In Sunshine & In Shadow - Urban Shadows

Hi! My name's Wade, and I'm a GM. You can thank my wife for the nickname. It's probably more ironic than I'd like to admit. A friend's dad taught me how to play AD&D during a sleepover when I was 10 (His game group crashed on him), and as a junior fan of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, I was hooked. A couple of months later, I stumbled across the original D&D basic set (You know, the blue box with the red dragon on it). We didn't even have dice... I lived overseas and actually used the cardboard chits in the box for almost a year. That was the beginning of my fascination with narrative roleplaying games that has endured for over 40 years... and for most of that time, I've been the GM. Some people just end up the GM. It's in our DNA. I've run all manner of games and genres in that time and still find the hobby compelling, creative, and a means of genuine collaborative art. I truly believe that the game is not the GM's story. If you are telling the player "no" all the time, you are doing something wrong. On the flip side, I expect players to be invested in the story and be active participants. RPGs are shared experiences and one of the most unique ways to be part of a tale you will remember and talk about years later. My strengths as a GM lie in my experience and my skills in story and Improv. I will keep the story going in the face of the most hell-bent on destruction parties out there. I am also a master of "the teach" and love nothing more than introducing new players to this wonderful hobby. Whether a byproduct of material, style, or fate... my players are over 50% women, so I am not only inclusive, but I've grown accustomed to having different genders at the table as the norm. I'm absolutely LGBTQ+ friendly. I have no place at my table for advocating bigotry or hatred. An activity that fundamentally involves everyone pretending to be another person should be accepting by its very nature. If I have a favorite genre, it tends to be horror. I discovered Call of Cthulhu at 14. I never realized how much fun playing a game where everyone died could be. Since then, even my fantasy campaigns have had a darker flair (Tentacles are so versatile). My games are geared toward an adult audience, but I will use various boundary tools upfront, from lines and veils to the X-Card to comfort surveys. The trick to horror games is that making people uncomfortable is part of the experience, but ensuring everyone is still having fun is your primary responsibility. It's like running a haunted house or building a roller coaster. You try to scare the bejeezus out of someone but never want to hurt them. I rely primarily on the theater of the mind for gaming. Yeah, I'm a middle-aged guy, but I'm no Luddite. I primarily use Discord and Foundry VTT. I am also an amateur digital artist and will make a lot of custom portraits, infographics, maps, and scenes for my games for my own amusement. Also, I am more likely to run a custom campaign of my own than a published product at this point in my evolution as a GM. I hope you found something interesting if you've made it this far. I love this hobby, and it doesn't work without others. I've had some wonderful experiences on StartPlaying as a player, and I hope to meet more of you from over the GM Screen.