The Dovetailor
Pamela Punzalan is Filipino, 30-something, female (she/they), and pansexual x angrysexual. She loves whiskey, cigarettes, games, protest, and inclusivity. Also answers to Pam and Pammu.
Who Am I?
Pam Punzalan wears many hats: writer, game designer, editor, authenticity reader, cultural consultant, and community builder. She builds tabletop and fictional worlds that speak her truths as a queer, Filipino woman. Her work in all these spheres has been nominated for awards.Prior to entering the professional sphere, she was the founder of Play Without Apology (a Filipino collective for queer people and women), and organizer of Session Zero Online under Gamers & Gaming Meets Philippines. At present, she is an administrator of Asians Represent, an active member of the Diana Wynn Jones Awards Committee, and a core member of Big Bad Con's PoC Programming Committee.
My Games as the Dovetailor
Pam's games are explorations of the realities she lives, steeped within the supernatural, the magical, and the intimate. She started her design work as an attempt to reclaim a sense of self in white narratives, and seeks to present alternate worlds where characters like herself get to speak on their own terms, and allows playgroups to tell stories that don't often get heard. And, of course, her primary influences from novels, video games, and other tabletop games come out very often. One of the biggest things that she likes to attempt with her design are making games about the Philippines and the Philippine experience as she knows it.Defining the range of her games with labels is a bit of a futile exercise, as experimenting with systems and hacking what she can is a thing she likes to do. That said, all of the games - from themes down to the backend of their production - are SWORDDREAM games. She also has a strong preference for PtbA, Forged in the Dark, and OSR design.
Want More?
For more minigames and collab games, you can visit my itch.io page!
My Professional Work
Beyond doing game design for herself, Pam also does design work for a whole range of products, from traditional game systems all the way down to small, personal projects.As an authenticity reader and consultant, her special topics include gender, sexuality, identity, the Philippines (particularly the Spanish Period down to contemporary Philippines), education, semiotic analysis, and power.Finally, she loves being involved in streams, speaking engagements and education. She is a guest lecturer for Writing the Other: Building Inclusive Worlds. Since last year, she's done several panels across conventions in and beyond the Philippines, including BBC, GenCon, and Metatopia.Inquire privately for a full CV/Resume.
Projects that feature my work
- D&D: THE RADIANT CITADEL
- D&D: BEYOND THE CITADEL
- Hunter: The Reckoning
- Spire
- Sina Una
- Thirsty Sword Lesbians
- Starfinder: Galactic Magic
- Starfinder: Tech Revolution
- Rookwood Roots
- GUN&SLINGER
- Mnemonic: A Weaver's Almanac
- Eat Trash, Be Free
- Best Left Buried
- Brinkwood: Blood of Tyrants
- Ancestry & Culture
- Five Torches Deep
- Mothership: Not Even The Bones
- The Sealed Library
- Writing The Other
Articles By Pam / Features on Pam
- This Pinay Proves It's Time Women Stop Apologizing for Breaking the Mold (2019)
- State of the Philippine TRPGs "Nation" (2019)
- On Community & Community "Leadership" (2019)
- Weaving Asian Stories (2020)
- How Online Collaboration is Opening a World of Southeast Asian RPGs (2021)
- Sensitivity Readers Can Make Publishing More Accountable, if We Allow Them To (2021)
- Enter the Fold: Indie Tabletop RPGs to Play if You Love Shadow and Bone (2021)
- Meet the More Digital, and More Diverse, Dungeons & Dragons (2021)
- The Gaming Shelf Plunges Into the Apocalyptic (2022)
- Do Subalterns Dream of Digital Worlds? (2021)
- Interview: Pam Punzalan, Author of Between Tangled Roots (2022)
- D&D Radiant Citadel’s Pam Punzalan Is Proud of Her Filipino Heritage: “No One Can Rob Me of That” (2022)
Streams & Podcasts: A Partial Archive
- Asians Represent: Asians Read Oriental Adventures [Part 5] - 2020
- The Game Closet: 71 - Pammu (2020)
- Jianghu Hustle 32: Asian Martial Arts Jam Panel! (2020)
- Café Rolistes 120 - Pam Punzalan, aka TheDovetailor (2020)
- IPR Presents: Cutting Edge RPG Design Panel (2020)
- D&D Celebration: Weaving Asian Stories (2020)
- The Devil in the Details: Designing Microsettings in Tabletop RPGs (2020)
- RPGs & English as Our Vehicular Language: Beyond the American Culture Online (2020)
- Shores Not Quite Undiscovered: Tabletop Beyond America (2020)
- Our Shores Launch! (2020)
- Is Session Zero a Scam? Mahjong and Cultural Appropriation? (2021)
- RPG R&D Episode 6 - Pam Punzalan (2021)
- Building TTRPG Communities and the Southeast Asian RPG industry (2021)
- Anime Beyond Borders | Asians Represent Podcast #47 (2022)
- Unearthing the Tropics (2022)
- Together We Write: Community and Collaboration in the Creative Process (2022)
- So You Want to Hire an Editor (2022)
- Late Night BJs with Pam (2022)
- 116: Toa Tabletop Talks to Pam Punzalan (2022)
- 117 Toa Tabletop Talks to Pam Punzalan Part 2
- GayGaming Pros: Journey through The Radiant Citadel (2022)
What Can I Do For You?
Of the channels below, Twitter, Discord, and email are the best avenues to reach me. My Facebook account is reserved for folks whom I have had direct interactions with in person or within a professional capacity.Rates negotiable to a reasonable point if you're on a budget, and definitely negotiable if you are queer, Filipino, BIPOC, disabled, and/or neurodivergent. Ko-Fi supporters also get priority slots, as part of their benefits for supporting me on the regular.Generally, if you have a set rate to offer me, I'll adhere to your terms provided that it is not less than 8 cents per word for writing, or 35 USD an hour/at least 250 USD for consultations. Quick note on writing rates, though: my strong preference is 10c/words as a minimum offer for my fiction, articles, or design.