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Chris

Chris (he/him)

5.0

(19)

4 years on StartPlaying

582 games hosted

Highly rated for: Storytelling, Creativity, Teacher

About me

Hello! I'm Chris, and I've been involved and enjoying TTRPGs since grade school, starting with D&D 3rd Edition and continuing through the current 5th Edition. Along the way, I've explored a variety of systems including Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, World of Darkness, and Shadowrun. I've also delved into narrative-focused games like Blades in the Dark, Scum and Villainy, and Avatar. I'll admit to having a bit of an addiction to collecting rulebooks from new systems—I love learning about them and running games for others. My passion for gaming truly ignites when I'm running a game for a group that's having a blast and feels sucked into the story. The more systems I learn, the more diverse and exciting the stories we can create together! I've been DMing professionally for about six years, initially running a few games weekly on Roll20. Now, I've expanded to running games throughout the week using Foundry VTT, a versatile platform for showcasing dynamic maps, images, and tracking character lore. For each game, I maintain an organized Discord channel where players can easily access game notes, session recaps, and loot information. I also provide a dedicated roleplay channel for those who enjoy developing their characters between sessions. My goal is to create a welcoming environment for everyone in my games. I take pride in helping players bring their character concepts to life, ensuring they work both mechanically within the system and align with the player's vision. If you're looking for someone who's passionate about collaborative group storytelling, captivating character development, and adventure that everyone can enjoy, I'd love to hear from you!

GM Style

I believe that a game master's style should be tailored to the group they're running for, but I also think it's important for players to know what I enjoy incorporating into my games. When it comes to storytelling, I've discovered the advantages of homebrew for creating truly unique narratives where players shape the story with their backgrounds and choices serving as inspiration for unfolding events. Conversely, I also enjoy using prewritten modules and full campaigns as a framework while personalizing the story with character backgrounds. This approach makes even prewritten adventures feel more distinctive and developed than simply adhering to the book's content. I've run a variety of game types, including classic high-fantasy world-ending threats, political intrigue where players establish themselves in kingdoms or cities and need allies, and dungeon delving and hex exploration games that lead to both dangerous and captivating locations. I'm always eager to incorporate new aspects and combinations of styles into my repertoire. I want players to feel that their characters can impact the world and that their decisions carry weight. It's important to me that players see the consequences and development of their choices—both good and bad. One of the most enjoyable aspects is watching characters grow and change throughout a story based on their experiences. Because of this, I greatly enjoy roleplay, both between myself and players and among the players themselves. This helps build the rapport and relationships that make adventuring parties feel more authentic. I strive to create unique NPCs for groups to interact with, each possessing their own goals that characters can choose to assist with or observe as they develop alongside the party's own story. I also enjoy dynamic encounters and combat. I firmly believe that an encounter should reward creative thinking, use of the environment, and good roleplay, and at the same time, I aim to keep things moving at a brisk pace to maintain the game's momentum. Many of my encounters feature multiple moving parts, including goals for both the party and enemies beyond simply defeating each other. For example, you might find yourself fighting to retrieve documents from an office while the building burns and threatens to collapse, or buying time for your artificer to disable a trap before enemies break through your defenses. I use creatures from various official and third-party sources, and I love creating my own homebrew monsters to provide a truly unique experience. The style of a game and the type of story being told is always a collaborative effort in TTRPGs. That's why I always conduct a Session 0 before starting a campaign to learn about what players are looking for, the kinds of characters they enjoy, and the elements they love to see in a game. Similarly, I use Session 0 to understand what players don't want to experience. I respect boundaries and topics that players prefer to avoid. I encourage everyone to discuss these lines and veils, either within the group or individually, to ensure the game is as enjoyable as possible without making anyone uncomfortable. I'm also available between sessions to discuss any topics players might have, whether it's something they loved or disliked in a session, character ideas and inspiration, or anything in between. I'm open to criticism and welcome honest feedback, as it helps me continually improve myself and the games I run for players like you. If this sounds interesting, please feel free to send me a message with any questions you might have so that we can discuss your questions and about what you're looking for in a game. I'm excited to hear from you!

Game platforms used
Game Master Reviews (19)

Proficiencies

Players say this GM is great at:

Storytelling

Creativity

Teacher

Jesse avatar

Jesse

Played 69 sessions

Chris is a chill dm that works with players and has a awesome world.

Tom avatar

Tom

Played 66 sessions

Chris does a great job of engaging with his players and keeping things interesting.

Serkh avatar

Serkh

Played 58 sessions

I have been playing in Chris games for almost two years in which I fully completed an Icewind Dale campaign. While running official content, he customizes everything in such a way that even someone that has played it once before could find it an interesting twist. There are a lot of creative opportunities for the players with ideas rarely turned down. There is a lot of liberty given, both in flavoring your character and making it part of the living world. Our backstories are a core element of the story and feel as if they were always meant to be that way in the narrative. The combat is challenging and creative and is mixed with interesting puzzles and challenges that can be just as deadly. They are well balanced with a healthy dose of roleplaying and lore moments. He is also very approachable and adaptable both during the table and in between sessions. He cares a lot about his players and will do anything he can to bring them the best kind of experience. Overall, it’s simply a very fun way to spend your night!

Jim avatar

Jim

Played 45 sessions

Chris is a great game master. He was able to handle our side quests with ease and provides entertaining content. He brings his content library and has been very helpful for me getting into the role and the rules. I am now 3 sessions into our campaign and it has been lively, and cool. I've liked the story we are building.

Orion avatar

Orion

Played 31 sessions

Had an absolute blast playing with Chris & would highly recommend. Fun session ending in a tough combat, good group chemistry, he kept everything moving and ensured each PC had opportunities to get involved & shine. Also, the VTT setup was really impressive, animations & macros happening behind the scenes & adding to the atmosphere & convenience.

Joshua avatar

Joshua

Played 13 sessions

Everything!

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