Spencer

he/him

5.0

(7)

Timezone

America/chicago

Language

English

About Spencer

I'm an eleven-year tenured Forever-DM for my play groups. I got my start on Roll20 posting LFGs, where I made some of my closest friends to date. Since then, my friends and I have played once or twice a week (if life allows). Other than playing TTRPGs, I can be caught reading Joe Abercrombie, watching TV with my wife and our cat (Doja the Cat), or losing my life to my newest gaming obsession.

At a glance

4 years on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Storytelling, World Builder, Creativity

Featured Prompts

My favorite system of all Time is

Shadowrun. In concept anyway - actually trying to *play* or dare I say *run* a Shadowrun game is about 20% fun, 80% spreadsheet. It may also require a college-level degree to understand and play at a pace its fiction demands. Love the world and ideas to death, though.

When I'm not running games I'm...

Prepping for, or thinking about, the next session :) In all seriousness, I'm usually playing games, watching TV with my wife, or reading fantasy. I also spend a lot of time reading about other TTRPG systems or official/fan-made adventures/modules.

My favorite books are

The First Law series by Abercrombie! I bought the Blade Itself on a whim to read on an 18-hour flight to Japan a few years ago. I fell in love with the characters and got back into reading as a hobby. My unexpected favorite ended up being Best Served Cold. The siege of Visserine is an all-timer.

How Spencer runs games

I've run a diverse set of TTRPG systems including D&D 4/5th Edition, Pathfinder 2nd Edition, Starfinder, SWRPG, City of Mist, and many, many more! My game of choice is D&D 5E, for the simple reason that it's the most popular and easy to get people into if they're new to tabletop gaming. Over the years I've gathered a near encyclopedic knowledge of the system. That isn't to say I'm a mechanics-focused gamer, I actually prefer character-focused campaigns and the more narrative side of the game and strive to always make the mechanics serve the narrative. I also like to put on a performance, stepping into the shoes of the characters I populate the world with, armed with whatever silly voice or accent I have applied to the character. I try to breathe life into our collective secondary world - I enjoy the collaborative storytelling and camaraderie that comes with tabletop gaming. At the end of the day, I'm looking for friends to play with, rather than clients I interact with once a week

Featured Prompts

My games focus on...

Characters! Both PC and NPCs are by far what gets the most focus at my table.

I prep by

Keeping a wildly detailed world bible in Obsidian and writing down notes after every session. If I had to give one piece of advice for GMs that find it difficult to prep for a session, I'd advise them to prep a few hours after a session, rather than a few hours before.

When it comes to voices

I got plenty of 'em! I've been doing silly voices for so long that some of them have even gotten pretty good. It's easy for me to get into the character's shoes and bring them fully to life.

Spencer's ideal table

My ideal table is to be surrounded by people who can laugh and joke about the world but also taking it seriously when the occasion calls for it. I believe in the idea of treating the fantasy world as a real place, but we should also feel comfortable enough to breathe some levity in when there's room for it. As long as we all respect each other and the game itself, we'll have loads of fun.

Featured Prompts

My table is not the place for...

Beer and Pretzel D&D! I find fun in the complexity of the characters, world, combat, and narrative.

If you're into ___, you're going to love my table

Character drama, deep worlds, and tactical gameplay! I like to think of myself as focusing on these three aspects whenever I sit down to prep or play. The types of systems I like are heavily informed by these three pillars.

I think min/maxing...

Is perfectly FINE! Stop hating on min-maxers! We love to read about competent characters in fiction, why can't the player characters be competent? I greatly enjoy the character-building aspect of being a player, so I find joy in putting the puzzle pieces together into both a great story and "build."