Kody Batchelor

he/him

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

Identity

LGBTQ+

Artist

Voice Actor

Game Designer

About Kody Batchelor

I've been playing TTRPGs for pretty much my entire life. From age 15 till now, I've been involved in either playing or running any number of different systems. The priority for me when I run a game is to make sure everyone is having a blast! I want to make sure everyone at the table has a moment to shine and to create a memory that they'll look back on and think "wow! that was MY idea!" I used to run 5E D&D but fell in love with the Powered By The Apocalypse system and the games that evolved from it. Blades In The Dark is my favorite game to have come out in the past decade and all of its hacks make it so anyone can run their perfect game with this fantastic system. On top of that, I love one shot games as well. Fiasco, The Quiet Year, Dread, these are some of my favorite out of many that make for a great session! I prefer theatre of the mind type games with simple visual cues so everyone's on the same page. Combat in my games is more of a conversation that it is tactical movement on squares. However, if you are interested in a tactics based, fight heavy experience I'm happy to switch gears! I'm also a quick study, so if you have a system you'd like to play I can always give it my best to try and run it! I really love to build an environment where getting lost in the story is unavoidable. I like to include atmospheric music in my games and love starting shared playlists amongst the players so that everyone can add to the soundscape of our shared world (don't worry if the song isn't "on brand" or "of the time" one time Foreigners "cold as Ice" came on during a battle with a dragon and it was just perfect.) And If we do continued campaign play I love to make bespoke props! I'm an actor as my other job so expect a lot of character work on my part! NPC's will have desires, drives, fears, and, most importantly, fun voices! I love to make an inclusive environment whenever I sit down with people. When you're at my table, you are special and important. If you have any prejudice against people please do not apply. So! Whether you're a long time player looking for something new and bombastic or a newbie who's looking to broaden their roleplaying horizons, Please consider me for your next game!

At a glance

2 years on StartPlaying

How Kody Batchelor runs games

My goal as a GM first and foremost is to have fun. If people aren't having fun, I'm not either. I love to have everyone at the table have a hand in the creation of the world and its people. In my games, it isn't the players vs the gm, rather, everyone will get a chance to co-gm in some meaningful way. I love to take things players have created and run with them, I always ask "if this is true, then what else is?" when given something a player thought of which always leads to excitement and adventure! Before a game starts I like to talk over thematically what we want our game to look like. What's the TV show or movie going to appear like in our heads? what's the lighting? The theme? Is it lighthearted or serious? Maybe a mix of the two? (usually). From there I like to suggest games that would fit the type of story we want to tell! My current obsession Is the forged in the dark system and there are any number of hacks it has that can fit for a given story! Of course if you have a system you'd like to play in mind let me know! I have a broad experience with many systems (they're kinda the only books I read.) I'm not a very tactical, crunchy, game master. I prefer things to flow from the fiction and not from calculating squares and hit points. That's not to say fighting and action in my games are frowned upon, far from it. I love to get input on what it looks like when a character takes down an opponent. Is it graceful or do you fight dirty? Does your family take pride in its fighting stance or were you taught on the streets? The lack of stringent rules make for cinematic action sequences with high flying acts of daring (go ahead, cut down that chandelier and ride on the rope, you deserve it big guy.) I absolutely adore speaking as NPC's in character and will often bring the full brunt of my acting experience to bear. Expect accents and voices with a lot of improv conversations. Truly some of my favorite moments are when Players get lost in what their character would do in a social situation and end up revealing an aspect of their characters to themselves! All in all my game mastering style can be summed up in these often heard words: Play to find out what happens!