About Me

My name is Isaac Shaker. I graduated from UC Davis in 2013 with a Bachelor’s in Molecular Biology. I married my high school sweetheart soon afterward. I live with her, our kids, and our pets in our home in Davis, CA.

After my Bachelor’s I got a Master’s in the same field from Sacramento State in 2017. I studied the effects of introns on gene expression in C. elegans. There’s a wikipedia article about intron mediated enhancement of gene expression and I’ve written some blog posts about it as well. After getting my MS I worked as a lab manager at UC Davis. The lab examined the interactions between the immune system and tuberculosis. Later on I moved into the private sector as a lab manager and scientist for TurtleTree in Woodland, CA. TurtleTree is developing cultivated milk, a type of milk that will be grown in a lab without the need for all the extra resources that support cows. I’ve since left the field of lab management and am now a project manager for the data division of California’s Department of Health Care Services.

My wife is a fifth grade school teacher at an elementary school in Davis. We have two daughters, a six year old and a four year old.

I like playing video games. I also enjoy reading Roman and Greek classics, learning new things, and playing Dungeons and Dragons. At the moment I’m enjoying learning all I can about Chinese history and culture.

My current recreational project is writing information about my ongoing D&D campaign set in the magical land of Cimmeria. I am edging closer to making it into something that is publishable.

I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

73 – Duncan and Extraordinary Locations Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

Duncan Rhodes comes on the show to talk about his new book, The Creative Game Master's Guide to Extraordinary Locations: & How to Design Them or just Extraordinary Locations. The book is filled with 30 adventure locations to drop into your campaign, modify, or use as a full adventure path! The locations are loosely stated out for D&D 5e but could easily be adapted for any fantasy system. Additionally, the book has a step-wise guide for crafting your own adventures based around locations just like those in the book.To follow Duncan's blog postings you can check out Hipsters & Dragons: https://www.hipstersanddragons.com/And his book, The Creative Game Master's Guide to Extraordinary Locations: & How to Design Them, is available on Amazon and most likely at your local book or game stores: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Masters-Guide-Extraordinary-Locations/dp/1965636306Our website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 73 – Duncan and Extraordinary Locations
  2. 72.5 – Calico and Psychomortis (Part 2)
  3. 72 – Calico and Psychomortis (Part 1)
  4. 71 – Aaron Ryan and Dissonance/The End
  5. 70 – Sensei Suplex and Project Aurora