John

he/him

5.0

(3)

Timezone

America/kentucky/louisville

Language

English

Identity

Artist

Teacher/Educator

About John

Hail, adventurers! As a lifelong lover of gaming, fantasy, and tabletop RPGs, I have been an enthusiastic Forever GM ever since I began playing D&D in 1983. About four years ago, I started running weekly sessions in earnest, teaching both children and adults how to play while creating an atmosphere with engaging stories and ever-expanding worlds. I'm also a Dungeon Master University class of 2026 Alumni!

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Teacher, Visual Aid, Inclusive

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

My older cousin taught me to play at a very young age (1st edition) and I was enthralled with the concept of coming up with a story and having other people engage with it and help shape it. When the Red Box came out, I started DMing my friends and did it all through high school and college.

My favorite books are

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms", "Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow", "King Sorrow", "The Name of the Wind"

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

Drawing and painting, hanging out with my family and dog, writing and prepping my next session, and spending time with my PS5 : )

How John runs games

Players who come to my virtual table can expect a balance of both challenging combat and creative role play, embellished with background music and detailed maps. I see GMing as a way of engaging all participants in shared storytelling experiences and opportunities for self-expression. My games vary in scope — they might be a standalone session that provides a single evening’s escape from reality, or they could be campaigns that weave in a player character’s personality and backstory. My goal is to invite players to immerse themselves in the game as little or as deeply as they wish.

Featured Prompts

If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...

Steven Spielberg. I believe in a strictly PG-13 experience with an equal amount of character stakes combined with combat that requires creative solutions.

I once ran a session...

Where my daughter unintentionally got into combat with a captain of the guard and managed to kill her. As a player (not her character!) she felt so guilty, she wrote an in-game suicide note in order to stage the captain's death as a suicide and bequeath the captain's title to a lieutenant.

Rules are...

Important, but flexible. I prefer systems with some amount of "crunch", but I'm never afraid to get loose with the rules if they slow the flow of the game or lessen the table experience for my players

John's ideal table

My ideal players are simply engaged! Not in just the story, but also the combat! I consider a session successful if there are equal parts laughter and tension at the table. I also make every effort to avoid any kind of in-game situation the would make someone use a safety tool. I love high stakes, branching story options, puzzles, and a healthy dose of PG-13 action.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Gets excited when they are presented with in-game plot lines that involve their character's backstory or goals. Getting creative in combat is also a point of pride for me.

I think metagaming...

A LITTLE metagaming is fine. The primary goal of RPGs is to have fun and create a communal experience. However, I would throw a flag if a player continually used metagaming to their advantage. For example, memorizing a monster's stat block.

My perfect party mix is

One each of the four quadrants (Mage, Warrior, Expert, Priest.) If that were not possible due to number of players or player preferences, I would not prefer more than 2 players of the same class, and encourage players to consider other class options.