GM Joe

About GM Joe

I love playing games that create interesting stories. For me, the collaborative storytelling happening is the main reason we play, and while I do my absolute best to be up-to-snuff on the rules of any game system I run, I will always favor a wonderful storytelling moment over a strict interpretation of the rules. I believe the best stories are ones where the players get to make meaningful and hard choices. Player agency is first and foremost in my games, and I love to play games where choices are dynamic to the situation, making each decision something to really think about but not agonize over. It’s also important to me to clarify, I love good wholesome and campy heroic tales as well! Like typical in D&D adventures, where the villains are unambiguously evil and the heroes are likely to come out on top. I tend to spice these up by adding cleverly woven backstory elements from each character into the adventure, making it both more personal and higher stakes. During the game, I love, and take time, to describe things in vivid detail, while pointedly noting anything important to players. If a player doesn’t understand something in my description, I’ll happily take a quick second to compare it to something in Movies or TV or video games to hopefully bridge that gap. Lastly, I pride myself on keeping plots and quests easily digestible. I don’t expect players to all take careful notes, so I form my games and stories around this to make them engaging without being so tangled and overly complicated that it becomes hard to follow what is going on and why. I want everyone to come to the table excited to play, without needing to take “homework” back with them when the session is over. If you're excited about being in-character, enjoy doing a silly voice or accent, look for ways to have dramatic or heartfelt scenes with other PCs, and possibly watch a lot of D&D actual-plays, I think you and I will get along just fine!