The Family is Growing.

Hello, friends! I have some big news to share with you today, and I've been sitting on it for a little while now. Teasing secrets, if you know me, is basically my favorite thing to do, but this time I will just share. No torture, no cliff hangers, no hidden messages (There are 100% SOME hidden messages, I'm lying.) 

Action Fiction & QuasiReal Publishing have been acquired by Vala Marketing, and Action Fiction is merging with QuasiReal Publishing.

tada.

What does this mean

Grant, none of those words mean anything to me? That's A-OK, Dungeon Daddy / Chief Executive Grant is here to explain some business'y stuff, so sit down, lock in (or skip), take notes, and let's get into it. 

The first thing I want to say is that, for QuasiReal Publishing, not much will change. This is us growing, not pivoting (The first of many business'y words you'll read today), changing direction, or doing anything out of character. QuasiReal Publishing's mission remains the same: To be a mostly real publisher of high-quality TTRPG entertainment. 

Andi and Nathan are not going anywhere. They remain stakeholders in the QuasiReal Publishing brand. Nathan is still our lead writer, and Andi will still be making sure the ships sail on time, tentacle-free. I am also not backing out. I will remain at the helm and in charge of creative direction, projects, and games. 

Second, what the fuck is a "Vala Marketing." It's my day job. I founded a stupid little marketing agency 10 years ago, and it's blowing up. You can learn a little bit here, but in the last year or so, we both exploded internationally, nearly tripled in size, and are working with some of the biggest publishers in tabletop gaming. For example, I am currently, at the time of writing this, wrapping up the marketing, design, and advertising for my second Dungeon Crawler Carl campaign, and the 5th tabletop campaign EVER to breach $10,000,000. Not to brag (OK, MAYBE A LITTLE BIT), but just to contextualize both how serious this is, and also highlight how pivotal a moment we are approaching with the family of brands we have access to.

That matters because I have vastly more resources at my beck and call over there, at Vala, than I do at QuasiReal Publishing. (I realize that saying "That Matters" is an AI tell now, but I am going to leave it, cause it's not the boss of me... but AI didn't write this, if you can't tell that already from the parentheses and a billion typos. It me.) QuasiReal Publishing has never made a profit and has always been a part-time endeavor, which limits what we can do. Moving QuasiReal Publishing to an independent division of Vala Marketing unlocks us in a huge way to take on work that we want to do, and resume undertaking "Veil of the Eternal Night" size projects. 

Also, those of you who miss the Homebrew, I promise you that you want this too. I'm spread a little thin, and spending a lot more time on accounting than writing lately. 

What's an Action Fiction

Vala Marketing worked with TTRPG publisher "Action Fiction" on the Monsters of Murka: Ratified & Radified BackerKit campaign last year, and it went really, really well. Jaron R. M. Johnson, the Action Fiction lead, and I had an immediate click, long-lost brother thing happen. (Which I am adopted, so you NEVER. KNOW.) It became clear pretty fast that there was something here worth exploring.

Jaron and I started talking more, and the more we talked, the more obvious it was that we were operating from the same set of values. Same frustrations with the industry, similar, but creatively-dissonant-in-a-healthy-way beliefs about what makes a game worth making. Most importantly, bro has hustle. A curse word in the good year of our lords 2026, but 100% what makes it or breaks it these days if you wanna hop rungs in the ladder. He has the same "get it done" that I love about Andi and Nathan, and that I look for in partners. (Thats 100% of your glazing budget for 2026, Jaron.)

Wrap it up, Grant, this is a whoooole lot of words

Here's the new deal.

• QuasiReal Publishing has become the TTRPG publishing arm of Vala Marketing. Once in a while, you'll run into the word "Vala," and that's all that means. We are not sellouts. Well, we are, but to ourselves. 
• Action Fiction's TTRPG's are becoming QuasiReal Publishing games. 
• Vala Foundry has been formed, a new division of Vala Marketing that will publish board games. 
• Several new faces will be joining the Discord. Both new teammates and Action Fiction's fans.
  
• You've got some new games to check out! 
• You'll see some new channels pop up!

More info is coming, but I wanted to get you the headlines as soon as possible.

I'm proud of what QuasiReal Publishing has built, and I'm even prouder of what it's becoming. Making the connection with Vala official and having the Action Fiction team in the family feels right in a way that's hard to articulate, but if you've been following both of us for any amount of time, I think you'll get it the moment you see it.

More soon,

Grant