Greg Schneider is the founder of Black Shield Productions. He has owned a game store, co-founded the Montana Game Faire, written a regular column for RPG.NET and run over three hundred hours of convention role-playing events. Greg uses a variety of systems to find new and innovative ways to share his passion for collaborative storytelling. He has been a regular at conventions in the Mountain West for over fifteen years, attending as a pro the last ten. Greg was also the Montana Guest of Honor at Great Falls Gaming Rendezvous 2012. By day, Greg is a technical manager and professional project manager.

James started gaming with his childhood best friend by escaping from Zanaer’s Dungeon while in 3rd grade. He attempted (poorly) to create his first RPG system and adventure just a few months later having recently watched “Mazes and Monsters”. And thus began a long and arduous comedy of errors as a young man attempted to teach himself the art of the Game Master. Joining Black Shield at the ground level in 2012 as the party fighter and resident blunt instrument. Doing so not just for the love of the game, and because he isn’t really that good and anything else, but out of a strong personal desire to leave the gaming community a better place than it was when he found it. To offer safe haven and entertainment to the wayward dreamers of the world.

Casey Almas is from Helena, MT. In high school, he began performing in plays where he discovered his theatrical talent and love of performance. He also began gaming around the same time, quickly moving to GMing while incorporating methods of storytelling gleaned from his time in the theatre. While attending Carroll College, he was a member of the decorated Speech and Debate team The Talking Saints. Casey joined Black Shield in 2012 and placed 1st at Iron GM Local 2014. He enjoys running diverse and unexpected games influenced by a wide variety of genres.

There is nowhere Molly would rather be than at a game table. Her GMing philosophy is shaped by her love of an exhilarating story; she favors rules light systems, immersive role-playing, and the Action, Comedy and Sci-Fi Genres. In Molly’s games, surprises, left turns, and downright wacky ideas are not blocked or avoided, but facilitated, enjoyed, and perhaps most importantly, talked and laughed about for years to come. Molly joined Black Shield in 2013 and placed second at Iron GM Local behind fellow Black Shield GM James Eckert that same year. By day, she is a utility analyst and mom to a geek in training.

Dean started gaming with friends as a teenager. Within a couple months of his first game he was running his own games and was hooked. 30 years later he joined Black Shield Productions and the rest is history.

Dean likes doing light-hearted, fun games giving players a chance to stretch their imaginations. Occasionally he will do a more serious game to test out new concepts. He prefers rules light systems but enjoys trying out new systems of all types.

Regardless of the type of game or system used, if the players are having fun, he is having fun.

Christina joined Black Shield as a game master in January of 2017. Prior to GMing with these incredible people she was a DM in DnD for over ten years. Christina likes: horror, mystery and scifi. She dabbles in other genres and believe in always improving her skills for the game and players. She can’t wait to see you at a convention, extra fate points for puns. Game on!

Alex joined Black Shield as a Game Master in 2020 after playing regularly in our games for many years. Alex has GM'd games since 2002, and believes strongly in the ability of role-playing to connect people. He currently works as a family therapist and has been discovering ways to incorporate his gaming passion into his professional career. Alex currently resides in Seattle, and is looking forward to playing with you!

Laura Schneider is one of the LARP GMs. Way back in her college days a weird geekie guy asked her to join his RPG and she said yes. He became her partner for life who has taken her on many adventures one of which is the creation of Black Shield Productions and she has been there behind the scene ever since.

Luke Hutson has been gaming for 20 years and GMing for 15 of them. Luke prefers to run rules lite systems that allow players to explore the game imaginatively. He favors comedy games and games that force players to think differently about how they approach situations. He has been with Black Shield for three years and has run many continuous convention games as well as running the now traditional Saturday Morning Toon. Luke has a degree in English with a minor in Social Science and when he's not gaming he can be found teaching, reading comics, and performing improv.