Rob Smith

he/him

5.0

(8)

Timezone

America/chicago

About Rob Smith

I’m Rob, a 43-year old family man from Jersey, but living in Music City USA. I was exclusively a player in RPGs (D&D 2.0, 3.5/Pathfinder and 5E) for about 20 years, until I took over GM duties out of necessity for a long-running group in 2020. I unlocked a skillset, leveled it up, and haven’t looked back since! I’m more of a sci-fi nerd than a fantasy nerd, so I was INSTANTLY hooked when I discovered Mothership in 2020. It has become my main system, although I’m down to run ANYTHING that tells a good story. I am also an advocate for RPGs, and will sing the hobby’s praises to anyone who will listen! I love introducing people to the hobby. Teaching them to play and watching as they learn, grow and have fun never fails to bring me joy.

At a glance

4 years on StartPlaying

13 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, World Builder

Featured Prompts

I got started GMing...

to keep an online game group going after our GM had to step away for real life reasons. I found that I love helping others tell the story, and I've been a mostly-GM ever since.

My favorite system of all Time is

Mothership. It is simple, elegant, chaotic, and loads of fun. It changed the game for me as a GM...PUN INTENDED.

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

being a movie fan, playing ice hockey, and raising amazing nerdy twins.

How Rob Smith runs games

Collaborative, interactive story-telling is what drew me to RPGs in the first place, and I use this approach in my games. I love working with my players to tie their characters into the game world, and give them as much personal investment in the story as they want. This collaborative approach leads to great off-the-cuff and improvised moments that enrich the story and world-building. In my experience it's those moments that players tend to remember the most fondly. Tonally, I like to keep my games light with humor, even in the face of the darkest mind-shattering horrors that the players face. I like to encourage my players to come up with creative and innovative solutions, and I definitely lean toward the “Rule-of-Cool.” Tell me what you want to do and how you’re going to try to do it, then roll the dice (where applicable) and see how it plays out! I try to use a “fail-forward” approach as much as possible, where most failures lead to something interesting or funny! Oh...and I love doing voices! I am NOT professionally trained, but I love to try to inhabit my NPCs and make them more interesting and fun to interact with. My games are always a safe place for everyone. I ask that you be kind and respectful of each other, as we're all here in the same spirit of joy and collaboration. I hope that everyone can have fun and get lost in the game! I love running Mothership, but I am also familiar with D&D 5E, Pathfinder 1E/Stafinder, Mork Borg, Free League’s Alien RPG, Zweihander and Dungeon Crawl Classics, and I will likely run them all at some point.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

checking the RAW, and then balancing that against the Rule of Cool, and how the players are doing.

If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...

James Gunn and Ridley Scott.

My favorite trope is...

facing the terrifying unknown. Players always have unique ways to deal with the unknown, I've found.

Rob Smith's ideal table

My table tends to not take itself too seriously. I like to keep it light, even in the face of the most horrifying darkness and terror that I put into my games. We are playing a game after all!

Featured Prompts

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

sci-fi and fantasy with a little horror edge, 90s pop culture references, and a light-hearted vibe even when the game is R-rated

I love it when a player

makes an effort to tie their character into the overall world we create together, and allows new story threads to come out of ideas they have introduced.