Gather round travelers to hear our tale...
Five years ago, a group of lifelong friends fumbled their way through tech troubles to produce a show that now boasts millions of downloads and thousands of listeners across the globe.
At the heart of Venture Maidens is a homebrew 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons campaign brought to life as a bi-weekly live stream and podcast. However, somewhere along the way, Venture Maidens became so much bigger than just one show. The venturers are a passionate gaming community who champion friendship and creativity in all things.
The stories we tell both on and off the table are fun, fearless, and unapologetically human.
The Maidens behind the Maidens
Celeste Conowitch
Celeste has been a gamer since the first day her little 10-year-old self inherited a pristine red box Dungeons & Dragons set. Through AD&D, 3.0, 3.5, 4th Ed, and now 5th Ed she’s loved every minute in the tabletop RPG world. Storytelling and world building has always been an important part of her life through both theatre and gaming. Check out her appearances as both PC’s & DMing wherever the internet is found. May your 20’s always be natural.
Sage Stafford
Sage has been a renaissance nerd for many years. Their interests expand from philosophy to physics to Magic: The Gathering to board games and tabletop roleplaying games. When Sage isn’t playing games with their wonderful friends, they’re working on two Bachelor of Science degrees at Mills College. Sage vehemently advocates for social equality so that everyone has the opportunity to be a nerd in their own way ^_^ Naturally, their favorite characters to play are healers and tanks, ready to take on whatever challenges the world brings!
Naseem Etemad
Naseem Etemad is a Los Angeles based actor which probably has something to do with her love of Dungeons and Dragons and other RPGs. As a lifelong gamer, she quickly fell for the cooperative storytelling and improvisational aspects of the game in her high school years. “I’m lucky to get to play with my friends – some of the most talented roleplayers I know – who inspire me each time we play, and so thankful to be able to share this absurd story with an audience that cares about these characters as much as we do.”
Katie Budabin
Katie Budabin plays Fera Velen on the Venture Maidens podcast. Katie started out with a love of fantasy from a young age, reading books about women in medieval settings. It was these novels that showed her strength could be found in more than just brute force. Ever since that first read, she began looking for creative outlets and found herself in the Dungeons & Dragons community. Her passion for the game and role playing prowess has lead to her being recruited by several D&D live streams and podcasts. Since her first awkward NPC interaction, to slaying her first ancient black dragon, she’s fallen for this game that created so many memories through the rolling of dice and sharing of snacks.
Brittany Qunitero
It all started the Christmas of 94’ when Brittany plugged in her first game system, the SNES, and fell in love with gaming. Since then, she has evolved full circle to the original RPG, Dungeons & Dragons. Visual art is one and the same as the art of magic to Brittany, so she usually plays a magic-user. By day, Brittany weaves her own magic into her work as a tattoo artist – illustrating stories and meanings by her client’s request. Like a warlock, she earned her powers through a lifetime of practice and an apprenticeship from an all-knowing mentor.