Rising Stars: Meet DeAngelo Murillo

Today we’d like to introduce you to DeAngelo Murillo.

Hi DeAngelo, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Being a geek my entire life I found myself wanting to explore the world of Table Top Roleplaying games. Going online I applied to a couple of local groups and was rejected by every single one.

Frustrated and bitter, I decided to spend the entire paycheck that I received as a courtesy clerk at Fries in order to snag the Dungeon Master’s Guide, Monster Manual, and Player’s Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition.

For weeks I studied those books with more intensity than I did for the SATs or college exams. Even after all of that work, I had still been horribly confused, and yet there were still friends who wanted to game with me.

Reluctantly, I agreed and we got together to try it out. During those four hours, I made a lot of mistakes and cringed, thinking they were surely never going to speak to me again.

But when the session ended and we started to pack up all they could say was when we were meeting up next and discussed at length how much they loved the game! They went so far as to genuinely compliment me as a storyteller and specifically referenced moments of the game that stood out for them.

It was at that moment that I realized that I had a talent for the art of storytelling. It was literally the first aspect of my life that I was skilled at and it blew my mind.

As time went on, more and more groups formed, mixed of folks who had both been new to the hobby and veterans. No matter the experience, they found joy in my sessions. However, I began to notice that the tabletop community had been, like many other communities, mostly dominated by white males.

Any sort of attempt to bring diversity or change was oftentimes met with staunch hostility. Even at my own table, I witnessed firsthand a lot of conservative ideas regarding racism, sexism, and more. It made me sick to my stomach to be surrounded by such toxicity so I decided that I would create a safe space for anyone and everyone to come and join TTRPGs without feelings othered or excluded.

In 2018 I began hosting D&D charity events where I would gather together local content creators in order to stream the sessions live on Twitch and raise funds for Phoenix Children’s Hospital. At the same time, I ran, and still run, a geek media website called The Geek Lyfe where I help uplift creatives and highlight the hard work of indies.

Using all of the creative might I had in my body I was able to host multiple events with great success that has provided funding to The Bail Project, Stop AAPI Hate, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and more! After so many events I had caught the eye of multiple companies who then hired me to assist in their own fundraising, product releases, articles on the hobby, and even helping military veterans heal from their past trauma through TTRPGs.

It has been a wild ride but I am so grateful to have helped in my own way all through the power of gaming!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There have been many roadblocks and conflicts that have made this journey difficult.

The most obvious one is that I am a proud Chicano(Mexican-American) with rich dark brown skin and a passion for my culture. Often times in the realm of fantasy Mexican and D&D do not go together. So I have had to fight to include my culture where ever I go, normalizing my heritage and combating those who try and say that I don’t belong.

The other issue is that I am a content creator living in Phoenix, Arizona when all of the high-paying gigs are in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, or Seattle. So on top of being BIPOC, I also have had to perform well enough on projects to shine bright enough that folks will want to work with me despite the distance. Which is a tremendous feat when you see just how talented and charismatic folks in the tabletop community are!

Especially when you have me, a chubby brown geek standing at 5’6. Then you find out that the other folks in the industry are these drop-dead gorgeous cosplayers, show-stopping actors, or incredible comedians! Somehow, I have to find it in myself to stand out from the crowd in order to get a seat at the big boy table!

So far I’ve been doing well but every single project is a whole new adventure!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am known for doing many things from project management, event organizing, fundraising, professional storytelling, online journalism, and most recently: game design! But I am mainly known for stepping into a geeky community and finding real ways to help out with diversity and inclusion.

I found out that there was an issue where cosplayers didn’t know which photographers to trust and photographers were worried since they’ve been scammed by cosplayers. So, I organized multiple photography events bringing together both parties and handled the business portion of it all to make certain everyone was taken care of.

I found out that in the tabletop roleplaying community, indies will perform for countless hours and never see a dime from their hard work. So I created a monthly event called Homies Helping Homies that allowed viewers to influence the session in dramatic ways via tips from accent changes to sultry modes. The cast would have no choice but to perform through it all and the crowd loved it! At the end of the night, all of the funds would be split evenly, helping get folks paid for their hard work!

I realized that there just was not enough positive representation of BIPOC cultures and LGBTQ+ aspects in gaming. So I decided to gather a team together in order to make a game that we all had access to when we first came into the community. We brought the concept to Kickstarter and asked for $10,000 and hit our funding goal within 13 hours. We now have extra funding to be able to further enhance the game!

I found out there were so many talented creatives in our local community and yet no one was featuring them in anything. So I decided to take the time to reach out and interview them about themselves and their process in order to uplift them. I’ve interviewed over 200 creatives since 2012!

Where ever I go, I try to find ways to use my creativity to help others!

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I love consuming content from others who are doing what I want to do well.

It helps to teach me how to improve my own craft so that I am always growing. I love to listen to podcasts to understand the history and current affairs so that I can form opinions on relevant topics and be able to help weigh in on discussions in different spaces and even bring certain concepts to my creative work.

Other than that, I love playing video games as a way to cool off from handling so many projects at one time.

Pricing:

• Emerald Templars (Kickstarter) $50
• Professional Storyteller $25/hr
• Professional Writer $0.10/word

Contact Info:

• Email: darthmexican@thegeeklyfe.com
• Website: https://www.thegeeklyfe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/that_deangelo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGeekLyfe
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/That_DeAngelo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsRimt4dwWpO45zr8INCUcQ
• Other: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deangelomurillo/emerald-templars