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

89 – Bunnies vs. the Borg D&D (Avery and Traumwald) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

Avery presents her world of Traumwald which means Dream Forest. Traumwald was a peaceful, magical world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals of all kinds. Their peace was shattered by the attack of the Ichal, a biomechanical hive mind species similar to the Borg. The Ichal are led by the dark god Ulvakros who seeks to absorb all life into himself. The Ichal have spread across different dimensions and now they have come to Traumwald as the next stop on their mission of multiversal conquest.Traumwald has a D&D 5.0e supplement that Avery made. It's a setting and a campaign in one book. Species generation rules allow you to create any sort of animal species for your PC. There are lots of new subclasses to play and a new base class, the Ascetic. The campaign is adaptable with a dynamic faction system for tracking the events as they unfold at your table. Each campaign run in Traumwald is guaranteed to be different as the factions fluctuate and change to player actions. You can lift the faction system for your personal campaign as well!You can find Traumwald on Avery's itch.io page.Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stage on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 89 – Bunnies vs. the Borg D&D (Avery and Traumwald)
  2. 88 – DM & Roleplaying Tips with Balance of Aksio (Jay + Sandra! and 3RPG)
  3. 87 – Adapted Azeroth D&D (Flare and Akridon)
  4. 86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen)
  5. 85 – Medical Doctor D&D (Justin and Oops! All Healers!)