About me

Hey, nice to see you!! I'm Lindsey--aka Bandeena: an up-and-coming part-time GM who started as a writer and a player, looking to incentivize myself to perfect this craft of Storytelling. For me, TTRPGs are the perfect tool for collaborative writing with a complex prompt--the ultimate Choose-Your-Own Adventures--but in truth they're something so much more than that. D&D is social and therapeutic, providing friendship and creativity at a time when it seems the whole world is scared and barely scraping by. I started TTRPGs as many do: as a player in a D&D game. I was 17, and I was playing with a cadre of mixed-generational LGBTQ+ and POC inclusive community college students. It was magical. But when I went to university far from home, I had to leave that behind and find my own people in a new place. That's when I became a GM. I collected my colorful bag of players like dice, and built some true, lasting friendships. It's been more than a decade since then. While I intend to focus on running D&D 5e for the foreseeable future, my first game DMing was 3.5e D&D. I tried my hand at some White Wolf content in the years since, but D&D and Pathfinder were my bread and butter. I took a break for several years to get married, have kids, work a soul-sucking corporate job...and then, in the height of the pandemic, 5e shined some light back into my life. It helped me to refocus on home, family, and happiness. And I want to share it and some of the happiness it's brought me, as I used to in ages past. This is how I approach my games: I set the scene on the frame of [usually published] material--I describe it, fill it with scripted meat-bags, gather together a band of merry players...and then my players breathe life into it all. Together, we shape the world we visit weekly as an escape or an outlet (it's something different to everyone). We make it our own, and with each game, something unique and beautiful is crafted. I try to cater the story and difficulty to each party, and make each experience custom.

GM style

As a GM, I reflect my experiences as a long time player. While I do have many years of experience as a GM, I find that I enjoy playing just as much, and I try to bring that perspective back into the game with me when I run it. I don't see D&D as a GM vs. Players game; rather, I see it as a collaborative game with the goal being the fun of the table. I hover at an awkward identity where I am divorced from the rule-heavy 3.5e, and am embracing the freeform story-driven 5e. This means I often sacrifice Rules As Written in favor of the Rule of Cool, but I largely operate on a RAW framework. Everything I do is for the sake of the narrative and the cohesion and safety of the group playing, and I'm happy to explain my thinking, up to a point where it becomes disruptive. I have a small list of house rules I implement on a regular basis, which you will gain access to (along with my Discord server) if you join one of my games. I am actively looking to improve my craft, and so I will often try new things (like new house rules) and ask for feedback from you, my players. I try to be proactive, and ask for advice as regularly as I can so your experience as a player can be fun and memorable, but I'm also responsive and adaptable to different playstyles, which makes me a decent generalist. Combat, by a very narrow margin, is my favored pillar of play, though I try my hardest to keep it in balance with Exploration and Roleplay. I like to keep things moving as much as I can, but I leave the direction and momentum up to you--think of me as the computer system, the story as the car, and you as the drivers--drivers who have to work together with the UI(me) to drive the vehicle(story). All the same, I enjoy running a dungeon crawl as much as setting the scene in a haunted house or acting out a chase sequence through the streets of Waterdeep. I typically favor a casual atmosphere with a serious outlook. In other words, joke characters don't usually find good homes in my games, but players who like to joke around while they earnestly play my game are quite welcome. I'm an introvert with a core of steel, and I quietly manage my table like the mom I am, so expect lots of inspiration and just a little bit of hand holding. I like to reward good roleplaying and good descriptions, and I discourage unfair and unsportsmanlike behavior (even in character). If I sound like the kind of person you'd like to run a game for you, feel free to message me! I'd love to sit down for a chat with you~

Games played

Game platforms used

What's StartPlaying?

Tabletop Roleplaying Games Run by Game Masters