

Zakaria (he/him)
5.0
(13)
4 years on StartPlaying
61 games hosted
Highly rated for: Knows the Rules, Creativity, Teacher
About me
Hello my name is Zakaria, but you will probably call me Zak like the rest of my friends. I'm he/him, 24 years old with a strong love for role-playing, collaborative storytelling and honestly just having a good time in general. I always loved video games and found myself immersed in the stories, the characters, the worlds and the multitude of things that you can do inside of an imaginary world. Since I was a child I wanted to play a game that allows you to journey to these kind of places without the restrictions imposed by video games. Thankfully, I found something that can quench that thirst. I fell into the rabbit hole of RPG's when I saw D&D stories on some YouTube channels I enjoyed about a few years ago and my interest was piqued. After searching the internet I found shows like TFS at the table and Critical Role, which I am still following today. I started playing D&D online in March 2018 and had quite the bumpy road, because I joined some games that did not suit me. I eventually found two stable groups to play ttrpgs with and it that taught me a lot about what a good game should look like Still, I was not satisfied with just playing a character, instead I really wanted to lead my friends through the encounters, narrate stories for them and see how they interact with the obstacles I put in front of them. That is why I started dming in January 2019 and since then I successfully ran hundreds of sessions in different TTRPG's DnD5e being the main with Pathfinder 2e a close second. I enjoy meeting folk as part of my work and fostering a friendly environment alongside the table and outside of it, I believe that in order to have fun on the table everyone has to be in a good mindset and I strive to get there. I love engaging with my players and immerse them into the story and the world, and love to see their reactions, for example It always makes me happy to hear my players scream when a terrifying enemy approaches them, feel the nervousness in their voice when I ask them if they are sure about their next action and the multitude of questions they ask me, which shows that they are interested in the story and very immersed in it, I enjoy setting events up and I'm always proud when the group picks up on it and starts to connect the dots (even if that rarely happens). However, what makes me most happy is when a player says that they really enjoyed the session. So if you want to have an enjoyable game where there is communication at the table with a DM that is good at reading the room and always strives to improve and understand his players then I believe I am the person for you.
GM Style
I consider myself a jack of all trades GM, I enjoy combat and crafting challenging encounters that will make my players push their characters to the limit to overcome them, and I have quite the understanding of tactical combat that i can dial up or down the difficulty of an encounter depending on the party and what they enjoy. I also enjoy roleplaying in equal measure and love taking the roles of multiple characters all with their own personalities and attempt to portray them with different voices of varying degrees of quality as i'm no voice actor. so in short im very flexible and change how I run games depending on the adventure im running and the party and what they like.
Game platforms used
Zakaria 's Games
Game Master Reviews (13)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Knows the Rules
Creativity
Teacher
I've been playing Zak's variant Dragon of Icespire Peak game for several months now. This is an episodic, combat-focused adventure, where Zak has done a fantastic job of encouraging creative role-play and character building in between well-designed set piece battles. Our group has a mix of experience, and Zak has given everyone time in the spotlight. Most importantly for online play with strangers - this kind of happens in the background, but you'll really notice it when it doesn't happen - Zak has provided an experience of a core group of people reliably getting together to have fun.
Can't recommend enough. Incredibly competent, allows for player creativity while keeping forward momentum for the story going. Awesome world building, characters etc... you name it he's got it. Great for absolute beginners or advanced. Seems to have a real love and passion for the game and has a ton of fun being a GM!
I've been playing in a few campaigns with Zak for over two years, and wouldn't hesitate to join another, when the current one I'm playing with him winds down. He has a gift for keeping players engaged. This is especially true if you're the type of player that creates characters with detailed backstories, he always finds a way to work that into the overall story. He also has a great aptitude to take existing modules, and adding or adjusting as needed to keep the content fresh, and relevant to the players and their characters. I'd love to include more tags for the "How would you describe your Game Master?". In addition to the ones I've selected, I'd add Rule of Cool, Good For Beginners, and World Builder.
I'm playing in three of Zak's games. He's energetic, creative, funny, and he is very flexible with his schedule for make-up sessions. The background and lore of his games are always top-notch. He can run games that focus on combat and exploration, or he can run games about horror or communal bonds. His dedication to roleplaying and voice acting are stellar; he never phones it in. If you want to have some serious fun in Pathfinder or smaller one-shot RPGs, give Zak a chance to impress you. You won't be disappointed.
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