David Butterfield

he/him

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Neurodivergent

Educator

About David Butterfield

Hello! My name is David and I'm a forever GM and girl dad out of Orlando, Florida. I'm almost 30, and I've been playing tabletop games for over half my lifetime. I'm a fun-loving GM, focusing on player enjoyment, character development, and world-building. I keep a large focus on player safety, providing an LGBTQIA+ safe space as well as considering real-life experiences when crafting the game story. I've ran a solid gaming group for over 6 years now and we've successfully completed a number of mini-campaigns (4-6 sessions) as well as one major campaign (4 years, up to level 15, with full BBEG fight and epilogue). For me, being a GM is a chance to explore my creative side. My full time job is to work as a ride and show technician at a major theme park, which is an incredibly logical and (while fun) stressful job. TTRPGs let me decompress from that world of logic and enter a world of fun and adventure. I have a heavy emphasis on player enjoyment. If you aren't having fun, please let me know and we will absolutely change things up/make adjustments to compensate for that. I'm also incredibly flexible on player type. I've played with players who have more experience than me, as well as players who have never touched TTRPGs in their life. If you give me a 3 page backstory, you can bet it'll be integrated into the world, and if you give me a 2 sentence backstory, I'll still make that feel like a strong connection to the world. Looking forward to playing!

At a glance

2 years on StartPlaying

$15 per session

Featured Prompts

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

Detail-oriented, spontaneous, and enthusiastic. Straight from my player's mouths.

How David Butterfield runs games

My GM style is very player focused. As a GM, I'm here to give the players a stage to stand on, and then throw challenges and mysteries at them to showcase what aspect of their character they're interested in. I'm here to life up the players, not fight them or give them unwinnable situations. If the players aren't having fun, then I'm doing my job wrong. That may look differently depending on the players, which is something I take into account in the world building. Some players find joy out of very LOTR style adventures, with tense battles and dramatic stakes. Other players want to sit and debate the economic principles of goblin traders. Some players are looking for a low stress environment to decompress from their busy lives, while some players want intense roleplay like they've seen on Critical Role. All of these options are things I'm comfortable with, and it just depends on which players are at my table. A major aspect of my GM style involves character integration into the world. If a player gives me a backstory involving their long lost sibling, and I don't include that sibling anywhere into the story, I've done my job wrong. If the majority of the party is interested in pirating, and one player is specifically interested in dragons, then I've got to find a way to combine the two options so everybody leaves the table feeling satisfied. Don't get it twisted though, there are stakes. I'm a nice GM, not a pushover. Forgetting that might bring you great peril....

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

Thinking of what is best for the table. My focus is on player safety and enjoyment. If a rule must be enforced to keep the table happy and safe, then I'll enforce it. If the rule is getting in the way of us being happy and safe, then we can look for an alternative option (rule of cool) for the game.

David Butterfield's ideal table

Important player features: -Being understanding! We are all here to play, but we are all humans! Things happen, the world is hard, let's be kind and understanding to each other. -Invested. If you all are paying to be here, then I want that respected by all. Nobody has to be perfect, but if it's clear you don't care about the table or the game, then maybe this isn't the place for you. -Willing to follow a bit to the end of the earth. -Spontaneous! Some things are planned, and sometimes the plan goes out the window. I'm willing to be spontaneous and figure it out as we go, how about you? -Willing to learn together. I would love to help new players get started, so if you get frustrated by newbies misunderstanding or having to explain some rules, then this might not be your table. However, if you love helping new people and love stoking that fire of curiosity, come on over!