2024 Litigation
Thomas et al v. Leyline Publishing LLC et al
Message from the Creator
Dear Supporters and Friends,
The last time some of you may have heard from me was when I wrote that heartfelt letter to you while my relationship with Geek Therapeutics was still active. The letter was limited to existing backers and supporters at the time I handed it over to Geek Therapeutics to send out, which was in January 2023. I was informed that they sent it out, but the opportunity to follow up with you all was lost to me.
In February 2023, the relationship was terminated and soon after, I suddenly had my Geek Therapeutics email account revoked, was removed from their Discord, and found myself pursuing legal support to help me work with Geek Therapeutics to mitigate and resolve this matter.
Unfortunately, as some of you may have seen, I have had to resort to pursuing litigation with Geek Therapeutics over my tabletop role playing game, Realms of Kymoria.
Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, Geek Therapeutics has not relented in their efforts to commit IP theft as they continued to promote Realms of Kymoria by distributing and utilizing my IP to create marketing material and have even launched a BACKERKIT campaign to secure additional funding under their name. (Thankfully the Backerkit team stepped in as of March 20th, with only a few days left to go in the campaign, and suspended the project and placed it under review)
Equally as concerning, they have sent emails to supporters, purportedly written by me, and have even included my person and picture in other marketing efforts, without my knowledge or consent. I want to make it unequivocally clear that I did not write nor authorize those emails and never gave permission to use my person or likeness.
I had a genuine belief that Geek Therapeutics was invested in me and my vision of Kymoria that I shared with them. I was excited about the opportunity and I was invested in trying to be supportive and appreciative, which is evident in my previous public displays of support.
I remain deeply committed to the vision and potential of Realms of Kymoria. However, I cannot stand by while my intellectual property is compromised, the message and intentions are twisted, and my name and likeness are used without my consent. I want to be transparent with you about these facts but I am unable to speak freely about them at this time.
I invite each of you to reflect on the situation and decide for yourselves if you can continue to support the release of this game under the Geek Therapeutics name. Your understanding and support during this challenging time means the world to me.
If you have further questions, please read the FAQs at the bottom of the page for more information.
Thank you for your ongoing support and trust.
Sincerely,
Shawn (The Tabletop Adventure, Realms of Kymoria)
FAQ
How can I support you?
Sharing this website and bringing awareness to this situation is the most important thing. I would also be incredibly appreciative of any kind words, supportive comments, and especially encouragement/enthusiasm about Realms of Kymoria as I continue to research, develop, and write content.
Bookmarking this website to check in for updates, subscribing to (following) our newly created Blog, and any other types of support are all wonderful and welcome. Additionally, there will be various goods that will be marketed and sold through ‘www.demiprism.com’ if you are willing to help in that manner as well.
How can I stay informed about this?
Our blog posts and this page on our website are the best ways to stay informed about this. We may not be able to disclose or discuss everything, but we will share what we can.
Are we allowed to talk about or share what you said on this page?
Yes. Everything I have shared is the truth and is associated with the content that was submitted for litigation and is thus considered to be public.
Please feel free to link this website, speak your opinion or thoughts on the matter, and help me promote the truth of this situation.
Why can’t you just share what happened?
Because even if I share the facts, it's possible that my words can be used against me with how our legal system functions. The litigation process has multiple steps and I am trying to do my best to follow those guidelines.
Of course, this shouldn't have reached the point of me having to pursue litigation in the first place and I would prefer to not get into a public opinion competition with Geek Therapeutics, who have been controlling the 'narrative' up to this point. They are trained professionals who specialize in framing and reframing situations and scenarios and I am just a creator who has been trying to stand up for himself.
Despite their company's motto, and even their career/profession's commitment to ethics, I cannot bring myself to trust that they wouldn't strategically omit details, belittle the situation, shift the focus away from themselves and their actions, and/or take advantage of an earnest effort to share the truth that was poorly worded or phrased.
What’s the deal with the news article that we saw in a few places?
As mentioned, since we had to pursue litigation and since this is a federal case, it means the details are publicly available. Iowa Capital Dispatch, where the article “Iowa ‘game master’ sues Texas company over role-playing game” originated, must use some tools or automation to collect and parse these sorts of cases when they are initiated.
I do not know what editing or effort went into the article but we were not involved with its creation, what the article chose to focus on, or what they chose to insert of their own accord.
Link to the article:
Why does the article mention libel and slander? What do you mean you didn't give consent?
This is another topic where I cannot get into the details. However, I can share some examples where updates/changes/communications/etc were released by Geek Therapeutics.
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These emails did not come from me but they were written as though they were and were signed off with my name as well.
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Email 1a (partial screenshot) | Email 1b (remainder of screenshot)​
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Email 2a (partial screenshot) | Email 2b (remainder of screenshot)
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This WEBSITE, which Geek Therapeutics currently still owns, has my picture on it (with no working links below my picture either)
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On that same website they have published more of my IP without my consent.
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On that same website they link to a 'RoK Infomercial' YOUTUBE VIDEO that makes use of footage from PAX Unplugged in 2022 to promote the crowdsourcing campaign they launched on Backerkit. The majority of that footage consists of me talking about Realms of Kymoria.
The message from Geek Therapeutics to their backers about the DMCA takedown
The message below was emailed by Geek Therapeutics on Friday, March 22nd. As I am the one who is being infringed upon, I cannot easily share my thoughts on the message content. I can only ask that you take into consideration what they have been doing, the facts I have shared, and reiterate that you reflect on the situation and decide for yourself whether or not you can support the release of this game under Geek Therapeutics name.
What does this mean for the therapists, teachers, and other professionals who invested in what Geek Therapeutics was promoting?
I am truly sorry that something you were looking forward to has been tainted by this situation. I can only ask that you reflect on the situation and decide for yourself.
Other than that, I can only hope that you understand my situation and that in the future you’ll be understanding and supportive as I try once more to bring Realms of Kymoria to the public.
I recognize that previous supporters may be reluctant to offer their support again and that the litigation itself will create additional walls that I will need to overcome. So, when it comes time to try again I will be carrying that expectation and understanding with me and will do my best to show the passion and quality that I am pouring into this material. My hope is to establish some trust that I can work on building higher in the future.
How to discern if future Realms of Kymoria communications are actually from me.
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Bookmark this website and use that bookmarked link to check for updates. These updates will be on a dedicated announcements section, page, and/or on the blog.
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Emails will come from our email domain such as: RoK@rokttrpg.com or RoK-Blog@rokttrpg.com
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Be mindful of spoofing tactics. It's always safest to navigate to the website link you already know is safe to confirm information.​
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Follow our blog.