Asher Gravemind Games

he/him

5.0

(6)

Timezone

America/anchorage

Language

English

About Asher Gravemind Games

My name is Asher William Graves, but most of my friends call me Billy! I believe I began dungeon delving early 2017 while I was in the Air Force, playing an amnesiac archer and not being informed that the party I was joining was a very evil one. This first character of mine would meet their end trying to stop his party from massacring a church full of villages and subsequently getting mowed down by arrow fire from the village militia. This early confrontation taught me how crucial GM-Player and Player-Player discussion is for the tabletop gaming experience because no one was happy with how that PVP scenario went down. I took on GM-ing September 25, 2021, running a D&D 5/5.5e homebrew campaign for my wife and buddies from the military. That game finally reached its epic conclusion November 15, 2025 after 61 sessions, so I am happy and proud to say that I have one full campaign under my belt! Beyond that single D&D game, I have run ALIEN The Roleplaying Game and its Evolved Edition a few times and I like using the latter’s GM title for myself when I run any game now: The Game Mother! Beyond that I have enjoyed the tabletop gaming hobby now for almost ⅓ of my life and GM-ing has recently taken all of my free time the past few years, pouring hundreds of hours of effort into worldbuilding, narrative crafting, improving my improv skills, and just generally getting as acquainted with the rulebooks as I can while homebrewing things that serve the story and player enjoyment/engagement.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: World Builder, Inclusive, Storytelling

$15 per session

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I was inspired by Fire Emblem: Awakening & Three Houses, Total War: Three Kingdoms, A Song of Ice & Fire series and the D&D episode of community! A creative spark erupted in my brain and I couldn't resist the call. But also, at the time, I wanted to relieve my Forever DM of his accursed burden.

My 3 systems I'd bring to a desert island would be

Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e, ALIEN RPG, and GENSYS. D&D is a classic and my introduction to TTRPG and i think its just getting better, ALIEN RPG is so cinematic and the IP is my absolute favorite, and I just want to play more of the GENSYS system and its incredible storytelling dice system.

My favorite shows/movies are

My all time favorites include the ALIEN, Predator, and Terminator series hence why I am trying to GM the ALIEN RPG 2E more often! Number one though has to be John Carpenter's The Thing. Community, Avatar: TLA, 2010 Three Kingdoms, and the first 4-5 seasons of Game of Thrones are also favorites.

How Asher Gravemind Games runs games

I would say I am a balanced player/GM, enjoying every pillar of gameplay style and striving to ensure those at my table are able to do the same. I live for the worldbuilding and narrative aspects of running tabletop RPGs and firmly believe that providing a good and satisfying story for my players to feel like truly epic heroes is the most important part of the experience. Expect heavy roleplay with voices (I try not to go overboard) and dramatic stories that make full use of character backstories. Also expect combat scenarios designed in a way that allows players to really get everything they want out of their builds. Secondary and tertiary objectives, beloved NPCs caught in the crossfire, and diverse enemy pods that help keep combat from becoming stagnant, even after 5+ rounds. Maintaining immersion, ensuring combat does not drag, providing ample downtime in the world, and making my players feel unambiguously THE heroes (up to even Dynasty Warriors-style) is incredibly important to me as a Game Mother. Table comfort is also a high priority and I like to use several "Session 0s" to go over everyone's triggers, themes and scenarios they are uncomfortable with, and get a read on players' expectations for their characters' stories/builds so everyone leaves sessions satisfied. I also dabble into homebrewing D&D 5/5.5e, but try to work within most of the bounds the system provides to prevent confusion, things feeling random/unfair, and lengthy homebrew list documents.

Featured Prompts

I prep by

Hyperfocusing on one aspect of the next session that interests me by pacing around back and forth (not writing anything down), getting distracted for a few days, and return to it a day before the session trying to remember all the cools things I thought of days prior to put in G-Docs & Owlbear.

My games focus on...

The characters. Above all else, they are what matters the most. The world and the stories are built around them when I play D&D and they are the most fascinating to watch react to the horror they experience in the ALIEN series. Roleplaying, backstories, intrigue, PC and NPC relationships are key.

Rules are...

Suggestions. But, useful and important ones, like sage advice from an old friend. The Rule of Cool is awesome, but creativity is at its best when explored within a structured environment with obstacles operating fairly and sensible on both sides of the table.