game master profile header image

Cost Per Player

$20.00
Call Me Gary

Call Me Gary (he/him)

4.9

(13)

Published Writer

1 year on StartPlaying

48 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Knows the Rules

Average response time: Under 1 hour

Response rate: 100%

About me

šŸ‘‹ Hi! Iā€™m Gary. šŸ§™ā€ā™‚ļø You came here looking for a gamemasterā€”one who will make sure you have a great time. Give me a try. My #1 priority as a GM is to make sure everyone at the table has fun. šŸ› ļø I have spent more than 40 years gamemastering, worldbuilding, and roleplaying. I have the experience to deal with every situation, to know what works and what doesn't. šŸ“• Iā€™m a professionally published fiction author, and my fantasy fiction has earned a handful of accolades. Tabletop roleplaying games have been my real passion, though, ever since I got the Red Box for Christmas when I was 10 years old. In the 40 years since, Iā€™ve run dozens of different game systems for everyone from tweens to senior citizens, for beginners and veteran gamers alike. šŸŒ Like many of us, Iā€™ve garnered hundreds of hours of experience running games online since 2020. But running games over the internet wasnā€™t new to me. Iā€™ve been doing it since the 1990s, when I used Delphi chat rooms. šŸŖ„ When you play in one of my games, youā€™ll have the freedom to use your imagination. I love saying, ā€œYes, you can do that.ā€ I never want to get in the way of player creativity. šŸŒŸ I work hard to make sure my players have an experience they canā€™t get anywhere else. Whether Iā€™m running an offbeat game full of eccentric characters or an intense campaign full of heroics and sacrifice, you can count on me to help you create an original, unique story. āŒØļø If you want a low-bandwidth game or a no-voice gameā€”because of technology limitations, hearing or speech impairment, or just because thatā€™s what you likeā€”I will be happy to set one up for you. āœØ What are you waiting for? Letā€™s go on an adventureā€”book a game with me. I canā€™t wait to create great things together. āœØ

GM Style

Games should be full of wonder. Magic and fantastic settings are the centerpiece of RPGs, and I want you to experience them. Magic should feel magical, not like a rules crunch. Anything can happen at my table. I spend a lot of time learning the rules so that I know when to ignore them. I meticulously plan in advance, because that way Iā€™ll be prepared to ad lib when you take our adventure in an unexpected direction. When you create a character, youā€™re envisioning that character overcoming obstacles and triumphing. I try to craft challenges and storylines to bring that vision to life, so your character can have the kind of adventures you originally pictured in your mind. Your character should feel like a real character in a real world. I donā€™t want my campaigns to seem like video games where every character is reduced to nothing but their special combat moves. Thereā€™s nothing worse than an RPG action that devolves into monotonous dice rolls and repeatedly trading damage back and forth. I will create an immersive environment where your character can come to life. Iā€™m usually biased in favor of anything that makes the player characters stronger, better, and more competent. Your character is the hero of the story, not just one of many generic adventurers. My games are loaded with original materialā€”spells, monsters, magic items, you name itā€”that you wonā€™t find in any published rulebook. I use published options when they work well, and tweak or replace them in whatever way makes the game more fun. I also welcome material by third-party publishers into my games. If you want to make a character that uses some uncommon sourcebook or character option, I am willing to work with that. I make detailed battlemaps for games that benefit from them (like D&D and Pathfinder). But Iā€™m always happy to run a game in the Theatre of the Mindā€”Iā€™ll do it to meet my playersā€™ preferences even if Iā€™ve prepared maps in advance. Most of the game systems I run have been released under open licenses, or at least have the bulk of their core rules available cost free. You won't have to buy a bunch of rulebooks to play in my games. I also use online platforms that you can access through your web browserā€”I won't ever ask you to install software, not even a browser extension. If I had to sum up my gamemastering style in one sentence, it would be, ā€œI am your characterā€™s biggest fan.ā€ Your character can be epic. I can help you achieve that.

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