

Babbling Bard (fae/faer)
5.0
(7)
4 years on StartPlaying
About me
Hello! My name is Valentino, New York born, adorable self proclaimed halfling bard. I grew up around theatre and went to college for acting and writing. About 3 years ago my friend said to me, "hey val, you write stuff, you can totally be a DM." And I was thinking, "sure! how hard can it be?" Anyway after reading some hundred pages and stumbling through that first hilarious game I found that I really liked DND! Some might say... I loved it! Behold, mother, my theatre degree was not for nothing! That dear reader is my epic tale, my origin story! Since that day I have played in hundred+ games and have DM'd hundreds of games. I spent that first year and a half after my first game DMing for my friends every weekend. Thank you for considering me! And let us enjoy these adventures!
GM Style
I love role playing my characters! I do voices, and I am constantly working on new ones. I do a blend of puzzles, combat, role play. I come from a theatre and improv background, studying at New School and UCB. Along with this my first dnd group was.... hectic to say the least, so I am good at thinking on my feet. I am patient with beginners and will always take time to explain the rules! So if you are new to DnD and a bit intimidated with the experience I will do what I can to make you love the game as much as I do! More than anything I just want to have fun playing this amazing game! I tell all my new players this: this is my story, but your experience! I will do everything in my power to make your experience the most fun possible!
Games played
Game platforms used
Game Master Reviews (7)
Val is a great DM! He is always willing to tailor the sessions more to our interests and character strengths, and he is happy to help when it comes to character development. He is excited about bringing new elements into our gameplay, and even in remote sessions he’s been able to make the settings and characters come to life. As a group playing our first campaign, Val has been a great resource. Plus— he’s got jokes!
Val has been the DM for TWO of my campaigns for the last few years. He's incredible at getting us through super creative stories and characters and also has the patience of an angel for me and the members who are still new to the game. He also obviously has the expertise to DM a campaign with more experiences players. It's always a good time that I look forward to every time. His voices are hilarious!
Val has been our very patient and creative DM since the beginning of the lockdown when our crew were still majority newbies. The quests have been fruitful and challenging full of great battles and perplexing puzzles. Always there for us with insights and tips for game play and hearty laughter. I’d recommend him to lead a game any day. Big thumbs up. He puts a lot of thought, work, and care into every session.
I’ve known Babbling Bard for a long time (through D&D and other games/nerdy hobbies) and I’ve never been in a session with or by him that wasn’t memorable. Babbling Bard introduced me and our friend group to D&D a few years ago, and it was his engaging approach, excellent tutelage, and patience that led us to make D&D nights a regular part of our lives. At first, he made sure to study and understand the material comprehensively (like reading and re-reading all of the D&D source material like it was SAT prep comprehensively) – and gradually teaching us the details as we progressed through our first campaign. D&D can be really overwhelming at first, and in retrospect, I think Bard’s patience and willingness to walk us through character setup and the mechanics (as well as hand-holding when requested) made a big difference. Rather than endure lots of confusion and awkwardness between characters with unbalanced starter stats, Bard made sure we did it properly, while giving us the flexibility to explore unique designs. I ended up playing a Cleric in several campaigns, and Bard suggested some stat setups and spell ideas that led me to my current favorite idea – a Cleric with high defensive stats and good support spells, but with just enough relevant attacking spells, cantrips, and items to not feel one-dimensional. It’s hard to get people into new nerdoms – but Bard did an excellent job of making D&D engaging and fun enough to convert our entire friend group from disinterest into actively wanting more. I’d basically written off D&D as “too nerdy” for most of my life (from someone whos played TCGs for 20 years) and after playing through Bard’s campaigns, into something I’d look forward to and spend free-time researching and Googling. Much of that is due to how engaging and interesting his campaigns are – there’s a lot of references to other lores or fandoms, but lots of niche or unique D&D-esque plot points too, and it makes for dynamic gameplay. Bard’s willingness to answer questions and help slightly push the plot, but without too much forcefulness, gave our group a lot of freedom to explore and immerse ourselves, without feeling like a lack of structure. I remember lots of battles and cool level-up moments just because of the background of the story and how it progressed, because Bard’s approach made us feel like it was “our” moment, and not just the next chapter in a book or mission in a game. Finally, I think Bard’s ability to teach, and show us how to research and understand D&D (and the flexibility that comes with it) made a big difference in our enjoyment of it. Since most of us had never played before, everyone wanted to design busted characters, so we had no concept of stat balance or how spell slots worked. Bard made a point of demonstrating proper character design, then teaching us the basics and how to research classes, spells, and items so we’d find new combinations that worked with our preferences. When we started playing more and ran into shortcomings with our characters (for example, never having enough spell slots when I wanted them) Bard showed us how research items (which led me to discovering the Pearl of Power) and incorporated a series of end-boss rewards to give out specific items tailored to what was found. The fact that I was able to discover it myself with just some prodding massively increased my interested in wanting to know more about D&D, as well as keep playing. I would highly recommend Bard as a DM or Game Master, either for experienced groups or newbies just getting started. Even though COVID19 had moved our in-person sessions online, Bard immediately adapted to using Discord and Roll20, and our sessions have remained just as awesome as before. From someone who’d scoffed at D&D just years ago, and is now actively counting down the days to in-person sessions again, that drive and interest is because of Bard’s excellent work in bringing D&D to our group, and making an enjoyable and re-playable experience for all, again and again.
Babbling Bard is the best DM I’ve played with. He’s imaginative and beyond knowledgeable about all aspects of the game. He keeps the us all moving along, but is also super patient when someone needs extra help. I used to play a lot a long time ago, and have come back recently, very rusty. Babbling Bard has been so helpful in helping me reacquaint myself with the game. His campaigns are original and challenging, and so much fun!!!
Babbling Bard is a good and fun GM. He has been my main GM all my life and enjoy his style a lot. He always works with me when I have questions about my characters or if I want to make a one shot quest for my friends. When he first started GMing we would spend hours talking about the mechanics of the game and trying to understand how everything works. I have many fond memories of D&D thanks to Babbling Bard he went easy in the beginning to help me and my friends learn the ropes and then later on gave us great challenges to keep our interest. He also let us get creative with our attacks which made everything 10 times more enjoyable. From the first fight my friends and I fought under Babbling Bard GMing it has been a wild ride. Granted he has to push us into our first fight with an NPC since our cleric decided to ignore the townfolk cry for help. I recommend Babbling Bard as a GM he is fun, fair and you will have a great time always.
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