GM Kaz

he/him

Timezone

America/chicago

Language

English

Identity

Artist

Teacher/Educator

Game Designer

About GM Kaz

I've been a game master for 10 years, with an emphasis on player agency and collaborative storytelling. I've run the most hours in D&D 5E, but I'm proficient in EZ D6, Blades in the Dark, Fabula Ultima, Five Torches Deep, Mörk Borg, ShadowDark, Vaesen, Knave, Maze Rats, DaggerHeart, and I'm following most recently the development of Mythic Bastionland. My games always start out with player interviews to determine what a group wants out of the game, and where I shine is narrative play with themes of mortality.

At a glance

2 years on StartPlaying

$40 per session

Featured Prompts

People are always surprised when I tell them

English was not my first language, I grew up in Poland and was home with a Polish babysitter for most of my speech development years. I've since lost most of my Polish, because we moved around Europe and my parents only spoke English with me, and I didn't have any Polish friends my age.

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

Working as the Creative Director for BrightShore Gaming. A small TTRPG Design & Publishing Company, that is working on bringing their own TTRPG to market.

How GM Kaz runs games

Big emphasis on narrative, group storytelling, role-play. Games tend to run in the [PG-13 / R] range with grim story themes, intense combat scenes, and deep rooted factions, and world-building.

Featured Prompts

Rules are...

Guidelines to ensure fair play and structure to the stories we want to tell. When rules make the game slow, unenjoyable, or downright confusing, it's my job to drive the narrative forward by making a call that might be hard, but is always ordered towards fairness.

GM Kaz's ideal table

Engaged storytellers, theater kids, artists, outside the box thinkers, note takers, and all around community and relationship oriented people. I like to build connections and foster a space for real growth, fun, group story telling and play. I love when players outsmart my baddies, or piece together a plot twist early. I love when players feel close with and connected to the other players at the table. That's the kind of thing you can really see come through with characters in the game, and it just enriches the stories we tell together.

Featured Prompts

I think min/maxing...

All part of the excitement of the game, just so long as this newfound power doesn't become the avenue for a single player to hog all the limelight, be the singular voice that pushes the narrative, or the only member of the party that feels they can do anything in combat.