Ben the DM
he/him
4.8
(5)
Timezone
Language
Identity
About Ben the DM
I have been playing D&D for about 20 years. I started in college and fell in love with the story telling aspect. I've been GMing for about 15 of those years.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Knows the Rules, Beginner Friendly, Inclusive
$15 per session
Featured Prompts
I became a GM because
I'm a natural story-telling. While the players are the ones that really tell the story, the GM makes sure it's a cohesive work. A good GM can take elements of each pc's backstory and work it in.
My favorite books are
dystopian fantasies. I love a good story of a utopian community where things may not actually be what it seems. I love The Giver series (by Lois Lowry) and the Arc of the Scythe (by Neal Shusterman).
When I'm not running games I'm...
spending time with my family. My son loves to "help" me play games like Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor. We also love to watch movies and hold "dance parties" with Danny Go on YouTube.
How Ben the DM runs games
I try to incorporate a good mixture of both roleplay and combat. While I like the storytelling aspect of the game, combat helps keep things flowing and engaging. I strongly believe in the "rule of cool" as long as you can justify it.
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I prep by
reading ahead, making sure the maps and tokens are placed, and making sure my equipment is set up properly.
Rules are...
there for a reason. However, if you can justify a RoC, then I'll work with you to set up a mechanic that would allow that.
When it comes to voices
more power to you, I can kinda do accents but they are terrible. So in order not to offend people, I don't really do them. But if you want to give your character a specific voice, by all means.
Ben the DM's ideal table
My ideal table is one where everyone is having fun. Everyone is laughing and enjoying themselves, but not afraid to have serious "heart to heart" moments with other players. People need to be able to make friends easily. Rules are stated later but my main house rule: no politics, no out-of-game religion. Those can jade the mind against someone else and then people stop having fun.
Featured Prompts
I think it's a red flag when players...
repeatedly ignore the rules, don't let others talk, or don't listen or pay attention. It distracts from the game if the GM has to continuously has to pull someone's attention back to the table.
I think min/maxing...
is fine if that's how you wanna play the game. As long as you aren't breaking any system or table rules, then I don't really care.
My perfect party mix is
one where the players work cohesively, it doesn't matter what classes they're playing.
Ben the DM's Preferences
Systems