Gerbo Gerrik

he/him

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

About Gerbo Gerrik

I'm a story driven, rules focused, fun prioritizing, DM with over 2 decades of experience running dungeons and dragons games for friends and students. My favorite games are focused on character moments and building off of character decisions and backstories to create unique experiences whether the entire campaign is a homebrew or we started off with an adventure module but ended up somewhere else along the way. As a veteran DM, I know when to rely on the rules to make sure the table is fair for everyone while bending them when necessary to ensure we're all having a fun and memorable experience. My preferred game length is a short adventure with a singular main quest and the occasional subplot that develops based on character choices, though there's no rule saying you can't string a series of short adventures together to create one epic campaign. I use a combination of cutscenes and battlemaps on Roll20 to mix theater of the mind in roleplay heavy situations and allow 5e's grid based combat to shine once the weapons are drawn.

At a glance

3 years on StartPlaying

Featured Prompts

I got started GMing...

I started GMing when I was young, gathering a group of friends around the table as we learned Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition together, figuring out the rules as we went, rolling dice late into the night, and discovering what made the game magical.

The three words my players would use to describe me are...

Storyteller, worldbuilder, and cooperative.

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

Playing board games or world building. I've given up writing as a hobby but throw that energy and creativity into world building.

How Gerbo Gerrik runs games

I'm a story driven, rules focused, fun prioritizing, DM with over 2 decades of experience running dungeons and dragons games for friends and students. My favorite games are focused on character moments and building off of character decisions and backstories to create unique experiences whether the entire campaign is a homebrew or we started off with an adventure module but ended up somewhere else along the way. As a veteran DM, I know when to rely on the rules to make sure the table is fair for everyone while bending them when necessary to ensure we're all having a fun and memorable experience. My preferred game length is a short adventure with a singular main quest and the occasional subplot that develops based on character choices, though there's no rule saying you can't string a series of short adventures together to create one epic campaign. I use a combination of cutscenes and battlemaps on Roll20 to mix theater of the mind in roleplay heavy situations and allow 5e's grid based combat to shine once the weapons are drawn.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

We're here to have a fun, but 5e works best as a framework for roleplaying. I am the GM and should be the arbiter of what final say happens with a rule. My goal is to have the game run smoothly without getting caught up in the mechanics so that we can all enjoy the adventure not the numbers.

I prep by

I prep my D&D sessions by building out the world and the NPCs in it then deciding their motivations and thinking about how those will interact with player choices and behaviors so that I can prepare additional NPCs and areas for where those interactions may lead the characters.

My favorite trope is...

Recurring villains. I love a memorable NPC even if they're not the star of the show. Was their a goblin that managed to knock out a character when they were level 1 and live to run away? Well he deserves a name and to be met again to remind the character just what happened the last time the two met.

Gerbo Gerrik's ideal table

I enjoy catering the game to the players and their characters. I bring an amateur level of voice acting to the NPCs to bring them to life and am happy to chat with the characters or bring them on memorable adventures and challenge them in meaningful ways. My descriptions may not always be thorough but I utilize a deep catalogue of art to give a face to every name and make sure the characters of our game matter.

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I love it when a player

Is invested in their character and how it fits in the world and adventure. If you care about the thing you've created, I'll make sure it fits into the story we're telling together so you'll be able to care about the adventure we're collaborating on.

I think it's a red flag when players...

Tell other players what to do on their turn when their help isn't asked for. While D&D is a collaborative effort, each player should feel free to make their own decisions regarding their characters even if their party doesn't always think that decision is the most strategic thing to do.

I think min/maxing...

Is a tool to help build an interesting character but shouldn't be the final result. A character that has a glaring weakness because it's dump stat has a very obvious flaw, could be an interesting character quirk. But only if the player isn't just looking to crunch the number.