Welcome to Tavern Talk Thursday! This is a weekly column where we chat with a member of the TTRPG (tabletop role-playing game) community to learn more about how they found themselves at the table, what they love about tabletop gaming and other fun things. Think of it as a little sneak peeks into the minds of our fellow players and DMs.
This week we chatted with the incredible, the hilarious, the best barbarian – Kailey Bray! She is a co-founder for Pixel Circus, creator and dungeon master for Damsels, Dice and Everything Nice and has played in many live-action TTRPG games, including The Borros Saga: Banesbreak, Failed Save and much more. Bray has a deep love for the TTRPG community and has been a driving force behind creating safe and inclusive places through her work with Pixel Circus.
RELATED: Check out more Tavern Talk Thursdays!
Kailey Bray

Julia Roth: Let’s chat your TTRPG back story! How did you find yourself at the table?
Kailey Bray: I was introduced to D&D in high school, I went to a boarding school, and we would hide away in a room in the library and roll dice together. I’m still close with my first DM.
JR: Favorite world to adventure in?
KB: I’m a sucker for anything Feywild/Fey-related.
JR: Favorite one-shot adventure?
KB: I always love to recommend Winghorn Press’s Wild Sheep Chase; it’s such a fun one-shot to run and play and always ends up differently!
JR: Backstory or class first?
KB: Always class. All my DMs have come to expect some version of amnesia or memory loss from my characters; I’m terrible with backstory.
JR: Favorite spell and why?
KB: We’ve invented a Snack Cantrip on Damsels, and it’s one of my favorite things we’ve done. Once a day, each princess can summon any snack she chooses, just because. We have a lot of tea parties.
JR: Who has been your favorite character to play?
KB: It’s so hard to pick, but Nila from Banesbreak is an evolution of one of the first D&D characters I ever built, so she’s very close to my heart.

JR: Do you have a particular race/class you enjoy?
KB: You’d never guess it from my social media handle, but any chance I get to play a barbarian is a good day.
JR: Is there something that you build into every character? A fun trait or a special item?
KB: I try to always pick a feat when I build D&D characters; I love them and think more people should take advantage of them!
JR: What is your favorite system to play within?
KB: D&D was my first TTRPG, and I think it’ll be the one I turn to the most. I first started creating TTRPG content for D&D, and it’s the system that consistently inspires me to tell stories.
RELATED: Tavern Talk Thursday – Chad Michael Collins
JR: Tell us about the wildest adventure you have been on.
KB: It’s hard to pick just one. I’ve been lucky to sit at some sensational tables. Aabria Iyengar ran a very chaotic one-shot for our Banesbreak cast that included us having to play our real-life selves in addition to our characters, and it absolutely broke my brain, and none of us could breathe we were laughing so hard.
JR: What has been your most impactful moment at a table?
KB: We recently had to say goodbye to a fellow PC at the Failed Save table, and I play the cleric who failed to revivify them. We got to have a final scene with the two of us, and I still think about it now.
JR: Favorite dice to use?
KB: I’m famously unlucky, so my favorite set is one that I had Wil Wheaton bless many years ago. I’d hoped that two negatives would make a positive…it…kind of works.
RELATED: Zac Lim Eunbank and Aabria Iyengar Chat KOLLOK and Interactive TTRPG Shows!

JR: Would you rather face off against an entire dungeon of undead or charm your way through a royal court?
KB: I’m a barbarian through and through; gimme that dungeon.
JR: Favorite TTRPG Monster?
KB: Shadow Dragons or any kind of Hag.
JR: Good luck charms or rituals before a game?
KB: Again, I’m incredibly unlucky; it’s a running joke. Sometimes, if I really need a roll to go well, I’ll stare at the die, point at it very sternly and then beg. But for the most part, I’m resigned to what I call my “story dice.” They very rarely roll well, but they always make things interesting.
RELATED: Bonnie Gordon Speaks the Protostar’s Truth on Star Trek: Prodigy!
JR: Who is sitting at your dream table?
KB: I’m privileged to play with my dream table at least once a week, sometimes twice! The princesses of Damsels and the players on Failed Save and Banesbreak are both some of my closest friends and some of the most creative, brilliant people I know. It still blows my mind that I get to roll dice with them.
JR: What are you most looking forward to within the TTRPG world?
KB: I’m very excited to play through the adventures in Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel. That book is a revelation, and I cannot begin to describe how incredible it feels to see myself represented in my favorite game in this way.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/board-game-review-clue-critical-role/
- Saturday Morning Webtoons: TAKE MY MONEY and IN BETWEEN - February 8, 2025
- Tavern Talk Thursday: DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS Adventures for Newer Players - February 6, 2025
- Saturday Morning Webtoons: THE PERFECT CONTRACT and MELTING SLOWLY - February 1, 2025