About

Jake Bartolone

I’m Jake Bartolone. I design tabletop adventures, run them at conventions, and write about why some tables catch fire and most don’t. Where the Lava Meets the Sea is the world I’ve been building for a while now — a volcanic island, a thing sealed underneath it, and a set of mechanics that let the story push back on the room it’s being told in.

I’ve spent twenty-five years in technology, most of it building things and leading the people who build things. Before that, and alongside it, I’ve been a singer, a bassist, a writer of science fiction, and — for as long as I can remember — the person at the table with the notes. The through-line is the same in all of it: build the conditions, then get out of the way and see what shows up.

Contact — wherethelavameetsthesea@gmail.com