Meet the Team

Event Organiser
Damon K J Mitchell

Cave Con One organiser Damon K J Mitchell

CaveCon One’s creator and organiser, Damon, has been delighting his players with amazing TTRPGs for many years now. First as the in-house DM at a popular board game café in Nottingham and, for the last two years, independently under his own banner, DM Horizons.

With CaveCon One he hopes to bring together some amazing people and share his love of storytelling, RPGs, exploration and adventure.

At CaveCon One Damon will be organising, running D&D and hosting special activities.

Special Guest
Tamsin Caesar

A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, glasses, and a tattoo on her arm sitting in a cozy, colorful restaurant or cafe with bookshelves, warm lighting, and decorative elements.

Tamsin Cæsar is a Nottingham‑based tabletop designer and founder of of Caesar Ink, known for her work across a number major licensed RPGs. Whilst working as a designer at River Horse, she contributed to titles including Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: and Dark Crystal Adventure Games and the Tales of Equestria line.

Tamsin’s work blends strong thematic storytelling with accessible, player‑focused mechanics. At Caesar Ink she has had amazing success with their original RPG Doomsong set in a medieval world of darkness and heresy.

At CaveCon One Tamsin will be running Doomsong and hosting a talk for us.

Special Guest
Lynne Hardy

A woman smiling outdoors, wearing glasses, with reddish hair and a necklace with a cross, with green leaves in the background.

Associate Editor for Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu, Lynne has been writing and developing RPGs since the early 1990s. Her work spans numerous companies including Nightfall Games, Cubicle 7, Pelgrane Press, Modiphius, and Green Ronin.

She is also the creator of the ENNIE‑nominated steampunk RPG Cogs, Cakes & Swordsticks. When she’s not wrangling eldritch horrors, Lynne enjoys tea, fountain pens, and stories with heart.

At CaveCon One Lynne will running Call of Cthulhu for us.

Special Guest
Mike Mason

A man with glasses, a beard, and a red bandana around his neck smiling at the camera at an event. Behind him is a large logo for Ghostbusters Inc., a vintage-style illustration of a library or office with books, bottles, and a ghost trap on a counter.

Creative Director for Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu line, Mike is an award‑winning writer and designer who has guided the line since 2013. His work spans over 40 books, including the Ennie‑winning Keeper Rulebook, Investigator Handbook, Pulp Cthulhu, and Malleus Monstrorum.

He’s also a surprisingly good singer, owner of some excellent cats and a huge fan of Steven Spielberg's cinematic classic ‘Jaws’.

At CaveCon One Mike will be hosting a live demo and Q&A for us.

Special Guest
Keris McDonald

Close-up portrait of a woman with shoulder-length wavy brown hair, light skin, and a subtle smile, outdoors with blurred background.

Keris is Associate Editor for Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu, heading up the Cthulhu by Gaslight line and bringing deep expertise in Victorian settings to the game. She also co‑authored The Private Life of Elder Things and contributed to Chaosium’s Rivers of London RPG.

When not immersed in Gothic mysteries, Keris enjoys LARPing, kickboxing and gardening. She lives with her faithful Greyhounds on a ley line somewhere north of Mike Mason and south of Lynne Hardy.

At CaveCon One Keris will be running Cthulhu By Gaslight for us.

Guest GM
Dave Barnett

A man with a beard wearing a top hat, plaid vest, and white shirt, sitting at a table with a poker chip in his hand and a poker plate in front of him, in a dimly lit setting.

Dave Barnett has been roleplaying for over 40 years, reffing and playing both TTRPGs and LRPs of many, many genres. In recent years, his TTRPG storytelling Schtick system has helped him run games of fairies “In The Dark Wood”, “Space Scoundrels “adventuring across the Galaxy, the “Mahogany & Brass” of steampunk, and a classic fantasy “Coppers”. Over his decades of LRP, Dave has run campaigns of historically based games from Dark Ages, through Victorian to 1940s.

He’s currently playing at Empire - where his vardo can be found in Varushka, NPCing at Menhirs Fate, and running sold out player events for kids. He is an engineer by day, and enjoys making and building “stuff” by night.

At CaveCon One Dave will be running the immersive First Train Robbery session for us.

Guest GM
Jayson Green

A man wearing a steampunk costume with a large decorated top hat and ornate clothing.

Jayson is an ENNIE award-winning freelance author and editor, and co-manager of the TTRPG live-play podcast ‘Lightless Beacons’ . He has fronted several heavy metal bands and survived many moshpits. Besides his music and writing endeavours, Jayson enjoys video games, cooking, weight-lifting and being in nature.

Whilst he has never lived in Nottingham, his hometown  sounds similar enough that people have mixed them up. 

At CaveCon One Jayson will be running Punk is Dead (Morg Borg) for us.

Guest GM
Paul Maloney

A smiling middle-aged man with glasses and short gray hair wearing a light gray T-shirt with a printed design, standing in a room with bookshelves filled with books in the background.

Paul is a well respected GM on the convention circuit running demo games for many well known game companies including Chaosium. He’s also a long time collaborator with DM Horizons having previously run well-received sessions of Vasen, Call of Cthulhu, Legend in the Mist and more for our groups. It’s great to have Paul join us for both days of CaveCon One.

Paul will be running three different systems for us over Cave Con including an exciting taster scenario for Chaosium’s new Time Without Tide RPG.

At CaveCon One Paul will running Call of Cthulhu for Age of Vikings, Daggerheart and Time Without Tide.

Guest GM
Darran Sims

A man with a beard, sunglasses, and a black cap with the text 'Weyland-Yutani Corp' and a logo. He is wearing a white button-up shirt over a black T-shirt with the same logo and text. The background features trees and a blue sky.

Darran is another long term DM Horizons collaborator and popular convention GM having organised two RPG conventions of his own previously. His games of Tales from the Loop, Alien, Vaesen and more have always proved very popular . We’re delighted to have Darran on board for both days of CaveCon One running three games including an atmospheric Alien RPG session in the caves. He is also the owner of two fine dogs nicknamed Buggerlugs and Slobberchops.

At CaveCon One Darran will be running Alien and Vaesen for us.

Guest Call of Cthulhu Keepers
George Burdett, Matt Broughton & Chris Webb

A group of six young men is gathered around a table in a modern office or conference room. They are engaged in a discussion, with some looking at documents, notebooks, and smartphones on the table. The room features decorative circular wall art or partitions in the background.

George, Matt and Chris represent some of the best and most experienced CoC keepers in Nottingham and will each be running a different scenario.

At CaveCon One they will be running Call of Cthulhu for us.

Also featuring
Rianna Feghali as The Dice Goblin

A person with green face paint and black wig dressed as a witch or orc, smiling with hands clasped together, in a store with shelves of board games. A man with a beard and light-colored shirt holding a game titled "Warlock of the Fens Mountain" stands beside with a puzzled expression.

Our very own Dice Goblin will be back for our Fighting Fantasy Choose Your Own Adventure!

At CaveCon One Rianna Feghali will be appearing as the Dice Goblin.