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Hey, do you have any plans for the last weekend in May 2026? If you’re a fan of tabletop gaming, RPGs, puzzles, and karaoke — or, for that matter, The Adventure Zone’s Travis McElroy — then the answer just might be yes, as next year’s Champions Grove is already set for Memorial Day weekend at Ravenwood Castle… and now we can tell you who else will be there.

The 2026 edition of the event that describes itself as “summer camp meets private ren faire meets Choose Your Own Adventure book meets sixty of the coolest people you will ever know” — honestly, descriptive and accurate — is set to take place in Ohio May 2026, and tickets are already available. But if you’ve been holding off signing up until you knew just who would be attending as game masters, we’ve got some good news for you — and some big names, too.

Here’s who’ll be showing up at Champion’s Grove 2026 as game masters and leading the play for the four-day event, with bios and photos provided by the GMs themselves.

Vivid Vivka
(@vividvivka everywhere)

Vivid (descriptor) Vivka (name) is a world-renowned cosplayer, artist, jokester, and sentient cinnibun who has been a creature of the internet since its inception. She has flourished in the D&D community, playing numerous iconic and unpredictable characters in such shows as Sirens of the Realms, Dice Camera Action, The Gaxx Pack, and Draw Your Weapons, and more. She dresses up almost every day except Halloween. When DMing, Vivka prefers to lean into typically unexplored narrative themes such as cosmic and body horror, liminal space, and surrealist tension. But, you know, in a fun way. Joyful, a little weird, and shorter than you’d expect … Vivka is excited to run amok and run games at Champions Grove!

Krystina Arielle
(@krystinaarielle on IG)

Krystina Arielle is a multidisciplinary host and actress best known as the face of Star Wars: The High Republic Show and a host of Star Wars Celebration Live. In addition to everything Star Wars, she’s also been featured on Critical Role, Dimension 20, along with many other live RPGs and in articles from Forbes, Allure and Buzzfeed. As an actress she portrayed Judy Gardenier in Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story and many more.

Diego F Salinas
(Join my table: ForeverDM.xyz | insta @diego_f_salinas | twitch @SalvadorAlien)

Diego is thrilled to join the fantastic folks at Champions Grove for adventure and mayhem! He is a Chicago-based actor and professional Dungeon Master who loves to merge the magic of improv with the tactics of combat. Following a Nat 20 Off-Broadway run, Diego is continuing the fun on the road with the national tour of Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern.

Haley Whipjack
(@haleywhipjack IG @whipjack TikTok)

Haley Whipjack is an educator, internet personality, and professional game player. You may know her as the host and game master of Unprepared Casters, a long-running Actual Play show consisting of short story arcs of all genres. They have been running games of Dungeons and Dragons for close friends and industry professionals alike for over 6 years, and have never met someone they didn't want to design a session for. Haley is a fan of all things fantastical, fanciful, and freaky, and is always ready to teach a craft or encourage a bit.

Riley Silverman
(@rileysilverman IG @rileyjsilverman TikTok)

Riley Silverman is a writer, comedian, and professional geek. An author of Doctor Who audio fiction and Star Wars books, Riley is also a contributing writer for Nerdist, Fandom, and D&D Beyond. She has rolled dice on numerous actual-play Dungeons and Dragons and RPG shows, and can currently be heard playing as Chase Variant in the hopecore sci-fi podcast, Good Chaotic. She will agree to a disturbing number of things in exchange for a perfect breakfast burrito.

Paul Foxcroft
(@misterspidergod IG)

Paul is a comedy guy from London who has played a lot of D&D. He's the host of UK actual play stream and live show, Questing Time ("beautiful madness" Theatre Weekly), he hosted the 2021 Holiday Specials for D&D and the Comic Relief Plays Dungeons & Dragons streams where he DM'd for Sue Perkins, James Acaster and raised over £50,000 for the charity. Oh, and he was in Ted Lasso. Paul has 17 years of experience as an improviser and comedy writer, but has also written content for Wizards of the Coast and for MCDM's Flee Mortals! At the time of writing he's working as a script consultant on the reboot of a super exciting AAA video game - but there are NDAs in play. He lives in London (England, where everyone should live), where he amasses Tyranids and watches a lot of Real Housewives content. Paul's unreasonably excited to be part of this incredible adventure, but is genuinely concerned that this bio is either too short or too long. Either way, he's sorry. *It's broader than "actor".

And, of course, the whole thing is hosted by this familiar face:

Travis McElroy
(@travismcelroy IG, @travis_mcelroy TikTok)

Travis McElroy (he/him) is an author, actor, and podcaster living in Cincinnati, OH. He and his brothers started the comedy/advice podcast My Brother, My Brother and Me 14 years ago and they have published over 730 episodes and produced the MBMBaM TV series for the SeeSo streaming service. Travis and his wife Teresa host the podcast "Shmanners" which takes an in-depth at look at the history of etiquette and culture. He dove head first into the world of TableTop gaming when, in 2014, he started making The Adventure Zone along with his brothers Justin and Griffin and their father Clint. TAZ was one of the earliest D&D Actual Play podcasts and has been adapted into a series of New York Times bestselling graphic novels as well as a board game developed with Twogether Studios. Because of the success of TAZ, he has been involved in countless conventions and gaming events. He decided to harness all of this experience (along with what he learned as a theatrical Technical Director and love of hosting) to create a TableTop gaming event of his own! Thus, Champions Grove, an immersive tabletop gaming event taking place every year at Ravenwood Castle, was born!

Champions Grove takes place May 22 through 25, 2026 in New Plymouth, Ohio. More information about the event can be found at the official Champions Grove website. 

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

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