Eons (for developmental editing)"Laurie worked with me on Minutes to Midnight, a roleplaying game about the Cold War. He is an absolute pleasure to work with. As a non-native speaker I often struggled with finding the right words in English and Laurie always had my back, understanding what I was going for and giving the right advice. He is very accessible and you can trust in his diligent, committed and skillful proofreading. I very much look forward to working with him again on my next project."
Oliver Smock, Minutes to Midnight (for copy editing)My rates are negotiable based on the scope of the project, but I normally charge between 8 and 20 cents per word, with the lowest rates going to the highest word-count projects. For other tasks, I charge at $25/hour.