Donald

he/him

5.0

(2)

Timezone

America/chicago

Language

English

Identity

Streamer

Podcaster

About Donald

I've been playing and GM-ing ttrpgs since 2017, my primary experience being Pathfinder 1E/2E and Starfinder 1E/2E. Their setting is my absolute favorite to play around in, and I've guided dozens of people on their first forays around Golarion, so I am extremely compassionate and patient with learning rules, and am extremely inclusive in my gaming groups. There will absolutely be session 0's and safety tools discussed, and bigotry has no place at my tables. I play using the Foundry VTT and can match up on Discord for further conversations. Generally speaking, I use the established lore as a framework and build out in order to accomodate what my players gravitate towards. That way if folks want to do some homework on their own to find inspiration, certain cites like the Archives of Nethys and various wikis are at the ready to fill their minds and it's not just me rambling about excitedly(there is a time and place for that too). For a few years I was the GM of a few tabletop actual play podcasts and streams, and if I may say so, I feel like I provide a solid atmosphere for the fun and dramatic. Like to think of myself as quite the showperson. Happy to hype up or lower the energy as befits the group/situation, of course. I'm no great voice actor, but I do try to match characterization w/ at least some character/actor elsewhere to make a stronger connection with the world and the NPCs that occupy them.

At a glance

4 years on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Storytelling

$15 per session

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

My GM friends deserved a break, and I discovered I loved giving my player friends a bountiful sandbox to build(destroy?) works of art to their heart's content.

My favorite shows/movies are

Basically absolutely anything Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Fallout. Most Stargate. I dig Game of Thrones but could never/would never run or play anything that serious. Titan A.E. is close to scifi perfection for me.

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

Working in a factory to be able to take care of my wife and two daughters, my garden, and my 3 ducks.

How Donald runs games

I am a consummate joke-teller, many of which have been categorized as dad-joke, and I looooove a good pop culture reference, so it really helps to know what sort of media my players consume to help forge that connection between internet strangers rolling digital dice. Speaking of dice, I'm fine with digital or physical. I trust that players won't cheat, and if they do I hope they respect me enough to cheat well enough I don't catch it. I enjoy combat well enough, taking loads of time in my game prep to make sure the fight is as mechanically fair as possible while also being entertaining. Roleplay is great to bounce off other people with, and I look forward to shaking off some of the rust I have around it. It'll be a good time. That being said, I understand it takes time for folks to feel comfortable to dive in to character stuff. I am loath to roleplay npcs off each other to where I'm talking to myself, so in those instances I will shift perspectives and just narrate the ideas being made across the conversation.

Featured Prompts

I once ran a session...

It was the birthday session for one of my dearest friends and I had other friends record sound bytes wishing him a good birthday that the character had to decipher. There was a fun mystery that their character ate up completely...and the session ended with a pun about soiling one's pants...

Rules are...

Fun guidelines that help bring order to chaos. That being said, we are playing pretend together as a group, so let's live a little. Nudge here. Poke there. But be respectful to each other about it.

When it comes to voices

I try to get an approximation of what I'm going for by choosing things within my ability, but I preface them all w/ a detailed description of what I'm going for to maybe bridge the gap. That's why it's helpful to me to know what media my players consume. It's part of my prep to cater in that regard.

Donald's ideal table

I prefer 2-4 players, any more than that and I'm fretting about not giving enough attention to each person. I'll happily tweak encounters to accomodate smaller tables if it means each person feels vital to each session. My vibe at once has the air of epic storytelling, but also undercutting that with being cognizant of the fact that we're all a bunch of sillies playing pretend with math to escape from the unrelenting cacophony of reality.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Subverts my plans. I am no genius storyteller or battle mastermind. I encourage everyone to outsmart me and watch me roll with the punches to make it all run smoothly back together. I want my players to be big time heroes, and I'm not in competition against their successes.

I think min/maxing...

Is fine. Make your character how you want, and let's see how that works for you. But please don't harp on it towards someone else who isn't min/maxing.

My table is not the place for...

Bigots. Black lives matter, trans rights are human rights, nobody is illegal on stolen land. I'm not going to shove a bunch of progressive talking points down your throat, but I'm not NOT going to slide in some allegory and themes of rising up against oppression.