Amateur Knight

he/they

5.0

(5)

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

About Amateur Knight

Hey! I'm Amateur Knight and I've been GMing and playing TTRPGs for around 8 years, starting with pretty narrative world building stuff like A Quiet Year (a very fun map building game) and other improv games where me and my friends invented characters that would later inspire multi-year campaigns (from DnD to Dungeon World and a few others!) with characters to this day we still talk about. My love of tabletop games stems from being a very imaginative kid, pretending I could teleport like Nightcrawler, crawling under hedges into my "wizard sanctum", and reading all kinds of books and imagining what it would be like to be thrown into situations alongside Percy Jackson, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Eragon, and many others. That alongside with playing classic RPGs like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Ultimate Marvel Alliance, KOTOR 2, made me into the perfect target for actual play podcasts like The Adventure Zone, which inspired me to dive into the hobby headfirst. Since then I've taken inspiration from plenty of amazing GMs and tried a bunch of systems, to this day digging into source books and imagining what I could do with them is still a hobby I can never get tired of. I'm really excited to meet people and create amazing stories together, to that end I'm always trying to learn new systems, try new ways of introducing, and running mechanics, and putting myself into other peoples' shoes, real or imaginary.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Storytelling, World Builder, Inclusive

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

This is a passion that rewards effort on both sides, the more you give as a player the more your GM can do and vice versa. The amazing part is that it is conducive to that attitude, allowing people to easily get into the hobby very naturally. You never know how impactful telling a story together is!

The three words my players would use to describe me are...

Patient Methodical Adaptable

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

keeping busy, either swimming, working out, reading, watching some media I've heard good things about, hanging out with friends, enjoying life really! I'm happy to be alive and it's good to work hard and enjoy what I can while I get to be here!

How Amateur Knight runs games

Above all I believe that TTRPGs are a collaborative experience that depend on the engagement of not only the players but the world itself engaging in them. I consider my character to be the world and the things I am confident my character to provide are decisive pacing, flexibility in narrative control, a voracious appetite to learn and experiment with how I run my games, a spirit that delights in hard work and a drive to world build for the benefit for my player’s enjoyment. To that end I love creating worlds full of problems and letting my players decide what solving those problems means, drafting themes and story from their actions. While my comfort zone is in narrative play and character work (roleplay), whether that’s creating environments or NPCs to cast light on what makes my players (and their characters) shine, I enjoy dynamic combat that is thoughtfully paced. My motto is leave them wanting more rather than overstay your welcome. If you want someone who is always trying to find a way to improve the experience of playing at a table, without forgetting that ultimately this is a game to enjoy, then I am excited to have an opportunity to be a part of that.

Featured Prompts

I once ran a session...

Where my players were hunting a home brew monster and had a great arena full of bones they could hide in. Instead of the fight I prepped, they instead carefully dragged a dinosaur carcass and climbed inside, basically doing a chase scene where they destroyed the monster from the inside. Great time!

My games focus on...

Giving tools for my players to make the story their own. I love being surprised and letting good ideas transition to a wild momentum that electrifies the table! I'm having the most fun and making the best decisions where my back is against the wall. That's what all the hard work is for, to have fun!

Rules are...

There to encourage good practices and ultimately there to be broken when what they seek to protect becomes the very thing they restrict. Also you should still know all the rules that you're breaking, it's much more exciting that way when you feel that tension of whether that rule will hold over!

Amateur Knight's ideal table

My table is a place I can let people loose, letting them see all the trappings and attractions around them, and painting and filling in what holds their interest, pushing and pulling each other along as we create a momentum that works for us. People that are interested and engaged in the game and each others' characters, as well as each other as people, will have a great time building a world and a story that will be amazing to live in and look back on. The vibe of my table is always one of collaboration. I am always more interested in seeing how ideas being bounced off of each other, melded together, mirrored against, turn out, as opposed to codifying my ideas into a book on my own. As much as I adore running games, it's important to me that people who are at my table remember that this is a game and whatever fun you find in it is what you should pursue and explore, be honest, approach with an open mind, and your experience of these games will surprise you with what you can gain from it. For my part I am pretty flexible in seeing what kind of mechanics, themes, and aesthetics I can incorporate into my own games, and love to hear what makes my players excited and see what the version I can deliver looks and plays like.

Featured Prompts

I am for a vibe that's...

Electric, that the air feels alive with possibility. Until it gets spoken out loud in a session nothing is canon, throw spaghetti at the wall and we'll watch what sticks. People are so creative when they let themselves be, it's my privilege to facilitate wild plans and make them believable with you.

I love it when a player

Adds flavor to the world, you can throw things at me and we can decide what is true. I love this in and out of game, and I love when this interest extends to asking other characters questions that colors the world actively. We’re in this together above and at the table, make it your own!

My perfect party mix is

Whatever people find compelling to play. Recently I heard someone remark that in every cooperative experience people play party composition is something they have to consider. The strength of having a GM is that the world can consider the party instead. At my table play what you want it'll work out!