DireDM

he/him

5.0

(23)

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

Identity

LGBTQ+

Neurodivergent

About DireDM

I have been GMing for over 15 years, sometimes with custom-made names, often with one of the game systems listed on my profile. I love a game where the natural consequences of a player's actions bounce off the natural actions and reactions of the NPCs and mix with some random chance of the dice to twist and turn the story in ways neither the players nor the GM could have seen coming! I love creating worlds for the players that feel living and changing, that have NPCs that act realistically and with agency so it never feels like the player is in a cardboard castle talking to King Quest Giver I love having and trusting a caring gaming group that have respect for each other's needs and boundaries. I will not tolerate intolerance of any race, creed, gender, sexuality, disability, faith (or lack thereof), nationality, or anything else like that!

At a glance

3 years on StartPlaying

332 games hosted

Highly rated for: Storytelling, Creativity, Inclusive

$25 per session

Average response time: 2 hours

Response rate: 100%

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I and some friends got into our first D&D game, and it was awful. It was 100% railroaded, and the GM had a DM PC 10 LVs higher than the rest. We quit the game when it ended. Everyone was sad there was no D&D, so even though I didn't know how to run, I tried anyway, and I've never looked back.

My favorite shows/movies are

I love a lot of the old animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Almost all Batman movies ever, DBZ, old Naruto, and a lot of Marvel movies before Endgame. (I loved Endgame, just not all the stuff that comes after.) Big fan of the Lord of the Rings movies. And lots of fantasy stuff

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

Working on my games, watching videos about how to be a better GM. Hanging out with my friends on Discord and playing video games. Also helping to take care of me family :)

How DireDM runs games

I've been GMing for more than 10 years. I am good at swapping my style to the players' needs, sometimes more role-play and sometimes more combat. I can do lighthearted silly stuff, and I can do serious, serious, and dramatic storytelling. Even in games with less role-play, I always enjoy doing voices for the NPCs, and I like to get in the headspace of the NPC and bring them to life. And even in games with less combat I try to make sure the fights we do have are fun and hard. I spend a lot of time making up new monsters or changing old ones to insure that things are interesting and dynamic. Even in the silliest game I'd ever run, I still like to take the humanity in characters seriously. Like how Undertale and Deltarune are very silly, but there are still understones of real life. And even in my most serious, dark, and gritty game, there will still be some moments of light and hope and laughter. Like how in Elden Ring, a very dark game, sometimes you will meet a funny jar man who is quite charming. The point is I have a wide range of ways I can run, but no matter how I run, there is always a little bit of everything. Other than puzzles I'm not very good at making puzzles I struggle to do word scrambles IRL ;P

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

During the game, I move forward with what my gut tells me mid-game because I do not enjoy debating the rules mid-game. But I am open to talking about the rules of the game between sessions, maybe having a vote between players.

My games focus on...

Player choice. That does not mean every game is a sandbox game. Games that have a more linear story can have impactful player choice. I spend a lot of time thinking about how your actions will impact the world and how the world will react back.

When it comes to voices

I might not be a pro voice actor or anything, but I have a good range. And I love to do all kinds of voices for the NPCs I run. I think that even if one is not good at voice acting, just slightly altering the way one speaks can do wonders for presenting a character.

DireDM's ideal table

I enjoy players that want to role-play, who want to be a part of the story, and who want to get sucked into the world. Players who take the game world seriously and respect the other players. I also like players who are relaxed about the rules.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Thinks outside the box. I always say, "You can try anything," and while I might allow you to do 'anything,' I try to always let you do what a real human can do at least. Stand on top of a prone enemy, throw a large rug over a small fire monster to put it out, and poke the enemy in the eyes.

I think metagaming...

It is not always a bad thing. When you think that your character would do one thing, but you, the player, want to do something else, I don't think it's a sin to pick what you want. However, I do not like players looking up, say, the answer to a puzzle or a monster's weakness out of game.