About me

Former fire-breather turned therapeutic GM. Cool, now that I've got your attention. I'm Xan, and this whole thing got started when I got the D&D 3.5 Monster Manual III in '05. If the Therapeutic GMing is what got your eye the check out my psychology today listing at the bottom! My numbers and accomplishments are cool, so I'll list them below. Here's who I am though. I'm a life-long storyteller and performer. The love the smell of honey suckles and the sound of a cat's purr. I'll give you a run for your money with a pun contest *any* day of the week, and I live by the motto "Manic enthusiasm is still enthusiasm". Games have brought me joy, relief, and catharsis over the years and I can say without hesitation that they, and the friends I've made through them, have been a huge positive impact on my life. So I'm here to pay that joy back and be the background tapestry for your happy memories and kickass stories. "Rule of Cool" always par for the course and expect me to be just as invested in your characters as you are. I love to flesh a game out through how your character sees the world, "you walk into the market and an unexpected scent brings you back home for a split second. What is it?". I prioritize safety and making sure that I'm making my game suited to the players, not the other way around. Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to talk about booking a private game or consultation about your own game. I'd love to help you make your own time as a GM the most rewarding it can be. I'm also available if you are looking for guests or experts in the topics at the intersection of mental health and TTRPGs. And, the numbers! 22 years theater/acting 21 years with TTRPGs, GMing consistently for 18 of them 20+ Featured Speaking events (PAX, Save Against Fear, Therapeutic and Applied Gaming Growth Summit) 8 Years professional GM 1 published adventure in Rock and Roll 5e (zine) 50+ homebrew materials for the larger games 4 Hacks written 1 original game developed 1 Full length game in development 33 years of being a total badass Therapeutic Skill building‽‽ With games (or just with a cool coach)‽‽ Yup! Full disclosure though, listings on Startplaying *are not* therapeutic sessions. Those require a different approach, intent, and structure. Reach out on my Psychology Today page if you're interested and I'm happy to have that conversation with you on a HIPAA compliant server :) https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/1380727

GM Style

I have a background in improv, traditional theater, and voice acting so telling the story is where I thrive. If you are looking for a GM who dives into NPC voices, builds worlds to suit your wishes instead of the same premade stories, takes a cinematic approach to scene setting, and strongly believes in the "rule of cool" then look no further. I prefer to keep things in the realm of Theater of the Mind, but I do enjoy VTT character sheets and have no problem using a grided map when we're doing some crunch combat. Additionally, as long as I have more than a passing familiarity with the system in use, I am more willing and able to write some homebrew to fit your wants without breaking the game. My usual stories have themes of hope, choosing the least destructive option in bad situations, emotional turmoil, and/or fighting a corrupt power that looms over the players. I like a good grim story too, but I don't run games with a rating above R. As a GM I value open collaboration with my players instead of the more traditional antagonistic player vs DM mindset. I'll keep some things hidden, but you'll know that there is something I'm not reveling will, no "gotcha!" style moments with me. I am a strong believer in safety tools pre- in in game and find stars/wishes after the sessions to be supremely helpful in making sure that everyone stays invested in the story. I'm here to run the story you want to play in, not the one my ego has decided is the "right" one. It didn't give me the offer for Afterlife: Wandering Souls in my preferred game systems, but that is my all-time favorite, if that gives you any insight to my GMing style.

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