Anthony

he/him

5.0

(8)

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Hispanic/Latinx

Game Designer

About Anthony

A New-York based storyteller and narrative designer, my game writing skills hone in on environmental storytelling, lore, and worldbuilding. My love for D&D and mythology has led me to creating immersive and fleshed out worlds with stories waiting to be told. After receiving my bachelor of the arts, focus on narrative design, my efforts have gone towards working on games with colleagues, as well as contracts with indie devs who want to create an in-depth world for their game. In 2017, a friend of mines brought her 5th edition player's manual to guide my process into making my first character. I ended up with a Tiefling Warlock named Thüg (pronounced th-oo-g) who made a pact with an infernal devil in order to save the souls of his friends. 6 souls flew in Thüg's body, and would switch to one of their personalities whenever he loses consciousness. His goal was to find a way to create new bodies for his friends, and to transfer their souls out of his body. Long story short, I had a chaotic mess of a time playing this guy and his 6 other personalities. And even though I didn't get to finish his story, I would later go on to create a world that made sense for him. That experience made me realize that I like having multiple plates spinning at the same time. I wasn't satisfied with just controlling one PC, when I could be a slew of NPCs, monsters, and even the background music that plays while PCs are talking in a tavern. As a GM, I'm Thüg and his 7 personalities.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

1 games hosted

Highly rated for: Inclusive, World Builder, Storytelling

$25 per session

Featured Prompts

I got started GMing...

I like being more involved while playing D&D. As a player, I found myself always wanting to be more active, not just as a PC, but with the story and the atmosphere. Admittedly, I was the player that would interject too much, and so I found myself GMing so I always have something to work on.

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

Really involved with the NYC Game developer scene. Hosting a monthly event where we get devs to talk about niche game topics. I also do contract writing for indie game developers around NYC. Currently working on a Cosmic Bliss puzzle game. And of course, I play video games and write for fun.

How Anthony runs games

At heart, I'm a performative GM. I set the stage for the players to act in. Lots of my time is spent planning and finding the right tone for a campaign, the music to play during roleplaying and combat, and creating different kinds of maps that best visualize where the players are in the world. I want to give each player a chance to lose themselves in the mysticism of the world, where the next corner isn't just an empty room, but a lived-in one. In terms of what my games usually entail, I try my best to cater to what my PCs want in a session. I usually start with getting to know what my players expect in the coming games. If they like more combat than roleplay, I create a variety of combat scenarios - not just different creatures to fight, but varying terrains, challenges and puzzles within the battle. One thing to be said about my kind of combat, is that I would also get bored if it ends of being a hour of dice roles and HP sponges. I like to add gimmicks, describe attacks, anything possible to amp up each combat experience. If roleplaying is at the forefront of the group's interest, I create a slew of NPCs to interact with; along with scenarios that would either force PC's to try to obtain information from the correct correspondent, distract in order to sneak through a fortress, etc. Puzzles and interrogations are usually Go-Tos when I want more PC to NPC interactions.

Anthony's ideal table

I enjoy a table that understands a game session to be a shared story. It's not just me telling the players what happened, but the PC's are also joining in and adding details and events that are happening in the game. I like the improv, but within the framework of the game system. When combat happens and players are in the midst of battle, I'm all for the PC's going out on a limb and trying something that may not work. Just for the fun of it all. That being said, I come from a sweaty gamer background, where min/maxing was the only way to play. So if I had a table that wanted a challenging session, I would make it my prerogative to create a challenging and fair experience.

Featured Prompts

I am for a vibe that's...

In the moment. Where everything the players and I have been working towards all culminate to some crazy event or fight. That's even have to be against the BBEG. Could just be working towards the repair of a city, and the players can bask in the success of their efforts.

I love it when a player

Immerses themselves into the game. There's always this "Flow State" that you enter, where the scenario just clicks in your mind. The PC imagines how things are playing out, the repercussions of their actions, but how what they do will change events in the story that we're telling together.

I think it's a red flag when players...

Make it a point to go against the grain; fighting against other PC's or doing what they know won't progress the story or make combat fun. It's difficult to GM a game when there's a party member who wants to go off on their own, or be completely hidden. That would lead to a conversation about that.